Product Description

A collection of documents that contain detailed eyewitness records of the De Soto expedition, the first major encounter of Europeans with North American Indians in the eastern half of the United States.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #466988 in Books
• Published on: 1995-05-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Paperback
• 1200 pages

Customer Reviews

Volume II: De Soto chronicle La Florida is second to Diaz
This work is a complete collection of chronicles for the De Soto expedition into La Florida (which is most of the south-east USA). Due to the fact that this work comprises two volumes of almost 600 pages each, I have so far only read volume II which is the complete account "La Florida" by Garcilaso de la Vega. Following others (including the Narvaez expedition that de Vaca relates) De Soto went into Florida to find gold and eventually settle the new land. Garcilaso used one captain from the expedition as his source and is a great storyteller, claiming his abhorrence of exaggerating the contents, much of it is told with the heroic chivalry and noble virtue of the times, whether speaking of Spaniards or Indians, and always some purposeful enthusiasm. If all you know of De Soto is that he was the first to see the Mississippi, that doesn't begin to say anything about what happens during the expedition, and even to the way those who were on it considered it afterwards. It shows also the real nature of the natives, showing great differences in their treatment of the Spanish, their use of slavery, and the brutatilty they showed towards other tribes. (Not as placid as Las Casas would have you believe). Also describing the native cultures and life-styles to some degree. All wonderful and interesting stories. The volumes contain some maps and black and white illustrations. Volume I contains all the other existant accounts including the more historical one by the Gentleman of Elvas. Well worth the price.

These Books Rock !
These books are recent translations of the four major accounts of the De Soto expedition - the Gentleman of Elvas, Luys Hernandez de Biedma, Rodrigo Ranjel, and Garcilaso de la Vega, based on the account of the soldier Gonzalo Silvestre. They also include translations of a number of documents related to the expedition and its members.

The books represent a badly needed update of the older translations by Buckingham Smith. They give us a picture of a world of Native American societies with tens or hundreds of thousands of people, ruled by nobles and leaders in ranked hierarchies through ceremony, ritual and belief. And they represent our last real glimpse of these societies at the beginning of the end - before disease, warfare with Europeans, and the shattering effects of De Soto's entrada destroyed the most powerful and complex cultures north of Mesoamerica.

Archaeologist, historian, and ordinary reader alike will find these books fascinating and important.