Born in 1500 in Jerez de Los Caballeros (Badajoz Province), in Extremadura, he came to the Indies in 1514 in the expedition of Pedrarias Davila when he was appointed Adelantado of the South Sea, and Governor of Panama. The armada of 22 ships loaded of 1,500 men left of Sanlúcar de Barrameda on April 11, 1514, and arrived 30 June at Santa Maria la Antigua. Aged only 14, Hernando de Soto was part of the suite of the old Governor, aged 74 years.
He probably attended the execution of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, January 27, 1519.
He gained early experiences under the orders of Gaspar de Espinosa in journeys through the isthmus. He had knowledge of Francisco Pizarro. He then distinguished himself by his ability and his cruelty in actions against the local caciques.
Appointed captain by Pedrarias Davila, and associated with Hernán Ponce de León and Francisco Compañón, in 1524 he participated in the conquest of the Nicaragua by the side of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba. He found himself involved in a very complex situation, resulting from the conflict between several competing expeditions. Francisco Hernández de Córdoba was allied with Cortés to oppose Cristobal de Olid, who had left the Yucatan to conquer the Honduras that Cortés considered under its authority. At the same time, Gil González Dávila was conducting an expedition from the South, with the help of the pilot Andres Niño, and support of the powerful President of the Council of the Indies, the Bishop Juan Rodriguez of Fonseca. Hernando de Soto was taken prisoner by Gil González Dávila, who grabbed his spoils which amounted to 130 million pesos of gold.
De Soto managed to return to Panama, in January 1526. Pedrarias Davila then led an expedition to the Nicaragua, which leads to the capture and execution of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba.
Pedro de Los Rios had been appointed Governor of Panama instead of Pedrarias Davila. The conflict on the limits of the jurisdictions was decided in 1528, with the appointment of a Governor of Honduras, Diego López de Salcedo, and a Governor of Nicaragua, Pedrarias Davila, then 78 years old.
Hernando de Soto is became a very rich man.
He had then been called by Francisco Pizarro to participate in the conquest of Peru. In 1531, he sold all his properties in Nicaragua, paid the construction of two vessels, recruited 100 men with 50 horses, and joined Pizarro in December 1531 on the Puná Island. He had, with him, the first European woman who walked on the Peruvian soil.
He knows a first disappointment in noting that the first place among the lieutenants of Francisco Pizarro had been given to his brother Hernando. In reality, Pizarro was wary of him and he always gave to him, one of his most loyal allies. He was nevertheless one of the most effective collaborators, one of the three captains in the cavalry with Hernando Pizarro and Sebastián de Benalcázar.
He was with his forty riders, the vanguard of the march to Cajamarca, and then to Cusco. He was also one of the first to observe the inca army, listen to the messages of the envoys of Atahualpa, and go to the camp of the incas with a few men to invite the emperor to the dinner that Pizarro proposed to him. Hernando Pizarro joined him there and showed his usual arrogance.
In the battle, he commanded one of the three groups of riders. In the distribution of the ransom, his share was 17 740 pesos (76.50 kg) gold and 724 marks of silver (154,89 kg), the third largest share after those of Francisco Pizarro and his brother Hernando. After the taking of Cusco in 1533, he had, for a short time, responsibilities in the city, and in 1536 he returned to Spain, at the head of a fortune in gold (100,000 pesos according to Oviedo – 431,25 kg).
In April 1537, he obtained, at the same time as the title of Governor of Cuba, the authorization to start a journey of conquest of "Florida", name given then to all the territories in the north of Mexico (New Spain and new Galicia).
The expedition left Havana on may 18, 1539, with 620 men, 220 horses and 9 ships. It travelled for three years, the territories of the U.S. States of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, and Oklahoma.
Hernando De Soto died of disease, during the expedition, on May 21, 1542.
His body was immersed in the Mississippi River for that the Indians could not have the knowledge of his death.
The 322 survivors of the expedition returned to Mexico on September 10, 1543, under the leadership of Luis de Moscoso Alvarado, one of the lieutenants of Hernando de Soto.
They had found neither gold, nor wealth, nor great civilizations comparable to those of the Mexico or the Peru.
