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52-507: Tuskaloosa is notable for leading the Battle of Mabila at his fortified village against the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto . After being taken hostage by the Spanish as they passed through his territory, Tuskaloosa organized a surprise attack on his captors at Mabila, but was ultimately defeated. Contemporary records describe the paramount chief as being very tall and well built, with some of

104-481: A pelote or mantle of feathers down to his feet, very imposing; he was seated on some high cushions, and many of the principal men among his Indians were with him. He was as tall as that Tony (Antonico) of the Emperor, our lord's guard, and well proportioned, a fine and comely figure of a man. He had a son, a young man as tall as himself but more slender. Before this chief there stood always an Indian of graceful mien holding

156-536: A circuitous exploration of modern-day Florida , Georgia , South Carolina and Alabama , often engaging in violent conflict with the indigenous peoples. As they traveled, the expedition kidnapped natives to act as bearers and interpreters of the many different language families (Muskogean, Yamasee , Iroquoian , Cherokee , and others) of the Southeast. The conquistadors frequently took a local chief hostage to guarantee safe passage through his territory. By October 1540,

208-507: A discussion broke out between Diego de Almagro and Francisco Pizarro . In Spain, apparently, Alvarado made improper use of the wealth he had acquired in Peru, forcing his return to the Americas to recover it. He left the Spanish port of Sanlucar de Barrameda with de Soto's army, leading one of the expedition's seven ships. On April 7, 1538, the expedition reached Florida's coast. Alvarado obtained

260-602: A parasol on a handle something like a round and very large fly fan, with a cross similar to that of the Knights of the Order of St. John of Rhodes , in the middle of a black field, and the cross was white. And although the Governor entered the plaza and alighted from his horse and went up to him, he did not rise, but remained passive in perfect composure and as if he had been a king. Moscoso and his men mounted their horses and galloped around

312-594: A pond nearby, tinged with the blood of the killed, and returned to the combat." De Soto had his men set fire to the town, then by Elvas's account, breaking in upon the Indians and beating them down, they fled out of the place, the cavalry and infantry driving them back through the gates, where losing the hope of escape, they fought valiantly; and the Catholics getting among them with cutlasses, they found themselves met on all sides by their strokes, when many, dashing headlong into

364-568: A trap for them. The Spanish rested at Talisi for several weeks, then departed on October 5. During the next several days, they reached about one village of the Tuskaloosa province per day. These included Casiste , situated on a stream; and Caxa , another village on a stream, possibly Hatchett Creek , the boundary between the Coosa and the Tuskaloosa. The next day they camped on the Coosa River, across from

416-451: A tree that was in the fence, and taking the cord from his bow, tied it about his neck, and from a limb hanged himself. The Spaniards burned down Mabila, and nearly all the Mabilians and their allies were killed, either in the battle, in the subsequent fires, or by suicide. Chief Tuskaloosa's son was found among the dead, although the chief was not. Biedma asserts that over five thousand were in

468-625: The chiefdom of " Quigualtam " , in which more men were lost. Alvarado's expeditionary group eventually made it to the Gulf Coast on July 16, 1543, and began sailing westward along the Louisiana and Texas shores. The group probably also found some of Texas' bays (possibly Matagorda Bay , Corpus Christi Bay or Aransas Bay ) before finally arriving the Pánuco River , and then traveling on to Mexico City. There Moscoso wrote two letters to Charles V ,

520-624: The protohistoric Province of Tuskaloosa encountered by the de Soto expedition in 1540. The Big Eddy phase Taskigi Mound is a platform mound and fortified village site located at the confluence of the Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Alabama Rivers near Wetumpka, Alabama . It is preserved as part of the Fort Toulouse-Fort Jackson State Historic Site and is one of the locations included on the University of Alabama Museums "Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail". As de Soto approached

572-515: The Battle of Mabila. Armed with guns, the Spaniards eventually burned down the village and killed most of the warriors. The walled compound of Mabila, one of many encountered by the Spaniards in their exploration, was enclosed in a thick stuccoed wall, 16.5-ft (5-m) high. It was made from wide tree trunks tied with cross-beams and covered with mud/straw stucco , to appear as a solid wall. The fortress

