The De Soto Expedition explored the southeastern United States from 1539 to 1542. While the expedition was at the Mississippi River, Governor Hernando De Soto died, and command passed to Luis de Moscoso Alvarado. Moscoso brought the men into Texas in the vicinity of present-day Texarkana. They explored parts of east Texas, including present-day San Augustine. After reaching a large river – probably the Neches or Trinity – Moscoso halted his advance and turned the expedition around. The men returned to the Mississippi River, where they built seven brigantines, or small sailing ships. They descended the river in the ships, then, upon reaching the Gulf of Mexico and sailing out into it for a bit, found the Texas coast and followed its shores and bays to the province of New Spain, at present-day Tampico. For a more detailed examination of Moscoso’s activities in Texas, see the previous article, "The De Soto-Moscoso Expedition in Texas."
This article lists the known members of the De Soto-Moscoso expedition who visited Texas in 1542.
Unlike some other Spanish expeditions, in which one or more companies of soldiers explored in different directions while other companies stayed put at a base camp, De Soto's army moved more or less as a whole. When Moscoso took command and brought the expedition into Texas, everyone went with him. The records do not mention anyone dying or leaving the expedition while it was on its way to Texas, while it was there, or during its return to the Mississippi River. There were some deaths at the Mississippi River while the men were building their boats, and there were others who died during the journey down the river. We can safely conclude, then, that everyone who survived the expedition also went to Texas. Compiling a list of expeditionaries who visited Texas is a straightforward process of building a list of the known survivors, then adding to it the names of those who died after the Texas segment was concluded.
All contemporary witnesses state that there were between 300 and 350 survivors. The person who wrote the longest and most detailed account of the De Soto Expedition, who called himself "A Gentleman of Elvas," gives a precise number of 311. D'Elvas is our only source about deaths on the expedition between Texas and New Spain. He writes that "many" died of illness while Moscoso and his men were camped on the Mississippi River, building their ships. He writes that 322 expedition members boarded the ships, and that 11 soldiers died during a conflict with natives on the river as the ships were making their way down the river. If D'Elvas's accounting is correct, a complete list of De Soto Expedition members who visited Texas would include all 311 or so survivors, plus the 11 who died on the river, plus the "many" who died of illness while the ships were being built. Unfortunately, only five of the dead men's names are given in the records. The bulk of our effort, then, is spent on coming up with as many of the survivors' names as possible.
The earliest account of the De Soto Expedition was written in 1544 by Luis Hernández de Biedma, a royal official and member of it, shortly after he returned to Spain. Biedma's original manuscript still exists in the General Archives of the Indies in Seville. In the same folder as Biedma's manuscript is a list of names of 221 men who survived the expedition. The date and authorship of this document is unknown – the handwriting is different from Biedma's - but because of its position in the archives as, essentially, an appendix to Biedma's account, and also for lack of a better term, this list is referred to in this article as "the Biedma list." Buckingham Smith translated it to English in 1866 and published it as an appendix to his Narratives of the Career of Hernando de Soto in the Conquest of Florida. For many expeditionaries, only their surnames are listed. For a few, the list notes their occupation or relation to other expeditionaries.
The names on the Biedma list are grouped by place of origin, but some of the groupings are imprecise. For example, there is a group of survivors from Badajoz, which is the name of both a province and the capital city of that province, then there is another group from "Zafra, Almendralejo, and Segura," which are towns in Badajoz Province. In the second group, which of the three towns a survivor is from is noted for some, but not others. There is also a list of survivors from "Xeréz and Villanueva." There are multiple Spanish towns named Jerez, and Villanueva simply means "new village" and could be any number of Spanish towns, but considering that they are paired together, they probably refer to Jerez de los Caballeros and Villanueva de Barcarrota, which are both in Badajoz Province.1 One group is simply titled, "Castilla la Vieja," or "Old Castile" - a group of about eight provinces that were part of Spain prior to its late Medieval expansion.
