Welcome to the History of the Americans podcast, episode 17.

I'm your host, Jack Heneman, and this episode is Hernando de Soto Part 1.

I'm recording this on April 14th, 2021, in a hotel bathroom in Key West, Florida.

There's nothing I won't do to bring you the next episode of the history of the

Americans podcast.

Before we get to the exciting history part, I want to thank you for listening.

We have listeners in every state of the Union.

Had multiple downloads in 17 foreign countries.

And we clearly have regular listeners in India, the UK, Australia, Canada, Germany, and France, at least.

Total downloads and listens since early February when I launched this to my friends and so forth are almost 7,000, which is very gratifying.

This is our 17th episode, not counting the introduction in the audience seems to be growing all the time.

So keep telling your friends all about the history of the Americans.

Today we kick off the story of the first

real invasion of the American South, Hernando de Soto's reconnaissance in force. The Spanish word

poorly pronounced, as usual, is Entrada, from 1539 to 1542. Last week's episode tied up various loose ends that brought us to this point,

including that the correct shorthand for Hernando de Soto is actually Soto, not De Soto. That is how Soto referred to himself,

and so we shall do here.

Measureed by money and glory, by the late 1530s, Hernando de Soto was at the very top of the second rank of Spanish conquisadors. Hernan Cortez had conquered the Aztecs, uncovering

staggering wealth, and pushed his territory north and south.

Francisco Pizarro had conquered the Incas of Cusco, and Soto enabled the conquest as Pizarro's

most courageous and brilliant battlefield commander. Soto returned to Spain in the spring of

1536, just as Cavesa de Vaca resurfaced on the west coast of Mexico.

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