USA > Ohio > Cuyahoga County > Cleveland > The founder of the city of Cleveland, and other sketches > Part 9
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In the mean time extravagant rumors in re- gard to the riches of the New World pervaded Spain. Everybody became excited, and the return of De Soto to Spain laden with gold increased the intensity of the excitement. He became the central figure, not less of envy than of admiration, and was received, wherever lie
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went, with demonstrations of popular favor. In fact, he was deemed the most fortunate man in Spain. He paid his addresses to the daughter of the nobleman Davila, his early patron, and married her. And, though he had incurred the displeasure of her father by criticisms on his administration of the government in Darien, yet this happy alliance with his daughter allayed at once all former animosities. The King of Spain was among the first to manifest his ad- miration of De Soto. He paid him imperial honors, and expressed a readiness to grant him any request he might choose to make.
De Soto appreciated his opportunities, and, being possessed of immense wealth, resolved to accomplish some grand achievement that would eclipse the name and fame of Pizarro and Cortez. He shared the current belief that there existed somewhere in the northern region of the New World, still undiscovered, as many rich cities, palaces, and treasuries overflowing with gold, as had been found in the broad domain of the southern region. Influenced by this belief, he solicited the king to grant him permission to conquer and colonize Florida at his own cost. The king not only gave him the permission desired, but authorized him to exercise abso- lute jurisdiction over the land of flowers. In addition to this, he appointed him governor of
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Cuba. No sooner was the contemplated expe- dition for the conquest of Florida announced, than hundreds of wealthy and aspiring adven- turers applied to De Soto for permission to join him in the expedition. Among the adven- turers were included a few women, and also a few priests and mechanics. The fleet consisted of nine ships, freighted with seven hundred armed men, three hundred horses, a large herd of swine, and a dozen or more bloodhounds. Nearly a year was occupied in equipping the expedition with the requisite outfit, a part of which was furnished in Cuba, whence the fleet sailed with all the "pomp and circumstance of war," May 18, 1539, and reached Tampa Bay, on the westerly coast of Florida, on the thir- tieth of the same month. Here he landed his troops and marched into the interior. The first human being he met was a Spaniard who had been, eleven years previous to this time, eap- tured by the Indians in a warfare with Narvaez, whose expedition to Florida and the region north-west of it proved a sad failure.
The name of the captured Spaniard was Juan Ortiz. When taken prisoner by the Indians he was condemned to suffer death at the stake. Fagots were prepared, and the firebrand ap- plied, when the sympathetic daughter of the chief appealed to her father to spare the vie-
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tim's life, urging that it would be an honor to her father and to the tribe to hold the captive in their service as a white slave. This sugges- tion pleased the stern old chief, who promptly ordered the victim's release. There might have been another and a tenderer motive that induced the maiden to make this appeal.
De Soto was not less surprised than fortunate. in meeting one of his own countrymen in the wilds of Florida at so unexpected a moment, who from his long captivity had become fa- miliar with the Indian language, and was therefore able to give him much valuable in- formation. Ortiz, however, had no knowledge of a definite character relative to the existence of rich cities or mines of gold, in the wilds of Florida, nor had he received any information of that kind from the natives. This did not dis- courage De Soto. He resolved to penetrate the wilderness, believing that he would at no very great distance reach a region of rich eities and still richer mines of gold. He had an insatiable thirst for gold that could not be quenehed. It was with him a monomania. He pursued the phantom, accompanied by his followers, in a north-westerly direction, and fought his way as he advanced through the domains of hostile tribes of Indians until his supplies were ex- hausted and his men reduced to extremities.
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They expressed their dissatisfaction, and im- plored him to allow them to return to their own country. He refused to listen to their complaints, and cut off all hopes of a speedy return by ordering his ships to leave the coast and sail for Cuba.
