Colonial Boy Costume

Reenactors enliven De Soto National Memorial

18.05.12

When Jesse B. Miller Elementary School students visited De Soto last week, the mock gunfire impressed Miguel Alberto, an 8-year-old wearing a camouflage baseball cap. Historians don't know exactly where De Soto's expedition landed on the Gulf Coast in May of 1539. Now, as a 36-year-old park ranger, Stevens does everything he can to make history more memorable for winter tourists and local school groups. They do know that De Soto, his men and their captives traveled more than 4,000 miles across the southeastern United States, reaching as far north as Tennessee and as far west as Texas. "For some reason," he says, laughing, "I don't remember much of the living history. He compares Hernando de Soto to everyone from Tim Tebow to L'il Wayne. "We like to end each demonstration with a bang," Stevens says. "I remember the one with the gun that shot off," he said.

Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune