Narrative of the expedition of Hernando de Soto into Florida is a classic Hernando de Soto biography. CAPTAIN SOTO was the son of a squire of Xerez of Badajoz. He went into the Spanish Indies, when Peter Arias of Avila was Governor of the West Indies. And there he was without anything else of his own, save his sword and target: and for his good qualities and valor, Peter Arias made him captain of a troop of horsemen, and by his commandment he went with Fernando Pizarro to the conquest of Peru.