#DidYouKnow 💭🤔 After Hernando de Soto’s death in May 1542 near the Mississippi River, the surviving members of his expedition made a grim decision that would haunt history. Under the leadership of Luis de Moscoso Alvarado, the remaining 311 Spaniards built seven crude brigantines and prepared to continue down the “Father of Waters” in 1543. As they reached a remote stretch of the river, the expedition’s dwindling supplies, exhausted men, and the constant threat of hostile tribes forced a devas