The expedition was looking for gold and for a way to China. They explored the southern United States. De Soto died in 1542 on the banks of the Mississippi River at present-day Lake Village, Arkansas. Hernando de Soto was born to parents who were hidalgos in Extremadura, a region of poverty and hardship from which many young people looked for ways to seek their fortune elsewhere. His parents were poor, too. Two towns, Badajoz and Jerez de los Caballeros, claim to be his birthplace. All that is known with certainty is that he spent time as a child at both places. In his will, he wanted to be buried at Jerez de los Caballeros, where other members of his family were also buried. The age of the Conquerors came on the heels of the Spanish reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from Islamic forces. Spain and Portugal were filled with young men begging for a chance to find military fame after the Moors were defeated. With discovery of new lands to the West (which seemed at the time to be far East Asia), the whispers of glory and wealth were too compelling for the poor.