den, South Carolina. “She crossed in the
canoes and spoke to the Governor quite
gracefully and at her ease,” Ranjel remem-
bered of “The Lady of Cofitachequi,” as she
was called by both Indians and the Europeans.
“She was a young girl of fine bearing; and she
took off a string of pearls which she wore on
her neck, and put it on the Governor as a
necklace to show her favor and to gain his
will.” The Europeans spent a week enjoying
the hospitality of the people of Cofitachequi.
“The country was delightful and fertile,”
wrote the Gentleman of Elvas. “The forest was
open, with abundance of walnut and mul-
berry trees.” Cofitachequi was the most boun-
tiful area the expedition had yet encountered.
It was also the first locale that promised any
treasure. De Soto and his officers entered an
Indian burial chamber, where they found
corpses decorated with freshwater pearls.
They also found iron Spanish axes, which
probably came from the failed Ayllón settle-
ment on the coast, two days’ walk to the east.
The Europeans removed 200 pounds of pearls
from the mausoleum. When the cacica saw
how much they valued the pearls, she offered
them more, but de Soto refused. Their week in
Cofitachequi was the most promising time the
would-be colonists had enjoyed. Crimes com-
mitted by de Soto’s soldiers, however, gradu-
ally turned the people of Cofitachequi against
them. When de Soto announced to the cacica
that he was marching onward to search for
richer lands, she refused him food or porters.
He responded by taking her hostage, but she
managed to escape days later.
THE BATTLE OF MABILA
For two months, de Soto’s expedition wan-
dered through the hills of North Carolina and
easternTennessee, crossing the Appalachian
Mountains and turning southwest into
Alabama. At Coça, near modern-day Childers-
burg, they rested for a month under the pro-
tection of a Creek cacique, who was repaid for
his kindness by being taken hostage. They
continued to head southwest, down the
Alabama River to the Tombigbee River. On
October 10 they met Chief Tascalusa, the most
imposing cacique they had encountered yet.
“His appearance was full of dignity,” the Gen-
tleman of Elvas wrote. “He was a tall person,
muscular, lean, and symmetrical. He was the
suzerain of many territories, and of a numer-
ous people, being equally feared by his vassals
and the neighboring nations.”
Tascalusa offered de Soto a peaceful,
friendly passage through his lands. After being
entertained by the cacique’s men, however, de
Soto refused to let Tascalusa return home.
Furthermore, de Soto demanded male slaves
to use as porters and 100 women. Tascalusa
gave de Soto 400 men to use as carriers, but
postponed the request for women, saying that
he would grant the request when they reached
the nearby town of Mabila.
As de Soto approached Mabila, near the
present site of Mobile, Alabama, he was told
that the inhabitants were strengthening the
heavily fortified town’s walls, stockpiling
weapons, and summoning warriors from the
countryside. De Soto ignored the warnings
and rode into Mabila on October 18, 1540. He
and a dozen of his men weregreeted with
dancing and singing. The Spaniards noticed,
however, that the houses around them were
filled with armed men. When Tascalusa disap-
peared into a dwelling and refused to come
out, one of de Soto’s officers grabbed a passing
Indian, starting a scuffle. Suddenly, de Soto’s
men began dropping under a hail of arrows.
The wounded Spaniards fought their way out
of the fortress. De Soto regrouped his forces
and torched Mabila, killing between 2,500 and
3,000 townspeople, some of whom jumped
into the flames or hanged themselves rather
than be captured and enslaved.Hernando de Soto and “La Florida” B 99