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But it was a more romantic feeling than either the desire of wealth, or the ambition of renown, which led to the discovery of Florida. Juan Ponce de Leon, the aged governor of Porto Rico, a brave soldier in the old Moorish wars, and one who had acquired honour and distinction as a companion of Columbus, had heard from the na- tives of the Caribbee Islands of a wonderful fountain, which possessed the miraculous property of restoring the aged and the feeble to all the bloom and vigour of early youth.
21
DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA.
1512.]
Stimulated by reports which were confirmed by Indian traditions, and credited at the court of Castile and Arragon, Juan Ponce, in March, 1512, set sail in search of the Fountain of Youth; and after seeking it in vain among the Bahama Islands, sailed to the north-west, and crossing the Gulf Stream, fell in with a beauti- ful country, whence the soft airs came laden with the fragrance of unknown flowers, and to which, from that cause, and from its having been first discovered on Palm Sunday-Pascua de Flores-he gave the name of Florida. Return- ing presently to Spain, he obtained authority to conquer and govern this hitherto unknown land; but all his glowing anticipations terminated dis- astrously. He found the natives far more war- like than those of the islands; and in his attempts to subdue them, he received a severe wound, which compelled him to return with the shattered re- mains of his expedition to Cuba, where he lan- guished for a short time, and then died.
A few years later, a small quantity of silver and gold, brought from the same coast to San Domingo by the captain of a caravel, stimulated Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, in connection with several other wealthy persons, owners of gold mines in that island, to fit out two vessels, for the double purpose of exploring the country and of kidnapping Indians to work in the mines. A tempest driving these ships northward, to Cape
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1520.
Helena, in South Carolina, they finally anchored at the mouth of the Cambahee. The guileless Indians had no sooner recovered from their fears than they came flocking on board, bringing with them presents of valuable furs, some pearls, and a small quantity of silver and gold. Their ge- nerosity was requited with the foulest treachery. They were made prisoners, and carried to San Domingo. One of the vessels was lost during the voyage, the other returned safely ; but the poor captives were found useless as labourers, and pining for their lost liberty, the greater portion of them speedily died, either of grief or voluntary starvation.
In 1520, while Cortez and his companions were marching to the conquest of Mexico, Vas- quez de Ayllon undertook a second voyage to Carolina. His largest vessel being blown ashore, a total wreck, he sailed with the other two a short distance to the eastward, where he landed in a delightful country, and was welcomed with such an appearance of frank hospitality by the Indians, that, wholly beguiled of his suspicions, he suffered the greater portion of his men to ac- company their entertainers to a large village about nine miles in the interior. After being feasted for three days with the utmost show of friendship, the Spaniards were suddenly assault- ed as they slept, and massacred to a man. Early the next morning, Vasquez de Ayllon and the
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1528.] EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ.
small party left to guard the ships were sur- prised in like manner, and very few escaped to carry back to San Domingo tidings of the fate which had befallen their comrades.
Undeterred by the fatality which seemed to attend all attempts to subjugate the warlike na- tives of Florida, Pamphilo de Narvaez, the weak rival of Cortez, gathered about him a large number of resolute spirits, and bearing the royal commission as Adelantado, or military governor of the country, set sail on an expedition of con- quest and colonization. With four hundred men and forty-five horses, he landed on the eastern coast of Florida, on the 12th of April, 1528. After taking unmolested possession of the coun- try in the name of his sovereign, he ordered his ships to sail along the coast to the northward, while he penetrated inland in the same direction, attended by two hundred and sixty footmen and forty cavalry.
The progress of the Spaniards did not long remain undisputed. They had scarcely com- menced their march before they began to be an- noyed by fierce, though desultory attacks from the natives. Brushing these off with increasing difficulty as they proceeded, they resolutely pressed forward through the tangled wilderness ; now cutting a pathway through dense canebrakes, now crossing with uncertain footing broad reaches of treacherous swamps, and at times halting on
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
- [1528.
