“For those interested in De Soto and his expedition, these volumes are an absolute necessity.” —The Hispanic American Historical Review
1993 Choice Outstanding Academic Book, sponsored by Choice Magazine
The De Soto expedition was the first major encounter of Europeans with indigenous North Americans 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. The De Soto Chronicles Volume 1 and Volume 2 present for the first time all four primary accounts of the De Soto expedition together in English translation.
The four primary accounts are generally referred to as Elvas, Rangel, Biedma (in Volume 1), and Garcilaso, or the Inca (in Volume 2). In this landmark 1993 publication, Clayton’s team presents the four accounts with literary and historical introductions. They further add brief essays about De Soto and the expedition, translations of De Soto documents from the Spanish Archivo General de Indias, two short biographies of De Soto, and bibliographical studies.
For anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians, The De Soto Chronicles are valued for the unique ethnological information they contain. They form the only detailed eyewitness records of the most advanced native civilization in North America—the Mississippian culture—a culture largely lost in the wake of European contact.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BOARD OF ADVISERS
CONTRIBUTORS
FOREWORD By Lawrence A. Clayton
PREFACE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTES ON TRANSLATIONS AND NAMES
INTRODUCTION: THE DE SOTO EXPEDITION, A CULTURAL CROSSROADS
By Paul E. Hoffman
THE ACCOUNT BY A GENTLEMAN FROM ELVAS 19
Translated and Edited by James Alexander Robertson
With Footnotes and Updates to Robertson's Notes by John H. Hann
RELATION OF THE ISLAND OF FLORIDA 221
By Luys Hernandez de Biedma
Newly Translated and Edited by John E. Worth
With Footnotes by John E. Worth and Charles Hudson
ACCOUNT OF THE NORTHERN CONQUEST AND DISCOVERY OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 247
By Rodrigo Rangel (drawn from Historia general y natural de las Indias by Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes) Newly Translated and Edited by John E. Worth
With Footnotes by John E. Worth and Charles Hudson
THE CANETE FRAGMENT: ANOTHER NARRATIVE OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 307
by Eugene Lyon
PARALLEL ITINERARY OF THE EXPEDITION
Originally published as Appendix E in the Final Report of the United States De Soto Expedition Commission
by John R. Swanton
Selected Items from NARRATIVES OF THE CAREER OF HERNANDO DE SOTO IN THE CONQUEST OF FLORIDA
Translated by Buckingham Smith for the Bradford Club, New York, 1866
CONVEYANCE OF DOWER BY THE.WIDOW OF PEDAARIAS DAVILA TO HERNANDO DE SOTO, IN CONSIDERATION OF THE ESPOUSAL OF HER DAUGHTER 357
LETTER OF HERNANDO DE SOTO RESPECTING CONCESSIONS HE DESIRES SHALL BE OBTAINED FOR HIM AT COURT
CONCESSION MADE BY THE KING OF SPAIN TO HERNANDO DE SOTO OF THE GOVERNMENT OF CUBA AND CONQUEST OF FLORIDA, WITH THE TITLE OF ADELANTADO 359
ROYAL CEDULA PERMITTING JUAN DE ANASCO TO TRAFFIC WITH THE INDIANS OF FLORIDA, SO LONG AS THERE ARE NO DUTIES ON IMPORTS IN THAT PROVINCE 365
WILL OF HERNANDO DE SOTO 366
LETTER TO THE KING OF SPAIN FROM OFFICERS AT HAVANA IN THE ARMY OF DE SOTO 372
LETTER OF HERNANDO DE SOTO AT TAMPA BAY TO THE JUSTICE AND BOARD OF MAGISTRATES IN SANTIAGO DE CUBA 375
LETTER TO CHARLES V FROM THE JUSTICE AND BOARD OF MAGISTRATES OF SANTIAGO DE CUBA, GIVING A STATEMENT OF OCCURRENCES ON THE ISLAND 378
EL ADELANTADO DON HERNANDO DE SOTO 383
A short biography, originally published by the Junta de Extremadura (Extremadura Enclave 92) in their Cuadernos Populares, November 1988.
By Rocio Sanchez Rubio Translated by Eduardo Kortright
HERNANDO DE SOTO: A BRIEF BIOGRAPHY 421
By Paul E. Hoffman
SOME NEW TRANSLATIONS OF DE SOTO DOCUMENTS FROM THE GENERAL ARCHIVE OF THE INDIES, SEVILLE 461
Selected and Introduced by Rocio Sanchez Rubio Translated by David Bost
NAMING OF CAPTAIN HERNANDO DE SOTO AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF CUZCO, 1534 467
CEDULA REAL PERMITTING THE SHIPS GOING TO THE INDIES TO GO IN THE COMPANY OF DE SOTO'S ARMADA
CEDULA REAL REQUIRING THE SHIPS GOING TOWARD THE INDIES TO DO SO IN THE COMPANY OF HERNANDO DE SOTO, 1538 469
AUTHORIZATION FOR DONA ISABEL DE BOBADILLA TO BRING THREE SLAVE WOMEN TO THE ISLAND OF CUBA FOR HER SERVICE
INTERROGATION FOR THE CONCESSION OF THE HABIT OF SANTIAGO TO HERNANDO DE SOTO, 1538 470
POWER GRANTED BY THE ADELANTADO HERNANDO DE SOTO TO HIS WIFE, ISABEL DE BOBADILLA, 1539
INVENTORY OF THE ASSETS LEFT BY THE ADELANTADO HERNANDO DE SOTO FOLLOWING HIS DEATH, 1543
INDIAN PROPER NAMES IN THE FOUR NARRATIVES
Originally published in the Final Report of The United States De Soto Expedition Commission 499
By John R. Swanton
GLOSSARY 503
INTRODUCTION TO BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DE SOTO STUDIES
By Jeffrey P. Brain and Charles R. Ewen 507
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF DE SOTO STUDIES
By Jeffrey P. Brain and Charles R. Ewen 5 I 5
INDEX 551
THE "DE SOTO MAP" Endpapers
HERNANDO DE SOTO, CA. 1495-1542 Vlll
A COIN FROM DE SOTO'S FIRST WINTER CAMP 71
SPANIARDS MEET WITH A MISSISSIPPIAN CHIEF 79
THE HERNANDO DE SOTO EXPEDITION ENCOUNTERS CHIEF TASCALUSA 97
MONOLITHIC AX I02
SPANISH SWORDS I03
DE SOTO'S ROUTE IN NORTH AMERICA BY ROCIO SANCHEZ RUBIO 169
SPANISH SWORDSMAN, ARQUEBUSIER, AND PIKEMAN ABOUT 1540 2 34
SPANISH GLASS TRADE BEADS 286
A "CLARKSDALE" BELL 287
A SPANISH MAN-AT-ARMS 295
DELISLE'S MAP OF LOUISIANE, 1718 419
