USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In 1541, de Soto and his men became the first Europeans to encounter the great Mississippi River and cross it.

Detailed explanation-2: -It shows Spanish conquistador and explorer Hernando De Soto (1500–1542), riding a white horse and dressed in Renaissance finery, arriving at the Mississippi River at a point below Natchez on May 8, 1541. De Soto was the first European documented to have seen the river.

Detailed explanation-3: -They went to a total of ten states that exist today, including Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana. De Soto and his men were the first Europeans to reach and cross the Mississippi River.

Detailed explanation-4: -La Salle was the first European to travel the Mississippi from the Illinois River to the Gulf of Mexico, and he claimed the Mississippi River drainage area for France, naming it “Louisiana” after King Louis XIV.

Detailed explanation-5: -Robert De La Salle. René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle was a French explorer. He was sent by King Louis XIV (14) to travel south from Canada and sail down the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico. He was the first European to travel the length of the Mississippi River.