In the early annals of the exploration, conquest, and settlement of the territory of the United States none are to be found to which more interest is attached than to the expedition of Hernando de Soto through the Gulf States. History, tradition, and poetry are indissolubly linked with his name. Counties, towns, and lakes have been named after him, and tradition attaches his name to many localities far removed from the line of his march.

In the narrative of the expedition we get our first geographical knowledge of the interior of the states of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and the Indian Territory. The Spaniards while on their minor expeditions among the Indians may also have entered the states of Missouri and Louisiana, but of this there is no certainty.

The earliest history of the great Indian tribes or nations residing in the above-named states is related by these narratives, the expedition having traversed the territory of the Timuguas, Cherokees, the various divisions or tribes of the Muskogee or Creek confederacy, the Choctaws, Chickasaws, Quapaws or Arkansas, several branches of the great Pani nation, and some other tribes that are not so easily identified. In the narratives are also to be found the first descriptions of the habits, manners, and customs of the native tribes met with. Their towns, villages, houses, temples, granaries, bridges, canoes, banners, arms, wearing apparel, and culinary implements are also described.

The first published narrative was written by a gentleman from the town of Elvas, in Portugal, who joined the expedition and participated in its trials and privations, and in the weary but memorable march through what was then known as Florida. If he was one of those Portuguese who are named in the book as having started from Elvas, the inference may be drawn from the wording of the narrative that he was named Alvaro Fernandez. His narrative was written after his return from the expedition, and is evidently not based upon a diary, or even field-notes, but seemingly was drawn entirely from memory. His descriptions are somewhat vague, the localities sometimes indefinite, the distances sometimes confused, and there are some palpable errors. The lengthy addresses of the caciques belong to romance rather than to history; at least, they are open to grave suspicion that they were manufactured for the occasion. Nevertheless, when the narrative is considered as a whole, it is decidedly the best full account that has been handed down to us. It records the first discovery and navigation of the Mississippi River, the death of its discoverer, De Soto, the building of the first sea-going vessels—brigantines—by Moscoso, the first voyage down "the great river," and the arrival in Mexico of the remnants of the once powerful expedition. The narrative, taken in connection with that of Ranjel, preserved in Oviedo's Historia General y Natural de las Indias (Seville, 1547), supplies almost a daily record of the events as they occurred.

The Gentleman of Elvas having been an eye-witness, and his narrative being the best one that has been preserved, it must be taken as a basis for laying down the route of the expedition. The abridged journal of Ranjel, De Soto's private secretary, should also be accepted as a standard, especially as to dates and the order in which the towns and provinces are named. The narrative of Biedma, the factor of the expedition,[222] although written after his arrival in Mexico, supplies some additional information. It furnishes the only clue as to the direction pursued by Moscoso, after leaving Guachoya, and therefore contains valuable auxiliary evidence. The account written by Garcilaso de la Vega, "the Inca," Florida del Ynca (Lisbon, 1605), is principally based upon the oral statements of a noble Spaniard who accompanied Soto as a volunteer, and the written but illiterate reports of two common soldiers, Alonzo de Carmona and Juan Coles. After eliminating all the overdrawn, flowery, and fanciful portions of the account, there is a residue consisting, in part, of misplaced towns, provinces, and events, together with occasional duplications of descriptions. Of the remainder, only such portions as conform to, or do not conflict with, the other narratives are worthy of consideration. By combining the geographical, topographical, and descriptive portions of the narratives, and exploring the probable and possible sections of the route, the present writer has succeeded in identifying a number of points visited by Soto and his followers. A detailed description of the places identified will be found in the Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society (VI. 449-467); and the relative value of the narratives, together with the minor documents, is discussed in the same series (VII. 379-387).

The Gentleman of Elvas, unlike Ranjel, does not put himself forward, but was so modest that only once does he refer to himself while on the march through Florida, and that was on the occasion of the death of some relatives while at Aminoya. Seemingly he did not take an active part at the front or in the advances, but was always with the main army.

The Narrative of the Gentleman of Elvas was first published at Evora, Portugal, in 1557. It was reprinted at Lisbon in 1844 by the Royal Academy, and again in 1875. The first French edition appeared in 1685, and an English translation from this edition was published in 1686. The first English version, by Hakluyt, entitled Virginia richly valued by the Description of the Mainland of Florida, appeared in 1609, and a reprint entitled The worthye and famous Historie of the Travailles, Discovery, and Conquest of Terra Florida, in 1611. A reprint from the latter, edited by William B. Rye, was published by the Hakluyt Society in 1851. The version of 1611 is included in Force's Tracts, Volume IV., 1846, and in French's Historical Collections of Louisiana, Part 2. The English translation by Buckingham Smith, which was published by the Bradford Club in 1866, in a volume entitled The Career of Hernando de Soto in the Conquest of Florida, is the latest and most authentic version. It is this which is followed in the present volume. A reprint of Smith's translation, edited by Professor Edward G. Bourne, was published in 1904.

T. Hayes Lewis.