A.D. Santa Cruz, Manuscript Map of Gulf Coast (1572)

Attributed to Spanish Royal Cosmographer, Alonso de Santa Cruz, this is the only extant map created during the time period that attempted to illustrate the lands explored by the Spanish explorer and conquistador Hernando de Soto. De Soto is known  for his expeditions in Nicaragua and the Yucatan Peninsula, his role in Francisco Pizarro's conquest of the Inca Empire in Peru, and for leading the first European expedition through modern-day Florida, Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, and most likely Arkansas.  The map was prepared from information derived from surviving members of the Soto expedition into the Southeastern United States. It shows the Gulf Coast from the vicinity of the Cape Fear River in North Carolina to the Panuco River in Mexico, and the interior as far north as the Tennessee River. Among its 127 names and pictorial legends, many of which are found in various accounts of the expeditions, are approximately 60 settlements related to Native Americans.