Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun – Hernando de Soto and the South`s Ancient Chiefdoms by Hudson, Charles M.; Ethridge, Robbie;

Long description:

Between 1539 and 1542 Hernando de Soto led a small army on a desperate journey of exploration of almost four thousand miles across the U. S. Southeast. Until the 1998 publication of Charles M. Hudson&&&8217;s foundational Knights of Spain, Warriors of the Sun,/em>, De Soto&&&8217;s path had been one of history&&&8217;s most intriguing mysteries. With this book, anthropologist Charles Hudson offers a solution to the question, &&&8220;Where did de Soto go?&&&8221; Using a new route reconstruction, for the first time the story of the de Soto expedition can be laid on a map, and in many instances it can be tied to specific archaeological sites.

Arguably the most important event in the history of the Southeast in the sixteenth century, De Soto&&&8217;s journey cut a bloody and indelible swath across both the landscape and native cultures in a quest for gold and personal glory. The desperate Spanish army followed the sunset from Florida to Texas before abandoning its mission. De Soto&&&8217;s one triumph was that he was the first European to explore the vast region that would be the American South, but he died on the banks of the Mississippi River a broken man in 1542.

With a new foreword by Robbie Ethridge reflecting on the continuing influence of this now classic text, the twentieth-anniversary edition of Knights is a clearly written narrative that unfolds against the exotic backdrop of a now extinct social and geographic landscape. Hudson masterfully chronicles both De Soto&&&8217;s expedition and the native societies he visited. A blending of archaeology, history, and historical geography, this is a monumental study of the sixteenth-century Southeast.