The Biedma list is a good start, but with only 221 names, it is incomplete. There are sources that include some names that are not on this list. The three narrative accounts of the De Soto Expedition – those of Biedma, D'Elvas, and another survivor, Rodrigo Rangel – provide some.2 Several names are found in official declarations or testimonies that survivors gave. De Soto researchers have combed through these records to find the names of as many survivors as they can. The most thorough effort undertaken to date is that of researcher Ignacio Avellaneda in 1990. Avellaneda found 36 names to add to Biedma's 221, for a total of 257. If D'Elvas's figure of 311 survivors is accurate, then, as Avellaneda writes, "54 names await discovery."
Another document that pertains to this effort is a passenger register containing the names of 657 people who sailed from Spain with De Soto. Because this roster includes the names of many people who stayed in Cuba and did not even go to Florida, as well as many who died before the expedition reached Texas, its main utility for us is to verify the names we already have and, in some cases, provide a bit of extra information, such as adding a given name to what would otherwise only be a surname.
Like most Spanish expeditions into unexplored regions, De Soto and Moscoso used natives in various ways, most importantly as guides and interpreters. Often, these natives were seized, placed into iron chains, and compelled to go with the Spaniards until they saw fit to let them go. If an expedition was headed into an enemy tribe's territory, natives would sometimes go along in large numbers, willingly, as allies of the Spaniards, so as to make war on their enemy when they got there. While Hernando de Soto was in charge, his expedition typically included large numbers of natives to serve as porters, personal servants, and sex partners.
The narrative accounts of the De Soto Expedition do not give much information about how many natives Moscoso brought into Texas with him and how they were used, but they do make it clear that there were some. Guides and interpreters are specifically mentioned. The Gentleman of Elvas writes that the day before Moscoso and his men boarded the ships that would take them down the Mississippi River, Moscoso announced that all of their native servants would be released, except for about a hundred or so that he and some others retained. About 500 men, women, boys, and girls were released at that time. D'Elvas further writes that Moscoso announced that, because their ships carried a limited amount of fresh water, the remainder would be released when the ships entered the sea, but Moscoso secretly told his friends that they did not have to release their servants, and could take them all the way to New Spain. We do not know how many of the natives were actually taken to New Spain. We also do not know how many of the apparently 600 natives who were with the expedition on the Mississippi River were with it during its explorations of Texas. We also do not have names for any of them. Because of this utter lack of information, our personnel list does not include any natives.
Our list, below, mostly follows Avellaneda's, with a few modifications. The Biedma list (BL) is used as the foundation. Names found in testimonies are indicated by the year or years in which the testimony was taken. Any other additions are justified in the notes. Names that are found on the passenger register (PR) are so noted. (As stated above, a person's name being on the PR is not sufficient to justify adding them to this list, but it does help to identify people where information is lacking.)
Many names are spelled differently in multiple sources. Spelling discrepancies in names are extremely common in old records. For example, one survivor is listed in some records with the surname of Castejón, while in other records, his name is Castrejón, but they are obviously the same person. In the table below, in instances of a discrepancy of one missing or extra letter, we indicate it with square brackets, e.g., Cast[r]ejón. Often, the same person can be known by more than one surname. For example, a man named Juan whose father's surname was García and mother's surname was Rodríguez, who was a resident of the town of Albornos in the province of Ávila could be listed in records as Juan García Rodríguez, Juan García, Juan Rodríguez, Juan de Albornos, Juan de Ávila, or combinations such as Juan García de Ávila. Similarly, one source may give a man's hometown as his origin, while another gives his birthtown, his home province, his parents' hometown, or a nearby, larger city. We should not be misled by these many discrepancies into thinking that the documents refer to multiple people when they are simply multiple references to the same man. Thankfully, Avellaneda was diligent in scrutinizing the records and avoiding possible duplications. Nevertheless, we find a few differences between our review of the sources and Avellaneda's, and note them in the list below. Specifically, we have stricken three names from Avellaneda's list as duplicates.
The Biedma list contains many abbreviated names. This is similar to how the names George and William are often abbreviated as "Geo" and "Wm" in English records. The name that the abbreviation "Go" is meant to represent is uncertain. Avellaneda usually expands it to mean Gonzalo, even though there are numerous instances in the Biedma list where the name Gonzalo is fully spelled out. Avellaneda also suggests Gregorio as a possibility.
