HERNANDO DE SOTO WAS BORN 1496 IN JEREZ DE LOS CABALLEROS, SPAIN.

FRANCISCO MENDEZ DE SOTO IS HIS FARTHER AND LEONOR ARIAS TINOCO IS HIS MOTHER

He was raised at the family manor. A generous patron named Pedro Arias Dávila funded de Soto's education at the University of Salamanca.

the early 1530s, while on Francisco Pizarro's expedition, de Soto helped conquer Peru.

In 1539 he set out for North America, where he discovered the Mississippi River.

HIS EXPLORATIONS TOOK HIM FROM PRESENT DAY FLORIDA UP TO NORTH CAROLINA, AND WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

THEY WERE GUIDED BY INDIANS WHOM THEY CAPTURED ALONG THE WAY

De Soto died of fever on May 21, 1542, in MODERN DAY Ferriday, Louisiana.

WHEN DE SOTO DIED HIS MEN SANK HIM IN THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

THE NATIVE AMERICANS TOOK BENEFIT OF DOMESTICATION OF THE HORSES

SINCE NATIVE AMERICANS HAD NOT BEEN EXPOSED TO SMALLPOX MANY DIED