MOOSEY] DK SUTo'8 ROLTK H)l 



was not one of the larger streams. Although Ileckeweliler makes the Alligewi, as ne 

 ])refers to eall them, flee down the ^lississippi after their final ilefeat, the Walain 

 Ohnn chronicle says only "all the Talega go south." It was prohalily a graihial 

 withdrawal, rather tlian a sudden and concerted flight (see Hale, Indian Migra- 

 tions, jjp. 19-22) . 



(7) First ai>pe.\u.\xce ok whites (ji. 19): It is possible that this may refer to one 

 of the earlier adventurers who coasted along the Xorth Atlantic in the first decades 

 after the discovery of America, among whom were Seba.stian Cabot, in 1498; Verra- 

 zano, in 1524; and Gomez, in 1525. As these voyages were not followed up by per- 

 manent occupation of the country it is doubtful if the)- made any lasting impression 

 upon Indian tradition. The author has chosen to a.ssume, with Brinton and Ra(i- 

 ne.s(]ue, that the Walam Oluni reference is to the settlement of the Dutch at New 

 York an<l the English in Virginia soon after 1600. 



(S) I)e Soto's roi'TE (p. 26): On May 30, 15S9, Hernando de Soto, of Spain, with 

 600 armed men and 213 horses, landed at Tampa bay, on the west coast of Florida, in 

 search of gold. After more than four years of hardship and disappointed wandering 

 from Florida to the great plains of the West and back again to the ^Mississippi, where 

 De Soto died and his body was consigned to the great river, 311 men, all that were 

 left of the expedition, arrived finally at Piinuco, in Mexico, on September 10, 1543. 



For the history of this expedition, the most important ever undertaken by Spain 

 within eastern Uniterl States, w(> have four original authorities. First is the very 

 brief, but evidently truthful (Spanish) report of Biedma, an otlicer of the exjiedi- 

 tion, presented to the King in 1544, immediately after the return to Spain. Next 

 in order, but of fii-st importance for detail and general appearance of reliability, is 

 the narrative of an anonymous Portuguese cavalier of the expedition, commonly 

 known as the Gentleman, of Elvas, originally published in the Portuguese language 

 in 1557. Next comes the (Spanish) narrative of Garcilaso, written, but not pub- 

 lished, in 1587. Unlike the others, the author was not an eyewitness of what he 

 describes, but made up his accf)unt chiefly from the oral recollections of an old 

 soldier of the expedition more than forty yeai-s after the event, this information 

 being sujiplementcd from ]>a|)ers written by two other soldiers of DeSoto. As might 

 be expected, the tiarcilaso narrative, although written in flowery style, abounds in 

 exaggeration and trivial incident, and compares unfavorably with the other accounts, 

 while probably giving more of the minor happenings. The fourth original account 

 is an unfinished (Spanish) rej)ort by Ranjel, secretary of the expedition, written 

 soon after reaching Mexico, and afterward incorporated with considerable change l)y 

 C»vieilo, in his "Historia natural y general de las Indias." As this fourth narrative 

 remained unpubli.«hed until 1S51 and has never been translated, it has hitherto liccii 

 entirely overlooked by the commentators, excepting Winsor, who notes it inciden- 

 tally. In general it agrees well with the Elvas narrative and throws valuable light 

 upon the history of the expedition. 



The principal authorities, while preserving a general unity of narrati\c, differ 

 greatly in detail, especially in estimates of numbers and distances, frequently to such 

 an extent that it is useless to attempt to reconcile their different statements. In gen- 

 eral the Gentleman of Elvas is most moderate in his expression, while Biedma takes 

 a middle ground and (iarcilaso exaggerates greatly. Thus the first named gives 

 De Soto 600 men, Biedma makes the number 620, while Ciarcila-xo says 1,000. At a 

 certain stage of the journey the Portuguese Gentleman gives De Soto 700 Indians as 

 escort, Biedma says 800, while Garcilaso makes it 8,000. At the battle of Mavilla the 

 Elvas account gives 18 Spaniards and 2,500 Indians kille<l, Biedma says 20 Spaniards 

 killed, without giving an estimate of the Indians, while Garcilaso has 82 Spaniards 

 and over 11,000 Indians killed. In distances there is as great discrepancy. Thus 

 Bie<Ima makes the distance frcmi Guaxule to Chiaha four days, Garcilaso has it six 

 days, and Elvas seven days. As to the length of an average day's march we find it 



