Soon after the discovery of the New World, Spain set out to conquer the New World. They sent Conquistadors or conquers to take over the new land. They claimed the land of what we now know as Florida. They named it La Florida, the island of flowers, as they thought it was an island. 

DeSoto sought riches and cities of gold. He moved his explorations to Georgia, being the 1st European to explore the interior of Georgia. DeSoto's expeditions introduced many things to Georgia. It introduced diseases like smallpox, measles, and influenza to Georgia. These diseases were new to the Native Americans and killed many of them. 

Native Americans provided information to DeSoto in his explorations, but many times the info that was given was false. It was done to protect the Native American tribes. 

DeSoto's mission was one of God, Gold, and Glory.  The God mission was to establish Spanish missions and convert the Native Americans to Catholicism. He succeed in this included missions on Cumberland Island, St. Catherine’s Island.

The gold mission was very unsuccessful. DeSoto never found the gold he was looking for. He ended up dying and being buried in the Mississippi River. 

The glory mission was to add more land, more power to the Spanish. His efforts kinda worked. He did establish Florida for the Spanish.