He then inspired his followers with new courage by assuring them that they should share . with him liberally the gold which they were certain to find, and declared that he would see with his own eyes the rich deposits of gold that lay hidden in the wild domain of which he was now the imperial governor. Thus stimulated they advanced. fighting the Indians on the way, and feeding on the maize which they took from them. The Indians were disgusted with the greed of the intruders, and for the purpose of ridding themselves of them assured them that gold abounded in certain remote regions beyond the line of their tribal domains. This encour- aged De Soto and his men to continue their search. They wandered amid suffering, sick- ness, and death, and were frequently attacked by the natives during their first summer in Florida. They wintered in the vicinity of Appalachee Bay, where De Soto communicated with Cuba, ordered a fresh supply of provi- sions, and sent his wife, Dona Isabella, twenty Indian maidens to serve as her slaves, with
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other tokens of regard, indicating the success and golden prospects of his enterprise - an im- pression he wished to create.
In the spring of 1540 he proceeded northward in the direction of a region occupied by still more numerous Indian tribes. He compelled every tribe through whose domain he passed to contribute in turn not only sufficient maize to furnish his entire force with bread, but sub- jected them to serve as beasts of burden, and in order to secure their adherence to his service chained them neck to neck in couples. He also appropriated their most comely women. Twelve Jesuit priests accompanied him, who performed religious services daily, and who were clad in the glittering regalia of their order. They professed a love for the Indians and a desire to enlighten them in the principles of Christian- ity, but were by no means averse to the accu- mulation of gold and the free enjoyment of the luxuries of life. Rumor reported from tribe to tribe the advance of De Soto and his men. And though a successful resistance was hopeless, the Indians often attacked the intruders with a bravery that was rarely excelled. They were slain by hundreds, and the pathway of De Soto was strewn with skeletons.
He discovered as he advanced that the natives possessed large quantities of beautiful pearls.
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This intensified his desire for wealth - gold and pearls. He was now approached by an Indian queen, who took from her neck a mas- sive string of beautiful pearls and threw it around his neck as a token of her reverential regard for so distinguished a visitor. She also presented him several mantles wrought of beau- tiful feathers and with thread as fine as silk, - which was manufactured from the bark of a tree. These he gracefully accepted and asked where the pearls were found. She replied that the graves of their village were full of them. He directed his men to open the graves. In doing this they soon gathered three hundred and fifty pounds of pearls - a rich harvest for the despoilers. But their joy was changed to grief when on critical examination they discov- ered that the pearls had been perforated and worn as ornaments, and their beauty so marred and discolored by time as to render them value- less. Though the queen had received De Soto with liberal presents and with profound respect, he did not hesitate to retain her as a captive, and to subject her attendants to his service as slaves. The queen, however, managed to elude her guards and made her escape, taking with her a box of select pearls of great value. She was the queen of a powerful tribe of Floridians, who had achieved a good degree of civilization.
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This was evident from the advance they had made in the arts, the style of clothing in which they were elad, and the structure of their dwell- ings. The queen's village was located in the interior of the flowery land, about two days' journey from the Atlantic coast. Her subjects cultivated the soil to a considerable extent, and seemed disposed to maintain peaceful relations - with the strangers, until their queen was re- strained of her liberty and placed under guard. This aroused their indignation, and induced De Soto to take his departure from their domains.
The adventurers, under the guidance of a friendly Indian, now pursued their way into the wilds of the north-west -the present region of Georgia. They noticed that the Indians they met had copper hatehets, and that the copper contained grains of gold, and, moreover, that the Indians understood. the art of smelt- ing ores. This indication of gold inspired the adventurers with renewed hope. Their Indian guide assured them that in the mountains at the North they would find rich mines of gold. But they doubted his sincerity, as they had so often been misled by the natives, who desired to rid themselves of their unserupulous visitors. . The sagacious Indian guide, however, was truthful, and doubtless referred to the gold mines in the mountains of Georgia or North
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Carolina. Had they followed his direction they would have found gold, as in all proba- bility the mines had been wrought by the Indians at a previous period, perhaps for cen- turies. Yet they declined to proceed. They had become disgusted with the barrenness of the wild region in which they were wandering. They suffered intensely from sickness and desti- tution, and for this reason changed their direc- tion to the south-west. The Indian guide also became disgusted with his slavish duties and
feigned insanity. The priest said "a gospel over him " and he recovered. He was undoubt- edly convinced that he must recover or be shot. In the course of their wanderings in the south- west they passed through the northern parts of Georgia and Alabama until they struck the headwaters of the Alabama River. They then followed the river in its southern direction towards the sea. In this region they were delighted to find an abundance of wild grapes, rich and ripe and ready at hand, and also maize in the field, to which they did not hesitate to help themselves. It was now the golden month of October. They had journeyed in the wilder- ness for many a weary month, and suffered grievous losses of men and property without realizing their expectations or achieving any desirable results.
