Hernando de Soto and several hundred armed men cut a path of destruction and disease across the Southeast from Florida to the Mississippi River from 1539 to 1542. The result was the social and demographic collapse or radical transformation of many Native American societies and the gradual opening of the Southeast to European colonization. Traditionally, studies of the Soto expedition have concentrated on reconstructing its route. While not neglecting this issue, the eighteen contributors to this volume - themselves leading historians, archaeologists, literary critics, anthropologists, and ethnohistorians - investigate broader cultural and literary aspects of the sources themselves. The texts are also used to discuss microhistorical aspects of the expedition (including its daily routine, logistics, and health) and to evaluate their contribution to a better understanding of colonialism and southeastern Native American ethnohistory.