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Discover America 2:
Wilbur F. Gordy |  | | | After Columbus had discovered the New World, the Spaniards eagerly dreamed of its marvelous wealth. They were impatient to be off to the land where they believed fortunes awaited them. They were so zealous in their mad search for gold and adventure that many were willing to leave home and friends for years. 1 | The most brilliant of these explorers were Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, and Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru. Both of these men had carried back to Spain many millions dollars worth of gold and silver. With Pizarro was a young man named Hernando De Soto. His life was full of adventure, and most importantly, he discovered the Mississippi River. This alone has given him a prominent place in the history of our country. 2 | He was born about 1500 to a poor but noble family. In his youth, he excelled in athletic sports. He was unusually skilled in horsemanship and fencing. He took a leading part in all the dangerous exploits in the New World. For he not only won fame but went back to Spain after many years as a rich man. 3 | While Cortez and Pizarro had been conquering Mexico and Peru, other Spaniards sought their fortune in Florida. These men had brought back no gold and silver. De Soto wished to conquer and explore the country. His faith in the mines of the interior was great. He already had won significant influence by his achievements. He secured the favor of the king. He was appointed governor of the island of Cuba. He was appointed leader of an expedition to conquer and occupy Florida. He was to take enough men with him to build forts and plant a colony. He was to hold the country for Spain. 4 | De Soto had no difficulty getting followers to join him on this trip. Young men from noble families from all parts of Spain flocked to him. He knew that dangers and hardships awaited them. He chose only the strongest men to go with him. 5 | De Soto’s men were richly dressed nobles. They were warriors in glittering armor. It was a huge party when they sailed out of port. Their banners were flying. Cannon was booming. Every young man felt proud to sail on so grand an expedition. After arriving in Cuba, De Soto spent some time there. Then, leaving his wife to govern the island, he set out to explore Florida. His expedition was a large one. There were nine vessels, six hundred men, and about two hundred and twenty-five horses. In May 1539, the whole force landed at Tampa Bay on the western coast of Florida. 6 | De Soto and his men met with hunger, disease, death, and many other misfortunes. Still, De Soto went on with his mad search for gold. He worked his way through the deep-twisted forests. In the spring of 1541, about two years after landing at Tampa Bay, he reached the bank of the Mississippi River. It took months to make boats. Finally, he crossed the mighty stream. From there, he marched northerly and westerly. He went as far as the site of what is now Little Rock, the capital of Arkansas. 7 | Next, he marched southeast to the Washita. He spent a winter so severe that many of the party, including Ortiz, died. 8 | The Spaniards reached the mouth of the Red River in the middle of April 1542, tired, spent, and sick at heart. Even De Soto was discouraged and broken in spirit. He was taken ill with a fever and soon died. At first, his followers buried his body near the town where they were staying. Indians were curious about the ground under which he lay. So, at night, the Spaniards took up the body. They wrapped it in blankets made heavy with sand. Sadly, they lowered De Soto into the waters of the mighty river that De Soto had discovered. After many more hardships, about half of those men who landed at Tampa Bay traveled to a Spanish colony in Mexico. Thus ended the trip that set sail with such hope, wealth, and renown. 9 | Although England did not have a fighting navy, English seamen were alert to capture Spanish vessels and rob them of their gold and silver. To seize these prizes, such bold sea captains as Drake and Hawkins roamed the sea, burning and plundering Spanish fleets and settlements along the coast of Mexico and South America. 10 | Conspicuous among these daring sea rovers and explorers was Sir Walter Raleigh, one of the most distinguished Englishmen of his time. He was born in a town near the seacoast in Devonshire, England, 1552; his father and mother were both of high social rank. 11 | In this town lived many old sailors who could tell the wide-awake boy stirring tales of seafaring life and bloody fights with Spaniards. Walter was a patriotic boy and soon learned to hate Spain because of its insolence toward the English people. 12 | As he became older and learned more of the power of Spain, especially that which came through possessions in the New World, he was envious of his country’s sake and wished her to become Spain’s rival in wealth. 13 | When Walter was old enough, he was sent to Oxford University, where he became an earnest student. But at seventeen, he put aside his studies and went to France to join the Huguenot army. After remaining there for about six years, he returned to England and served briefly in the English army, fighting against Spain and Austria in the Netherlands. Later, he went to Ireland as captain of a hundred men, proving himself to be a brave soldier. 14 | Returning to England, by a simple act of courtesy, he won the admiration of the powerful Queen Elizabeth. It happened in this way. On one occasion, she was about to cross a muddy road with her attendants as Raleigh stood looking on. Noticing that the queen hesitated for an instant, he took his beautiful velvet cloak from his shoulder and gallantly spread it in her pathway. The queen, greatly pleased with this delicate attention, took Raleigh into her Court and, in time, bestowed upon him much honor. She not only made him a knight but also presented him with costly gifts and estates and showered upon him offices of rank and dignity. The brave knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, became a man of great wealth and influence. 15 | As a courtier, his dress was rich and dazzling. He wore a hat with a pearl band and a black-jeweled feather. His shoes, which were tied with white ribbons, were studded with gems worth six thousand six hundred gold pieces. He also had a suit of silver armor that glittered with diamonds and other precious stones. 