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624-467: The Chief of Tascaluza...who was such a tall man that he seemed a giant: Sunday, October 10, 1540, the Governor entered the village of Tascaluça, which is called Athahachi, a recent village. And the chief was on a kind of balcony on a mound at one side of the square, his head covered by a kind of coif like the almaizal , so that his headdress was like a Moor 's which gave him an aspect of authority; he also wore

676-531: The Lempa River and founded San Miguel on 21 November 1530. In 1534, he traveled to Peru with his uncle on an expedition through what is now Ecuador. As Alvarado explored the area, he and Pedro discovered several tribes in the Manabí Province . After returning to Peru, Alvarado and his two brothers decided to work with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto . Soto and Alvarado returned to Spain in 1536 due to

728-543: The Mississippians suffered even more grievous losses. De Soto had demanded supplies, bearers, and women from the powerful Chief Tuskaloosa , when they met him at his main town. He said they needed to go to another settlement, and took them to Mabila. On October 18, 1540, de Soto and the expedition arrived at Mabila, a heavily fortified village situated on a plain. It had a wooden palisade encircling it, with bastions placed so that archers could shoot their longbows to cover

780-613: The Spanish breached the palisade, the Mabilians were too crowded in the village to mount a successful defense. Over the next few centuries, the Tuskaloosa, Coosa, Plaquemine Mississippian peoples from the Mississippi and Pearl River valleys, and other native peoples came together to form a confederacy that became the tribe known as the Choctaw . Battle of Mabila Mabila (also spelled Mavila , Mavilla , Maubila , or Mauvilla , as influenced by Spanish or French transliterations)

832-703: The White man, the battle of Mabila was the first of the bloodiest battles ever fought on the North American continent. Luis de Moscoso Alvarado Luis de Moscoso Alvarado (1505–1551) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador. Luis de Moscoso Alvarado assumed command of Hernando De Soto's expedition upon the latter's death. Luis de Moscoso Alvarado was born in Badajoz , Spain, to Alonso Hernández Diosdado Mosquera de Moscoso and Isabel de Alvarado. De Moscoso had two brothers, Juan de Alvarado and Cristóbal de Mosquera. His uncle

884-412: The approaches. Upon arriving at Mabila, the Spaniards knew something was amiss. The population of the town was almost exclusively male- young warriors and men of status. There were several women, but no children. The Spaniards also noticed the palisade had been recently strengthened, and that all trees, bushes, and weeds, had been cleared from outside the settlement for the length of a crossbow shot. Outside

936-474: The battle, respectively. The exact count of Indian dead is not known, but Spanish accounts at the time estimated that between 2,500 and 3,000 Indians had been killed by the raging fires within the city's walls. Spanish killed in action were either 22, 18, 25, 20, or 82 based upon the contemporary chroniclers of the time Ranjel-Oviedo, Elvas, Cañete , Biedma, and Garcilaso, respectively; with another 48 or more Spaniards dying from their wounds within days following

988-560: The battle. According to Garcilaso, "Most of the dead were women" who had followed their husbands, sweethearts, and others, to witness their glorious victory over the Castilians. As for the Indian leader Tascalusa, neither he nor his body was ever found, and if he did perish in the burning city, his body would have been "burned beyond recognition." In the "five centuries" of warfare between the Red man and

1040-496: The chief, the chief said that he was accustomed to being served, and not vice versa. De Soto had Tuskaloosa taken hostage. The expedition began making plans to leave the next day, and Tuskaloosa relented, providing bearers for the Spaniards. He informed de Soto that they would have to go to his town of Mabila (or Mauvila ) to receive the women. De Soto gave the chief a pair of boots and a red cloak to reward him for his cooperation. The expedition departed Atachaci on October 12, and

1092-405: The chroniclers saying Tuaskaloosa stood a foot and a half taller than the Spaniards. His name, derived from the western Muskogean language elements tashka and losa , means "Black Warrior". [Tuskaloosa]'s appearance was full of dignity he was tall of person, muscular, lean, and symmetrical. He was the suzerain of many territories, and of numerous people, being equally feared by his vassals and

