Where Did Hernando De Soto Cross The Mississippi River For The First Time?

by | Last updated on January 24, 2024

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On May 21, 1541, the Spaniards saw for the first time the Mississippi River, the “Father of the Water”

south of Memphis, Tennessee

. They crossed the river and made their way through Arkansas and Louisiana. Then, early in 1542, de Soto turned back to the Mississippi River.

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Where did Hernando De Soto cross the Mississippi River?

Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi. On May 8, 1541,

south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee

, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so.

When did Hernando De Soto cross the Mississippi river?

It shows Spanish conquistador and explorer Hernando De Soto (1500–1542), riding a white horse and dressed in Renaissance finery, arriving at the Mississippi River at a point below Natchez on

May 8, 1541

. De Soto was the first European documented to have seen the river.

What Rivers did Hernando De Soto cross?

In 1541, de Soto and his men became the first Europeans to encounter

the great Mississippi River

and cross it; de Soto died early the next year.

What did De Soto do at the Mississippi river?

Who Was Hernando de Soto? In the early 1530s, while on Francisco Pizarro’s expedition, Hernando de Soto helped conquer Peru. In 1539 he set out for North America, where he discovered

the Mississippi River

. De Soto died of fever on May 21, 1542, in Ferriday, Louisiana.

Who claimed Mississippi River Valley for France?


La Salle

was the first European to travel the Mississippi from the Illinois River to the Gulf of Mexico, and he claimed the Mississippi River drainage area for France, naming it “Louisiana” after King Louis XIV.

Who was the first European to see the Mississippi River?

1519:

Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda

searches the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for passageway to the Pacific Ocean. He was the first European to see Mississippi and produced a fairly accurate map of the coast from Florida to Texas.

What route did Hernando de Soto take?

After marching through Florida, De Soto’s group traveled northeast through Georgia and into South Carolina and North Carolina before turning west and southwest into parts of Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi. On May 8, 1541, the expedition sighted the

Mississippi River

, then headed into Arkansas.

Who took over the expedition when Desoto died?

Hernando de Soto died after contracting a fever in May of 1542 in a Native American village located in modern-day Arkansas. His men buried him in the Mississippi River in the middle of the night after he passed. Prior to his death, de Soto chose

Luis de Moscoso Alvarado

as the new leader of the expedition.

When was the new bridge built in Memphis?

Hernando de Soto Bridge Construction start

May 2, 1967

Opened


August 2, 1973
Statistics Daily traffic 37,308 (2018)

How did explorers cross the Mississippi River?

In. the early movement of settlers to Iowa, the Mississippi River played a double role. … Rivers proved to be an unfailing source of trouble. The

small streams were crossed by fording the larger ones by swimming the teams, wagons and all

.

Why is Hernando de Soto important?

Hernando de Soto is

most famous for his exploration of North America

. He led 600 men on a journey through what is now the southeastern United States. They were the first Europeans to explore most of this region. De Soto was sent by the King of Spain to explore and settle La Florida.

Where is the Mississippi River?

The Mississippi River runs through or along 10 states,

from Minnesota to Louisiana

, and is used to define portions of these states borders, with Wisconsin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi along the east side of the river, and Iowa, Missouri, and Arkansas along its west side.

What French city is at the mouth of the Mississippi river?


La Balize, Louisiana

, was a French fort and settlement near the mouth of the Mississippi River, in what later became Plaquemines Parish. The village’s name (also spelled La Balise) meant “seamark.” La Balize was historically and economically important for overseeing the river.

What route did Robert de La Salle take?

He was sent by King Louis the 14 to travel

south from Canada and sail down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico

. He was the first European to travel the length of the Mississippi River (1682).

Who discovered the St Lawrence River?


French mariner Jacques Cartier

was the first European to navigate the St. Lawrence River, and his explorations of the river and the Atlantic coast of Canada, on three expeditions from 1534 to 1542, laid the basis for later French claims to North America. Cartier is also credited with naming Canada.

Where is Desoto buried?

Birth 21 Oct 1496 Provincia de Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain Death 21 May 1542 (aged 45) Ferriday, Concordia Parish, Louisiana, USA Burial Body lost or destroyed, Specifically:

Placed in a hollowed out tree trunk and placed in the Mississippi River
Memorial ID 7450123 · View Source

What was Henry Hudson’s route?

Henry Hudson did not succeed in reaching Asia; however, he did explore the North Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Iceland, parts of North America, and he famously sailed up

the Hudson River as

far as current-day Albany, New York.

Did Robert De La Salle have a wife?


La Salle never married

, but has been linked to Madeleine de Roybon d’Allonne, an early colonizer of New France.

Why did Hernando de Soto come to Arkansas?

His primary aim was

the gaining of riches, and present-day Indians in Arkansas

and other Southern states view him as a murderer. After traveling around the state for almost a year, de Soto led his expedition back to the Mississippi River, somewhere in southeast Arkansas.

What is Hernan Cortes route?

Hernan Cortes took an

overland route from Veracruz, on the eastern coast of Mexico, to the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan

, located in modern-day Mexico City. He famously burned his ships at Veracruz to show that the only way forward was to victory over the Aztecs: there would be no going home any other way.

