Text
A NARRATIVE
OF
DE SOTO'S EXPEDITION
BASED ON THE
DIARY OF RODRIGO
RANJEL
HIS PRIVATE SECRETARY
BY
GONZALO FERNANDEZ DE
OVIEDO Y VALDÉS
TRANSLATED BY
EDWARD GAYLORD BOURNE
Gonzalo Fernandz de Oviedo y Valdes was royal historian of
the Indies and his Historia general y naturel de las Indias in which the
Ranjel diary appeared is a multi-volume history of Spain in the new world.
(Hudson 1997, 442)
CHAPTER VI
HOW THE GOVERNOR
HERNANDO DE SOTO CAME TO THE VILLAGE OF JALAMECO; HOW THE WOMAN CHIEF, LADY OF
THIS LAND, WELCOMED HIM AND PLACED UPON HIS NECK A STRING OF PEARLS THAT SHE
WORE AROUND THE NECK; AND HOW THEY FOUND MANY OTHER PEARLS; AND HOW BY THE
FAULT OF THE GOVERNOR THEY FAILED TO FIND ALL THAT THEY WANTED TO; AND HOW
LATEST PEARLS WERE FOUND IN STREAMS OF FRESH WATER; AND MANY OTHER DETAILS APPROPRIATE
TO THE COURSE OF THIS NARRATIVE.
Let us return to the sequel and continuation of what we have in hand and are
here narrating. Friday the last day of April the Governor took some horse,
those that were most refreshed, and the Indian woman that Baltasar de Gallegos
brought for a guide, and went along the road to Cofitachequi, and spent the
night near a large, deep river; and he sent on Johan de Añasco with some
horsemen to secure some interpreters and canoes for crossing the river, and he
got some. The next day the Governor came to the crossing opposite the village,
and the chief Indians came with gifts and the woman chief, lady of that land
whom Indians of rank bore on their shoulders with much respect, in a litter
covered with delicate white linen. And she crossed in the canoes and spoke to
the Governor quite gracefully and at her ease. 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 favour and to gain his good
will. And all the army crossed over in canoes and they received many presents
of skins well tanned and blankets, all very good; and countless strips of
venison and dry wafers, and an abundance of very good salt. All the Indians
went clothed down to their feet with very fine skins well dressed, and blankets
of the country, and blankets of sable fur and others of the skin of wild cats
which gave out a strong smell. The people are very clean and polite and
naturally well conditioned.
When Soto and his army approached the paramount chiefdom of
Cofitachequi in early May of 1540, they were nearing the end of their first
year of exploration of La Flordia.
During that year they had made their way from present Tampa Bay, where
they had landed, up the Florida peninsula to modern Tallahassee where they
spent five months wintering with the Apalachee. This was their first encounter with a true paramount
Mississippian chiefdom. Before that the Florida Indians they had met
were smaller and less organized tribes who lived mainly by hunting and
gathering with supplemental agriculture.
Mississippian is a term archaeologist use to designate the
time period of about A.D. 800 to 1600 when agriculture was replacing hunting
and gathering as the major means of food production for the Indians of the Southeast. (Hudson 1997, 13) This period of a more sedentary agricultural lifestyle led to the
establishment of large chiefdoms with power concentrated in a ruling class. The construction of large flat topped mounds
used as the foundation for chief’s houses, mortuaries and other official
buildings is one of the main distinguishing features of this period. (Hudson
1997, 13, 78)
From Apalachee the army proceeded north by northeast
crossing through the middle of modern Georgia and South Carolina until they
approached Cofitachequi. According to
Charles Hudson, the river Soto had reached was the Wateree, and Cofitachequi
was located on that river near Camden, South Carolina where there are a number
of prehistoric sites. (Hudson 1984, 72-3)
Hudson believes the Mulberry archaeological site at the junction of the
Wateree River and Pine Tree Creek is where the town of Cofitachequi was
located. (Hudson 1997, 172) Swanton had placed Cofitachequi south
of Augusta, Georgia on the Savannah River almost 100 miles to the southwest.
(Swanton 1985, 207)
Rangel says that the young girl who welcomed Soto was the
chieftainess of Cofitachequi but Biedma says she was her niece. The wild
cat skins with a strong smell were most likely cougar. (Clayton 1993, 230, 279)
Monday, May 3, all the rest of the force came up; but all were not able to
get across until the next day, Tuesday, nor then without the cost and loss of
seven horses that were drowned, from among the fattest and strongest ones which
struggled against the current. The thin ones that let themselves go with the
stream got across better. On Friday, May 7, Baltasar de Gallegos, with the most
of the soldiers of the army, arrived at Ilapi to eat seven barbacoas of corn,
that they said were there stored for the woman chief.
