Hernando De Soto and Spanish Conquistadores
Hernando De Soto and Spanish Conquistadores seeing the Mississippi River for the first time.
Official history says that the Spanish colonizers in America were focused on the territory from Mexico to the end of South America. For centuries, there was the question of why the Spaniards didn't decide to try to conquer further north. Artifacts from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries bring a new light to this topic.

It is known that the Spanish claimed territories in what is today part of the United States of America. In the 16th century, they had explored the southern area of the country. For example, in Florida, the St Augustine fort was established by the Spanish in 1565. The impact of the Spanish way of understanding Roman Catholicism is evident in this region. The Spanish also influenced the economy in this area and attacked local Native Americans.

There are three known conquerors who explored the southern parts of the USA: Juan Ponce de Leon, Hernando De Soto and Francisco Vazquez de Coronado. It seems unbelievable that the Spanish, known as great conquerors and wanderlusts, stopped exploring the continent due to the British domination. Or perhaps they did?

Two (or more) Spanish Galleons

The greatest mystery comes in the form of two wrecks of Spanish galleons discovered on the Oregon Coast, near the mouth of the Columbia River. There are no official Spanish reports about lost expeditions or ships in this area. It is believed that there is also another galleon lost in this region, but it has not been located. There is speculation about several other lost ships in the area and even closer to Alaska, although none of them have been discovered.

The first ship was lost in 1694, and the second one in 1735. The Spanish galleons sailed on North for the first time in 1542. Some documents show that with time they traveled to Cortes Island, which has a name that reflects the Spanish presence. They also went to British Columbia and at the beginning of the new century - to Alaska.

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