In May 1539, de Soto landed nine ships with over 620 men and 220 surviving horses at at present day Shaw's Point, in Bradenton, FL. He named it Espíritu Santo after the Holy Spirit. The ships brought priests, craftsmen, engineers, farmers, and merchants; some with their families, some from Cuba, most from Europe and Africa. Few of them had ever traveled outside of Spain, or even their home villages. A Spaniard named Juan Ortiz, who had come...