A Chief is Seized

A Chief is Seized. Florida De Soto Trail. It’s August 17, 1539… , When Hernando de Soto’s scouts sight the abandoned Indian village of Caliquen, Cavalry Captain Baltasar de Gallegos is ordered to move ahead – , My men and I were sent to check for food and supplies. When we neared the village, we spotted a large number of Indians attempting to flee into the woods. We were able to capture 17. One was the daughter of Chief Aguacalequen. This afternoon, a group of Indians arrived with the chief. His efforts to negotiate with us for the release of his daughter failed. We seized him, holding them both as hostages. , ”He ordered Luis de Moscoso to set out immediately from Cale and said that he was awaiting him there in Caliquen. It appeared to Luis de Moscoso and to many others that they must turn back from Apalachee and the buried iron and other things at Cale. They reached Caliquen after great hardship for the land over which the Governor had passed was destroyed and bare of maize.” , - Account by a Gentleman from Elvas , The De Soto Chronicles , The Native Path , At that time, kinship was the most important connection in the Native American culture. Most of the tribes De Soso encountered traced their ancestry through their female lineage. , The Conquistador Trail , The army led by Luis Moscoso was starving when it left Ocale, as food was in short supply. Some lightened their load by discarding their chain-mail armor. Their hardship increased because De Soto’s scouting party had picked the crops clean a few weeks earlier. By the time the army reached De Soto, most of the men were on the verge of starvation.