I do like u/Reedstilt’s [description of this event.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2ldhjw/comment/clu2aji/) After getting beaten left and right by local Mississippian armies, numbers whittled down to a fraction, and the survivors contracting a likely local disease, a sickly de Soto was attempting to cow Quigualtam (likely a Natchez polity) into submission as a last-ditch attempt to get something of value out of the Southeast. He told a messenger to tell Quigualtam’s paramount that he was the sun of the sun, and to visit him with tribute and support. Little did he know Quigualtam claimed to be something of an empire themselves, and responded in beautiful sarcasm:
>*with respect to what he [the governor] said about being the son of the sun, let him dry up the great river and he would believe him. With respect to the rest [that the governor said], he was not accustomed to visit any one. On the contrary, all of whom he had knowledge visited and served him and obeyed him and paid him tribute, either by force or of their own volition. Consequently, if he [the governor] wished to see him, let him cross there. If he came in peace he would welcome him with special good will; if he came in war, he would await him in the town where he was, for not for him or any other would he move one foot backward. When the Indian came with this reply, the governor was already in bed, badly racked by fever. He was very angry that he was not in condition to cross the river forthwith and go in quest of him [the cacique] to see whether he could not lessen that arrogant demeanor.*
In response to threats from Quigualtam and paranoid fears of the other chiefdoms joining in, de Soto ordered the Spanish to terrorize and massacre Anilco and also attempted a failed raid on Quigualtam itself, which led the latter to warn the Spanish not to try that again. De Soto died upset and his successor Luis de Moscoso Alvarado attempted to lead the expedition west on Cabeza de Vaca’s route through Texas. There they were deliberately misled by locals and attacked by others and eventually decided to turn back, making the decision to go down through the Quigualtam-controlled Lower Mississippi as quickly as possible, leading to the events seen and linked above.
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I do like u/Reedstilt’s [description of this event.](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/2ldhjw/comment/clu2aji/) After getting beaten left and right by local Mississippian armies, numbers whittled down to a fraction, and the survivors contracting a likely local disease, a sickly de Soto was attempting to cow Quigualtam (likely a Natchez polity) into submission as a last-ditch attempt to get something of value out of the Southeast. He told a messenger to tell Quigualtam’s paramount that he was the sun of the sun, and to visit him with tribute and support. Little did he know Quigualtam claimed to be something of an empire themselves, and responded in beautiful sarcasm:
>*with respect to what he [the governor] said about being the son of the sun, let him dry up the great river and he would believe him. With respect to the rest [that the governor said], he was not accustomed to visit any one. On the contrary, all of whom he had knowledge visited and served him and obeyed him and paid him tribute, either by force or of their own volition. Consequently, if he [the governor] wished to see him, let him cross there. If he came in peace he would welcome him with special good will; if he came in war, he would await him in the town where he was, for not for him or any other would he move one foot backward. When the Indian came with this reply, the governor was already in bed, badly racked by fever. He was very angry that he was not in condition to cross the river forthwith and go in quest of him [the cacique] to see whether he could not lessen that arrogant demeanor.*
In response to threats from Quigualtam and paranoid fears of the other chiefdoms joining in, de Soto ordered the Spanish to terrorize and massacre Anilco and also attempted a failed raid on Quigualtam itself, which led the latter to warn the Spanish not to try that again. De Soto died upset and his successor Luis de Moscoso Alvarado attempted to lead the expedition west on Cabeza de Vaca’s route through Texas. There they were deliberately misled by locals and attacked by others and eventually decided to turn back, making the decision to go down through the Quigualtam-controlled Lower Mississippi as quickly as possible, leading to the events seen and linked above.