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1144-472: The countryside) and an unnamed man looking for a runaway Indian slave. De Soto ordered Tuskaloosa to have his people produced or he would be burned at the stake; the chief said only that the men would be returned at Mabila. On October 18, de Soto and the expedition arrived at Mabila, a small, heavily fortified village situated on a plain. It had a wooden palisade encircling it, with bastions every so often for archers to shoot from. The Spaniards knew something

1196-446: The court whenever de Soto liked. The next day de Soto sent Luis de Moscoso Alvarado to tell the chief that they were on their way. The paramount village was a large, recently built, fortified community with a platform mound and plaza. Upon entering the village, de Soto was taken to meet the chief under a portico on top of the mound. Chapter VII-In which is related what happened to the commander Hernando de Soto, in his intercourse with

1248-480: The enclosure, to 'the height of an estado' (5.55 feet), was full of loopholes for shooting arrows at those on the outside. The pueblo had only two gates, one on the east and the other on the west. In the middle of the pueblo, was a spacious plaza around which were the largest and most important houses.  The Spaniards suffered their greatest losses of the De Soto Expedition during the battle at Mabila, but

1300-598: The expedition had reached the middle of modern-day Alabama. Tuskaloosa's province consisted of a series of villages, located mostly along the Coosa and Alabama rivers. Each village had its own chief, who was a vassal to Tuskaloosa, the paramount chief . After traveling through the Province Coosa , the de Soto expedition came to the village of Talisi on September 18, 1540; the modern town of Childersburg, Alabama developed near here. The chief of Talisi and his vassals had fled

1352-485: The flaming houses, were smothered, and, heaped one upon another, burned to death. They who perished there were in all two thousand five hundred, a few more or less: of the Catholics there fell two hundred... Of the living, one hundred and fifty (150) Catholics had received seven hundred wounds... Elvas noted later that four hundred hogs, and twelve horses died in the conflagration. But other contempary authors Ranjel- Oviedo and Garcilaso say seven and forty-five horses died in

1404-406: The gate and their horses. Natives came from all of the houses and attacked the Spaniards. The Mabilians grabbed the provisions and equipment left outside the palisade and brought the supplies into the town. After making it outside, the Spaniards regrouped and assaulted the village. After numerous assaults and many hours (the battle lasted eight or nine hours), the Spaniards were able to hack holes into

1456-677: The historical province of Mabila, although not the town itself. They theorize that the town site is within a few miles of their excavations. In 1540 Chief Tuskaloosa arranged for more than 2,500 native warriors to be concealed at Mabila, prepared to attack a large party of foreign invaders in the Mississippian culture territory: Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his expedition. When Hernando de Soto first met Tuskaloosa at his home village and asked him for supplies, Tuskaloosa advised them to travel to another of his towns, known as Mabila , where supplies would be waiting. A native messenger

1508-468: The house to retrieve the chief, they discovered it was full of armed warriors prepared to protect their chief. De Soto asked the Chief of Mabila to demand the porters promised by Tuskaloosa, and the Spaniards would leave. The man refused, and a Spaniard grabbed him; in the ensuing scuffle, the chief had his arm cut off by the Spaniard's sword. With this, the Mabilians attacked the Spanish, who immediately ran for

1560-426: The lance, so that when it was nearly dark there remained only three alive; and these, taking the women that had been brought to dance, placed the twenty in front, who, crossing their hands, made signs to us that we should come for them. The Christians advancing toward the women, these turned aside, and the three men behind them shot their arrows at us, when we killed two of them. The last Indian, not to surrender, climbed

1612-535: The leader of the expedition, in the position of commander. After consulting with the other leaders, Moscoso decided to abandon the mission to found a colony and take the expedition to the modern-day Mexico. Moscoso and his army marched west, reaching northwest Louisiana and Texas. They encountered with Caddoan Mississippian peoples along the way, but lacked interpreters to communicate with them and eventually ran into territory too dry for maize farming and too thinly populated to sustain themselves by stealing food from