Ilapi was probably located near Cheraw, South Carolina,
northeast of Camden. (Hudson 1984, 73)
Surplus corn supplies were under the control of the chiefs and stored in
cribs built on poles to prevent vermin from consuming it. The word “barbacoa” was used for any
weight-bearing framework raised up on posts be it the floor of a structure like
a crib, mortuary, or other structure. (Hudson 1997, 156)
The Spaniards did not find as many people or as much corn
at Cofitachiqui as they had expected because two years before their arrival an
unknown plague had ravaged the chiefdom.
Elvas states: “About the town within the compass of a league and a half
league were large uninhabited towns, chocked with vegetation, which look as
though no people had inhabited them for some time. The Indians said that two years ago there had been a plague in
that land and they had moved to other towns.” (Clayton 1993, 83)
This is a good time to discuss one of the most crucial tools
(along with direction, topography, river sequences, and archeological
artifacts) used in determining Soto’s route, i.e. what the de Soto chroniclers
meant by a league and how that translates to modern miles. The Spanish at the time had two types of
leagues for measuring distance. The legua comun which was 3.45 modern miles and legua legal of 2.63 miles. Swanton had used the 2.63 mile legua legal mile while Hudson used the 3.45 legua comun which he had found to be the most
accurate in his earlier attempt to reconstruct the route of the Pardo
expedition of 1566-1568 . Of course,
this alone made a significant difference in attempting to determine where Soto
traveled. (Hudson 1984, 66)
That same day the Governor and Rodrigo Ranjel
entered the mosque and oratory of this heathen people, and opening some burying
places they found some bodies of men fastened on a barbacoa. The breasts,
belly, necks and arms and legs full of pearls; and as they were taking them off
Ranjel saw something green like an emerald of good quality and he showed it to
the Governor and was rejoiced and he ordered him to look out of the enclosure
and to have Johan de Añasco called, the treasurer of their majesties; and
Ranjel said to him: "My lord, let us not call any one. It may be that there
is a precious stone or jewel?" The Governor replied, somewhat angry, and
said: "Even if there should be one, are we to steal it?" When Johan
de Añasco came they took out this emerald and it was glass, and after it many
beads of glass and rosaries with their crosses. They also found Biscayan axes
of iron from which they recognized that they were in the government or
territory where the lawyer Lucas Vazquez de Ayllón came to his ruin.
The “mosque” was a temple or mortuary where people of high
rank were interred along with their most valuable possessions. Such buildings were usually constructed atop
large mounds. Of course, Soto was in La
Florida in search of fortune in the form of gold, silver and gems and was
interested in what he wrongly thought might be an emerald. As Elvas observes: “ Since the governor’s
purpose was to seek another treasure like that of Atabalipa, the lord of Peru,
he had no wish to content himself with good land or with pearls” adding that
the pearls “as they are bored by fire, lose their color thereby.” which
lessened their value.“ (Clayton 1993, 84)
The Indians placed the fresh water oysters on beds of coals causing them
to open, and bored holes in them with heated pins thus damaging them.
The glass beads, iron axes, and other items they found were
from the failed attempt by Lucas Vazquez de Ayllón to establish a colony on the
South Carolina coast in 1526. Whether
Ayllón or any of his men actually visited Confitachequi, or the items found had
made their way there through trade, is a matter of dispute. It is very possible that Ayllón’s colony was
the source of the plague that devastated Cofitachequi twelve years later. (Hudson
1997, 178-80)
They took away from there some two hundred pounds of
pearls; and when the woman chief saw that the Christians set much store by
them, she said: " Do you hold that of much account? Go to Talimeco, my
village, and you will find so many that your horses cannot carry them."
The Governor replied: " Let them stay there; to whom God gives a gift, may
St. Peter bless it." And there the matter dropped. It was believed that he
planned to take that place for himself, since it was the best that they saw and
with the land in the best condition, although there did not appear to be much
people or corn, nor did they delay to look for it there.