the banks of rivers too deep to ford and too rapid to swim, until rafts could be constructed to carry them over. Though suffering from hunger, debilitated by sickness, and at all times exposed to the arrows of outlying foes, the re- port of abundance of gold in the province of Apalachee encouraged them to persevere. They well knew that the early sufferings of Cortez and his heroic followers had been compensated by the wealth of Mexico, and in the midst of their sufferings were sustained by the hope of a similar reward. After struggling through the wilderness for fifteen days, they reached the long desired town of Apalachee, which, to their intense mortification, they found to be a mere collection of ordinary Indian wigwams. The inhabitants had fled before the advance of the Spaniards, but they indicated their presence in the vicinity, and their determined hostility, by lurking in the woods and cutting off all strag- glers, and by a series of pertinacious assaults, which gave the invaders no rest either by day or night. At this place Narvaez remained nearly a month, recruiting the strength of his weaker companions, and awaiting the return of parties sent out to examine the country for gold. Find- ing none, and having reports of a more peace- ful people nine days' journey to the southward, where abundance of provisions could be obtained, Narvaez departed from Apalachee, and took up
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1528.]
EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ.
.
his line of march for the village of Aute on the Bay of St. Mark's, which he finally reached after encountering many perils by the way, and suf- fering considerable loss both in men and horses. On the approach of the Spaniards the village was found to have been abandoned, and the houses burned; but sufficient corn remained in the granaries to satisfy their most pressing wants. Having lost one-third of their number, the dis- consolate survivors, broken down by disease, by weary and painful marches, and by the neces- sity of unintermitted watchfulness, concluded to return to Hispaniola. Too feeble to prosecute their journey by land, they adopted the scarcely less desperate expedient of building a few open barges, in which they proposed to cruise along the shore, until they met with the squadron from which they had disembarked in the spring.
They at once set about their task. With sin- gular ingenuity, they constructed a bellows of deer hide; and by the aid of charcoal and a rude forge, the iron of their spurs, crossbows, stir- rups, and superfluous armour, was speedily con- verted into nails, and such necessary tools as their exigencies required. Trees were felled, and laboriously hewn into shape. For ropes they used the fibres of the palm, strengthened by hair from the tails and manes of their horses. Their shirts, cut open and sewed together, served for sails; while the skins of horses which had
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE.
- [1528.
been slain for food, were converted into vessels to contain the water required during the voyage.
In six weeks five boats were completed, into each of which from forty to fifty men were crowded. Freighted so heavily that the gun- wales of their barks touched the water's edge, Narvaez and his followers quitted the Bay of St. Mark's on the 22d of September, and, bearing westward, sailed for many days along the coast, landing occasionally to do battle with the natives for food and water. The water-skins proving defective, some of the troops least capable of endurance expired of thirst. Others fell by the hands of the savages. Overtaken by a tempest, two of the boats were driven out to sea, and never heard of after. The remaining three foundered subsequently ; and of all that gallant company, only Alvar Nunez and four companions, after enduring ten years of captivity among the Indians, succeeded in returning to Mexico. These poverty-stricken wanderers, encouraged by the credulity of their listeners, narrated such mar- vellous legends of the countries through which they had passed, that when Alvar Nunez crossed over to Spain, bearing with him the first reliable tidings of the fate of Pamphilo de Narvaez, men turned aside from his tale of peril and suffering to question him concerning the reputed wealth of those lands wherein he had remained so long a prisoner.
27
HERNANDO DE SOTO.
1530.]
Conjecturing from his affectation of mysteri- ous secrecy, that Florida was a second Peru ; the assertion of another of the wanderers, that it was "the richest country in the world," gained implicit credence, and imaginative minds became easily convinced of the existence of a new region, where daring men might yet win a golden har- vest and a glorious renown.
Foremost among those who entertained this belief was Hernando de Soto, a native of Xeres, and a gentleman by "all four descents." As a youthful soldier of fortune, possessing no pro- perty beyond his sword and buckler, he had joined the standard of Pizarro, under whom he soon won a distinguished military reputation. Rendered famous by the courage he displayed in the storming of Cuzco, and no less admired for his boldness in action than for his prudence in council, he speedily rose to the rank of second in command. Returning to Spain in the prime of life, with a fortune of one hundred and eighty thousand ducats, he assumed all the magnificence of a wealthy noble. He had his steward, gen- tleman of the horse, his chamberlain, pages, and usher. Already renouned for those heroic quali- ties which women so much admire, his riches and his noble person gained for him the hand of Isabella de Bobadilla, a lady of high rank, and connected by blood with some of the most powerful families in the kingdom. Elevated by
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1538.
these advantages, he repaired in great state to Madrid, attended by Luis Moscoso de Alvarado, Nuno de Tobar, and others, his friends and com- panions in arms, all of whom were gorgeously apparelled, and scattered their wealth on every side with a reckless prodigality.
