A Land Pacer Doing His JobA Land PacerDeSoto's League Measure



by Donald E. Sheppard, from:

A Dictionary of Units of Measurement
by Russ Rowlett, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

League
A traditional unit of distance. Derived from an ancient Celtic unit and adopted by the Romans as the leuga, the league became a common unit of measurement throughout western Europe. It was intended to represent, roughly, the distance a person could walk in an hour.

Legua
The Spanish league. The traditional legua is equal to 5000 Varas, which is close to 2.6 miles or 4.2 kilometers. Using the traditional Spanish definition, it would be 2.597 miles, 13712 feet, or 4179.4 meters.

Vara
A traditional unit of distance in Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries. The length of the vara varied, but in Spanish Latin America it was generally about 33 inches or a little longer. The Spanish vara is shorter; it equals 32.908 inches or 83.587 centimeters.

TABLE OF LEAGUE MEASURE
LEAGUES
1/2
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
30
40
50
100 		  MILES  
 1.3
 2.6
 5.2
 7.8
10.4
13  
15.6
18.2
20.8
23.4
26  
28.6
31.2
33.8
36.4
39  
41.6
44.2
46.8
49.4
52  
78  
104    
130    
260     		    KM    
 2.1
 4.2
 8.4
12.6
16.8
21  
25.2
29.4
33.6
37.8
42  
46.2
50.4
54.6
58.8
63  
67.2
71.4
75.6
79.8
84  
126    
168    
210    
420    

   155 Leagues = 100+50+5 Leagues
    = 260+130+13 Miles = 403 Miles
        = 420+210+21 KM = 651 KM

HERNANDO DE SOTO'S LEAGUE

Hernando de Soto's Chroniclers described his activity in North America using Leagues as their standard of distance measure. But what unit of League measure did DeSoto's people us? Perhaps the best way to find out is by applying their league measures to known locations in Cuba, the island DeSoto inspected just before his Conquest of La Florida.


DeSoto's Island of CubaTHE ISLAND OF CUBA - PRESS TO VIEW ON GOOGLE EARTH

The TRUE RELATION OF THE HARDSHIPS SUFFERED BY GOVERNOR HERNANDO DE SOTO BY A GENTLEMAN OF ELVAS - 1557 sheds light on this. "Elvas" states the following just after DeSoto arrived in Cuba as its new Governor:

"The island of Cuba is three hundred leagues in extent from west to southeast, and in some places thirty, and in others forty, leagues from north to south...

[Cuba measures 750 miles along its axis on Google Earth,
so 750 miles/300 leagues = 2.5 miles per league]

"From Santiago, the governor sent Don Carlos, his brother-in-law in the ships, together with Dona Isabel with orders to await him at the Havana... one hundred and eighty leagues from the city of Santiago...

[There are 467 miles from Santiago to Havana on Google Earth,
so 467 miles/180 leagues = 2.6 miles per league]

"The governor and those who remained with him bought horses and set out on their journey. The first town at which they arrived was the Bayamo... twenty-five leagues from the city of Santiago...

"From Bayamo to Puerto Principe it is fifty leagues...

"...(they) made their way to Sancti Spiritus, sixty leagues from Puerto Principe...

"They reached Sancti Spiritus... others went on twenty-five leagues farther to another town called Trinidad...

"From that town of Trinidad to Havana, there is a stretch of eighty leagues without a town, which they traveled."

DESTINATIONS
FROM SANTIAGO
Bayamo
Puerto Principe
Sancti Spiritus
Trinidad
Havana
TOTALS: 		  LEAGUES

          25
          50
          60
          25
          80
      240 		  ROAD MILES

            70
          135
          115
            65
          215
        600

[600 ROAD MILES from Santiago to Havana on Google Earth,
so 600 miles/240 leagues = 2.5 miles per league]


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