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Still De Soto, though sadly disappointed, did not despair of finding gold somewhere in the wilds of the West. He knew that he was governor of Florida, and believed he was still moving within the limits of his own jurisdic- tion. In his progress towards the ocean he now met an Indian who informed him that ships had arrived at the seacoast with supplies. This information he dared not disclose lest his men should revolt, and the news of his failure to find gold reach Cuba. In a few days afterward he encountered an Indian tribe who had achieved a partial civilization, and who resided in a village called Manilla, or Mobile, the name that has been applied to the bay and city of Mobile. This village was located on the river at a point nearly one hun- dred miles distant from the sea. It was built in circular form and surrounded by palisades for protection. The cabins were neat and com- fortable, and constructed with a remarkable degree of artistic skill.
De Soto and his followers were weary and worn, and desired rest in a comfortable camp. They concluded to occupy the village for this purpose. De Soto, with a few mounted men . gayly equipped, entered the village with a view to inspect its accommodations and to negotiate with the chief. In passing the gate of the en-
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closure an Indian insulted one of the mounted cavaliers, who struck him with a cutlass and killed him on the spot. This produced a sudden outbreak of hostilities. The chief betook him- self to his citadel. De Soto luckily escaped with his attendants to the open fields, and then with his entire force returned to the village with a determination to capture it and occupy it as a camping-ground for the coming winter. He and his force were met by a hailstorm of arrows. The Indians, finding they could not successfully resist the invaders, applied the firebrand to their village and laid it in ashes. The Spaniards, though not defeated, were sub- jected to a serious loss. Eighteen of their mounted men with twelve horses were killed, and seventy more of the Spaniards wounded. The number of Indians who were slain in this terrible conflict was twenty-five hundred. The · victory, though won by De Soto, proved a serious disaster. His baggage and supplies of food were all lost in the conflagration. Prior to this the number of his men had been reduced from seven hundred to less than five hundred by severe suffering and repeated conflicts with the natives. Surrounded as he now was by a scene of desolation. and destitute as his troops were of supplies, he became somewhat disheart- ened, but did not despair. Instead of pursuing
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his way to the seacoast, he reversed his direc- tion, and, plundering the natives as he went of their maize and other provisions, reached the northern part of the present State of Mississippi late in the fall of the year 1540, where he en- camped for the winter at a small village of the Chickasaws, on the western bank of the river Yazoo. The Indians were compelled to evac- uate their village, in which De Soto and his troops quartered themselves in a very comfort- able way. The winter was cold and stormy, but an abundance of maize was left standing in the open fields by the Indians, which the Spaniards appropriated without scruple. The Indians who had been driven from their village suffered intensely while the Spaniards luxuri- ated on the spoils taken from them.
