USA > Alabama > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 4
USA > Georgia > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 4
USA > Mississippi > History of Alabama, and incidentally of Georgia and Mississippi, from the earliest period, v. 1 > Part 4
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* De Soto had no doubt determined to settle a colony in the province of Coosa. The desperate resolution, now formed, of again plunging into unknown regions, was unfortunate for him and his follow- ers, and for the historians of Alabama. A colony in Alabama, at that early period, would have afforded many rich historic incidents.
t " Etoit sur un fleuve, grand, profond et haut de bord." Garcellas- sở, p. 348. The American rivers, of ordinary size, appeared large to the Spaniards, and do even now to all Europeans.
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DE SOTO IN ALABAMA,
CHAPTER at eight thousand. For six miles they stretched along the I. western bank, to oppose the crossing of the army. De Soto occupied Cabusto, and was attacked every night by detach- ments of the enemy, who came over secretly in canoes from different directions, and sprang upon him. He at length caused ditches to be cut near the landings, in which he posted cross-bow men and those armed with arquebuses. Af- ter the Indians were repulsed three times from these intrench- ments, they ceased to annoy the Spaniards at night. In the meantime, one hundred men completed in the woods two large boats. They were placed upon sledges, and by the force of horses and mules, and with the assistance of the soldiers, were conveyed to a convenient landing one and a half miles up the river, and launched before day. Ten cavalry and forty infan- try entered each of these boats, the former keeping the saddle while the latter rowed rapidly across. Five hundred Indians rushed down the banks and overwhelmed the voyagers with November 1540 arrows. However, the boats reached the shore, one of them coming to with great difficulty. The soldiers, all of whom were wounded, sprang out, and, headed by the impetuous Silvestre and Garcia, charged the Indians with great resolution. A severe conflict continued until the boats returned and brought over De Soto with eighty men, who, joining in the fight, forced the Indians to retreat to a distant forest. The advanced wing keeping off the enemy, the whole army soon crossed the river. When all were over, the Indians were driven to their first position, which they had strengthened with pallisades, and from which they continually sallied, skirmishing with the
GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
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CHAPTER I.
invaders until the sun was lost behind the hills .* Upon the Warrior, De Soto found a delightful country, with towns and villages well supplied with corn, beans and other provisions. The next day he caused the boats to be broken up, for the iron which they contained, and the expedition marched in a northern direction, passing through a portion of Greene and Pickens. After five days they reached the Little Tombigby, somewhere in the county of Lowndes, Mississippi. Here the Indians had collected to dispute the passage. Having re- cently suffered so severely in contentions with the natives of Alabama, De Soto felt unwilling to expose his army to further loss. Halting two days for the construction of a small boat, he despatched in it an Indian, who bore a message to the Chief, with offers of peace and friendship. Immediately upon reaching the opposite bauk, the poor fellow was seized and barbarously killed, in the sight of the Governor. His mur- derers then rent the air with terrific yells, and dispersed. De Soto conducted his troops ummolested across the river, and marched until he arrived at the town of Chickasa, in the province of that name. It consisted of two hundred houses, and reposed upon a hill extending towards the north, shaded by oak and walnut trees, and watered by several rivulets. The Spaniards had now reached the territory embraced in the county of Yalobusha. The region was fertile, well-peopled and dotted with villages. The cold weather set in with much severity. In the midst of snow and ice, the army encamped
1510 November
* Portuguese Narrative, p. 725. Garcellasso, pp. 348-352.
4
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DE SOTO IN ALABAMA,
CHAPTER upon the fields opposite the town, until houses could be
I. erected; for here De Soto had determined to pass the winter. Foraging parties scoured the country, collected provisions and captured Indians. The latter were invariably dismissed, with presents for their Chief.
