DeSoto's Western Trails
by Donald E. Sheppard"As soon as the governor reached Guachoya, he sent Juan de Anasco (his most trusted captain) up the river (north) with as many men as could get into the (Indian) canoes (which were procured at Lake Village); for when they (the soldiers) were coming from Nilco, they (the scouts) saw newly made huts on the other side (of the Mississippi River; Greenville, Mississippi)... they brought back canoes laden with corn, beans, dried plums, and many loaves made from the pulp of plums..."© Univ. of Alabama Press for which the Spaniards would pay dearly the following year.
The first officer continued, "On that day, an Indian came to the governor in the name of the chief of Guachoya (of Lake Village, whose house DeSoto happened to be living in at the time) and said that his lord would come next day. On the following day, they saw many canoes coming from downstream (the south). They assembled together for the space of an hour on the other side of the great river (today's Lake Chicot), debating as to whether they should come or not. At last they made up their minds and crossed... He (DeSoto) asked him (the chief) whether he had any knowledge of the sea (the Gulf of Mexico). He said he did not, nor of any settlement down the river from that place, except that there was a town of one of his principal Indians subject to him two leagues away (5 miles, we call it Fairview; the chief had just come from there), and on the other side (of the Mississippi River) three days' journey downstream (by Indian canoe), the province (and hometown) of Quigaltam, who was the greatest lord of that region (he lived at Vicksburg). It seemed to the governor that the chief was lying to him in order to turn him (toward that place and) aside from his towns, and he sent Juan de Anasco downstream with eight horse to see what population there was and to ascertain whether there were any knowledge (among the downstream Indians) of the sea." That scouting party's departure was timed for Full Moon at journey's mid-way.
DeSoto's men reported to an historian of their day, "Meanwhile the chief of Guachoya persuaded the governor to return to the province of Nilco, offering to go with his men to serve his lordship, and to facilitate the crossing of the River of Nilco (Bayou Bartholomew) he ordered 80 large canoes, besides other small ones, to be taken seven leagues (18 miles) down the Great (Mississippi) River to the mouth of the River of Nilco (Boeuf River), which entered the Great River (at Ditch Bayou just below Fairview: we call these many bayous by different names, the Indians did not). They would ascend it to the village of Nilco (the same way the chief had gone when he first sighted DeSoto at Tillar). The whole route that the canoes would have to go by both rivers would be about 20 leagues (52 miles) of navigation. While the canoes were descending the Great River and ascending the River of Nilco they (some of DeSoto's army) would go by land, so that they could all arrive together at the village of Nilco at the same time." DeSoto needed the provisions which Nilco's Indians had carried away, into Touchstone Swamp from their main village near Coleman and over Bayou Bartholomew from Tillar, if he was to feed his horses and army during the time it would take to build boats at Lake Village. Chief Guachoya, on the other hand, simply wanted Chief Nilco's head. "As soon as all was prepared and they brought the canoes, the governor ordered (a) company (to) go (with) them to direct and give orders to four thousand Indian warriors who were embarking in them (the historian who wrote this had a flair for drama, which, as does that flair today, sold many books). (They) carried their bows and arrows... (Chief Guachoya and DeSoto) allowed them a period of three full days for their navigation, which seemed time enough for both parties to arrive and join one another at the village of Nilco." They joined near Tillar then raided Nilco. Booty, including that which had been lost by Guachoya in skirmishes with Nilco over the proceeding years, was brought back to Lake Village in the canoes. Nilco and his people were slaughtered; their villages burned to the ground. DeSoto's people would return the following winter and find little left of Nilco. Guachoya probably cleaned it out, even more completely, once Desoto's army was gone.
The officer mentioned above continued his description of Anasco's journey down the Great River in search of the sea, "He was gone for a week (the time it took for the raid on Nilco) and on his coming said that during that whole time he could not proceed more than 14 or 15 leagues (about 38 miles) because of the great arms leading out of the river, and the canebrakes and thick woods lying along it; and that he found no settlement." Another of DeSoto's officers reported that, "...he returned saying that he did not find a road nor a way to cross the large swamps along the great river." The Mississippi River's Spring flood was well underway by then: mid-May on our Gregorian Calendar. Recall, too, that heavy snows had been reported that winter; the Mississippi must have been a nightmare of melted snows, but DeSoto had not seen it otherwise. That flood dramatically broadened the river and all of its feeders. Levees line the banks today to prevent that, but Anasco lost track of the river's "road" because its natural curvy state was obscured by floods. The first officer continued, "The governor's grief was intense on seeing the small prospect he had for reaching the sea; and worse, according to the way in which his men and horses were diminishing, they could not be maintained in the land without supplies (from Cuba). With that thought he (DeSoto) fell sick, but before he took to his bed, he sent an Indian to tell the chief of Quigaltam (Greenville, Mississippi) that he was the sun of the sun (a God) and that wherever he went all obeyed him and did him service..."
