DeSoto's Background & Arrival
For four centuries, historians failed to track DeSoto because they overlooked important 16th Century Spanish terms and concepts. DeSoto was governed by moon phases and tides for night movement and harbor entry; by coasts and pastureland location for horseback navigation and warfare. By the time DeSoto was studied, artificial light had changed military strategy, cumbersome sailing ships were history, sextants had replaced horsemen and food could be stored for months at a time. Scientists further confused America's earliest history by failing to study DeSoto's history elsewhere. Unknown to them, DeSoto aimed to out perform Ponce de Leon, who discovered Florida, Balboa, who discovered the Pacific Ocean, and Magellan, who first sailed around the world, all in DeSoto's younger years. Incredibly rich from plundered Incan Gold, DeSoto selected the best young men and women, many of African descent, to colonize his New World. The King's huge ships transported them from Cuba to Florida along with tons of supplies and animals to settle and hold North America for Spain.