June 3 – De Soto Claims La Florida for Spain

nPostednJune 3, 2013

nIt’snso tough to talk about history, at times; we shudder to tell thenwhole truth about various expeditions, battles, and peoples, becausenthere is so much that is horrific and brutal. I don’t want to writenabout awful events in detail, and you probably don’t want me to!

n
n

Onenof the Spanish explorers, Hernando de Soto, was infamous for hisnbrutality.

n
nHe had good qualities, too—he was brave and loyal—butnlet me assure you that too many Native Americans died at his swordnand at his orders. n
n

n
n

nOnnthis date in 1539, de Soto claimed all of La Florida for Spain. Don’tnyou love it when some guy does that—not knowing how big thenparticular chunk of land he is standing on is (this was a pretty bignchunk—all of North America!), not knowing where on Earth that chunknof land was (de Soto thought he was in the “Indies,” near China),nand apparently not caring that people already lived there!—he justnsays, “I claim this land for my king!” n

n
n

nOnlynin this case, you know, in Spanish!

n
n

nAtnany rate, de Soto ordered some of his men to find and capturennatives—but who they found was a Spaniard who had come to the areanwith an earlier expedition!

n
n

ThenSpaniard, named Juan Ortiz, was naked and had his body decorated likenthe Uzita Indians he lived with. He carried a bow and arrow, and Inwould imagine that he had grown quite tan. I wondered how de Soto andnhis men knew that Ortiz was a Spaniard—but then I read that someonenhit him with a lance, and Ortiz called out a prayer in Spanish. Soonnhe was patched up and well enough to act as an interpreter for denSoto. n

n
n

nInterestinglynenough, though Ortiz acted as an interpreter between Native Americansnand Spaniards for the rest of his life, he never readopted Europeannclothing and ways. Because he seemed to have “gone native,” somenof the Spaniards didn’t trust him, but de Soto stayed loyal to Ortiz.

n
n

DenSoto’s expedition through the North American wilderness crossed whatnwould later become Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina,nTennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. I bet you are wonderingnhow Ortiz, who had of course learned to communicate with the UzitanIndians while he lived with them, could be an interpreter to NativenAmericans living in so many different areas. Well, Ortiz was part ofna chain of interpreters. He would communicate with de Soto in Spanishnand in the Uzita language with a young boy named Perico. Perico knewnseveral local languages, so he could talk with representatives ofnseveral different groups. When the expedition went farther, Periconwould talk to an Indian who knew one of his languages but alsonanother language of Native Americans who lived nearby. Eventually denSoto would speak to Ortiz, who would speak to Perico, who would speaknto a guide, who would speak to another guide, who would speaknto…well, you get the idea!

n
n

nAlsonon this date: n

n
n