Rendered more than ordinarily credulous by his previous successes in Peru, De Soto inter- preted the vague replies of Alvar Nunez according to his own wishes; and aspiring to increase the fame he had already acquired as a subordinate, by the honours to be derived from an inde- pendent command, he petitioned the Emperor Charles V. for permission to conquer Florida at his own expense. It was not difficult to ob- tain the royal consent to an enterprise which, while it occasioned no outlay to the government, might be the means of bringing great wealth to the treasury. De Soto was appointed civil and military commander of Florida and governor of Cuba. He was also invested with the rank and title of marquis, with authority to select for him- self an estate thirty leagues long and fifteen broad, in any of the territories to be conquered by his arms. It was no sooner made known that Hernando de Soto, Pizarro's famous lieutenant, was organizing an expedition for the conquest of Florida, than numerous young Spanish and Portuguese nobles, burning for wealth, adventure, and distinction, sold their possessions, and hast-
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EXPEDITION OF DE SOTO.
1538.]
ened to join the standard of so renowned a leader. Men of all ranks speedily followed their example ; and disposing of houses and lands, of vineyards and olive groves, assembled at Seville, in which city De Soto had taken up his abode to arrange the details of his magnificent enterprise. After being joined at Seville by the Portuguese volun- teers, he departed for the port of San Lucar de Barrameda, where he ordered a muster of the troops, for the purpose of enrolling such as were most capable of enduring the privations and hardships with which he knew the adventure would be attended. To this muster the Span- iards came gaudily apparelled in silks and satins, daintily slashed and embroidered; while the Portuguese made their appearance in burnished armour, excellently wrought, and with weapons to correspond. Chagrined that his own coun- trymen should have presented themselves in attire so wholly unfitted for the purpose in which they proposed to engage, De Soto ordered a second muster, at which all were to attend in armour. The display was still in favour of the Portuguese, who came equipped with the same soldierly care as before ; while most of the Span- iards, having spent the greater part of their fortune upon their silken gauds, made their ap- pearance in rusty and defective 'coats of mail, battered head-pieces, and with lances neither well made nor trustworthy. From the choicest
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1538.
of these, however, De Soto selected six hundred men, with whom he put to sea in six large and three small vessels, on the 6th of April, 1538. This fleet, having also on board twenty-four priests and monks for the conversion of the heathen, reached Gomera, one of the Canaries, on the 21st of April. At this port De Soto re- mained a few days, the welcome guest of the governor, of whose lavish hospitality all those on board the squadron were likewise made par- takers.
Having refreshed his men, De Soto again set sail, and finally anchored off the island of Cuba toward the close of May. His arrival was made the occasion of great festivity and rejoicing. Tilts and jousting matches, feats of horseman- ship and skilful displays with sword and lance, revived the gorgeous and chivalric pastimes of previous centuries ; while games of chance, bull- fights, dances, and masquerades developed in a striking degree a not less peculiar phase of Castilian character. Billeting his men on the inhabitants of the city and surrounding country, De Soto spent a year in arranging the affairs of his government, and in gleaning information respecting the region he had undertaken to con- quer. In the mean time he was joined by Vasco Porcallo de Figuera, a wealthy cavalier, of mature age, whose long dormant ambition was again stirred to emulate the younger adventurers
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EMBARKATION AT HAVANA.
1538.]
in exploits of arms. By the newly-awakened liberality of this ancient soldier, De Soto was supplied, not only with provisions for present use, but with a large herd of live swine to furnish meat to the troops while on their march. Grati- fied by this evidence of good-will, De Soto ap- pointed Vasco Porcallo his lieutenant-general, a station from which Nuno de Tobar had lately been deposed for certain irregularities which he subsequently most nobly repaired.
CHAPTER II.
Embarkation of the Spaniards at Havana-Arrival at Tampa Bay-Skirmish with the natives-Capture of Juan Ortiz- His romanticadventures-The march through Florida-The troops constantly attacked by the natives-Take up their winter quarters at Apalachee-Continued hostility of the natives-The march resumed-De Soto reaches the province of Cofachiqui-His reception by an Indian princess-Enters northern Georgia and encamps at Chiaha-Fruitless search for gold-The province of Coosa-The Spaniards welcomed by its chief-The arrival at the province of Tuscaloosa- Haughty speech of Tuscaloosa-He accompanies De Soto to Mobile-The battle of Mobile-Condition of the victo- rious Spaniards-De Soto returns to Chickasa-His en- campment burned by the natives-Discovery of the Mis- sissippi-The Spaniards cross the river into Arkansas- Encamp at the mouth of the Red River-Sickness and death of De Soto-Wandering of the Spaniards under Moscoso-Their return to Mexico.
