Hernando de Soto Essay

Hernando de Soto Expedition

I am Hernando de Soto.   Searching for a passage between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean to enable trade with the Orient, which happens to be the richest market in the world, I led an expedition up the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula.   I left my estates in Nicaragua after failing this expedition and without mean to explore further.   I then brought my own men on ships that I hired, joining Francisco Pizzarro at his first base of Tumbez shortly before departure for the interior of Peru. I was quickly made one of Pizarro’s captains.   Pizarro sent me along with fifteen men to invite Atahualpa to a meeting when Pizarro and his men first encountered the army of the Inca Atahualpa at Cajamarca. When Pizarro’s men attacked Atahualpa and his guard the next day, I led one of the three groups of mounted soldiers. Atahualpa was captured by the Spanish. I was then sent to the camp of the Incan army where my men and I plundered Atahualpa’s tents.
During 1533, the Spanish held Atahualpa captive in Cajamarca for months while his subjects brought gold and silver items to fill a room for his ransom. During this captivity, I became sociable with Atahualpa and taught him to play chess. By the time the ransom had been completed, the Spanish startled by rumors of an Incan army advancing on Cajamarca. Pizarro sent me with 200 soldiers to scout for the rumored army.   While I was gone, the Spanish in Cajamarca decided to execute Atahualpa to prevent his rescue. I returned to report that there were no signs of an army in the area. After killing Atahualpa, Pizarro and his men headed to Cuzco, the capital of the Incan Empire. As the Spanish force approached Cuzco, Pizarro sent his brother and I ahead with 40 men. The advance guard fought a pitched battle with Incan troops in front of the city, but the battle had ended before Pizarro arrived with the rest of the Spanish party. The Incan army withdrew during the night. The Spanish robbed Cuzco, where...