#8 DeSoto NM

De Soto National Memorial, 5 miles (8 km) west of Bradenton, FL, commemorates the 1539 landing of Hernando de Soto and the first extensive organized exploration by Europeans of Florida and the Southeastern US. DeSoto's leagacy, like many of the early explorers, is checkered with abuse of the native population spurred on by greed.

See More of my pictures from January 2003 here-
http://www.eriksmith.com/Florida03/DesotoNM.htm