The Chief at length came to see De Soto, and offered him his lands, person and subjects. He returned, shortly after, with two neighboring Chiefs-Alibamo and Nicalaso. The august trio gave the Adelantado one hundred and fifty rabbits, be- sides mantles and skins. The Chief of Chickasa became a frequent visitor, and De Soto often sent him home on one of the horses. Having besought the General to aid him in over- coming a prominent and rebellious subject, for the purpose of dividing and destroying the army, as was afterwards ascer- tained, De Soto marched, with thirty horsemen and two hun- dred Indians, upon Saquechuma, and destroyed that place by fire. Upon their return to the camp, the principal Indians were feasted upon the flesh of swine. They were pleased with the first dish of an animal never before seen, and from that time the place where the hogs were kept was often broken in upon dark nights, and many stolen. Three of the rogues were caught on one occasion, and two of them put to death. The hands of the other were chopped off, and in that painful and helpless situation. he was sent to his Chief. On the other side, the Spaniards robbed the Indians. One day, four horsemen, Francisco Osario, a servant of the Marquis of Astorga, called Rayno-o. Ribera, the page of the Governor, and Fuentes, his chamberlain, entered a neighboring village
1541 January
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GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
. and forcibly carried off some valuable skins and mantles. CHAPTER The enraged Indians forsook their town and went into the I. woods to prepare for war. The robbers were arrested, and Fuentes and Osario were condemned to die. The priests and some of the most distinguished cavaliers pleaded, in vain, for the pardon of the latter. De Soto had them brought out to have their heads chopped off, when Indians arrived with a mes- sage from the Chief, informing him of the outrage upon his people. At the suggestion of Baltasar de Gallegos, the in- terpreter cunningly turned it to the advantage of the prisoners. HIe said to De Soto, that the Chief desired him not to execute the robbers, for they had not molested his subjects. He said to the Indian ambassadors, that they might return home 1541 March well assured that the plunderers would be immediately put to death, according to the wishes of the Chief. The prisoners, in consequence, were all set at liberty, much to the joy of the army .*
Upon the appearance of March, 1541, the thoughts of the unhappy De Soto occasionally turned upon pursuing the journey. He demanded of the Chief two hundred men for
* Poor Ortiz never reached his native country, but died in Arkansas. He was of great service as an interpreter. Understanding only the Floridian language, he conducted conversations through the Indians of different tribes who understood each other, and who attended the expe- dition. In conver-ing with the Chickasaws, for instance, he commeneed with a Floridian, who carried the word to a Georgian, the Georgian to the Coosa, the Coosa to the Mobilian, and the latter to the Chicka- saw. In the same tedious manner the answer was conveyed to him and reported to De Soto.
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DE SOTO IN ALABAMA,
CHAPTER burden bearers. An evasive answer was given, and for I. several days the Governor was apprehensive of an attack. He posted sentinels, under the supervision of Moscoso. One dark night, when the cold wind was howling awfully, the Chickasaws rushed upon the camp, in four squadrons, sending up yells the most terrific, and adding horror to the scene by the sound of wooden drums and the discordant blasts of conch shells. The houses of the town, in which the larger portion of the troops now lodged, were set on fire by arrows containing burning matches, made of a vegetable substance, which shot through the air like flashing meteors and fell upon the roofs ! Constructed of straw and cane, the wigwams were soon wrapped in flames. The Spaniards, blinded by 1 the smoke, ran out of the houses half dressed, and, in their dismay, knew not the best way to oppose the assailants. Some of the horses were burned in the stables and others broke their halters, and running in all directions among the soldiers, increased the unparalleled confusion. De Soto and a soldier named Tapier, the first to mount, charged upon the enemy, the former being enveloped in an overcoat, quilted with cotton three inches thick, to shield him from the arrows. His saddle, which, in the haste, had not been girted, turned with him in one of his sweeping bounds, and he fell heavily to the ground, at the moment his lance had piereed a savage. The soldiers drove off the Indians, who had surrounded him 15-11 March, with clubs, and adjusted his saddle. Vaulting into it, he charged in the thickest of the enemy, and revelled in blood ! The Spaniards were now seen in all directions, engaged in
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GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
a dreadful fight. Many, however, had just awoke, and now CHAPTER crawled upon their hands and knees out of the devouring I. flames above them. In a house, at some distance, lay the sick, and those who had not recovered from the wounds which they had received at Maubila and Cabusto. Hordes of savages pressed upon the poor fellows, and, before they were rescued, several fell victims. In the meantime, the cavaliers, some without saddles and others without clothes, joined the intrepid De Soto; and now the awful wind, the flames, the yells and the clangour of arms, made the scene frightfully sublime, and the night one long to be remembered. Fifty infantry took flight, which was the first instance of cowardice upon the march. Nuno Tobar, sword in hand, 1541 March rushed before them, and with the assistance of a detachment of thirty men under Juan de Guzman, arrayed them against the enemy. At that instant, Andres de Vasconcelos, at the head of twenty Portuguese hidalgos, most of whom had served as horsemen upon the African frontier, accompanied by Nuno Tobar on foot, forced the savages to retire on one side of the town. At length the Indians fled from the battle field, and were pursued by De Soto and his troops as long as they could distinguish objects by the light of the burning town. Returning from the chase, the Governer found that the en- gagement had resulted in considerable loss. Forty Spaniards were killed, and among them the only white woman in camp, the wife of a soldier, whom she had followed from Spain. Fifty horses were lost, either burned or pierced with arrows. Dreading these singular quadrupeds in war, the Indians aimed
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DE SOTO IN ALABAMA,
CHAPTER at their entire destruction, and many were found shot entirely
I. through in the most vital parts. The swine, the increase of which had often kept the Spaniards from starving, when hard pressed for food, were confined in a roofed enclosure, and a number of them were consumed by the fire. De Soto sur- veyed the scene with deep mortification. He blamed Moscoso for the unfortunate attack. His negligence here, reminded him of his tardy advance upon Maubila, and, in his anger, he deposed his old brother in arms from the rank of camp-mas- ter, and bestowed it upon the bold Baltasar de Gallegos. A succession of losses had attended him since he crossed the Alabama at Piache. Indeed, from his first landing at Tampa Bay, over three hundred men had fallen by the assaults of the natives. The fire at Chickasa swept the few things saved at Maubila, together with half their wearing apparel. And now many of the unfortunate soldiers shivered in the cold, with scarcely a vestige of clothing.
