Trained in horses and arms, nineteen-year-old Hernando Desoto first traveled to Peru, the land of the Inca, in 1520. Sixteen years later, rich with plundered gold, he returned to Spain in triumph. “Dry of words and stern experience,” he continued to dream of ever greater wealth and conquests, confident that they could be won as in the past, by reach of his lance and the edge of his sword. With new fame and influence, Desoto secured a commission from the Spanish Crown to explore, conquer, and settle Florida. He invested his fortune in this grand adventure, and on April 6, 1538, the armada and expedition of the new Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of Florida set sail for the New World.