1993 Choice Outstanding Academic Book, sponsored by Choice Magazine.
The De Soto expedition was the first major encounter of Europeans with North American Indians in the eastern half of the United States. De Soto and his army of over 600 men, including 200 cavalry, spent four years traveling through what is now Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Texas. For anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians the surviving De Soto chronicles are valued for the unique ethnological information they contain. These documents, available here in a two volume set, are the only detailed eyewitness records of the most advanced native civilization in North America—the Mississippian culture—a culture that vanished in the wake of European contact.
ILLUSTRATIONSBOARD OF ADVISERSCONTRIBUTORSFOREWORDClaytonLawrence A.PREFACEACKNOWLEDGMENTSNOTES ON TRANSLATIONS AND NAMESINTRODUCTION: THE DE SOTO EXPEDITION, A CULTURAL CROSSROADSHoffmanPaul E.THE ACCOUNT BY A GENTLEMAN FROM ELVASRELATION OF THE ISLAND OF FLORIDAde BiedmaLuys HernándezACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN CONQUEST AND DISCOVERY OF HERNANDO DE SOTORangelRodrigoTHE CAÑETE FRAGMENT: ANOTHER NARRATIVE OF HERNANDO DE SOTOLyonEugenePARALLEL ITINERARY OF THE EXPEDITION Originally published as Appendix E in the Final Report of the United States De Soto Expedition CommissionSwantonJohn R.Selected Items from NARRATIVES OF THE CAREER OF HERNANDO DE SOTO IN THE CONQUEST OF FLORIDACONVEYANCE OF DOWER BY THE WIDOW OF PEDRÁRIAS DÁVILA TO HERNANDO DE SOTO, IN CONSIDERATION OF THE ESPOUSAL OF HER DAUGHTERLETTER OF HERNANDO DE SOTO RESPECTING CONCESSIONS HE DESIRES SHALL BE OBTAINED FOR HIM AT COURTCONCESSION MADE BY THE KING OF SPAIN TO HERNANDO DE SOTO OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA AND CONQUEST OF FLORIDA, WITH THE TITLE OF ADELANTADOROYAL CEDULA PERMITTING JUAN DE AÑASCO TO TRAFFIC WITH THE INDIANS OF FLORIDA, SO LONG AS THERE ARE NO DUTIES ON IMPORTS IN THAT PROVINCEWILL OF HERNANDO DE SOTOLETTER TO THE KING OF SPAIN FROM OFFICERS AT HAVANA IN THE ARMY OF DE SOTOLETTER OF HERNANDO DE SOTO AT TAMPA BAY TO THE JUSTICE AND BOARD OF MAGISTRATES IN SANTIAGO DE CUBALETTER TO CHARLES V FROM THE JUSTICE AND BOARD OF MAGISTRATES OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA, GIVING A STATEMENT OF OCCURRENCES ON THE ISLANDEL ADELANTADO DON HERNANDO DE SOTO A short biography, originally published by the Junta de Extremadura (Extremadura Enclave 92) in their Cuadernos Populares, November 1988.RubioRocío SánchezHERNANDO DE SOTO: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHYHoffmanPaul E.SOME NEW TRANSLATIONS OF DE SOTO DOCUMENTS FROM THE GENERAL ARCHIVE OF THE INDIES, SEVILLERubioRocío SánchezNAMING OF CAPTAIN HERNANDO DE SOTO AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF CUZCO, 1534CÉDULA REAL PERMITTING THE SHIPS GOING TO THE INDIES TO GO IN THE COMPANY OF DE SOTO'S ARMADA, 1537CÉDULA REAL REQUIRING THE SHIPS GOING TOWARD THE INDIES TO DO SO IN THE COMPANY OF HERNANDO DE SOTO, 1538AUTHORIZATION FOR DOÑA ISABEL DE BOBADILLA TO BRING THREE SLAVE WOMEN TO THE ISLAND OF CUBA FOR HER SERVICE, 1538INTERROGATION FOR THE CONCESSION OF THE HABIT OF SANTIAGO TO HERNANDO DE SOTO, 1538POWER GRANTED BY THE ADELANTADO HERNANDO DE SOTO TO HIS WIFE, ISABEL DE BOBADILLA, 1539INVENTORY OF THE ASSETS LEFT BY THE ADELANTADO HERNANDO DE SOTO FOLLOWING HIS DEATH, 1543INDIAN PROPER NAMES IN THE FOUR NARRATIVES Originally published in the Final Report of The United States De Soto Expedition CommissionSwantonJohn R.GLOSSARYINTRODUCTION TO BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DE SOTO STUDIESBrainJeffrey P.EwenCharles R.BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DE SOTO STUDIESBrainJeffrey P.EwenCharles R.INDEXILLUSTRATIONSFOREWORDMooreEdward C.GARCILASO DE LA VEGA, THE INCACrowleyFrances G.LA FLORIDAde la VegaGarcilasoGENEALOGY OF GARCÍ PÉREZ DE VARGASde la VegaGarcilasoINDEX
Lawrence A. Clayton is professor emeritus of history at the University of Alabama. He is author of Bartolomé de las Casas: A Biography and coauthor of A New History of Modern Latin America.
David M. Lantigua is assistant professor of moral theology and Christian ethics in the department of theology at the University of Notre Dame. He is coeditor of Comparative Religious Ethics: A Narrative Approach to Global Ethics.