An interesting discrepancy Avellaneda finds in the records is with men who the Biedma list states were Portuguese, but who appear on the passenger register as being from Spanish towns or provinces near the Spain-Portugal border. Avellaneda posits that when booking their travel, these men "preferred to declare themselves as Spanish in order to secure an unencumbered passage to the Indies."
According to Avellaneda's research, the average age of the known survivors was 24 at the time that the expedition disembarked in Florida. The oldest was 42; the youngest, 10.
Name | Origin | BL | Test. | PR | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Acuña, Lope de | Toledo | X | X | ||
2 | Agostín | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
3 | Agostín | Vizcaya | X | |||
4 | Aguilar, Gaspar de | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
5 | Aguilar, Juan de | Villanueva | X | X | ||
6 | Algalin | Seville | X | |||
7 | Almendro[n], Alonso Hernández | Segura | X | X | Brother of Father Pozo.3 | |
8 | Alonso, Álvaro | Portugal | X | X | ||
9 | Alonso, Francisco | Seville | X | X | ||
10 | Alonso, Gonzalo | Jerez or Villanueva | X | X | ||
11 | Alonso, Pedro | Zafra, Almendralejo, or Segura | X | X | ||
12 | Alonso, Rodrigo | Badajoz | X | X | ||
13 | Alrianes, Martin | Vizcaya | X | |||
14 | Alvañez | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
15 | Alvarado, Juan de | Zafra | X | X | Brother of Luis de Moscoso Alvarado and Cristóbal de Mosquera. The BL notes that two of Moscoso's brothers survived, but does not give their names. | |
16 | Álvarez, Juan | Portugal | X | X | ||
17 | Álvarez, Rodrigo | Jerez | X | 1554 | X | Brother of Alonso Vázquez. Also called Rodrigo Vázquez.4 |
18 | Amarilla, Juan de | Medellin | X | X | ||
19 | Añasco, Juan de | Seville | X | 1544 | Royal accountant on the expedition and a prominent figure in the narratives. | |
20 | Andirrela, Miguel de | "foreigner" | X | |||
21 | Antonio | Galicia | X | |||
22 | Arevalo Brizeño, Pedro de | unknown | 1558 or 1559 | X | ||
23 | Argote, Alonso de | Astorga | X | 1557 | X | |
24 | Arias | Galicia | X | |||
25 | Arias Dávila, Gómez | Segovia | 1561 | Mentioned in Rangel. | ||
26 | Arias de Canedo, Pedro | unknown | 1563 | |||
27 | Aroca, Pedro de | Vizcaya | X | |||
28 | Atanasio | Badajoz | X | |||
29 | Avedi, Juanes de | Vizcaya | X | |||
30 | Azeituno, Antonio | 1561 | X | |||
31 | Bacan | Jerez | X | |||
32 | Baeza | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | PR lists Bartolomé de Baeza and Diego de Baeza, neither of whom were from Castilla la Vieja. | |
33 | Bautista, Juan | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
34 | Bautista | Castilla la Vieja | X | Brother of Juan Bautista. | ||
35 | Bernaldo | Vizcaya | X | X | Free black servant of Pedro Calderón. | |
36 | Blasco, Alonso | Villanueva | X | Brother of Gonzalo Vásquez. | ||
37 | Bolaños, Juan de | Burgillos | X | X | ||
38 | Bonaficio | Valladolid | X | |||
39 | Botello[n], Alonso de | Villanueva de Barcarrota | X | yes | X | |
40 | Botello, Juan | Villanueva de Barcarrota | 1550, 1560 | X | ||
41 | Bravo, Luis | Badajoz | X | X | ||
42 | Bustillo[n], Pedro de | Valladolid | X | 1546 | X | |
43 | Calderón, Pedro | Badajoz | X | 1547, 1558 | X | Captain, mentioned in D'Elvas and Rangel. Father of Rodrigo Calederón and Gregorio de Hoces. |
44 | Calderón, Rodrigo | Badajoz | X | X | Son of Pedro Calederón and brother of Gregorio de Hoces. | |
45 | Calle, Juan de la | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
46 | Calvarrasa, Toribio de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | Listed as Calva Rasa on the BL. | |
