The Most Argued Fact in Florida History:

The Story:

After a successful conquest of "Incan Peru in 1532-35" Hernando de Soto returned to his homeland of Spain seeking to become a ruler of his own territory (Gannon 26). In response to de Soto's request, Carlos V granted him the governorship of La Florida which was "previously awarded to Narvaez and Ayllon" and granted him sizable land to rule over (Gannon 26). Later, de Soto arrived in Florida with "600 soldiers, twelve priests, two women, servants and slaves, 223 horses, numerous mules and war dogs, and a herd of swine" (Gannon 28). From there he began his expedition into the interior of Florida to assess his newfound lands.

Hernando De Soto

The Debate:

Now, the great debate which Gannon describes as the question where nothing has "been argued for the past half century (sic)" than where de Soto had landed with his expeditionary forces (Gannon 28). The options were: Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound-Caloosahatchee River, and San Carlos Bay. Originally, historians had decided upon Tampa, in fact "in 1939, a U.S. De Soto Expedition Commission chaired by Dr. John R. Swanton determined that the de Soto landing site was Tampa Bay." This fact was primarily based upon documentation gathered from the period and from the expedition itself. However, later on, studies found that they were in fact further south due to the documents "as well as de Soto's route of March" pointing to Charlotte Harbor, Pine Island Sound-Caloosahatchee River, or San Carlos Bay (Gannon 28). However, "a State of Florida de Soto Trail Committee" reviewed the documentation in 1989 against "an archaeological list of known native encampments greatly expanded since 1939" had finally decided that Tampa was the place in which de Soto had landed (Gannon 28).

Tampa Bay Metro Map

Conclusion: 

Given the information provided, one must only conclude that Tampa was the final verdict on the landing point of Hernando de Soto. The addition of new evidence provided in the study performed in 1989 successfully builds upon conclusions made in 1939 while disproving any stray theories such as the Charlotte Harbor theory. Even still, Gannon goes on to state that the new evidence and conclusions surrounding the landing point "remains provisional" (Gannon 28). As such, the true conclusion one must make is that the true destination in which they landed will remain a point of contention until more evidence can be found to solidify one of the arguments provided. This proves a primary concept in history, even in Florida history is that new facts and theories can always be found and created. 

Pine-Island Sound

San Carlos Bay

Source Information:

The source used in this article is The History of Florida which chronicled the work of many historians into a comprehensive textbook for readers to gain a greater understanding of the history of Florida. The article where the information in this post was grabbed is Article 2: First European Contacts written by Gannon himself.  

Works Cited:

1) Gannon, Michael Chapter 2: First European Contacts. History of Florida. 1 pgs 18-40