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The De Soto Expedition Through Florida

Theodore Hayes Lewis

A later scholarly study by Theodore Hayes Lewis examining the route of De Soto's expedition through Florida.

A scholarly reconstruction of the route De Soto's expedition took through Florida.

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Front cover of a brown book with a marbled, mottled dark brown paper pattern and a brown spine on the left. A white octagonal library label on the spine reads E 125 .S7L4 in black handwriting.
Theodore Hayes Lewis, The De Soto Expedition Through Florida (book cover).

About this source

What it is

This is the cover of a book by Theodore Hayes Lewis, a later scholarly study tracing the route of Hernando de Soto's expedition through Florida.

Why it matters

Like other historians of his time, Lewis tried to reconstruct exactly where De Soto traveled using available records. These reconstructions are important because no complete first-hand map or diary from the expedition survives in this collection, so historians must piece the story together.

Look closer

  • Why is tracing an exact historical route difficult without original maps?
  • What sources might a historian like Lewis have relied on?
  • How might different historians reach different conclusions about the same journey?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hernando de Soto on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Title page of the 1605 first edition of La Florida del Inca, printed in Lisbon. Large capital title at top, followed by a long subtitle about Hernando de Soto and the Florida region, dedicated to the Duke of Braganza, with licence and printer lines at the bottom.Book

Secondary source

La Florida del Inca

Inca Garcilaso de la Vega · 1605

Scan of a dark brown, mottled book cover with a white library label at the top reading 'UC-NRLF' above a barcode and the call number '$B 284 962'. No title text is visible on the cover.Book

Primary source

Verdadera relación de la conquista del Perú

Francisco de Jerez · 1534 (this edition 1891)

Large painting of Spanish explorers in armor on horseback and on foot beside a river, with Native Americans near teepee-like tents, a cannon, weapons, a chest, and a cross being carried in the foreground. A red flag with a black eagle is raised at left.Painting

Secondary source

Discovery of the Mississippi by De Soto

William Henry Powell · 1847

Front entrance of the Florida Museum of Natural History: a modern brick building with a curved, sloped silver roof, glass double doors, palm trees, a green banner, and a bench in front under a clear blue sky.Artifact

Primary source

Florida Museum of Natural History

A bound manuscript volume lies open in a glass case on a white pedestal, showing two pages with handwritten Spanish text and a pen-and-ink drawing of figures with a Spanish-style scene at left. A numbered tag reading 35 sits beside it. Colorful graphic wall art surrounds the case.Book

Primary source

El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno

Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala · c. 1615

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