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=== Death === [[File:Burial of de Soto - engraving.jpg|thumb|right|Burial of de Soto]] De Soto died of a fever on 21 May 1542, in the native village of ''[[Guachoya]].'' Historical sources disagree as to whether de Soto died near present-day [[Lake Village, Arkansas]]<ref name=":0" /> [[McArthur, Arkansas]], or [[Ferriday, Louisiana]].<ref name="Hudson_Death-of-de-Soto:349-52">[[Charles M. Hudson (author)|Charles Hudson]] (1997). [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780820318882/page/349 pp. 349β352 "Death of de Soto"].</ref> Louisiana erected a historical marker at the conjectured site<ref>{{Cite web |last3=LA |date=2009-07-27 |title=Hernando de Soto |url=https://www.stoppingpoints.com/louisiana/Concordia/Hernando+de+Soto.html |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=Stopping Points Historical Markers & Points of Interest}}</ref> on the western bank of the Mississippi River.<ref>{{cite web |author=Louisiana Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism |title=Hernando de Soto Historical Marker |url=http://www.stoppingpoints.com/louisiana/Concordia/Hernando+de+Soto.html |access-date=9 August 2009}}</ref> Before his death, de Soto chose [[Luis de Moscoso Alvarado]], his former [[mestre de camp|maestro de campo]] (or field commander), to assume command of the expedition.<ref name="TexBook">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Handbook of Texas Online |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fmo71 |title=Moscoso Alvarado, Luis de |author=Robert S. Weddle |access-date=22 November 2007}}</ref> At the time of death, de Soto owned four Indian slaves, three horses, and 700 hogs.<ref>Davidson, James West. ''After the Fact: The Art of Historical Detection'' Volume 1. McGraw Hill, New York 2010, Chapter 1, p. 3</ref> De Soto had deceived the local natives into believing that he was a deity, specifically an "immortal [[solar deity|Son of the Sun]]",<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Mitchem |first=Jeffrey M. |date=2023-11-01 |title=Hernando de Soto (1500?β1542) |url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/hernando-de-soto-1770/ |access-date=2024-04-22 |website=CALS Encyclopedia of Arkansas |language=en-US}}</ref> to gain their submission without conflict. Some of the natives had already become skeptical of de Soto's deity claims, so his men were anxious to conceal his death. The actual site of his burial is not known. According to one source, de Soto's men hid his corpse in blankets weighted with sand and sank it in the middle of the Mississippi River during the night.<ref name="Hudson_Death-of-de-Soto:349-52" />
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