Why was De Soto buried in the Mississippi River?

All the Native Americans were killed along with 20 of de Soto’s men. … Turning back to the Mississippi, de Soto died of a fever on its banks on May 21, 1542. In order that local tribes would not learn of his death, and thus

disprove de Soto’s claims of divinity

, his men buried his body in the Mississippi River.

What explorers were killed by natives?

On February 14, 1779,

Captain James Cook

, the great English explorer and navigator, is killed by natives of Hawaii during his third visit to the Pacific island group.

What are some important dates for Hernando de Soto?

  • May 12, 1500. Hernando born. …
  • Aug 8, 1510. Education. …
  • May 3, 1514. Davila – Adventure. …
  • Oct 16, 1532. Hernando De Soto and Francisco Pizarro. …
  • Aug 15, 1536. Back to Spain. …
  • Apr 6, 1538. Stop in Cuba. …
  • May 25, 1539. Reaching Tampa Bay. …
  • Jun 20, 1540. Exploring the Mississippi.

How many bridges are in Memphis?

Normally, the Memphis area has

two

, aging bridges across the Mississippi River: the Interstate 40 bridge, which turns 48 this year, and the I-55 bridge, which turns 72.

Is I-40 bridge in Memphis still closed?

All lanes of I-40 bridge in Memphis

are now open

.

What cities does the Mississippi river run through?

Major cities located along the Mississippi River include

Minneapolis, Minnesota

; St. Louis, Missouri; Memphis, Tennessee; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and New Orleans, Louisiana. The river has 41 ports and harbors, according to the World Port Source.

Where does the Mississippi river start and end?

The Mississippi River

begins as a trickle flowing out of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota

. From there the river flows 2,348 miles until it pours into the Gulf of Mexico below New Orleans. The Mississippi River drains 33 states and its watershed covers one-half of the nation.

Where did the pioneers cross the Mississippi river?

Most of the pioneers who migrated to the Far West came from the states that border the Mississippi River:

Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Illinois

. These states had only recently acquired statehood: Louisiana in 1812, Illinois in 1818, Missouri in 1821, and Arkansas in 1836.

What river runs through Memphis?


The Mississippi River

has been delivering people to Memphis for a long time.

Where do ships enter the Mississippi river?

The MRGO begins just

west of I-510’s crossing of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway in New Orleans East

and takes a path SSE through St. Bernard Parish wetlands just west of Lake Borgne to the Gulf of Mexico near Gardner Island.

What Indian tribes lived along the Mississippi river?

The

Choctaw, Chickasaw, Quapaw, Osage, Caddo, Natchez, and Tunica

occupied territories in the Lower Mississippi; the Sioux, Sauk and Fox, Ojibwe (or Chippewa), Pottawatomie, Illini, Menominee, and Ho-chunk (or Winnebago) occupied the Upper Mississippi.

Why was the mouth of the Mississippi river extended?

South of Cairo the Mississippi enters a wide (64-113 km/40-70 mi), low valley that was once an embayment of the Gulf of Mexico.

Sediment has

filled this area, and through the centuries the river has extended its mouth to the present location 966 km (600 mi) downstream.

Who discovered Florida?

Written records about life in Florida began with the arrival of the Spanish explorer and adventurer

Juan Ponce de León

in 1513. Sometime between April 2 and April 8, Ponce de León waded ashore on the northeast coast of Florida, possibly near present-day St. Augustine.

Which river did Lasalle explore?

René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, (born November 22, 1643, Rouen, France—died March 19, 1687, near Brazos River [now in Texas, U.S.]), French explorer in North America who led an expedition down

the Illinois and Mississippi rivers

and claimed all the region watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries for …

What are some fun facts about Hernando de Soto?

  • #1 His parents wanted him to be a lawyer.
  • #4 He played a major role in defeating the Incas in the Battle of Cajamarca.
  • #5 He made an enormous fortune during the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.
  • #6 Hernando de Soto was made governor of Cuba in 1537.

How long was Louisiana a French colony?

Louisiana (French: La Louisiane; La Louisiane française) or French Louisiana was an administrative district of New France. Under French control

from 1682 to 1769 and 1801 (nominally) to 1803

, the area was named in honor of King Louis XIV, by French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle.

Why is the Mississippi Delta called a Delta?

The shifting river delta at the mouth of the Mississippi on the Gulf Coast lies some 300 miles south of this area, and is referred to as the Mississippi River Delta. Rather, the Mississippi Delta is

part of an alluvial plain, created by regular flooding of the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers over thousands of years

.

Where did the French come from in New Orleans?

The French created New Orleans from

swampland along the Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico

. As the thriving capital of New France, King Louis XV passed New Orleans to his Spanish cousin {Charles III} in 1762, primarily to keep the city out of the hands of the British.

Timothy Chehowski
Author
Timothy Chehowski
Timothy Chehowski is a travel writer and photographer with over 10 years of experience exploring the world. He has visited over 50 countries and has a passion for discovering off-the-beaten-path destinations and hidden gems. Juan's writing and photography have been featured in various travel publications.