Odds are that the 16th century Spanish explorer never saw all the places that now bear his name.
By MICHAELCANNING
Published March 5, 2004
Pick a safe inlet on Florida's West Coast, and chances that are someone contends Hernando De Soto landed there.
Controversy abounds as to where the famous 16th century Spanish explorer landed his expedition in the southeastern United States. Theories include several points between Florida's southwest coast and the north Suncoast.
So it's not surprising that many local places and landmarks near the water have been named for him, including DeSoto Elementary School in Palmetto Beach a few blocks from McKay Bay.
The inconsistencies surrounding De Soto don't end there. Historians disagree on his birthplace, believed to be in Spain's Estremadura region around 1500. And though his last name is spelled De Soto with two words, many titles have it as one.
What's commonly known is that De Soto was born into a prominent family, was a Knight of the Order of Sant Yago (the basis of the local Knights of the Krewe of Sant'Yago) and got rich off the Spanish conquest of Peru.
On May 18, 1539, De Soto sailed from Cuba to Florida with a promise from Spain's King Charles V that he could keep half of all the gold and jewels he found there.
De Soto and 600 soldiers landed a week later, and his quest for gold led him north toward the panhandle. De Soto's group traveled to Georgia, the Carolinas, Tennessee and Alabama, and in 1541 he became the first white person to cross the Mississippi River.
De Soto continued to Arkansas then returned to the Mississippi River area, where he died of fever in 1542. He left a legacy of exploration as well as of plunder, pillage and enslavement of American Indians.
DeSoto Elementary opened in 1925. It replaced the former East Tampa Elementary, which was damaged by a storm in 1921.
The explorer's name also appears on DeSoto Park and Playground near the school, De Soto Avenue in Historic Hyde Park and DeSoto Street in Port Tampa. Regionally, attributions include DeSoto County, Fort De Soto in southern Pinellas County and the Sarasota and Bradenton-based Crewe of Hernando De Soto.
- Sources: Tampa Bay History Center, Hillsborough County School District.