When the spring came in 1541 De Soto and his troops had so far replenished themselves with comfortable fare as to recover their usual spirits, and to feel encouraged with the pros- pect of achieving ultimate success in the dis- covery of a region not far distant that would furnish them inexhaustible treasures of gold. Inspired by this sordid spirit, De Soto now resolved to continue his researches, and with this view ordered the chief of the Chickasaws to furnish him two hundred men to carry the baggage of his troops. The chief did not relish
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this proposition, nor could he forget the injus- tice which he and his tribe had received at the hands of the Spaniards. Though bent on re- venge, he assumed to comply with the order by sending a few of his tribe to the village, who were careful to arrive at midnight and who, on confronting the sentinels, professed friendship and were allowed to enter the enclosure where the Spaniards were lost in profound slumbers. These Indian delegates, acting in concert, at once set fire to every wigwam and structure in the encampment. The Spaniards awoke, panic- stricken, amid the raging contlagration. The entire village with all its appurtenances was soon reduced to a mass of cinders. Seven of the Spaniards were burned to death and many others disabled. Many of the horses were consumed in the flames, while the remainder stampeded. Nearly every article of elothing belonging to the Spaniards, together with their supplies and equipments, was destroyed, and the entire village with its enclosure obliter- ated. The victory of the Indians was com- plete. Had they followed up their advantage they might have exterminated the entire Span- ish force.
De Soto and his men, though dismayed, did not succumb. In the course of a week they contrived to clothe themselves with garments
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made of skins and blankets woven of ivy. They then repaired their military equipments and replenished their lost store of provisions by appropriating the remaining corn of the Indians. They also regained possession of their remain- ing horses, cattle, and swine, and took up their line of march in a north-westerly direction, pen- etrating dark forests and dismal marshes, and after seven days of perseverance and suffering reached the Indian villages in the vicinity of the Mississippi River. Here they were kindly received and furnished with Indian guides, who condueted them to the river near the Chickasaw Bluffs, where De Soto enjoyed the immortal honor of being the first white man to behold Here
face to face the Father of Waters. the Spaniards remained for a month or more, and engaged in constructing boats of sufficient capacity to cross the river or ascend it. This arrival of white men astonished the native tribes who resided in the vicinity of the Missis- sippi. They came in great numbers in canoes to look at the strangers, and gratify a curiosity that seemed as insatiable as it was taciturn. They were decorated in their gavest attire, plumes and fantastic garments of vivid colors, as if desirons of making an impression. Many of them were armed with bows and arrows, as if meditating a hostile attack; but the evident
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superiority of the Spaniards overawed them, and they at, once assumed a conciliatory atti- tude, and presented their strange visitors with a liberal supply of fish and with bread made of wild fruits. There were many hundreds of these natives, most of whom eame down the river from villages located at different points along its bluffy banks. When they saw the Spaniards launch huge boats and embark with all their supplies, including horses, bullocks, and swine, and cross safely over to the west side of the great river, they were astonished, and dispersing returned to their villages to report the marvels they had witnessed, and to express their fears as to the intentions of the white invaders -an unknown race, evidently superior to their own, and who, as they be- lieved, had descended from the sun.
De Soto was delighted with his discovery of this majestic river, and admired the sentinel forest trees that guarded its banks and grace- fully flung their banners of gray moss to the fluttering breeze. He believed he had now reached the direct pathway to the long-sought region abounding in gold. In his attempt to ascend the western bank of the Mississippi with his troops, he encountered extensive marshes, dense thickets, and many other embarrassments, but finally reached the high and dry rolling
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prairie lands in the vicinity of New Madrid. About the 20th of June, 1541, he reached the northernmost point of his exploration up the Mississippi -a point not known, but which is supposed to be but a few leagues up the river from New Madrid. At any rate, it was a region that supplied an abundance of fish, wild game, and wild fruits.
Here De Soto, with his famished followers, indulged in feasting for forty days, and then took a new direction and penetrated the wilder- ness westward two hundred miles or more, until he reached the mountain lands that skirt the White River. Here he expected to find gold, but found none. He now changed his course and took a southerly direction, passed through numerous Indian villages, and encamped for the winter near the hot springs on the banks of the river Washita, in Arkansas.
