• De Soto Landing

    De Soto

    National Memorial Florida

An Epic Journey into the New World

In May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto’s army of soldiers, hired mercenaries, craftsmen and clergy made landfall in Tampa Bay. They were met with fierce resistance of indigenous people protecting their homelands. De Soto’s quest for glory and gold would be a four year, four thousand mile odyssey of intrigue, warfare, disease, and discovery that would form the history of the United States.

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Did You Know?

Did You Know?

The men of Hernando de Soto's 1539 expedition to La Florida learned the hard way that Native American warriors could load and fire their long bows with deadly accuracy nearly a dozen times in the period required to load and fire the clumsy arquebus musket once. Visit De Soto National Memorial. More...