47 | Calvera, Diego de | Albuquerque | X | 1561 | Spelled as Caldera on the BL.5 | |
48 | Calzada, Juan de | Zafra, Almendralejo, or Segura | X | X | ||
49 | Cañete | Ubeda or Baeza | X | X | See footnote.6 | |
50 | Cardenas, Lorenzo de | 1545 | ||||
51 | Carmona, Alonse de | 1556 | ||||
52 | Caro, Alonso | Almendralejo | X | X | ||
53 | Caro, Alonso | Medellin | X | X | ||
54 | Carranza, Luis de | Seville | X | 1545 | Carrançe on the BL. | |
55 | Carrasco, Juan | Jerez or Villanueva | X | See footnote.7 | ||
56 | Carrauz | Terrejon | X | |||
57 | Carrión, Juan | Badajoz | X | X | ||
58 | Carrión, Pedro | Carrion de los Condes, Castilla la Vieja | X | 1547 | ||
59 | Carrión | Ubeda or Baeza | X | |||
60 | Cartuyo, Go | Seville | X | |||
61 | Carvajal, Lorenzo de | 1554, 1557, 1569 | Joined from Cuba. | |||
62 | Cast[r]ejón, Francisco de | Soria | X | 1547, 1560 | X | The BL lists him as from Astorga. |
63 | Castro, Castro del | Garciamunoz | X | |||
64 | Castro, Juan de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
65 | clergyman, unidentified | France | X | See footnote.8 | ||
66 | Coles, Juan | Zafra | X | X | ||
67 | Cordero, Juan | Elvas, Portugal | X | X | Mentioned by D'Elvas. | |
68 | Coria | Seville | X | |||
69 | Cornejo, Alonso | Valencia de la Torre | X | X | From Zafra, Almendralejo, or Segura on the BL. | |
70 | Corona, Rodrigo | Toledo | X | X | ||
71 | Cortés, Diego | Almendralejo | X | yes | ||
72 | Cuadrado, Gonzalo | Zafra | X | 1547 | X | |
73 | Custreros | Astorga | X | |||
74 | Daza, Luis | Valladolid | X | 1547, 1554, 1560 | Daze from Castilla la Vieja (which includes Valladolid) on the BL. | |
75 | Diaz, Juan | Sanlucar de Barrameda | X | |||
76 | Duarte, Juan | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
77 | Enríquez, Diego | Astorga | X | X | ||
78 | Espindola, Cristóbal | Seville | X | 1545, 1548 | Mentioned in D'Elvas and Rangel. | |
79 | Fernández, Alvaro | 1544 | ||||
80 | Fernández, Juan | Albuquerque | X | X | ||
81 | Figueroa, Perdo de | Zafra, Almendralejo, or Segura | X | |||
82 | friar, unidentified | X | ||||
83 | Fuentes, Luis de | Seville | X | X | ||
84 | Gaitán, Juan | Talavera de la Reina | X | yes | Royal treasurer on the expedition. | |
85 | Gallego, Diego | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
86 | Gallegos, Baltasar de | Seville | X | 1545 | Captain, mentioned frequently in D'Elvas and Rangel. | |
87 | Gallegos, Rodrigo de | Seville | X | X | ||
88 | Galván, Fernán | Valverde, Extremadura | X | X | ||
89 | Gámez, Juan de | 1561 | X | |||
90 | García, Diego | Jerez or Villanueva | X | X | ||
91 | García de León, Juan | 1544 | ||||
92 | García Pechuda, Juan | Albuquerque | X | X | The BL spells his second surname as Pechuga. | |
93 | García, Rueda, Juan | Valverde de Badajoz | X | |||
94 | García, Rui | San Lucar de Barrameda | X | |||
95 | Gen, Baltasar | Badajoz | X | |||
96 | Gin | Castilla la Vieja | X | Same as Francisco Gutiérrez Guino? | ||
97 | Giraldo | Astorga | X | |||
98 | Godoy, García de | Medellin | X | 1544 | X | |
99 | Gómez, Alonso | Jerez or Villanueva | X | X | ||
100 | González, Alonso | Astorga | X | |||
101 | González de Alor, Juan | Villanueva de Barcarrota | X | X | ||
102 | Gregorio? | Galicia | X | The BL simply has "Go." | ||
103 | Gutiérrez, Alonso | Medellin | X | 1546? 1558? | See footnote.9 | |
104 | Gutiérrez, Alonso | Albuquerque | X | 1546? 1558? | X | See footnote.11 |
105 | Gutiérrez, Alonso | Portugal | X | 1558? | See footnote.11 | |
106 | Gutiérrez Guino, Francisco | 1557 | X | Same as #95, "Gin"? | ||
107 | Gutiérrez, Juan | Badajoz | X | |||
108 | Guzmán, Francisco de | Toledo | X | 1558 | X | |
