De Soto, Hernando or Fernando (1496?–1542), a Spanish explorer. Historians credit him with being the first European to sight and cross the Mississippi River.

After serving as a young soldier in Darien (Panama), Nicaragua, Guatemala, and YucatΓ‘n, De Soto played a leading role in the conquest of Peru in 1532 under Francisco Pizarro. He became rich from booty he collected there. In 1538 De Soto was named governor of both Cuba and Florida. During 1538–41, he led an expedition that searched for gold on the North American mainland.

On May 30, 1539, De Soto and a party of about 600, consisting mainly of soldiers and including several priests, landed in Florida, probably near Tampa Bay. Through forests, over rivers, and up and down mountains, De Soto and his men moved across what are now the states of Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and possibly Oklahoma and Texas.

The expedition had several encounters with Indians; especially notable was a fierce battle in Alabama with a large force led by Chief Tuscaloosathe first major engagement between Europeans and Indians. De Soto pressed on, sure he would locate a "golden city", but he never found gold. In May, 1541, he reached the Mississippi, near the site of present-day Memphis.

De Soto and his party then pushed northwestward to the Arkansas River. He reached the Mississippi again near its junction with the Red River and died there of a fever. His men sank his body in the river to keep De Soto's death a secret from the Indians. Some 300 men remained, the rest of the party having been killed in Indian attacks or by disease. They went westward, probably into Texas hoping to find a land route from Florida to Mexico. Unsuccessful, they returned to the Mississippi, where they built boats. They floated down the river to the Gulf of Mexico, eventually sailing along the coast to Tampico, Mexico.