In the fit of deep despondeney into which he was thrown, De Soto did not forget the duties which a commanding officer owes to his suffering troops. The dead were buried and the wounded properly attended. The Indians, thick upon the plain, and upon the ruined town, remained, a prey for the hungry wolves and birds of carrion. The Spaniards abandoned the sickening spot, and encamped three miles distant, at Chickasilla, or little Chickasa, where they erected a forge and tempered their swords, now seriously injured by the fire. They busied themselves in making shields, lances and saddles. The re- mainder of the winter was passed in great wretchedness.
1511 March
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GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
Intense cold and grievous wounds were not all they had to CHAPTER bear, but often the natives assailed them at night, with the I. agility and ferocity of tigers ! At sunset they were compelled to evacuate the town, and take position in the field, for fear that fire might be applied to the houses. The ingenuity of one of the soldiers devised mattings, four inches in thickness, made of a long soft grass, in which those who were not upon guard wrapped themselves, and were somewhat protected from the piercing air. Often De Soto sent forth detachments, who cut down every Indian they overtook; yet, in a few succeeding nights, the savages would return and attack the camp. Be- fore daylight on Wednesday, the 15th March, 1541, Capt. Juan de Guzman, a man of delicate form, but of indomitable cour- age, was seized by the collar by an athletic Indian, who car- ried a banner, and jerked from his horse. The soldiers, rushing up, cut the bold fellow to pieces. Others dashed after the main body of Indians, and deep revenge would have been taken, if a monk, fearful that they would be led into an an- bush, had not arrested the charge by the cry of, "to the canıp !- to the camp !" Forty Indians fell,-two horses were killed and two soldiers wounded.
On the 25th of April, 1541, De Soto marched north-west, through a champaign country, thickly populated, and journey- ing twelve miles, halted in a plain not far from the town of Alibamo. Juan de Anaseo, with a foraging party, came in sight of this fortress, which was garrisoned by a large nun- ber of savages, whose bodies were painted in stripes of white, black and red, while their faces were frightfully blackened.
4*
1541 April
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DE SOTO IN ALABAMA,
CHAPTER Red circles surrounded their eyes. These, with head-dresses of I. feathers and horns, gave them a fantastic and ferocious ap- pearance. The drums sounded alarums, and they rushed out of the fort with fearful whoops, forcing Anasco to retreat to the open fields. The enemy, scorning the inferiority of the detachment, pretended to knock one of the warriors in the head with a club, in front of the fort; and swinging him by the head and heels near a fire, in insulting mockery, indicated the fate of the Spaniards who should fall into their hands. The irritated Anasco sent three troopers to the camp, who returned with De Soto at the head of a considerable force. The latter assaulted the fortress of Alibamo, leading on his men in 1541 April 27 three squadrons, commanded by Guzman, Avaro Romo de Cardenoso, and the stout Gonzalo Silvestre. A hundred Alabamas poured out from each portal and met the Spaniards. Upon the first encounter, Diogo de Castro, Louis Bravo and Francisco de Figarro, fell mortally wounded. An arrow struck the casque of the Governor with such force that it made his eyes flash fire. The victorious Spaniards forced the Alabamas into the fort, pressing them to death by the united shock of cavalry and infantry-the passes of the gates admitting but few of the Indians at once. The soldiers remembered that they had united with the Chickasaws, and they knew no bounds to the revenge which they now sought. In the rear many savages escaped, by climbing over the walls and through the back portals, pitching into the river which ran by the fort, but far below its foundation. In a short time, De Soto held possession of the interior. Alibamo stood upon the
Q
1
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GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
Yazoo river, in the county of Tallahatchie .* It was built of CHAPTER palisades, in the form of a quadrangle, four hundred paces I. long on either side. Inner walls divided it into separate parts, enabling the besieged to retreat from one to the other. The centre wall, on the back side, was immediately upon a perpendicular bluff, beneath which flowed a deep and narrow river, across which were thrown a few rude bridges. Portions 1541 April 27 of the fort appeared to have been recently constructed for defence against the horses. It was decidedly the best fortified place yet discovered, except Maubila, but the garrison was great- ly inferior in numbers to that of the latter. The outside por- tals were too low and narrow for a cavalier to enter on his horse.
