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1 The Problem of Tascalusa’s Chiefdom on sunday, october 10, 1540, at a town along what is now the Alabama River, the worlds of a native American chief and a spanish conquistador collided. Although a vast cultural gap divided the two leaders, both would soon demonstrate a willingness to use any means necessary, especially brute force, to achieve their ends, setting in motion a series of events over the ensuing days that would radically alter the native American social and political landscape in Alabama. based on the few surviving written accounts, spanish conquistador hernando de soto, the leader of the first european expedition to intensively explore the interior southeast,and Chief Tascalusa,whose political influence extended along the upper half of the Alabama River valley and perhaps beyond, were enmeshed in a power struggle that would end drastically in a matter of days. from the start,the relationship between the two leaders was tense.De soto’s personal secretary, Rodrigo Rangel (1993:210–219), reported that during their initial meeting, atop a mound at Tascalusa’s capital, the “new town” of Athahachi, the chief bristled at being confined overnight under the watchful eyes of de soto and his lieutenants. De soto’s insults went beyond denying Tascalusa his accustomed personal liberties. To keep his expedition of 600 spanish horsemen,foot soldiers,priests,and a herd of swine moving and motivated,de soto expected the chief to supply him with burden bearers and women.Tascalusa promised delivery of these items only if de soto agreed to follow him to mabila, described by Rangel (1993:291) as, “the province of a principle vassal of his [Tascalusa’s].” Along the journey downriver to mabila, de soto’s army spread out over the landscape, taking captives, creating havoc, and raiding village maize stores at the communities they encountered. nine days after the initial meeting at Athahachi, shortly after the lead party of the expedition arrived in the province of mabila, tensions exploded and a battle erupted between the warriors mustered at the palisaded town and the front guard of the spanish cavalry. After suffering a number of casualties, the spanish quickly retreated outside 2 / Chapter 1 the fortification and burned the town to the ground, killing scores of Tascalusa ’s warriors in the process. in his detailed study of the entirety of the de soto expedition, ethnohistorian Charles hudson (1994b:248) marked the battle as a turning point. After the battle de soto was demoralized, having doubly failed in his quest for riches of precious metal and in his search for new land to colonize. A little over a year later de soto would die of fever on the banks of the mississippi River, unaware that centuries later, scholars still would pore over the few surviving pages of accounts of his expedition, attempting to retrace his footsteps. While de soto’s career as a conquistador, from his rise to prominence under Pizarro in Peru and eventual downfall in the southeast, are documented in spanish records, only a few paragraphs of eyewitness accounts of Tascalusa remain. The accounts focus principally on the chief ’s appearance . Rangel (1993:291) described him as “of a tall stature . . . and of very good proportions, a very well built and noble man.” When de soto encountered him, Tascalusa was on “a balcony that was made on a mound to one side of the plaza” (Rangel 1993:290). Tascalusa wore “a certain headdress, like an alamaizar [turban], worn like a moor, which gave him the appearance of authority, and a pelote, or blanket of feathers down to his feet,” and was “seated upon some high cushions, and many principals of his indians with him” (Rangel 1993:290). The chief was surrounded by various attendants , one who carried a pole with what Rangel (1993:291) termed a “large fly-flap”emblazoned with a white cross on a black field.Tascalusa refused to rise when de soto entered his presence, instead he remained seated and assumed a demeanor described as “quiet and composed, as if he were a king, and with much gravity” (Rangel 1993:291). These few records are very likely all that history will ever know of the appearance and personality of Chief Tascalusa. for decades, historians and archaeologists have unsuccessfully attempted to pinpoint the locations of Tascalusa’s polity and the battle at mabila. The most current scholarly research , which synthesizes historic, geographic, and archaeological data, indicates that both the heart of the polity and the battle at mabila...

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