16 | This splendor did not seem so much out of place in those days as it would now, for much display and ceremony were customary in court life. Queen Elizabeth, with her ten hundred and seventy-five dresses and mantles ornamented with lace, embroidery, and jewels, and with her eighty wigs of various colors, set a gorgeous example, which her courtiers were delighted to follow. 17 | But Raleigh was not satisfied with the glamour of court life. He was eager to achieve glory for England and, if possible, to elevate her upon the ruins of her enemy, Spain. 18 | He desired to build a new England for the glory of the old, and to that end, he secured a charter from Queen Elizabeth for planting a colony in America. He, therefore, fitted out two vessels, which were to sail to the land north of Florida, then occupied by Spain, and bring back reports of the country. The captains of these vessels arrived in Pamlico Sound and landed on an island, which they found rich in grapes and woods and abounding in deer and other game. The explorers received kind treatment from the Indians, two of whom accompanied the voyagers to England on their return. Queen Elizabeth was so pleased with the good reports from the new country that she called it Virginia in honor of herself—the Virgin Queen. 19 | The following year, 1585, Raleigh sent seven vessels and one hundred colonists to Virginia under his cousins, Sir Richard Grenville and Ralph Lane. They landed on Roanoke Island and settled there, but the colony was not prosperous. At the outset, by unwise and cruel treatment, they made enemies of the natives. It is related that an Indian having stolen a silver cup from one of the colonists, the Englishmen burned an entire village and ruined the corn belonging to its people. Such punishment was out of all proportion to the petty offense. It is not surprising, therefore, that from that time, the settlers found the Indians unfriendly. 20 | Grenville soon sailed back to England, leaving the colony in charge of Ralph Lane. Instead of building houses and tilling the soil to supply food, the colonists were bent upon finding gold. Hence, they listened eagerly to a story the Indians told about the Roanoke River. According to this story, the river flowed out of a fountain in a rock so near the ocean that the waves dashed over into the fountain in time of storm. The river, the Indians said, flowed near rich mines of gold and silver in a country with a town with walls made of pearls. Lane and his followers foolishly started up the river in a vain search for this wonderful land. They encountered many difficulties, including hostile attacks by Indians, and suffered so much from a lack of food that they had to eat the flesh of their dogs. 21 | The discovery of the tobacco plant introduced into England the custom of smoking, and a curious story is told of it in connection with Sir Walter Raleigh, who soon learned to smoke. One day, his servant, who knew nothing of the new custom, entered his master’s room and found him smoking from a silver pipe. Believing Raleigh was on fire, the faithful servant hastily dashed a mug of ale at him to quench the flames and rescue him from death. 22 | The wealth that lay hidden in the soil was yet, and no one felt any enthusiasm over the new colony of Virginia. Most men would, by this time, have lost hope. But Raleigh was not daunted. Two years later, he made a second attempt to plant a colony in the New World, this time sending over three ships with a hundred and fifty settlers, including seventeen women. John White was appointed governor of the colony. These settlers had the forethought of carrying farming implements with them to till the soil. When they landed on Roanoke Island, they found no trace of the fifteen men left there two years before by Sir Richard Grenville. 23 | The new settlers had not been on the island long before they needed help from England and begged Governor White to return home for provisions and more settlers. White at first refused to leave them but finally consented. A warm interest in the feeble settlement and love for his little granddaughter, born soon after the settlers arrived, persuaded him to yield. This little girl, the first white girl born in America, was named after the new country, Virginia, her full name being Virginia Dare. 24 | When Governor White left the settlement, he expected to return immediately. Still, upon reaching England, he found his countrymen incredibly excited over the coming invasion of the much-dreaded ‘Spanish Armada.’ Everybody was astir, and Raleigh was aroused to his fullest energy in preparation to meet the hated foe. 25 | But, notwithstanding this, he found time to fit out two small vessels for Governor White. Although they sailed, trouble with the Spaniards compelled their return to England. Only two years later, when the Spanish Armada had been defeated, Governor White sailed again for Virginia, this time as a passenger in a West Indianan. He landed on Roanoke Island as before, but only some chests of books, maps, and firearms remained in the settlement, all of which had been ruined by the Indians. 26 | Upon bidding Governor White farewell, the colonists had agreed to carve on a tree the name of the place they would go if they decided to leave Roanoke Island. They were also to carve a cross above their names if they were in serious trouble. Governor White found the word CROATOAN cut in capital letters on a large tree, but he found no cross. Before White could sail to Croatian, an island not far away, he had to return to England because the vessel’s captain, having encountered stormy weather, refused to sail further. What became of the lost colonists is still a mystery. It is possible that the Indians either killed them or captured and enslaved them. 27 | Raleigh sent out other expeditions in search of the lost colony, but without success. He had already spent a sum equal to more than a million dollars in trying to plant this colony and now felt that he must give up all hope of accomplishing his purpose. 28 ★ |  |
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189 reads • May 2025 • 2172 words • 28 rows
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