Hola Diary!
I am Hernando de Soto and 21 years old. Born in Spain in the province of Extremadura, I attended the University of Salamanca. Because I needed to earn money, I became a soldier in Central America. My real goal, however, was to become rich. As a soldier my job was to try to calm down the natives who were angry about the presence of Spaniards. Soldiering did not make me rich, but I supplemented my income by gambling for extra money. Sometimes I was paid in gold and sometimes in slaves. Because of this, I have many slaves whom I have sent to my parents. I am now preparing to fight a native chieftain, Urraca. He had been planning a guerrilla attack on the Spanish soldiers of Panama. There is a small Spanish army in Panama led by Gaspar de Espinosa, but it will not be enough to fight them off. I am being led by my commander Francisco Pizarro. I hope t
his expedition, in some way, brings me great wealth!
