native towns. Nearly all were palisaded; a few apparently were moated as
well—these were powerful and warring peoples—with platforms and big
chiefs’ houses and ceremonial spaces that sometimes included tall poles.
One such town was a new one, built upon the original and grander Etowah
site. De Soto then followed the Coosa River south-southwestward, search-
ing for an emerging giant—literally and politically—Tascaluza, the Black
Warrior.^4
Tascaluza was paramount chief of a growing confederation apparently of
mixed ethnic peoples, rivals of the Coosas to the north. The chief ’s name is
Choctaw or western Muskogean, but the name of his new town, Atahachi—
in the neighborhood of the future Alabama capital, Montgomery—seems
Creek. Native politics and identity evolved and sometimes changed radi-
cally, even before Europeans arrived. Tascaluza may have been a principal
creator of a future nation called Upper Creek. Doubtlessly the chief already
possessed an imperial persona when he invited the Spaniards to Atahachi
in October . They found Tascaluza seated on cushions beneath a por-
tico atop his platform mound, above Atahachi’s plaza. The chief, accord-
ing to the visitors, was about seven feet tall, powerfully constructed, and
regally attired in a cloak of feathers and a headcloth that reminded Iberi-
ans of the Moors. De Soto took Tascaluza’s hand and led him to the shade
of a tree for diplomatic talk. De Soto wanted supplies, women, guides, and
porters. Later he presented the chief with a horse. Tascaluza mounted, and
the Spanish observed that his toes nearly touched the ground, even though
the horse was among the largest they had brought. The chief fed the visi-
tors and entertained them with dancers. The Spanish performed cavalry
games in the plaza, intended to intimidate the natives. Yet Tascaluza re-
fused de Soto’s demands, so the commander, following a tactic already
successfully demonstrated in Mesoamerica and Peru, took the chief hos-
tage. Finally Tascaluza agreed to supply food and some porters to assist the
Spaniards’ progress down the Alabama River to another town, Mabila (near
present-day Selma), where the chief promised to provide more porters and
the women. This was a trap.
At Mabila many of the Spanish rode and walked into town and permitted
the captive chief to enter a house secretly secured by his own men. The
great battle of Mabila broke out—the first outright combat the Spanish had
faced since the Apalachees—when Tascaluza refused to leave. Suddenly a
large force of warriors attacked. They forced most of the Europeans outside
Mabila’s strong palisade, wounded de Soto himself and many others, and
killed a few men and horses. Horsemen outside saved their commander