109 | Guzmán, Juan de | Captain of footman, Mentioned several times in D'Elvas. Killed by natives while sailing down the Mississippi River. | ||||
110 | Hernández, Alonso | Casilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
111 | Hernández de Biedma, Luis | Ubeda or Baeza | X | X | Royal factor on the expedition and author of one of the narratives. | |
112 | Hernández de Ribera, Pedro | Galicia | X | X | ||
113 | Hernández, Sebastián de | yes | X | |||
114 | Herrera, Pedro Díaz de | Ocaña, Toledo | X | X | ||
115 | Hoces, Gregorio de | Badajoz | X | X | Son of Pedro Calderón and brother of Rodrigo Calderón. | |
116 | Inostrosa, Luis de | Seville | X | X | ||
117 | Jacome | "foreigner" | X | |||
118 | Juan, Maestre | Astorga | X | "Master Juan," surname missing. | ||
119 | Landero, Domingo | Albuquerque | X | X | Brother of Juan Nieto. | |
120 | León, Francisco de | Ubeda or Baeza | X | |||
121 | López, Abian/Gavian | Portugal | X | X | The BL lists "Gavian Lopez and his brother." The PR has a record for Abian López, but no brother. | |
122 | López | Portugal | X | See above. | ||
123 | López, Juan | Ubeda or Baeza | X | |||
124 | López Cacho, Juan | Seville | X | 1546 or 1561 | ||
125 | López Zaharrón, Juan | Ubeda or Baeza | X | X | Also known as Juan López de Salto. | |
126 | Madrigal | Zafra, Almendralejo, or Segura | X | X | An Alonso de Madrigal on the PR may or may not be him. | |
127 | Maldonado, Francisco | Valladolid | 1546 | X | Infantry captain mentioned frequently in the narratives. | |
128 | Manzera, Hernán | Badajoz | X | X | Hernán Sanchez Mancera on the PR. | |
129 | Marbán | Astorga | X | X | "Marbán, notary" on the BL. Possibly Esteban Marbán from the PR. | |
130 | Marbán | Astorga | X | X | "Another Marbán" on the BL. Possibly Bueso Marbán from the PR. | |
131 | Marín, Andrés | Almendralejo | X | X | ||
132 | Martín Galindo, Francisco | Bollullos, Seville Province | X | X | ||
133 | Martín Sandoval, Francisco | 1558 | X | |||
134 | Martín, Gonzalo | Medellin | X | X | ||
135 | Martín, Gonzalo | 1547 | X | |||
136 | Martínez Segurado, Antón | Elvas, Portugal | X | 1544 | Mentioned in D'Elvas. | |
137 | Martínez, Francisco | Zafra, Almendralejo, or Segura | X | |||
138 | Martínez, Vicente | Ciudad Real | X | yes | ||
139 | Martucho | Vizcaya | X | |||
140 | Mateos, Jorge | "foreigner" | X | |||
141 | Méndez, Ana | 1560 | Servant girl of Don Carlos, who was killed by natives during the expedition. Ana was about 10 when the expedition disembarked in Florida. | |||
142 | Méndez de Sotomayor, Gonzálo | Villanueva de Barcarrota | X | 1560, 1561 | X | |
143 | Mesa, Juan de | Seville | X | |||
144 | Miguel | Vizcaya | X | |||
145 | Miranda, Juan de | Soria | X | yes | ||
146 | Monzón, Gonzalo de | 1562 | ||||
147 | Morales | Soria | X | |||
148 | Morales, Bartólome de | Seville | X | X | ||
149 | Moreno, Pedro | Galicia | X | yes | X | |
150 | Moscoso Alvarado, Luis de | Zafra | X | 1547 | X | Maestre de campo ("field master") under Governor De Soto and commander of the expedition following his death. Figures prominently in the narratives. Brother of Juan de Alvarado and Cristóbal de Mosquera. |
151 | Mosquera, Cristóbal de | Zafra | X | X | Brother of Luis de Moscoso and Juan de Alvarado. The BL notes that two of Moscoso's brother's survived, but does not give their names. | |
152 | Muñoz, Juan | Medina de Ruiseco | 1547 | X | ||
153 | Nieto, Alvaro | Albuquerque | X | 1547, 1554 | X | Brother of Juan Nieto. |
154 | Nieto, Juan | Albuquerque | X | X | Brother of Alvaro Nieto. | |
155 | Nuñez de Prado, Pedro | Llerena | X | X | ||
156 | Nuñez de Vargas, Vasco | Burguillos | X | X | Brother of Juan de Vargas. | |
