 DeSoto's Midwestern Trail |
DeSoto's trail ran due north from Southern Alabama through Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. Scouts made it to Chicago. Disappointed there, DeSoto retreated across Illinois, crossed the Mississippi River and traveled as far west as central Missouri. They wintered in Arkansas where DeSoto died at Lake Village.
His army headed southwest toward Mexico, Spain's nearest outpost. They trudged through Louisiana and Texas; the scouts beyond San Antonio. All retreated back to Arkansas for food. They built boats at Pine Bluff then drifted down the Mississippi River at Springtime. They passed Vicksburg, Mississippi, Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, then coasted the Texas shoreline to Mexico, Spain's nearest North American outpost.
 
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