In March, 1542, the explorer, still hopeful, descended the Washita to its union with the Red River, and thence down the crimson waters of that river to its junction with the Missis- sippi, where he arrived in May. Both he and his troops were sadly demoralized during their western wanderings, and had suffered untold miseries from hunger and sickness, and from losses by Indian attacks and other disasters. Here De Soto encamped in the vicinity of Nat-
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chez, among Indian tribes whom he plundered and reduced to starvation. The condition of . both Indians and Spaniards became desperate. De Soto now resolved to find his way to the sea. He inquired the distance, but none of the Indian chiefs could tell him. He sent out six horsemen to descend the banks of the river and report. They rode eight days through swamps and cane-brakes, and had advanced but thirty miles when they found it impossible to proceed farther. They returned and reported that the descent to the sea along the banks of the river was impossible, the distance unknown, and the region uninhabited. This report sadly discouraged De Soto. His men and horses were dying around him from hunger and disease. The Indians had discovered his weakness and manifested a hostile disposition. How to extri- cate himself he did not know. He now realized for the first time his inability to help himself or to defend himself amid his savage enemies. Still he regarded the far West, which he had visited, as a part of Florida, and himself as its rightful governor. He now endeavored, as a last resort, to inspire the Indians with the belief that he was a child of the sun, and therefore possessed divine power and could do whatever he pleased at a word. His object was to overawe the Indians and thus induce them
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to furnish him and his men with the necessaries of life. But the sagacious chief, of whom trib- ute was demanded, doubted the divinity of De Soto. "You proclaim," said the chief, "that you are a child of the sun; if so, dry up the river, and I will believe you." De Soto found himself entrapped and declined to perform mir- acles. He at once sank into a gloomy state of mind, which was followed by a severe attack of fever. Anticipating a fatal result, he sum- moned his devoted followers to his bedside, and, with their consent, appointed Louis Mos- coso de Alvaralo as his successor in command. On the following day, May 21, 1542, he died. A priest pronounced his eulogy, and over his corpse the last requiem was chanted amid tears and lamentations. The remains were then secretly buried in the gateway of the camp, with a view to conceal his death from the In- dians. But the suspicious appearance of a new- made grave was noticed by them, and seeing no more of De Soto they began to think he was dead. Fearing the Indians might disinter his remains, and thus prove that he was mortal in- stead of immortal, the Spaniards removed his body at midnight and enclosed it in a saek with a heavy addition of sand, and sank it in the depths of the great river of which he was the first discoverer. The Indians asked, "What
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has become of our lord, the white governor?" The Spaniards replied that "he had ascended into the skies for a little while, but would soon return." No trace or relic of his remains has ever been found. The Great River is his mon- ument - a monument that is as enduring as it is impressive in its grandeur.
Louis Moscoso, successor in command, now realized the forlorn condition of his men and their surroundings. They were destitute of physical comforts and anxious to return to New Spain. They had but few horses and swine left. They saw no prospect of relief, yet they had too much pride of feeling to return, pov- erty-stricken, to their friends. They had just heard from the Indians fresh rumors of gold and rich cities still to be found in the far West, and at once resolved to attempt a realization of their golden dreams. Misled by Indian guides, they wandered in the wilderness, west, north, and south, suffering untold miseries, and after a zigzag ramble of a hundred and fifty leagues or more, returned to the banks of the Missis- sippi, where they arrived in winter, disgusted and exhausted, as well as disappointed, in their renewed attempt to discover gold. The In- dians, hoping to rid themselves of the Span- iards, had deceived them. Though destitute of almost every facility, the Spaniards now
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contrived to build a sufficient number of boats to convey them with their scanty supplies down the Mississippi to the sea. They had killed and consumed the last of their horses and swine for food. Only three hundred and seventy-two persons of their original number had survived the perils of their explorations. This remnant of the expedition of De Soto embarked on their voyage down the Mississippi, July 2, 1543, and after seventeen days of exposure and frequent attacks from the Indians, reached the Gulf of Mexico in safety, and thence coasting along the borders of Louisiana and Texas for fifty days, arrived at Panuco, a Spanish colony, where they were received by sympathizing friends and supplied with the comforts of civilized life. Though reduced to poverty and dependence on the charity of their friends, they still cherished with pride the memory of De Soto, the imperial governor of Cuba and Florida, and lived to enjoy for many years the wide notoriety which they had acquired in the perilous service of their distinguished commander.
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