ALL the necessary preparations being at length completed, De Soto embarked his troops
32
HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1539.
on board eleven vessels, amply freighted with provisions and military stores. He set sail from the port of Havana, on the 12th of May, 1539, and on the 25th of the same month the squadron cast anchor in Tampa Bay. Landing his army, increased by Cuban volunteers to one thousand men, he took formal possession of the country in the name of his sovereign, and was imme- diately engaged in a skirmish with the natives. Foremost in the melee was the aged soldier Por- callo ; but being roughly handled, and having his horse killed under him, the veteran became disgusted with an enterprise which promised more hard blows than profit, and entreated per- mission to return in the ships which De Soto had resolved to send back to Cuba. His request was coldly granted. The first effort of the adelan- tado was to gain the friendship of the hostile chief whose territories he had so unceremoniously invaded. "I want none of their speeches, nor promises," said the haughty cacique. "Bring their heads, and I will receive them joyfully."
In the midst of these attempts at negotiation, Balthazar de Gallegos, a bold and hardy soldier, was despatched with a body of horse and foot to scour the country in search of guides. While charging a small body of Indians, one of his men was arrested in his career by the voice of a fu- gitive, who cried out in broken Spanish, "Seville ! Seville !" and making the sign of the cross, add-
33
JUAN ORTIZ.
1539.]
ed, " Slay me not, I am a Christian !" Stout Alvaro Nietro, the trooper thus invoked, imme- diately dropped the point of his lance, and joy- fully mounting his captive behind him, rode off with him to his leader.
The stranger proved to be Juan Ortiz, a gentle- man of Seville, who, at the age of eighteen, had joined the expedition of Pamphilo Narvaez. Returning to Cuba with the fleet, he subsequently set sail for Florida with a score of companions, despatched to ascertain the fate of that unfortu- nate commander. Lured on shore by pacific signs from the Indians, he was taken captive with three others, and carried to the presence of Hurrihigua, the same chief who had lately re- turned so defiant an answer to the messengers from De Soto. The companions of Ortiz were speedily massacred, and he himself, doomed to a similar fate, was rescued with difficulty by the daughter of Hurrihigua, but condemned to per- form menial offices of the most ignominious and revolting charact Several attempts being subsequently made upon his life, his preserver aided him, finally, in escaping to the village of a neighbouring chieftain to whom she was betroth- ed. Ortiz was kindly received, and under the care of his hospitable protector he remained nine years, having learned, in the mean while, the language of the Indians, and nearly forgotten his own. Exceedingly rejoiced at obtaining so
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1539.
efficient an interpreter, De Soto welcomed Ortiz with great heartiness. He caused him to be di- vested of his savage garb, and arrayed in gar- ments more befitting his birth and former con- dition.
Leaving Pedro Calderon, with one hundred horse and foot, in charge of the camp, and a caraval and two brigantines to command the harbour, De Soto commenced his march inland. His troops were cased in armour of plate, or chain mail, the weapons of the cavalry being swords and lances; the footmen were equipped with cross-bows and arquebusses, and further protected by targets. It was a gorgeous yet cruel spectacle to see this army, splendidly array- ed, set out on its wanderings through the swamps and tangled forests of an unknown land, attend- ed by bloodhounds trained to hunt down the savages, and bearing with them chains to fetter the limbs of their captives ; implements of tor- ture strangely contrasting with the sacerdotal dresses, the chalices and other ornaments re- quired in their devotional exercises, and with the wine and the wheaten flour consecrated to the solemn service of mass.
But though they went forth thus gallantly ca- parisoned, and with the assured port of pre- destined conquerors, they were soon to learn the difference between the prowess of the Indians inhabiting the region north of the Gulf Stream,
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MARCH THROUGH FLORIDA.
