De Soto's Expedition

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De Soto National Memorial

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Photographed by Pete Skillman, March 11, 2026

1. De Soto's Expedition Marker

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1. De Soto takes the village of Uzita. Nearby his men retrieve Spaniard Juan Ortiz, the lone survivor of a 1528 mission, who was enslaved for years by the Uzita cacique (male chief) until rescued by a Native American woman. Familiar with Indigenous languages and cultures, Ortiz become's De Soto's main interpreter and guide.
   
   The expedition moves quickly through forests and grasslands, then deep rivers, swamps, and palm thickets show it down. The area's Indigenous people continually shoot arrows at the expedition.
2. Upon learning of the expedition's approach, Anhayca's residents leave their town. De Soto camps here for the winter with ample food. Many of the expedition's enslaved people die from the cold.
   
   1540 Following Rumors of Wealth
   To find gold and silver, De Soto heads northeast. His expedition passes through the land of the Toa but does not head to the principal village of Ocmulgee.
3. The cacica (female chief) at Cofitachequi seeks peace, greeting De Soto with pearls and goods. When she says Chiaha may have mines, he forces her to take him there across the high mountains.
4. At Chiaha, Cofitachequi's cacica escapes while De Soto rests and his scouts search for mines. When they return without gold or silver, he heads south.
5. The Coosa cacique leads the expedition south through his lands. He warns De Soto about his neighboring cacique, the fearsome Tuscaluza.
   
   Tuscaluza says he will let De Soto winter at Mabila. This suits De Soto's plan to send a detachment south to Achuse, where Spanish supply ships wait.
   
   1540-1541 Surprise Attacks
6. At Mabila, a walled town on a wide river, De Soto demands to speak with Tuscaluza about supplies. Tuscaluza's warriors ambush De Soto. The battle ends when the Spaniards set the town on fire. Over 2,000 Indigenous people die. The fleeing Spaniards lose few people but most supplies.
   
   With mutiny stirring, De Soto turns his expedition west. They face the oncoming winter with low supplies and dim hopes.
7. The Chicaza cacique lets De Soto use an abandoned village and provides food and supplies. Relations sour when the Spaniards execute several Chicaza people for stealing a pig. The Chicaza, in turn, attack them at night using arrows tipped with flaming herbs. Barely escaping, the expedition battles on the run for two weeks. The Chicaza pursue until the expedition leaves their territory.
   
   1541-1542 Struggles and Deaths
8. In spring the expedition meets the swift, wide Mississippi River. Believing gold may be on the river's other side, De Soto spends months building rafts, then follows rumors of gold north and west.
   
   The expedition comes upon people living in tipis who mention the presence of non-Indigenous people to the west. This may have been Francisco Coronado's 1540 expedition.
9. Struggling over mountains, the expedition reaches the Tula people, who have plenty of food for the winter. The Tula attack. After multiple battles, the expedition heads back toward the river.
10. De Soto overtakes Utiangue and stays there for what he hopes is the expedition's last winter.
    
    De Soto's trusted adviser Juan Ortiz dies.
11. The expedition returns to the Mississippi River as winter ends. De Soto plans to build ships to get supplies downriver. He becomes ill, his health rapidly deteriorates, and he dies on May 21, 1542.
    
    De Soto's second-in-command, Luis de Moscoso Alvarado, now leads the expedition. He abandons De Soto's river plan and goes west to find and over-land route to New Spain (today's Mexico).
    
    1542-1543 End of the Expedition
12. After two months scouts report only dry land ahead, so Moscoso heads back to the Mississippi.
13. In winter the expedition builds seven vessels to take them to New Spain; they launch in early June. Native residents pursue them almost daily until they near the gulf.
14. The expedition's survivors reach New Spain on September 10, 1543, with little to show for their nearly four-year journey. Hernando de Soto once conquered the Incan Empire in South America, but his expedition failed to conquer the many Indigenous peoples of America's Southeast.

Points

Photographed by Pete Skillman, March 11, 2026

2. De Soto's Expedition Marker - wide view

Labeled on the Map

1. Tampa Bay
   May 30, 1539
   De Soto National Memorial
   The ships land near an Indigenous town built partly on mounds.
2. Anhayca
   Winter 1539-40
   Expedition camps. Many enslaved die from cold.
   
   Ocmulgee Area
   Spring 1540
   With few enslaved persons left to carry supplies, the expedition struggles.
3. Cofitachequi
   May 1, 1540
   Cacica forced to guide expedition west over mountains for gold.
4. Chiaha
   May 1540
   De Soto rests while his scouts search for gold unsuccessfully.
5. Coosa
   June 1540
   Cacique leads De Soto to Tuscaluza's lands.
6. Mabila
   October 18, 1540
   Battle of Mabila kills over 2,000 people.
   
   "Neither by force nor persuasion could they brought under the authority and dominion of the Spaniards."
   
   Winter 1540
   "A nobleman...with his flesh showing...amidst frost and cold."
7. Chicaza
   Winter 1540-41
   Expedition leaves under attack.
8. Quizquiz
   Spring 1541
   Expedition builds rafts to cross the Mississippi River.
9. Tula
   Early October 1541
   Strong Tula fighters fend off De Soto.
10. Utiangue
    Winter 1541-42
    Expedition's coldest winter. Ortiz dies.
11. Guachoya
    May 1542
    De Soto dies. Moscoso leads expedition west.
12. Guasco
    July 1542
    Moscoso backtracks to the Mississippi River.
13. Aminoya
    Winter 1542-43
    Expedition builds vessels for return to New Spain.
    
    Early June 1543
    "There arrived at dawn a most handsome fleet of more than a thousand canoes."
14. Gulf Coast
    Late June 1543
    Expedition survivors sail to New Spain.
    
    Panuco, New Spain
    September 10, 1543
    Expedition ends.

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