157 | Olivia, Diego de | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
158 | Olivas, Val de | Castilla la Vieja | X | See footnote.10 | ||
159 | Ortíz, Bernabe | Almendralejo | X | X | Brother of Rodrigo Rangel. | |
160 | Ortíz, Francisco | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
161 | Ortuño, Juan de | Portugal | X | X | Hortuno on the BL. | |
162 | Osorio, Antonio | Astorga | X | X | Mentioned in D'Elvas and Rangel. | |
163 | Osorio García | Astorga | X | 1546, 1560 | Captain, mentioned in D'Elvas. | |
164 | Otazo, Juan de | Astorga | X | X | ||
165 | Parra, Alonso de la | Jerez or Villanueva | X | X | ||
166 | Pegado, Estéban | Portugal | X | X | The PR lists him as from Badajoz, which neighbors Portugal. | |
167 | Pegado, Fernán | Portugal | X | Mentioned in D'Elvas. | ||
168 | Peloso, Bernaldo | yes | ||||
169 | Pérez, Andrés | Burgillos | X | X | ||
170 | Pérez, Bartolomé | Segura | X | X | Brother of Portillo. | |
171 | Pérez, Francisco | Burguillos | X | X | ||
172 | Pérez, Juan | Vizcaya | X | |||
173 | Pérez, Simón | Badajoz | X | |||
174 | Pería | Vizcaya | X | 1557? | A survivor named Andrés de Pernía testified in 1557. | |
175 | Porras | Seville | X | See below. | ||
176 | Porras, Juan de | Burgos | 1554 | X | Possibly the same as the preceding man, but that would make the BL mistaken about that one being from Seville. | |
177 | Portillo | Segura | X | Brother of Bartolomé Pérez. | ||
178 | Pozo, Bartolomé | Segura | X | X | Priest. Brother of Almendro[n].2 | |
179 | Pozo, Pedro del | Castilla la Vieja | X | 1556? | X | Pozo Salmeron on the BL.11 |
180 | Rangel, Rodrigo | Almendralejo | X | 1560 | X | Hernando de Soto's private secretary; kept a diary that was the main source of one of the three expedition narratives. |
181 | Raya, Alonso de | Ubeda | X | X | ||
182 | Redondo, Francisco | Medellin | X | 1569 | X | |
183 | Reinoso, Francisco de | Astorga | X | 1544 | X | |
184 | Rodon | Seville | X | X | This could be the person listed on the PR as Bartolomé Sánchez Rendon from Algaba, which is in Seville Province. | |
185 | Rodrígez, Bartolomé | Valencia | X | yes | ||
186 | Rodrígez, Fabian | Medellin | X | 1544 | ||
187 | Rodrígez, Salvador | 1566 | X | |||
188 | Romo, Alonso | Badajoz | X | X | Captain of cavalry and of one of the brigantines on the expedition. Brother of Arias Tinoco and Diego Tinoco. Mentioned in all three expedition narratives. | |
189 | Ruiz, Bartolome | Seville | X | X | ||
190 | Ruiz, Juan | Badajoz | X | X | ||
191 | Ruiz, Juan | Seville | X | |||
192 | Ruiz Lobillo, Juan | Ronda (Andalusia) | X | 1547, 1560 | Presumed to be the same man listed as Juan Rodríguez Lobillo on the BL. | |
193 | Ruiz de Llanos, Juan | 1558 | ||||
194 | Sagredo, Bartolomé | Medellin | X | X | ||
195 | Salamanca, Cosme de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
196 | Salazar, Francisco de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
197 | Salazar, Sin Ventura | "from the mountains" | X | |||
198 | San Jorge, Álvaro de | Galicia | X | 1547 | ||
199 | San Vicente, Juan de | 1569 | ||||
200 | Sanabria, Diego de | Medellin | X | X | ||
201 | Sánchez, Andres | Badajoz | X | X | Brother of Francisco Sánchez | |
202 | Sánchez, Atanasio | 1561 | X | |||
203 | Sánchez, Diego | Alburquerque | X | X | ||
204 | Sánchez, Francisco | Badajoz | X | X | Brother of Andrés Sánchez | |
205 | Sardina, Domingo | Portugal | X | X | ||
206 | Sayago, Juan | Zafra | X | 1547 | X | |
207 | Sedeños, Juan | "foreigner" | X | |||
208 | Silvera, Diego de | Galicia | X | 1554, 1561 | ||
209 | Silvestre, Gonzalo | after 1554 | X | Appears repeatedly in Vega's fictionalized account of the expedition. | ||