1539.]
and the languid courage of the natives of Mexico and Peru. 1377421
Day after day, week after week, encumbered with baggage and by a large herd of swine, the troops moved slowly forward, cutting their way through almost impervious thickets, wading with great labour the treacherous morasses; now swimming the numerous streams which inter- sected their line of route, and now halting to build rafts where the swift rivers forbade any less practicable mode of passage. After wander- ing for one hundred and fifty leagues through the forests and everglades of Florida, constantly attacked by hordes of ambushed savages, and suffering great loss both in men and horses, the weary and half-famished soldiers reached the fertile province of Apalachee, where, toward the close of October, a camp was formed, and the army went into winter-quarters. More than four months had been consumed in this harass- ing and perilous march, and, as yet, neither gold nor jewels had been discovered; although the accounts given by their captives of the existence of precious metals, in provinces yet distant, in- flamed their hopes, and enabled them to sustain their privations and disappointments with some degree of equanimity.
But the period of repose which De Soto re- quired to recruit the strength of his army was in a great measure denied him. Everywhere
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1540.
his exploring parties were attacked, and strag- glers cut off. Even his camp was the scene of constant alarms. But in the midst of their growing disgust with the country and its warlike inhabitants, the troops were again cheered by information received from two young Indian prisoners, of the existence of gold and silver in the greatest abundance in the remote eastern province of Cofachiqui. Breaking up his can- tonment in the early part of March, 1540, De Soto put his troops in motion, in search of a region so promising. On his entering the terri- tory which is now called Georgia, he was met by two warriors, who demanded haughtily, "What seek you in our land ? Peace or war ?" " We seek a distant province," responded De Soto, "and desire your friendship and food by the way." It was granted. Passing through a pleasant and fertile country, the army finally halted on the bank of the Savannah River. Here De Soto was visited by the beautiful prin- cess of Cofachiqui, whose town was on the oppo- site bank, now known as the Silver Bluff. She came to the water side in a litter, borne by four men, and entering a canoe richly-carved and orna- mented, seated herself upon a cushion over- shadowed by a canopy. She was attended by six councillors, grave men of mature age, and by a numerous retinue. On reaching the pre- sence of De Soto, the youthful cacique took from
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ENCAMPMENT AT CHIAHA.
1540.]
her person a long string of pearls, and placed them about the neck of the Spanish leader. Responding gallantly to this courtesy, De Soto drew from his finger a gold ring, set with a ruby, and presented it to her as a memorial of his friendship. The next day the army crossed the river and entered the village. On the 3d of May, De Soto again took up his line of march. Proceeding through northern Georgia, he cross- ed the Oostanaula; and, at the invitation of its young chief, took up his quarters early the fol- lowing month in the island town of Chiaha. Here the troops found vessels containing large quantities of walnut and bears' oil, and pots of wild honey.
After spending a month at Chiaha, greatly to the advantage both of men and horses, De Soto marched down by the west bank of the Coosa, and entered Alabama. He had heard of gold and copper in the mountains to the north, and having sent two fearless troopers to explore that region, he waited at the town of Costa until they returned. The hardy adventurers brought back tidings of copper, but could find no gold. The march was now resumed. Passing through the beautiful province of Coosa, De Soto was met, on the 26th of July, by the chief of that region. He came to him, seated on cushions, in a chair of state, sustained by four of his princi- pal men. He was arrayed in a magnificent
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HISTORY OF TENNESSEE. [1540.
mantel of marten skins, and wore upon his head a gay tiara of many-coloured feathers. He was attended by a band of choristers and musicians, and by a thousand noble-looking warriors vari- ously plumed and ornamented.
The chief welcomed De Soto with great warmth, invited the troops to partake of the hospitality of his town, and placed all he had at their ser- vice. At the capital of Coosa, De Soto remain- ed for nearly a month, after which he proceeded to the southward, and entering the frontier town of Tallase, situated upon the Tallapoosa River, again encamped. Leaving this place, he entered next the province which received its name of Tuscaloosa from a powerful chief whom, the third morning of their march, the Spaniards found waiting for them in state, seated upon the crest of a high hill, overlooking an extensive and lovely valley, and surrounded by his principal warriors, dressed in rich mantles of furs, and ornamented with gayly-coloured plumes. Forty years of age, and of large stature, yet nobly proportioned, the haughty chief of the Mobilians regarded with calm indifference the military dis- play which was intentionally made by the Spa- ยท niards for the purpose of eliciting his notice.
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