Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain

I am now reading Life on the Mississippi by, Mark Twain, this book did not provide me with the information for when it was published. I would guess it was published around 1890. In the first chapter Twain discussed the history about the Mississippi. He was suprised that it took 150 years since De Soto had discovered the Mississippi for someone else to go back and visit it. He also discussed all the things that happened in Europe after the discovery of the Mississippi.
I thought the first chapter was a good chapter to catch the reader's attention, it caught mine. It caught my attention because Twain gave me a brief history of the Mississippi. I was suprised that he called De Soto a White man. I know that he was considered one but I'm not used to calling someone white who speaks Spanish as their native language. Even though he probably didn't speak Spanish. I think it's kind of funny that he made the Mississippi sound like the greatest thing in the world, I think it was to catch the reader's attention. I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter to see if he makes this book a biography or a fictional story.