Hernando de soto education biography
Hernando de soto...
Early Life and Career
Like many of the era’s explorers and conquistadors, Hernando de Soto was a native of the impoverished Extremadura region of southwestern Spain.
Hernando de soto education biography
He was born c. 1496 in Jerez de los Caballeros, Bajadoz province.
De Soto’s family was of minor nobility and modest means, and at a very young age he developed dreams of making his fortune in the New World. Around the age of 14, de Soto left for Seville, where he got himself included on an expedition to the West Indies led by Pedro Arias Dávila in 1514.
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Hernando de soto education biography for kids
Hernando de Soto and his fellow Spaniards initially referred to the Mississippi River as the Rio Grande for its immense size. That habit was gradually replaced with the use of the river's Indian name, Meaot Massipi (or "Father of the Waters").
De Soto earned a small fortune from Dávila’s conquest of Panama and Nicaragua, and by 1530 he was the leading slavery trader and one of the richest men in Nicaragua.
In 1531, he joined Francisco Pizarro on an