The Spanish were the first Europeans to come into contact with the Choctaw. Warriors harassed Hernando de Soto’s expeditionary force near the Mississippi River in 1540. Although the conquistadores possessed firearms, the Indians proved a stubborn menace.
The Choctaw later became important allies of the French, who established themselves along the lower Mississippi valley after Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle’s expedition of 1682. Choctaw warriors helped crush the Natchez Revolt of 1729 (see NATCHEZ). The fact that the Choctaw generally sided with the French, and the Chickasaw with the British, created a balance of power in the region during the French and Indian wars from 1689 to 1763.
After 1763, the British controlled the part of the Southeast that included the Choctaw homeland. At the end of the American Revolution in 1783, when the British were defeated, the Spanish gained control of the Gulf of Mexico region as payment for helping the American rebels. In 1819, the United States gained Spanish holdings in the Southeast after General Andrew Jackson had invaded Florida.
The Choctaw generally sided with the Americans against the British. Choctaw warriors fought under American generals in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Creek War of 1813—14. Moreover, a Choctaw chief named Pushmataha was instrumental in keeping many Southeast bands from joining a rebellion in 1809—11, led by Tecumseh of the SHAWNEE.
World History