210 | Soria, Pedro de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
211 | Sotis | Elvas, Portugal | Two men from Elvas named Sotis, who were brothers, died at the Mississippi River. | |||
212 | Sotis | Elvas, Portugal | See above. | |||
213 | Suárez, Juan | Badajoz | X | X | ||
214 | Suárez de Mazuelas, Hernán | Zafra, Almendralejo, or Segura | X | 1572 | X | Listed as Mazuelas on the BL. The PR confirms that Maruelas=Mazuelas. |
215 | Tapia | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
216 | Tapia Maraver, Francisco de | Zafra | X | 1558 | X | |
217 | Tiedra, Miguel de | Salamanca | X | 1544 | X | |
218 | Tinoco, Arias | Badajoz | X | 1544 | X | Captain, brother of Alonso Romo and Diego Tinoco. |
219 | Tinoco, Diego | Badajoz | X | X | Brother of Alonso Romo and Arias Tinoco. | |
220 | Tolosa | X | ||||
221 | Torre, Alvaro de la | Clergyman, wrote a now-lost memoir on the expedition mentioned in a letter written by the viceroy in 1559. | ||||
222 | Torres, Alonso de | Ubeda or Baeza | X | |||
223 | Torres, Francisco de | X | 1546 | Friar. The BL states that three friars survived. | ||
224 | Torres, Manuel | Portugal | X | X | ||
225 | Torres, Pedro de | Medina del Campo | X | X | ||
226 | Torres, Sancho de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
227 | Tristán | Seville | X | |||
228 | Trujillo, Baltasar de | Seville | X | X | ||
229 | Valderas | Leon | X | |||
230 | Valdivieso, Luis de | Salamanca | yes | |||
231 | Valtierra, Pedro de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
232 | Vargas, Juan de | Drowned in the Mississippi River. | ||||
233 | Vargas, Juan de | Burguillos | X | X | ||
234 | Vargas | Burgillos | X | The BL has "Two Vargas" from Burguillos. | ||
235 | Vasconcelos, Andrés de | Elvas, Portugal | Died of illness at the Mississippi River. | |||
236 | Vázquez, Alonso | Jerez | X | 1560 | Captain. Brother of Rodrigo Álvarez.3 | |
237 | Vázquez, Francisco | Villanueva de Barcarrota | X | X | Under "Xerez and Villanueva," the BL has "Two Franciscos Vázquez." The PR has entries for two apparently unrelated men with this name from Villanueva de Barcarrota. | |
238 | Vázquez, Francisco | Villanueva de Barcarrota | X | X | See above. | |
239 | Vázquez, Gonzalo | Villanueva de Barcarrota | X | 1560 | X | |
240 | Vázquez, Hernán | Badajoz | 1557 | X | ||
241 | Vega, Andrés de | Caceres | 1558 | X | ||
242 | Vega, Hernando de | Badajoz | X | X | ||
243 | Vega, Juan de | Badajoz | X | 1547 | X | |
244 | Velasco | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
245 | Velázquez, Antonio | "from the mountains" or "foreigner" | X | X | ||
246 | Velázquez, Diego | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
247 | Verdejon | Toledo | X | |||
248 | Verdugo, Pedro | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
249 | Villagarcía | La Mancha | X | |||
250 | Villalobos | Badajoz | X | |||
251 | Villalobos, Alonso de | Seville | X | 1545 | X | |
252 | Villaroel | Castilla la Vieja | X | |||
253 | Villegas, (Gonzalo de?) | Plasencia (Palencia?) | X | X | The BL lists a Villegas from Plasencia. The PR lists Gonzalo de Villegas from Palencia. Both towns exist. If one is misspelled, then these are the same man. | |
254 | Villegas, Juan | Almendralejo | X | X | ||
255 | Villegas Prieto, Sebastian de | Zamora | 1569 | |||
256 | Viota, Juan de | Aragon | X | 1561 | ||
257 | Zalduendo, Pedro de | Castilla la Vieja | X | X | ||
258 | Zambrano, Álvaro | Burguillos | X | 1554, 1569 |
By David Carson
Page last updated: May 18, 2023
1The PR includes some references specifically to Villanueva de Barcarrota for some of the survivors from this group.
