Hernando de Soto

Hernando de Soto (c. 1500 – May 21, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama and most likely Arkansas), and the first documented European to have crossed the Mississippi River.

A vast undertaking, de Soto's North American expedition ranged throughout the southeastern United States searching for gold, and a passage to China. De Soto died in 1542 on the banks of the Mississippi River in what is now Guachoya, Arkansas or Ferriday, Louisiana.

Early Life

Hernando de Soto was born to two parents who were hidalgos of modest means in Extremadura, a region of poverty and hardship from which many young people looked for ways to seek their fortune elsewhere. He was born in Jerez de los Caballeros, in the current province of Badajoz. However, three towns—Badajoz, Barcarrota and Jerez de los Caballeros—claim to be his birthplace. He spent time as a child at each place, and he stipulated in his will that his body be interred at Jerez de los Caballeros, where other members of his family were interred. The age of the Conquerors came on the heels of the Spanish reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from Islamic forces. Spain and Portugal were filled with young men seeking a chance for military fame after the Moors were defeated. With discovery of new lands to the west (which they thought at the time to be East Asia), they were attracted to whispers of glory and wealth.

Anna Maria

Anna Maria may refer to

Places

Institutions

People

De Soto

De Soto, DeSoto, Desoto, or de Soto may refer to:

Places in the United States of America

Other uses

Maria Island

Maria Island is a mountainous island located in the Tasman Sea, off the east coast of Tasmania, Australia. The 115.5-square-kilometre (44.6 sq mi) island is contained with the Maria Island National Park, which includes a marine area of 18.78 square kilometres (7.25 sq mi) off the island's northwest coast. The island is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) in length from north to south and, at its widest, is about 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) west to east. At its closest point, Point Lesueur, the island lies approximately 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) off the east coast of Tasmania.

Tasmanians pronounce the name /məˈraɪ.ə/ mə-RY-ə, as did the early British settlers but the original pronunciation was /məˈriː.ə/ mə-REE-ə. The island was named in 1642 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman after Maria van Diemen (née van Aelst), wife of Anthony van Diemen, the Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies in Batavia. The island was known as Maria's Isle in the early 19th century.

Local community and economy

The strait between Maria Island and the east coast of mainland Tasmania is called Mercury Passage and was named after the ship HMS Mercury, commanded by John Henry Cox, who charted the area in 1789. There are two towns of size in this part of the East Coast: Orford at the mouth of the Prosser River and Triabunna, some 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) further north at the head of Spring Bay.

Anna Maria Island

Anna Maria Island, sometimes called Anna Maria Key, is a barrier island on the coast of Manatee County, Florida in the United States. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico, on the south by Longboat Pass (which separates it from Longboat Key), on the east by Anna Maria Sound, and on the north by Tampa Bay. Anna Maria Island is approximately seven miles long north to south. Anna Maria Island is at latitude 27.513N, longitude -82.719W. A nautical chart of the island and surrounding waters may be seen at http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/11425.shtml

History

Anna Maria Island was discovered by the local Timucan and Caloosan American Indian tribes and, later, by Spanish explorers (including Hernando de Soto) in the name of the Spanish Crown. Hernando de Soto and his crew entered the mouth of Tampa Bay, north of Anna Maria Island, in May, 1539, passing it by to make their landfall on the mainland.

In 1892, George Emerson Bean became the first permanent resident on the Island, homesteading much of what is now the City of Anna Maria. After Bean's death in 1898, the land's ownership transferred to his son, George Wilhelm Bean, who partnered with Charles Roser, a wealthy real estate developer from St. Petersburg, to form the Anna Maria Beach Company in order to develop the area. The company laid out streets, built sidewalks and houses, and installed a water system.