 Let us begin our romantic history of Savannah in 1540 with the curious tale of explorer Hernando DeSoto. Now obviously the Hostess City was not up and running, but nevertheless DeSoto did wander into this area of Georgia while on the hunt for El Dorado and gold, which would then win him the title of Marquis, courtesy of the King of Spain. Unhappily, he will be outwitted by a female Indian Chief and will not receive the acclaim he so craved until 1929. DeSoto had marched with Francisco Pizarro in Peru and been rewarded with gold taken from the Incas. But this was not enough. He set out on his own- May Day, 1540, from a Florida beach, accompanied by over 600 horsemen and foot soldiers, moving north to seek gold, riches....and the vaunted title of Marquis. Arriving some months later along the banks of the Savannah River, weary and hungry from their travels, the mini army would stumble upon a cleverly hidden Indian village of the Cofitachequi. It would surprise DeSoto even more when he learned the tribe was governed by a handsome female chieftain, known as "the Lady of Cofitachequi." A 17-year-old lad, Perico, born in what is now Georgia, traveled with DeSoto as an Indian translator and explained to the Indian princess that DeSoto was searching for gold. However, DeSoto noticed immediately that the princess wore no gold bands or other gold trims, but instead was adorned by ropes of pearls that hung around her neck and down the front of her native dress. The Princess ordered her people to house and feed the exhausted soldiers, also allowing DeSoto to take away over 300 pounds of pearls and beaded decorations from a burial mosque. But the Indians soon grew tired of the demands of DeSoto and his men and also feared the strange diseases the men carried. When Desoto decided to move on with his men in the quest for gold, he repaid "the Lady of Cofitachequi" for her many kindnesses by taking her and her female attendants as hostages to guarantee the men's safety with other Indian tribes as the men traveled westward. However, he vastly underestimated the intelligence and cleverness of the Indian Princess. She explained demurely to Perico that she and her attendants must have privacy to attend to "feminine needs." DeSoto allowed them to enter into nearby woods. And into the woods they went....never to return. They quickly made their way back to their village, taking with them the best of the pearls that DeSoto had confiscated. DeSoto and his men pressed on their way west and at one point came upon the Ocmulgee River near what is now Macon, Georgia. In the middle of the river was an abandoned Indian village. Curiously, meat had been left roasting on a barbacoa, a wooden frame suspended over a wood fire. The hapless DeSoto missed his chance for immortality again; for little did he realize he had just discovered the first recorded barbecue in Georgia, a state now renowned for this tasty dish. Alas! Poor DeSoto would die of a fever, never having found his El Dorado; and it would be 1929 before he would receive some notoriety when Walter Chrysler introduced the DeSoto automobile, sporting a hood ornament of the helmeted explorer. This glimpse into 16th century coastal mayhem is quite appropriate, historically speaking, because DeSoto was the first European to explore Georgia and parts of the US. General James Oglethorpe will arrive in what is now Savannah in 1733 to establish the colony of Georgia... and ironically will be among the military men who drive the Spanish finally from this new world. Ah, but Oglethorpe is best known for his unique layout of moss-draped public squares, and it is these romantic squares that set the scene for our tales of the city's intriguing individuals whom we will meet along the way. Come along......and do stop to pay your respects to the explorer whose bust can be seen on the south terrace of the Marriott Hotel, overlooking the Savannah River. Continue with romantic Savannah here.
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