* General Le Clere Milfort, an intelligent Frenchman, lived in the Creek Nation from 1776 until 1796. He wrote a history of the Mus- cogees or Creeks, and published his work in Paris in 1802. He married the sister of General Alexander McGillivray of the Creek tribe. When he arrived in France, Bonaparte made him a General of Brigade ; and in 1814 he was attacked in his house by a party of Russians, and res- cued by some grenadiers. Shortly afterwards he died.
Milfort states that the Alabamas wandered from the northern part of Mexico, and settled upon the Yazoo, and afterwards removed to the river which bears their name. This fact, connected with that of the Alibamo fort, mentioned by the journals of De Soto, establishes, con- clusively, that they were the same people. The Alabamas, after De Soto's time, settled on the site of the modern Montgomery, Coosawda and Washington, below the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa. From these people the river and state took their names.
" Memoire ou coup d'œil rapide sur mes differens voyages et mon sejour dans la Nation Creek, par Le Clere Milfort."-pp. 229-288.
-----
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DE SOTO IN ALABAMA,
CHAPTER De Soto crossed the river at a ford below the plain, and I. pursued the savages until twilight, leaving many of them in the sleep of death. Four days were consumed at Alibamno in attending to the wounded. Fifteen Spaniards died-among them the cavaliers first wounded, who were young, valiant and of the best blood of Spain. So terminated the battle of Alibamo,-the last one of the many De Soto fought, which it is within our province to describe. We have followed that extraordinary adventurer through our State, into the heart of Mississippi. A few more words must close the account of his nomadic march, as far as it rests in our hands.
The Spaniards reached the Mississippi river in May, 1541, and were the first to discover it, unless Cabaca de Vaca crossed it twelve years before, in wandering to Mexico with his four companions,-which is not probable, from the evidence afford- ed by his journal. De Soto consumed a year in marching. over Arkansas, and returned to the "Father of Waters," at the town of Guachaya, below the mouth of the Arkansas river, on the last of May, 1542. He here engaged in the con- struction of two brigantines to communicate with Cuba. That great man, whose spirits had long since forsaken him-who had met with nothing but disappointments-and who had, in his most perilous wanderings, discovered no country like Peru and Mexico,-became sick with a slow and malignant fever. He apointed Moscoso to the command-bid his officers and sol- diers farewell-exhorted them to keep together, in order to reach that country which he was destined never to see-and then CLOSED IS EYES IN DEATH! Thus died Hernando De
1542 May
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GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
Soto, one of the most distinguished captains of that or any CHAPTER age. To conceal his death and protect his body from Indian I. brutalities, he was placed in an oaken trough, and silently plunged into the middle of the Mississippi, on a dark and gloomy night. Long did the muddy waters wash the bones of one of the bravest sons of Spain! He was the first to behold that river-the first to close his eyes in death upon it-and the first to find a grave in its deep and turbid channel.
