De Soto, Hernando (1500?-1542) - a Spanish explorer and adventurer who with 700 men landed near Tampa Bay in 1539. Searching for gold, they travelled north through the territory of the Apalachee near present-day Tallahassee. De Soto and his men continued north into present-day Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas fighting Indians and continuing their search for riches. He died of a fever in Mississippi after returning from across the Mississippi River in 1541.
