HERNANDO DESOTO BRIDGE, MEMPHIS ON THE MISSISSIPPI.  U. S. Interstate Forty.  This engineering marvel was completed in 1973 and opened to traffic in August of that year.  It was named after the famous Spanish soldier and explorer who, on May 8, 1541 was the first European to lay eyes on the river.  DeSoto died later, probably of malaria, and was slipped under the waters at night to keep hostile Indians from knowing the man they feared was gone.

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Postcard Printed By: L. D. Thompson and K. Stigall