Moscoso and the remaining troops again plunged into the wilderness west of the Mississippi, with the hope of reaching Mexico. Departing on the 1st of June, 1542, he returned on the 1st December to the Mississippi river, at a point fifty miles above the place where De Soto died. The Spaniards began the construction of seven brigantines, the building of which required the chains of the slaves, saddle-stirrups, and every thing which contained a particle of iron, made into nails by the erection of forges, the Indian mantles stitelied together for sails, and the inner bark of trees made into ropes. When these were completed, Gov. Moscoso departed down the vast stream, the 2d July, 1543. The once splendid army of one thousand men, was reduced to three hundred and twenty ! Five hun- dred slaves were left at the place of embarkation, and Mosco- so took with him one hundred, among others, the beautiful women of Maubila. Twenty-two of the best horses were em- barked: the others were killed and dried for food, as were the hogs, a large number of which still remained. The Spaniards were attacked. in descending the river, by fleets of Indian canoes. In one of these engagements, the brave Guzman and
1543 July 2
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DE SOTO IN ALABAMA,
I. -
CHAPTER eleven others were drowned, and twenty-five wounded. In sixteen days they reached the Gulf, and put to sea on the 1-8th July, 1543. Having landed at Tampa Bay on the 30th of May, 1539, they had consumed a little over four years in wander- ing through Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and the vast regions of the Arkansas Territory. Tossed by the waves, famished with hunger, parched with thirst, and several times wrecked by tornadoes, the poor Spaniards finally reached the mouth of the river Panuco, upon the Mexican coast, on the 10th September, 1543. From thence they went to the town of Panuco. Appareled in skins of deer, buffalo, bear and other animals-with faces haggard, blackened, shriveled, and but 1543 September 10 faintly resembling human beings-they repaired to the church and offered up thanks to God for the preservation of their lives. Repairing to the city of Mexico, the Viceroy extended to them every hospitality. So did the elegant Castilian ladies of his court, who were enraptured with the beauty of the Mobilian females-the high-spirited daughters of Alabama .*
Maldinado, whom we left at Pensacola bay, awaited, in vain, the arrival of De Soto. IIe and his distinguished associ- ate, Gomez Arias, at length weighed anchor and sailed along the coast in different directions, hoping to meet the expedition at some point. They left signals upon the trees, and at-
* An interesting account of the expedition, from the battle of Aliba- mo to their entrance into the city of Mexico, which I have rapidly glanced at, may be found in the Portuguese Narrative, pp. 728-762, Garcellasso de la Vega, pp. 372-557.
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GEORGIA AND MISSISSIPPI.
tached letters to the bark. Returning to Cuba they again CHAPTER sailed in search of De Soto in the summer of 1541, and I. touched frequently upon the Floridian and Mexican coasts, but heard nothing of him. Again, in the summer of 1542, they made a similar voyage, with no better success. Determined not to give up the search for the lost Spaniards, Maldinado and Arias, in the spring of 1543, departed on a long voyage. 1543 October 15 On the 15th of October they touched at Vera Cruz, and learned that De Soto had died upon the Mississippi, and that three hundred of his army only had lived to reach Mexico. When this sad intelligence was conveyed to Havana, every one grieved, and Doña Isabel, long racked with anxiety, died of a broken heart !
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ABORIGINES OF ALABAMA.
CHAPTER II.
PART I.
THE ABORIGINES OF ALABAMA, AND THE SURROUNDING STATES.
THE Indians of Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi, were so similar in form, mode of living and general habits, in the time of De Soto and of others who succeeded him in pene- trating these wilds, that they will all be treated, on the pages of this chapter, as one people. Their color was like that of the Indians of our day. The males were admirably propor- tioned, athletic, active and graceful in their movements, and possessed open and manly countenances. The females, not inferior in form, were smaller, and many of them beautiful. No ugly or ill-formed Indians were seen, except at the town of Tula, west of the Mississippi. . Corpulency was rare ; nev- ertheless, it was excessive in a few instances. In the neigh- borhood of Apalache, in Florida, the Chief was so fat that he was compelled to move about his house upon his hands and knees.
The dress of the men consisted of a mantle of the size of a common blanket, made of the inner bark of trees, and a species of flax, interwoven. It was thrown over the shoulders,
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CHAPTER II. Part 1. 1540
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ABORIGINES OF ALABAMA.
with the right arm exposed. One of these mantles encircled CHAPTER the body of the female, commencing below the breast and II. Part 1. 1540 extending nearly to the knees, while another was grace- fully thrown over the shoulders, also with the right arm ex- posed. Upon the St. Johns river, the females, although 156 equally advanced in civilization, appeared in a much greater state of nudity-often with no covering, in summer, except a moss drapery suspended round the waist, and which hung down in graceful negligence. Both sexes there, were, how- ever, adorned with ornaments, consisting of pretty shells and shining pearls, while the better classes wore moccasins and buskins of dressed deer leather. In Georgia and Alabama the towns contained store-houses, filled with rich and comfort- able clothing, such as mantles of hemp, and of feathers of every color, exquisitely arranged, forming admirable cloaks 1540 for winter; with a variety of dressed deer skin garments, and skins of the martin, bear and panther, nicely packed away in baskets." Fond of trinkets, the natives collected shells from the sea-side and pearls from the beds of the interior rivers. The latter they pierced with heated copper spindles, and strung them around their legs, neeks and arms.t The Queen upon the Savannah took from her neck a magnifi- cent cordon of pearls, and twined it round the neck of the warlike but courteous De Soto. In the interior of the country, pearls were worn in the ears ; but upon the coast, fish blad- 1564
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