Spanish Exploration of Alabama Section 1
Though not the first Europeans to view present-day Alabama Hernando de Soto and his men were the first to explore the interior. The Soto expedition landed on the west coast of the Florida Peninsula on May 30, 1539, with 513 soldiers, their servants, and 237 horses. The force proceeded to terrorize and enslave the region's Native American inhabitants as it marched to Tallahassee in quest of gold. The expedition traveled through present-day Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Tennessee. The Spaniards entered Alabama along the Coosa River and followed it to present-day Childersburg. They then headed west along the Alabama River. Hernando de Soto requested native people carry him when he came to the tribe of the Mabila Indians that was controlled by Chief Tascaluza, when he was refused Hernando kept Chief Tascaluza hostage during Soto's stay. (Capture of a town leader would become Soto's standard method of ensuring cooperation from the town's inhabitants while he and his men traveled through tribal territories.) Understandably, such a method caused great anger and frustration; at one point two Spaniards were killed in an ambush while building rafts to cross the river. On the morning of October 18, 1540, Soto's troops reached the Mabila tribal capital, presided over by Chief Tascaluza. An encounter between a Spanish officer and a Mabila inhabitant turned violent when the officer felt that the Indian did not offer him due respect, and ended with the Indian's arm being severed. Afterwards, Soto's men set fire to the town and burned both the town and many of its occupants. King Carlos I's representative for the trip, recorded in his journal, "We killed them all either with fire or the sword." The picture to the right is based on the encounter of de Soto and Chief Tuscaloosa
Spanish Exploration of Alabama Section 2
Not until late in the next decade did new explorations reach Alabama. Concern over the increasing number of shipwrecks along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico sparked demands for settlements to provide a safe place for ships in trouble. The new Spanish king, Philip II, gave the aproval. On September 3, 1558, three vessels reached Mobile Bay,and the captain named it Philip's Bay, honoring the King. The bay was described as "the largest and most commodious" yet seen. In addition to its deep anchorage, it was also described to offer lots of grass and water for livestock, timber and stone for building, and soil suitable for both brick-making and pottery. The Native American towns along the shore boasted fields of corn, beans, and pumpkins, and several inhabitants were seen fishing.
Ordered to establish a colony on the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico, Tristán de Luna y Arellano sailed into Mobile Bay in July 1559. Two months later, a hurricane destroyed most of his ships and supplies. Luna sent a company of troops north to seek food from the local Indians. The company stopped along the Alabama River at a large town, whose inhabitants fled as the Spaniards approached. The Indians had left behind stores of corn and beans, however, and the Spaniards were able to replenish their food supplies. The next February, Luna returned to Mobile Bay and began moving his fleet up the Alabama River to the same Indian town, which he renamed Santa María de Nanipacana. By the time the Spaniards reached the settlement, the Indians had fled again, taking their food supply with them. Further exploring revealed only abandoned houses and fields and unsettled country beyond. After unsuccessful attempts to find supplies, returned to Pensacola Bay. Soon afterward, the colony was moved to the Atlantic coast.
Spanish Exploration of Alabama Section 3
After a long period of disinterest in the northern Gulf Coast, the Spaniards resumed their explorations in 1686 in an effort to find and destroy a French colony established by Robert Cavelier de La Salle somewhere on the Gulf Coast. Marcos Delgado, was charged by the Spanish governor of Florida with finding the French colony. Delgado's force marched past Apalache, then turned away from the coast, hacking its way through tangled wilderness past present-day Dothan and Spring Hill, Alabama. The men reached a Chacato Indian town called Aqchay along the Alabama River near present-day Selma, then traveled upstream to the Alabama Indian towns of Tabasa and Culasa. After spending time in Yuchi, Choctaw, and Cherokee towns, Delgado made contact with Mabila chiefs. He claimed to have effected peace among the various tribes before turning back.
Fear of French encroachment combined with an ever-growing threat of incursion by the English spurred the Spanish occupation of Pensacola Bay in 1698. Indeed, on January 26, 1699, four French ships captained by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville appeared offshore before the Pensacola settlement. Spain's fears of a French presence in the region at once were justified.
Works Cited
Weddle, Robert S. Encyclopedia of Alabama. 11 6 2007. 14 6 2011 <
Alabama Department of Archives. July 14, 2010. 6 15 2012. http://www.archives.alabama.gov/brnzdrs/1.html.