The person I chose to write about for my essay is Hernando De Soto. Hernando De Soto was born on October 21, 1500 in a small town in Spain, the name of that town is Jerez De Los, in Caballeros, Spain. His mother was called Leonor Tinoco (De Soto) and his father was called Francisco De Soto. The reason I chose to write about Hernando De Soto is because I want to prove that he was a better explorer than Christopher Columbus and always will be and I want to prove that he was a better war leader. Growing up Hernando didn't have much money, he and his family were poor but enough money to at least eat and buy clothes. He wasn't always the sharpest knife in the drawer when it came to school, but he always got his work done and was smart and studied when necessary. De Soto actually attended collage at the University of Salamanca, Spain, and a person named Pedro Arias Davila actually paid for his collage. In 1514. When Hernando was younger because he lived in a small town he was always out working but mostly out exploring when he was young. Christopher Columbus was born in 1451 and if you add it all up you get 49 years of difference. Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy, which was not a small city it was big, but still he and de soto have one thing in common, they both started going to sea at the age of 14. But both I will say where they are both very good explores why Hernando found the Mississippi before anyone else, Columbus was not the first person to find America, the first person to find America was Amerigo Vespucci. Hernando De Soto started sailing at the age of 14, he always wanted to explore and discover something when he was little because he had a great imagination, so he decided to...middle of paper......and's first to travel to Tennessee and then head south to the Gulf of Mexico to meet supply ships. Then, on his journey, he was ambushed by the Choctaw people near the walled city. Then De Soto discovered the Mississippi River. He was not very enthusiastic about his discovery, but the river was a huge river that hindered his ambition. It took at least a month to build these carts and be able to cross the river properly. Once across the river, exploration continued into Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. They spent the next winter on the Arkansas River. On May 21, 1542, De Soto died of fever. His men buried him in the Mississippi River. What De Soto did with our society is important without his courage crossing Florida and throwing all those rivers, the Mississippi would most likely not be the same. This is my conclusion on Hernando De Soto