Hernando de Soto (also known as Fernando de Soto) was a Spanish explorer. He was born in 1496 at Jerez de los Caballeros and died in 1542. In 1519 he joined an expedition to Darien and in 1524 helped to conquer Nicaragua, afterwards sailing along the coast of central America. In 1532 he brought reinforcements to Pizarro in Peru, where he took a prominent part in the conquest. Soon after Charles V appointed him governor of Cuba and Florida. In 1539 he sailed to Florida on an expedition in search of gold and for nearly four years explored the country between the Atlantic and the lower Mississippi, crossing the Mississippi in 1541 and reaching Arkansas. He died of fever, along with many of his men, on the banks of the Mississippi while on the expedition, around 1542. Research Hernando de Soto
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