Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic]

The Mississippi River discovered

DE SOTO REACHING THE MISSISSIPPI
(From Powell's picture in the Capitol at Washington)

no wonder that the Indians who had welcomed the Spaniards so
warmly became as savage as the invaders, and tortured every
Spaniard that fell into their hands.

De Soto had been told that if he went to the westward he would find a land rich in gold, so to the west he made his way. He came to the Mississippi River in 1541, but he found no gold. The Indians had become bitter enemies, two thirds of his thousand men had died in the wilderness, and he decided to build two boats, float down the river to the Gulf of Mexico, and then push on to Cuba. Before the boats could be made, De Soto died. He was so hated by the Indians that, for fear they should insult his grave, his followers hollowed out the trunk of an oak and buried their dead leader at midnight in the waters of the mighty stream that he had discovered.

Nearly fifty years had passed since the first voyage of Columbus. Spain, England, Portugal, and France had all sent out explorers. Explorations of different The general course of the Spaniards and the Portuguese had been nations to lands around the Gulf of Mexico and to the south of it. The English had sailed to Newfoundland and Labrador. The French had explored the Saint Lawrence. Both English and French had explored part of the eastern coast of North America.

SUMMARY.

Within fifty years after the voyage of Columbus:

The Cabots visited the mainland of America.

Vespucius coasted along South America.

De Leon went to Florida.

Magellan's ship sailed around the world.

Cartier explored the Saint Lawrence.

De Soto discovered the Mississippi.

These voyages, together with that of Columbus, gave Spain, France, and
England claims to land in North America.

They proved:

That the world was round.

That it was much larger than had been supposed.

That a continent lay between Europe and Asia.

SUGGESTIONS FOR WRITTEN WORK.

Write a conversation between two persons about the New World.
Describe Cartier's planting the cross at Chaleur Bay.

Describe the burial of De Soto.

Claims of
France, Eng-
land, and
Spain

III

THE EARLY ATTEMPTS TO MAKE SETTLEMENTS

OLD SPANISH GATEWAY AT ST. AUGUSTINE

As has been said, it was the custom for each explorer to take possession for his king of whatever land he visited. This is why the French claimed the country about the Saint Lawrence, the English claimed all between Maine and Florida, and the Spanish claimed Florida, Mexico, the West Indies, and South America. There were no boundaries between these territories, no one knew how

[graphic]

far west the continent extended, and each sovereign had a vague idea that he had a right to all the land that was connected with the place where his explorer was the first to land.

Fifty years after Columbus's death neither Spain, France, nor England had settled on the mainland of what is now the United States. Different explorers had tried to found colonies, and even on Columbus's first voyage some of his followers were so delighted with the new country that they persuaded him to allow them to remain there when he sailed for home. This colony failed,

however, and so did all the others.

The chief reason was that the Why the

colonists had no thought of making their homes in the New early colo

World. What they wanted was to fill their pockets with gold or

pearls or diamonds and then go back to Europe to spend their money.

Filled with this idea, they paid little attention to the character of the region to which they were going. What the soil was, and whether it was a good place for a home, made little difference to them. So much treasure had been found in America that men were ready to believe that anything was of value if it only came from across the ocean. The caterpillars of Florida they took for remarkably fine silkworms. Quartz crystals from near Quebec they felt sure were diamonds, and when a sea-captain carried home a black stone from the frozen lands north of North America, he was immediately sent back across the ocean for a cargo of black stones, for the wise men of London declared that the specimen was full of gold. To colonists with such ideas as these, it seemed absurd to

A SILKWORM

nies failed

[graphic]

SPANISH TREASURE SEEKER
(Showing the soldier's cuirass and halberd)

[graphic]

waste their time planting corn, when by

a little searching they could per

haps discover a gold mine. This

is the chief reason why during the First perma

second fifty years after Columbus nent settle-
discovered America only two per-
manent settlements were made in

what is now the United States. One was at Saint Augustine, in
Florida, which the Spanish founded in 1565. The other, also
Spanish, was at Santa Fé in New Mexico.

ments in the United States

Sir Walter
Raleigh

Of the colonies that failed one was unlike the others. This was founded by Sir Walter Raleigh, the best known Englishman of his time. He was an admirable leader and a brave soldier, as well as the author of some very good poetry and an interesting history of the world. Whatever he undertook he did well, and he always seemed to know just what to do. There is a story that one day Queen Elizabeth wished to cross a piece of damp ground. The attendants did not know how to save her Majesty from setting her royal foot in the mud, but, quick as thought, Sir Walter spread his rich velvet mantle on the ground before her, and the queen passed over safely. Whether this is true or not, the warrior poet was a successful courtier, and Elizabeth was inclined to grant whatever he asked.

He was greatly interested in the New World, and he had some

[graphic]

BIRTHPLACE OF SIR WALTER RALEIGH AT HAYES IN DEVONSHIRE

ideas that were unlike those of most men of his time. Others had thought that the chief value of America lay in the gold mines that might be found there; Raleigh believed that if colonists would form real settlements and cultivate the ground, their sowing and reaping would be worth more than the vague chance of

« PreviousContinue »