On May 25, 1539, Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto landed at Tampa Bay, Florida, with a formidable force of over 600 soldiers, horses, and hundreds of pigs—a mobile food source that introduced domestic swine to North America. Driven by rumors of vast gold empires, the expedition launched a brutal, multi-year campaign across the southeastern United States. While De Soto ultimately failed to find the wealth he sought and perished during the journey, his expedition marked the first widespread European contact with Mississippian cultures, permanently altering the demographic and political landscape of the region through warfare and the unintentional introduction of Eurasian diseases.