History of the United States . terior ofthe North American continent that were similar to those already 2 The name of Cabot has never been given a place upon the map of is the greatest of the pioneer seamen who is not so honored. HenryHarrisse, the compiler of voluminous reports from the original records of theearliest explorers, maintains that Cabot soon reached the conclusion that thenew land was distinct from Asia. Cf. The Discovery of North America,Book V, chapter 4. 6 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION exploited by his countrymen in the south. Impelled, therefore, byhis desire for ga
History of the United States . terior ofthe North American continent that were similar to those already 2 The name of Cabot has never been given a place upon the map of is the greatest of the pioneer seamen who is not so honored. HenryHarrisse, the compiler of voluminous reports from the original records of theearliest explorers, maintains that Cabot soon reached the conclusion that thenew land was distinct from Asia. Cf. The Discovery of North America,Book V, chapter 4. 6 DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATION exploited by his countrymen in the south. Impelled, therefore, byhis desire for gain, he equipped an expedition consisting of severalships, six hundred men, and some two hundred horses. He landedon the coast of the present State of Florida in 1539 and marched, inland, battling with hostile Indians from the start. Expedition of . Rfn i^r?o ° Overcoming desperate odds of wilderness and warlike natives, he pursued an irregular course northward for five hundred miles (see map). Thence he turned and cut his way. MAP SHOWING DE SOTO S ROUTE WESTWARD in a southwesterly direction almost to the Gulf of Mexico, nearthe present site of Mobile. Not despairing, however, of findingthe promised riches, he again marched inland to the north andwest, until he had crossed the Father of Waters, as the Indianstermed the Mississippi, and had penetrated far into the presentState of Arkansas. At last the endurance and faith of his men SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 7 began to fail, and the expedition turned southward once the return march De Soto died near the Mississippi River andwas buried secretly in its waters. This was in May, 1542, afterthree years of continuous wandering in an almost trackless wilder-ness and through the midst of warlike Indian tribes. The rest ofhis band finally reached the mouth of the Mississippi in boats,and thence made their way to Mexico, which the Spaniards hadconquered in 1521. Such, briefly, is the story of a daring adventurers search forgold, a sear
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