On September 10, 1539, conquistador Hernando de Soto was at Uriutina, a deserted Indian village near here, where his party feasted on food left behind by fleeing villagers. Messengers sent by Chief Uzachile came to plead for the release of his relative, Chief Aguacalequen, who had been held hostage for 24 days, but de Soto decided to release Aguacalequen only after meeting Uzachile. An account by a Gentleman from Elvas recalled that Indians came in peace to see their lord and each day came to the road playing flutes as a sign that they came in peace. Many Europeans had heard of the fame and fortune of de Soto’s conquests in Panama, Nicaragua, and Peru, and men, women, and children came from Spain, England, Germany, and Portugal to march with him and seek their own fortunes in La Florida. At Uriutina, Chief Aguacalequen had received a message from his ally, Chief Napituca, that Napituca’s warriors planned to ambush the Spanish and torture the men in revenge for cruelties inflicted on their tribe by de Soto, but Aguacalequen begged Napituca to reconsider because he believed the Spanish could not be defeated in war.