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1664-473: The local populations. The expedition promptly backtracked to Guachoya on the Mississippi River. Over the winter of 1542-1543 they built "seven bergantines, or pinnaces , with which to seek a water route to Mexico". On July 2, 1543, Just over half of the members of the expedition (322 people) had survived and they traveled to the Mississippi River. Along the way they had a running three day battle with

1716-584: The neighbouring nations. Tuskaloosa and his chiefdom are recorded in the chronicles of Hernando de Soto 's expedition, which arrived in North America in 1539. De Soto had been appointed Governor of Cuba by King Carlos I of Spain, who directed him to conquer Florida , as adelantado . This was believed to comprise what is now the Southern United States . In 1539, De Soto landed near Tampa, Florida , with 600–1,000 men and 200 horses and began

1768-549: The next day arrived in the village of Piachi, situated high on a cliff overlooking the Alabama River. Here the Spaniards began noticing signs of resistance from the native population. De Soto demanded canoes from the people of Piachi, but the chief claimed his people did not have any. The expedition was forced to wait two days as they built rafts to cross to the north side of the river. After crossing, they noticed that two Spaniards were missing, Juan de Villalobos (who liked to explore

1820-466: The outside and inside and attached with split canes and strong cords. On top they were daubed with a great deal of mud packed down with long straw, which mixture filled all the cracks and open spaces between the logs and their fastenings in such a manner that it really looked like a wall finished with a mason's trowel. At intervals of fifty paces around this enclosure, were towers capable of holding seven or eight men who could fight in them. The lower part of

1872-435: The palisade, they saw an older warrior in a field, who was seen exhorting younger warriors, and leading them in mock skirmishes and military exercises. When the Spaniards reached the town of Mabila, ruled by one of Tuskaloosa's vassals, the Chief asked de Soto to allow him to remain there. When de Soto refused, Tuskaloosa warned him to leave the town, then withdrew to another room, and refused to talk further. A lesser chief

1924-540: The plaza, playing juego de cañas , a dangerous sport involving jousting with lances. The men occasionally feinted toward Tuskaloosa, hoping to frighten him, a technique of manipulation de Soto had used against the Inca Atahualpa at Cajamarca . The chief sat unmoved. Afterward the Indians served the Spaniards food, and the residents of Atahachi danced in the plaza. This reminded the Spaniards of rural dances in their own country. When de Soto demanded porters and women from

1976-509: The title of " maestre de campo " (field commander) and kept this title until March 1541, when the group was attacked by the Chickasaw Native American tribe, which caused the death of twelve Spaniards and many of the horses that participated in the expedition. The attack was, apparently (and mainly), the result of a misunderstanding between Alvarado and the tribe. De Soto died on May 21, 1542, in what became Arkansas, leaving Moscoso as

2028-456: The town before them, but de Soto sent messages to the chief, who returned on September 25. Once the Chief of Talisi had shown his obedience by supplying the Spaniards with requested deerskins, food, bearers, and women, de Soto released the paramount chief of Coosa, whom they had held hostage while traveling through his territory. The Coosa chief was angry that he had been taken so far from his home village and that de Soto still held his sister. She

2080-405: The town, of which almost none was able to escape. For several weeks afterward, the Spanish made forays to neighboring villages for supplies of maize , deerskins, and other goods, finding many wounded and dead Mabilians in the houses. The natives had made two serious mistakes: they had not realized the Spaniards' advantage when mounted on horses, and they had relied too heavily on their palisade. Once

2132-403: The town, the chief of Mabila came out to greet him, bringing him three robes of marten skins as a gift. De Soto and several of his men dismounted and entered the town, as the native bearers placed the Spaniards' supplies next to the palisade. The Mabilians danced and sang to the Spaniards, seemingly to allay their fears and to distract them. While the spectacle unfolded, Tuskaloosa told de Soto he

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2184-493: The village of Humati, near the mouth of Shoal Creek . On October 8 they came to a newly built settlement named Uxapita , possibly near modern Wetumpka, Alabama . On October 9, de Soto crossed the Tallapoosa River , and by the end of the day, his party was within a few miles of Tuskalusa's village, Atahachi . De Soto sent a messenger to tell the chief he and his army had arrived, and the chief responded that they could go to

