Great Leader: the Black Warrior

In today's post we go back to some the earliest contacts between Natives and Europeans, the expedition of Hernando de Soto beginning in 1539.  Unlike the English, who were interested in settlement, or the French and Dutch, who were interested in trade, the Spanish dual mission was conversion and conquest, which meant that their encounters with Natives were almost always hostile to some degree.  In today's great warrior they met their match in cunning. 

The Southeast of de Soto's time was still ruled by the Mississippian culture of mound builders.  Groups of towns would be headed by a paramount chief in a larger city.  One such leader was Tuscaloosa, whose name in Muscogee means Black Warrior.  How he received this name is uncertain though it in no way means that he was African or black.  He was paramount chief over towns along the Coosa and Alabama Rivers in what is now Alabama.  His people are considered ancestors of the modern Choctaw tribe.  Nothing is known of his boyhood, or how he rose to become paramount chief, though judging from typical Muscogean practice it was probably through matrilineal heredity, maternal uncle to nephew.  Through the extensive trade networks among the various peoples in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, he would have heard of the fair-skinned strangers in iron suits who showed up in Florida and their methods of dealing with the Natives.

Hernando de Soto had been appointed by King Carlos I (Emperor Charles V to European historians), to be Governor of Cuba, with orders to conquer Florida, which was still assumed to be a larger island and not connected to a land mass the size of North America.  In 1539, de Soto landed on the coast of what is now Florida.  In need of interpreters, guides, bearers of supplies and women to perform camp work and other services to the men, he established a practice of taking Native captives who could transmit those requests to their people.  If a town or local ruler appeared reluctant, de Soto would capture a local leader or other official and detain that person until they reached the territory of the next tribe, where the previous captives would be let go if they still survived and the process repeated.

Eventually, de Soto made his way across Georgia.  They came to the village of Talisi near present-day Childersburg, Alabama, and made their usual demands for service.  The Chief of Talisi appeared willing to cooperate, so de Soto released the Chief of Coosa, who was understandably angry at the way he'd been treated.  Did he slip word to other leaders in the various towns, including Tuscaloosa?  Who knows.  Tuscaloosa sent his son as an envoy to the Spaniards.  The son had orders to assess Spanish strength and threat capability.  The Spanish began their journey through Tuscaloosa's domain, heading toward his main village at Atahachi.  Tuscaloosa received them on a platform mound in the plaza of the village and one look at the attendants and warriors surrounding him should have told de Soto just how powerful this ruler was.  What struck observers on meeting Tuscaloosa was his outstanding height.  He was taller than any of the men, Native or Spanish, with whom he came in contact.  He was described as lean and muscular, with an air of importance that befitted his status in his society. 

De Soto sought to impress Tuscaloosa with a jousting game played on horseback with lances.  Ever so often during the game, the Spaniards would form up as though to advance on Tuscaloosa, just to see what his reaction would be.  He remained seated on his platform, showing no emotion one way or the other though he must have realized the message de Soto was trying to put across.  When de Soto made his usual demands for guides, interpreters, etc., Tuscaloosa retorted that he was accustomed to being served, not serving.  He initially refused, though by the next day he agreed, providing guides and bearers, but telling de Soto that available women were only to be found in the town of Mabila, several days march away.  De Soto gave him a pair of boots and a red cloak in return for his cooperation.  He also took Tuscaloosa hostage to ensure the cooperation of his people.  They reached the village of Piachi, where de Soto began to notice the hostile attitude of the people.  When two of his men disappeared, de Soto threatened to have Tuscaloosa himself burned at the stake if the two men were not found.  Tuscaloosa replied that they, too, had probably gone on to Mabila.

On October 18, 1540, the party arrived at Mabila, a large, fortified town with a palisade surrounding it.  De Soto noticed that there were plenty of warriors in residence, but few women and almost no children.  They also noticed that the palisade appeared to have been strengthened, with the brush cleared away from the outside.  Older men were training younger warriors in drills and mock skirmishes.  The Chief of Mabila greeted the Spaniards politely, giving them robes of skins as a gift.  The Spaniards ordered their Native bearers to place their supplies in a pile just outside the palisade.  Then, the Mabilians organized a dance to welcome their guests.  During the dance, Tuscaloosa told de Soto that he was tired of traveling with the Spaniards and wanted to remain in Mabila.  De Soto refused, but did allow Tuscaloosa to step into a nearby house to confer with some of his leading warriors.  Growing suspicious, de Soto sent men to retrieve Tuscaloosa, who refused to come.  The men found him in the house filled with armed warriors, obviously ready to fight.  Tuscaloosa sent word to de Soto that he and his men would either leave, or be forced to leave. 

During the discussion inside the house, de Soto or his representative renewed his demand for bearers and serving women.  Tuscaloosa or his spokesman refused and a Spaniard grabbed a nearby warrior to claim as hostage.  In the ensuing scuffle, a Spanish sword sliced Tuscaloosa, amputating his arm.  The Mabilians attacked the Spanish.  While some townsmen went and captured the pile of Spanish supplies, dragging them inside the palisade, others surrounded de Soto and his men, who appeared to be outnumbered and at their mercy.  The Spaniards fought their way out of Mabila and regrouped, launching several attacks on the town.  In the ensuing commotion, the palisade caught fire or was set fire and flames roared through the densely packed houses where over 5,000 people perished.  Other inhabitants fled to surrounding villages, some dying of their wounds along the way.  For weeks afterwards, the Spaniards encountered dead or dying Mabilians along their route and in other villages.  Although Tuscaloosa's son died or was killed in the attack, of Tuscaloosa himself there was no sign.  He had either fled to regroup his men or, more likely, die of the serious injury he had sustained. 

The peoples of the region now knew they had an extremely dangerous and rapacious enemy in the Spaniards.  As more raiding parties made their way into the Southeast, remnants of the Missisippian culture began to coalesce with each other.  Descendants of Tuscaloosa's people became the ancestors of the modern-day Choctaw.  Tuscaloosa, Alabama is named for the Black Warrior and Mobile is the French form of the town name of Mabila.