 Specifically in 1540-41, a Spanish expedition led by Hernando de Soto passed through what was later characterized as Cherokee country by English colonists based on their historical encounter.De Soto's expedition visited villages in present-day western Georgia and eastern Tennessee, recording them as ruled by the Coosa chiefdom.It is now considered to be a chiefdom ancestral to the Muscogee Creek people, who are from a different language and cultural group.