To DeSoto's demands that he come and obey him, that chief replied... "let him dry up the great river and he would believe him..." By that time the river was flooded well over its banks. The chief refused to come, which, given history's course over the next three centuries, proved to be a wise decision. That Mississippi chief and his people would thrive; those of Arkansas would die off, probably of diseases brought in by despot's army and animals from Europe, Africa, South America, Cuba and, as we shall see, South Central Texas the following year.
Continuing, "The Governor realized within himself that the hour had come in which he must leave his present life. He had the royal officials summoned, and the captains and principal persons. To them he gave a talk, saying that he was about to go... The next day, May 21 (1542), died the magnanimous, virtuous (?) and courageous captain, Don Hernando de Soto, Governor of Cuba and ruler of Florida..." His body was buried there, but one a week later (under a Full Moon for proper tribute by his soldiers), it was dug up so the Indians could not find it, to prove to others that he was not a God, when the Spaniards left there "...and a considerable quantity of sand was placed with the blankets in which he was shrouded, and he was taken in a canoe and cast into the middle of the river."
The other officer says of DeSoto's untimely death, "The Governor, from seeing himself cut off and that not one thing could be done according to his purpose, was afflicted with sickness and died... he left Luis de Moscoso (pronounced mos-cos-o) appointed as General. We (a group of officers) decided that since (the river was flooding more every day) we could find no road (navigable waterway) to the sea, we should head west, and that it could be that we might be able to get out by land to Mexico, if we did not find anything else in the land or any place to halt..." like Mexico City, with plenty of gold and silver to plunder.
The officer continued, "It seemed advisable to all to take the road overland toward the west, for New Spain lay in that direction; and they considered as more dangerous and of greater risk the voyage by sea; for no ship could be built strong enough to weather the storms, and they had no master or pilot, and no compass or sailing chart, and they did not know how far away the sea was, nor had they any information of it; nor whether the river made some great bend through the land or whether it fell over any rocks where they would perish. Some men who had seen the sailing chart found that the distance to New Spain (Mexico City) along the coast in the region where they were was about 500 leagues (1,300 miles) or so. They declared that even though they might have to make detours by land, because of looking for a settlement (for food), they would not be prevented from going ahead that summer except by some great uninhabited district which they could not cross..."
On Monday, June 5, he left Guachoya. The chief (of Lake Village) gave him a guide to Chaguate (Shreveport, Louisiana) and remained in the village. They passed through a province called Catalte (El Dorado, having camped near Montrose, Hamburg, Crossett, Ouachita River and Strong) and after passing through an uninhabited region for six days (the barrens of Kisatchie National Forest and Barksdale Air force Base), they reached Chaguate (Shreveport) on the twentieth of the month."
On June 17th, 1542, Hernando de Soto's army entered Louisiana from El Dorado, Arkansas. DeSoto had died not far from there at Lake Village. His body was placed in Lake Chicot, a part of the Mississippi River at that time. Since that river was flooded by heavy snows from the preceding winter, DeSoto's people could not find their way down it. Their number had been reduced from 650 to 400 soldiers, and only 40 horses remained of the 220 they brought from Cuba. They were tired, broke and miserable; headed for Mexico City, the closest Spanish outpost on the continent.
An officer of that expedition says they left El Dorado, "and after passing through an uninhabited region for six days (into today's Louisiana at Junction City, past the barrens of Kisatchie National Forest around Homer, then through Minden and Barksdale Air force Base), they reached Chaguate (Shreveport) on the twentieth of the month." They would enjoy Shreveport's hospitality until the next Full Moon on June 27th. The Chief met the army; his people helped DeSoto's people cross the Red River, "They passed through a small town where there was a lake (Cross Lake), where the Indians made salt. The Christians made some on a day they rested there from some briny water which rose near the town in pools like springs. The governor stayed six days in Chaguete..." Province. Others called the Chief of Shreveport's large province "Chavete." It existed between the Red and Sabine Rivers.
"There they got information of the people to the west (who spoke a similar Caddoan language). They told us that three days' journey from there was a province called Aquacay (Tyler, Longview, Carthage and Henderson; all beyond the Sabine River in Texas).