This site actively seeks to refute and debunk the irrational claims by Donald E. Sheppard that de Soto traveled
north from Alabama into Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri before entering Arkansas. This claim is against
overwhelming evidence that de Soto encountered the Chicasaw in Mississippi and "discovered" the Mississippi River somewhere
in northwest Mississippi or near Memphis.
Mr. Sheppard's version prior to Mauvila is not considerably different from other accounts, but his hypothesis of
the route upon leaving Mauvila is so radically different, and patently erroneous, it must be challenged.
The published scholarly accounts all agree on the Mississippi route.
