The first contact among Mobile and Europeans occurred in 1528, when two members of the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition out of Spain deserted in Mobile Bay, jumping into Indian canoes. According to written records, the Spanish seized two Indians as hostages, demanding an exchange for the deserters. But the Mobile attacked, shooting arrows, flinging stones with slingshots, and throwing clubs at them until a sudden, strong wind forced both sides to stop. In fall 1540, when another Spanish expedition under Hernando de Soto reached their territory, the Mobile produced a dagger, which they claimed to have belonged to one of the deserters, although there was no subsequent report of the fate of the deserters or the Mobile hostages.
Contact between the Mobile and de Soto’s men also ended in violence, the first large-scale battle between Indians and Europeans in the area that would become the United States. On encountering the Spanish near Mobile Bay, the Mobile chieftain Tascalusa, although wary of the outsiders because of reported attacks on other tribes, received them peacefully. He sat on a raised platform with his son at his side and his notables surrounding him while the Spanish entertained him with a horse-riding display. When de Soto demanded supplies and burden carriers (porters), Tascalusa at first refused. After threats by the Spanish, Tascalusa ostensibly agreed to send word ahead to his village of Mabila to comply with the expedition’s needs. Yet he had messengers call in armed warriors from neighboring villages to his central stockaded one. When the Spanish arrived, the Mobile entertained them with dancing. The soldiers spotted weapons concealed among the Indians, however, and tried to lead off Tascalusa. Fighting then broke out. The Mobile managed to free the burden carriers taken from other tribes, who then joined in the fighting and helped drive the Spanish from the village. The Battle of Mabila of October 18, 1540, lasted all day, continuing in open country, where the 580 conquistadores held the advantage because of their horses. Indian women and children also joined in the conflict. The Spanish eventually managed to set Mabila on fire. Those Indians not killed by guns, sword, and lance were driven into the flames. Some committed suicide rather than be captured. It has been estimated that more than 2,500 Indians died, as opposed to only 20 soldiers, with 150 more Spaniards wounded, including de Soto. It is not known what happened to Tascalusa. The Spanish found his son’s body among the dead, stuck with a lance.
World History