2We completely ignore Garcilaso de Vega's non-eyewitness, non-contemporary, fictionalized interpretation of the De Soto Expedition.
3The BL contains an entry for "The Father Pozo, from Segura." This entry is immediately followed by "Almendron, brother, from Segura." The PR contains an entry for Bartolomé Pozo from Segura de León and an entry for Alonso Hernández Almendro from Segura. Taken separately, these entries appear to correspond to each other, until one notices that Bartolomé Pozo and Alonso Almendro had different sets of parents, making it unlikely that they were brothers. One or both of the PR entries, therefore, may not actually correspond to persons listed on the BL. Or, the note that they were brothers could simply be an error.
4The BL contains an entry reading, "Alonso Vasquez, and Rodrigo Alvarez, his brother, from Xeréz." Men named Alonso Vázquez and Rodrigo Vázquez testified separately about their service on the expedition. Alonso testified that his brother, Rodrigo Vázquez, also went. Rodrigo testified that his brother, Alonso Vázquez, also went. Both testified that they were born in Jerez. The PR has a listing for Rodrigo Álvarez, whose father, Andrés Vásquez, was from Zafra, which is near Jerez. It seems likely that Rodrigo Álvarez and Rodrigo Vázquez are the same person. Avellaneda, suspecting that the BL is wrong about Rodrigo Álvarez and Alonso Vázquez being brothers, has three separate entries in his list - Rodrigo Álvarez, Alonso Vázquez, and Rodrigo Vázquez. Avellaneda admits, however, that he could be mistaken and that there is an extra name on his list. We believe that to be the case.
5Avellaneda lists both Caldera and Calvera, but notes that they "could be the same person," as we take them to be.
6Avellaneda suggests either Friar Sebastián de Cañete, author of a lost De Soto Expedition account, or García de Cañete, a name found on the PR.
7Avellaneda includes this survivor's parents' names and their place of citizenship. He normally obtains this data from the PR, although he doesn't refer to the PR in this instance and doesn't say where this data came from.
8Avellaneda lists him as Dionisio de Paris, a name taken from Vega's narrative, even though Vega says that person died.
9The BL lists three Alonso Gutiérrezes: one from Medellin, one from Albuquerque, and one from Portugal. A testimony was made in 1546 by a survivor from Badajoz named Alonso Gutiérrez de Córdoba. This could be either of the first two, since Medellin and Albuquerque are both in Badajoz. A survivor named Alonso Gutiérrez de Cardona, also from Badajoz, testified in 1558. Avellaneda lists four different men, with a separate entry for Córdoba, but admits that Cardona and Córdoba could be any of the three and could also be the same one. It is our view that the neither of the testimonies suggest there was a surviving Alonso Gutiérrez who was left off of the BL, so it is incorrect to make four listings. One Alonso Gutiérrez, whose parents were citizens of Albuquerque, is listed on the PR.
10As Avellaneda notes, there is a town in Castilla la Nueva named Valdeolivas.
11The Pedro del Pozo who testified was from Salmeron, which was in Castilla la Nueva.