Burial of De Soto – De Soto died in his camp on the shores of the Mississippi, June 5th, 1542, and was entombed at midnight in its flood, which still sings for its discoverer, a magnificent and eternal requiem

Hernando de Soto (1500--1542), a Spanish conquistador who led a huge expedition starting in 1539 to explore what is now the southeastern regions of the United States, reached the Mississippi River on May 8, 1541 – one of the first Europeans to do so. In this print recreating De Stoto's moonlit night burial (after he died of fever on the river's banks in what is now Arkansas or Louisiana), his dead body (shrouded in white and partially covered by blue drapery) lies on a bier on a flat-bottomed boat floating on calm waters. Behind the corpse, a priest (dressed in a white robe adorned with a red cross) stands holding an open Bible as he conducts the burial rites; an attendant stands beside him holding a burning torch in his left hand. Two oarsmen (one standing prominently, left), plus eight soldiers (some wearing helmets, two are kneeling) are assembled around De Soto. The title/caption is imprinted in the bottom margin.

Nathaniel Currier, whose successful New York-based lithography firm began in 1835, produced thousands of hand-colored prints in various sizes that together create a vivid panorama of mid-to-late nineteenth century American life and its history. People eagerly acquired such lithographs featuring picturesque scenery, rural and city views, ships, railroads, portraits, hunting and fishing scenes, domestic life and numerous other subjects, as an inexpensive way to decorate their homes or business establishments. As the firm expanded, Nathaniel included his younger brother Charles in the business. In 1857, James Merritt Ives (the firm's accountant since 1852 and Charles's brother-in-law) was made a business partner; subsequently renamed Currier & Ives, the firm continued until 1907.