The first true discovery of the interior of the United States was
done by the armed expedition [entrada] of Hernando De Soto, a native of
Spain. While as a youth he enlisted with Francisco Puizarro in 1531
and went to Peru with no property but his sword. He won a
distinguished military reputation and a great part of Inca gold before
returning to his homeland. He was made governor of Cuba as well as all
of United States area which was known as “La Florida”. De Soto resolved
to invest his new found vast wealth into an exceptional expedition
designed to conquer a people whom he believed to possess more gold
than he had beheld South America.  Spain had been fighting the invaded
Moors from North Africa for more than 600 years and finally drove them
out of the Iberian Peninsula. The young men of Spain and Portugal had
become skilled and experienced soldiers during that long conflict. After
Pizarro’s success in South America the best of Spanish and Portuguese
soldiers were anxious to join De Soto’s expedition to the United
States. In April of 1538 he put out to sea with 600 chosen men. After
arriving in Cuba he consumes a year in arranging the affairs of his
government in preparation for the great expedition before him. At the
end of that period, he left his wife, Dona Isabel de Bobadilla and the
Cuban Lieutenant Governor in charge of the Island and sailed on May 12,
1539, for Charlotte Harbor on the West Coast of what is now Florida
with a fleet of nine large and small ships. On June 1, 1539, after
off-loading the vessels, the expedition cleared trees and brush around
the village of Ucita for pasturing the horses as well as for safety
from attacks.  On June 3, with all the men quartered in Ucita, De Soto
took formal possession of all of North America for Spain.