2017 North Carolina Historian of the Year Although Imperial Spain laid claim to Southeast North America for more than seven decades during the 16th century, attempts to colonize this region proved to be a dismal failure. Neither Juan Ponce de Le n who charted La Florida, "The Land of Flowers," nor Lucas V zquez de Ayll n or P nfilo de Narv ez would succeed. Likewise, Spain's honored conquistadors Hernando de Soto, Trist n de Luna and Supreme Commander Pedro Men ndez with his captain Juan Pardo would also fail. Ultimately, it was the determination and intrepid resistance by Catawba, Creek and Cherokee chiefdoms to these invasions of their homeland that changed world history -- and a future United States of America.