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The City of Bainbridge recently held an essay competition, where students were asked to write a 250-word essay on Hernando de Soto. They then submitted it before a panel of judges, who chose Breonna Raley as the winner.

Raley’s winning essay details how de Soto sold all of his belongings to explore Florida and later Georgia, passing through Bainbridge.

Hernando’s Early Life

Hernando de Soto [ her-nan-doh ] was born c. 1500 in Jerez de los

Caballeros,Spain. Everyone here was mainly poor, they suffered harshly to survive here in Badajoz,Spain. As a child de Soto’s parents hoped he would become a Lawyer. However, de Soto told his father that he instead wanted to explore the West Indies. Growing up a patron named Pedro  Arias Davila funded money to de Soto for the University of Salamanca.

Conquering Peru

In 1532, explorer Pizarro made de Soto second in command to conquer Peru. While exploring the highlands in 1533, Hernando de Soto stumbled upon a road leading to Cuzco, which is the capital of Peru’s Empire. Cusco was a town, today it is located in Southern Peru. Hernando soon started a successful battle to capture Cuzco.

Exploring North America

De Soto was restless at his home. He heard people talking about the riches in Florida. He then sold all his things. De Soto took the money and with a crew 700 men and 10 ships went to explore America. De Soto first explored Florida, then Georgia, and then Alabama.(lt is said that de Soto may have passed through our city Bainbridge, Ga.) There were battles  along the way with Indians, which included ambushes, and enslaving. The worst battle yet was in Alabama. After that in 1541, He then traveled more west where he and his crew discovered the Mississippi River. They carried on through Arkansas and Lousinana. They turned back to the Mississippi River in 1542. But, fever struck de Soto. His crew buried him in the

Mississippi River, in which he found. Today, de Soto is famous for being a spanish explorer, conquistador, and a discoverer of the large and long Mississippi River.

The City will host one more essay completion in the coming weeks for middle school students, where air pods will be given to the winner.