Hernando de Soto - Softcover

Duncan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806129778 ISBN 13: 9780806129778

Publisher: OU Press, 1997

Synopsis

This is the story of a legendary expedition across four thousand miles of the future United States, led by an explorer searching for an illusionary empire of gold. Formerly the second-in-command in Francisco Pizarro’s conquest of the Incas in 1531, Hernando de Soto arrived in the country he called La Florida in 1539, leading a glittering, armored Renaissance-era army of six hundred men on the first major exploration of North America. Obsessed with finding a second Inca empire, he instead encountered the Mississippians, a sophisticated culture of mound and city builders, warriors, artisans, and diplomats whose society collapsed after the Spaniards’ destructive march through their territory. Unable to find his golden country, Soto pushed deeper into the wilderness, ravaged by exhaustion, starvation, and incessant warfare with the Mississippians until he died and was secretly buried in the Mississippi River, which he is credited (wrongly) with discovering.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

t time, a book that tells the truth about Hernando de Soto's legendary expedition across what would become the United States, where he squandered a fortune in gold won in the conquest of Peru, and drove himself slowly mad searching for a second Inca empire. Maps and line drawings.

About the Author

David Ewing Duncan is a writer for several national publications, a special producer and reporter for ABC's Nightline, and author three other books. He researched and traced the path of Soto's expedition for more than seven years.

Edition details

• Publisher: OU Press
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0806129778
• ISBN 13: 9780806129778
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 612