He plundered his way back to England and ended up writing a popular book about the trip just to dispel the notion he had found a bunch of gold but was keeping it hidden.

Pánfilo de Narváez was tricked by the Tocobagans of Florida to leave them alone and head north to “Apalachee,” a kingdom rich in gold. It didn’t exist, and all but four of his army died in the trek to find it.

Native Americans quickly figured out that telling Europeans you knew where gold was was a great to control them. 🧵