2236-409: The walls of the palisade and reenter the town. We entered the town and set it on fire, whereby a number of Indians were burned, and all that we had was consumed, so that there remained not a thing. We fought that day until nightfall, without a single Indian having surrendered to us- they fighting bravely on like lions. We killed them all, either with fire or the sword, or, such of them as came out, with

2288-401: The well-fortified town. The Indians closed the gates and "beating their drums, they raised flags, with great shouting." De Soto determined to attack the town, and in the battle that followed, Elvas records: "The Indians fought with so great spirit that they, many times, drove our people back out of the town. The struggle lasted so long that many Catholics, weary and very thirsty, went to drink at

2340-475: Was a small fortress town known to the paramount chief Tuskaloosa in 1540, in a region of present-day central Alabama . The exact location has been debated for centuries, but southwest of present-day Selma, Alabama , is one possibility. In late 2021, archaeologists announced the excavation of Spanish artifacts at several Native American settlement sites in Marengo County that indicate that they have found

2392-581: Was amiss: the population of the town was almost exclusively male, young warriors and men of status. There were several women, but no children. The Spaniards also noticed the palisade had been recently strengthened, and that all trees, bushes and even weeds had been cleared from outside the settlement for the length of a crossbow shot. Outside the palisade in the field, they saw an older warrior haranguing younger men, or leading them in mock skirmishes and military exercises. The South Appalachian Mississippian culture Big Eddy phase has been tentatively identified as

2444-417: Was asked to intercede, but he would not. One of the Spaniards, according to Elvas , "seized him by the cloak of marten-skins that he had on, drew it off over his head, and left it in his hands; whereupon, the Indians all beginning to rise, he gave him a stroke with a cutlass, that laid open his back, when they, with loud yells, came out of the houses, discharging their bows." The Spaniards barely escaped from

2496-435: Was defended by Muskogee warriors, who shot arrows or threw stones. Based on the earlier sources, Garcilaso de la Vega described the town of Mabila as: ...on a very fine plain and had an enclosure three estados (about 16.5 feet or 5-m) high, which was made of logs as thick as oxen. They were driven into the ground so close together that they touched one another. Other beams, longer and not so thick, were placed crosswise on

2548-503: Was likely the mother of his successor as chief, as the tribe had a matrilineal kinship system. De Soto evidently thought Talisi was subject to Coosa, although the village was closer to Tuskaloosa. As such the chief may have had dual allegiances to both chiefdoms and balanced between them. Tuskaloosa sent an envoy led by his son and several head men to meet the Spanish in Talisi. The envoy intended to assess Spanish expedition in order to prepare

2600-399: Was sent ahead to Mabila. When Tuskaloosa arrived with the first group of Spaniards, he asked the Spanish people to leave the settlement and territory. A fight broke out between a soldier and a native, and many warriors emerged from hiding in houses and began shooting arrows at the Spaniards. The Spaniards fled, leaving their possessions inside the fortress. The conflict that resulted is called

2652-639: Was the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado , who had excelled in the conquests of Mexico and Central America. Alvarado accompanied his uncle on expeditions to the Americas, where he participated in the conquest of present-day Mexico, Guatemala and El Salvador. In 1530 Pedro sent Luis to El Salvador to set up a colony in the East of the region. On May 8, 1530, Alvarado founded the town of San Miguel de la Frontera in modern San Miguel Department . In addition, Alvarado founded San Miguel with about 120 Spanish cavalry, as well as with infantry and Indian auxiliaries , crossed

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2704-482: Was tired of marching with the Spaniards, and wished to stay in Mabila. De Soto refused, and the chief asked to confer with some of his nobles in one of the large wattle and daub houses on the plaza. De Soto sent Juan Ortiz to retrieve him, but the Mabilians refused him entrance to the house. Tuskaloosa told de Soto and his expedition to leave in peace, or he and his allies would force him to leave. When de Soto sent men into

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