Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi. On May 8, 1541, south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so.
Which explorer was buried in the Mississippi river?
de Soto
Then, early in 1542, de Soto turned back to the Mississippi River. Overcome by fever, he died in Louisiana, and his comrades buried his body in the Mississippi.
Who was the first explorer to map the Mississippi?
1519: Spanish explorer Alonzo Alvarez de Pineda searches the coast of the Gulf of Mexico for passageway to the Pacific Ocean. He was the first European to see Mississippi and produced a fairly accurate map of the coast from Florida to Texas.
Which explorer was the first European to reach the Mississippi in 1539?
Hernando de Soto
Hernando de Soto was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquests of Central America and Peru and discovered the Mississippi River.
Who were the first 2 explorers that discovered the Mississippi river?
DeSoto died of fever less than a year later and reports say he was buried in the Mississippi. In 1673 Louis Jolliet, a French-Canadian (born in North America) trader and explorer, and Frenchman Jacques Marquette, a Catholic missionary, were the first recorded Europeans to travel the course of the river.
Who was the first European to see the Mississippi river?
On May 8, 1541, south of present-day Memphis, Tennessee, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River, one of the first European explorers to ever do so.
Who first discovered the Mississippi river?
explorer Hernando De Soto
It shows Spanish conquistador and explorer Hernando De Soto (1500–1542), riding a white horse and dressed in Renaissance finery, arriving at the Mississippi River at a point below Natchez on May 8, 1541. De Soto was the first European documented to have seen the river.
What was the first European settlement in Mississippi?
Fort Maurepas
1699: First European settlement in Mississippi established
Fort Maurepas was built in present day Ocean Springs by Frenchmen Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and his brother, Jean Baptiste de Bienville, among the Biloxi, Pascagoula, Acolapissa, Quinipissa, Mugulasha, and other coastal groups.
When did Jacques Marquette explore the Mississippi river?
May 17, 1673
Marquette and Joliet Exploring the Mississippi
On May 17, 1673, Father Jacques Marquette and fur trader Louis Joliet set out on a four-month voyage that carried them thousands of miles through the heart of North America to explore the path of the Mississippi River.
What did Jacques Marquette discover?
The discovery of the Mississippi was a comfort to Jacques Marquette in his desire to extend the influence of the missionaries to the west and south. In October 1674 he left Green Bay to found a mission among the Illinois, whom he and Jolliet were the first Europeans to have visited.
What is Hernando de Soto best known for?
Hernando de Soto is most famous for his exploration of North America. He led 600 men on a journey through what is now the southeastern United States. They were the first Europeans to explore most of this region. De Soto was sent by the King of Spain to explore and settle La Florida.
Who searched up and down the MS river for La Salle?
During the 1680s, René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, led two expeditions in search of the Mississippi River’s outlet to the Gulf of Mexico. Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet preceded La Salle by a decade, though they only went as far as the Arkansas River before returning to Canada.
Where is De Soto buried?
Hernando de Soto died after contracting a fever in May of 1542 in a Native American village located in modern-day Arkansas. His men buried him in the Mississippi River in the middle of the night after he passed.
Who was the first European explorer to have records of his travels through Arkansas?
de Soto, Hernando
de Soto, Hernando
He and his soldiers were the first Europeans to set foot in what is now Arkansas. Four written accounts of the expedition provide details about his trek through the state. De Soto was born in the Extremadura region of western Spain around 1500, but the exact date is uncertain.
What did Lasalle discover?
On the twenty-seventh of March, 1667, he found himself a free man. This was the background to the start of a career which would eventually lead him to discover the mouth of the great Mississippi, “Father of Waters”.
Who was the first European to arrive in Arkansas?
Hernando de Soto
1541 Hernando de Soto was the first European known to have visited the territory which is now the state of Arkansas. 1673 Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet explored the territory as far south as the Arkansas River.
Where did Hernando de Soto cross the Mississippi river?
In May 1541, de Soto reached the Mississippi River and headed north along the River. He finally crossed the Mississippi River near today’s Memphis.
Which European Explorer is the first to reach North America for England?
Leif Eriksson Day commemorates the Norse explorer believed to have led the first European expedition to North America.
What did Hernando Cortes discover?
Cortés explored the northern part of Mexico and discovered Baja California for Spain in the latter 1530s. In 1540, he retired to Spain and spent much of his last years seeking recognition and rewards for his achievements.
Who settled in Mississippi first?
the French
Early inhabitants of the area that became Mississippi included the Choctaw, Natchez and Chickasaw. Spanish explorers arrived in the region in 1540 but it was the French who established the first permanent settlement in present-day Mississippi in 1699.
Who discovered Mississippi the state?
explorer Hernando de Soto
Europeans Arrive
The first European to visit Mississippi was Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540. He claimed the land for Spain, but it was over 100 years later that French explorer La Salle again explored the area and claimed the land for France.