De Soto meets the mighty Mississippi
De Soto meets the mighty Mississippi
The next day, upon which De Soto was hoping to see the chief, a large company of Indians came, fully armed and in war-paint, with the purpose of attacking the Christians. But when they saw that the Governor had drawn up his army in line of battle, they remained a cross-bow shot away for half an hour, discussing the situation. They did not like the look of the men in iron and on horseback…
http://nobility.org/wp-content/uploa.../05/desoto.jpg Hernando de Soto
De Soto wished above everything else to avoid fight…. He wished to make friends with the Indians. As it seemed difficult to do that, he advanced slowly, by short stages, turning a little to the north to avoid the natives, and to find a good approach to the Great River. They reached it on May 21st [1541], a Saturday.
There has been a good deal of discussion as to the exact spot at which De Soto looked first with astonished eyes upon that volume of water….
http://nobility.org/wp-content/uploa...ississippi.jpg Discovery of the Mississippi by William H. Powell. Hernando De Soto seeing the Mississippi River for the first time. This painting hangs in the US Capitol rotunda. Edited by Nobility.org.
What is infinitely more important than establishing—if it can be established—the exact location of the discovery is a vivid realization of the valor and hardihood of the pioneers who had persisted in advancing through the wilderness, in the face of furious opposition, and after having endured, within four months, the successive disasters of Mabilla and Chicaça. To the loyalty, fortitude and courage of the Spanish army admiration is due; but there are no words to be said of its commander, the brain, the heart, and the unfaltering will of the expedition.
Theodore Maynard, De Soto and the Conquistadores (New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1930), pp. 228-230.
Nobility and Analogous Traditional Elites