Hudson’s Talimeco was probably located four miles upstream
from Cofitachequi at the Adamson archaeological site. The town, a ritual center, had been abandoned, probably as a
consequence of the epidemic. (Hudson 1997, 178)
Some things were done there as in Spain, which the
Indians must have been taught by the followers of the lawyer Lucas Vazquez de
Ayllón; since they make hose and moccasins and leggings with ties of white
leather, although the leggings are black, and with fringes or edging of
coloured leather as they would have done in Spain. In the mosque, or house of
worship, of Talimeco there were breastplates
like corselets and head-pieces made of rawhide, the hair stripped off; and also
very good shields. This Talimeco was a village holding extensive sway; and this
house of worship was on a high mound and much revered. The caney, or
house of the chief, was very large, high and broad, all decorated above and
below with very fine handsome mats, arranges so skillfully that all these mats
appeared to be a single one; and, marvelous as it seems, there was not a cabin
that was not covered with mats. This people has many very fine fields and a
pretty stream and a hill covered with walnuts, oak-trees, pines, live oaks, and
groves of liquidamber, and many cedars. In this river, Alaminos, a native of
Cuba (although a Spaniard), was said to have found a trace of gold, and rumour
of this spread abroad among the Spaniards in the army, and from this it was
believed that it was a land of gold and that good mines would be found there.
Though Rangel does not mention it, Elvas contends that all
the men were of the opinion that they should settle in this area which was by
far the best they had encountered during the last year. De Soto answered that there was not food
enough in all the land to last his army for a single month. As Elvas had noted before, Soto had no
interest in settling a land without gold or silver. Biedma also notes that “We were in the town of this lady for
about ten or eleven days, and then it was advisable for us to leave from here
in search of land where there was food, because here there was none”. (Clayton
1993, 84, 231)
Wednesday, May 13 the Governor went on from Cofitachequi,
and in two days came to the territory of Chalaque; but they were not able to
come upon the village of the chief, nor was there an Indian that would reveal
it. And they bivouacked in a pine wood, whither many Indian men and women began
to come in peace with presents and gifts; and they were there on Whitsuntide,
and from there the Governor sent a letter to Baltasar de Gallegos with some
Indians to the barbacoas where, as has been said above, they had gone to eat
the corn, requesting him to come on behind the Governor. On Monday, the 17th of
this month, they departed thence, and spent the night at a mountain; and on
Tuesday they came to Guaquili, and Indians came forth in peace and gave them
corn, although little, and many fowls roasted on a barbacoa, and a few little
dogs which were good eating. These are dogs of a small size that do not bark;
and they breed them in their homes for food. Likewise they gave them tamemes,
which are Indians to carry their burdens. On Wednesday, the next day, they came
to a region full of reeds, and Thursday to a small plain where one of the
horses died, and some of the foot soldiers who had been with Paltasar de
Gallegos came up to inform the Governor that he would come soon.
In the Muskogean language, which the Indians of
Cofitachequi spoke, Chalaque meant “people of a different language”. The expedition was entering land occupied by
Siouan speakers who are believed to have been ancestors of the Catawba Indians. Language and translation were always a
problem and sometimes the translation from the local Indian dialect to Spanish
took a series of interpreters. (Hudson 1984, 73)
Hudson locates the territory of Chalaque southwest of
Charlotte, North Carolina, and Guaquali near Hickory on the upper reaches of
the South Fork of the Catawba River. (Hudson 1997, 187)
Though Rangel does not mention it at this point, Elvas
notes that Soto forced the Lady of Cofitachequi to accompany him when they
left: “And so he took her along on foot with her slave women, so that they [the
Indians] might show respect because of her.” (Clayton 1993, 85)
The next day, Friday, they were at
Xuala, which is a village in a plain between two rivers, and the chief was so
prosperous that he gave the Christians whatever they asked--tamemes, corn,
dogs, petacas, and as much as he had. Petacas are baskets covered with
leather and likewise ready to be so covered with their lids, for carrying
clothes or whatever they want to. And on Saturday Baltasar de Gallegos came
there with many sick and lame who must needs be restored whole, particularly in
view of the mountain ranges before them. In that Xuala region it seemed that
there were more indications that there were gold mines than in all the country
they had traversed and viewed in that northern region.
Beginning at Xuala, we have two versions of the expedition’s
route even by Hudson alone. In his
original research, Hudson placed Xuala at the McDowell archaeological site near
Marion, North Carolina. However, in the
wake of later discoveries of sixteenth-century Spanish artifacts at the Berry
archaeological site north of Morganton in Burke County, North Carolina, he
adopted a route proposed by Robin A. Beck, Jr. which placed Xuala at the Berry
site. While the distance between Marion
and Morganton is less than twenty miles, the topography, dictated by rivers
followed, demanded very different routes. (Hudson 1984, 73) (Beck 1997,
162)
Since there seems no definitive proof as to which is
correct, both the Hudson route and that of Beck which Hudson adopted will be
detailed. Swanton had Xuala far to the
southwest in extreme northwestern South Carolina near the border with North
Carolina. (Swanton 1985, 207) In any event, they were at the foothills of
the Appalachian Mountains and, from
their experiences in South America, mountains meant gold.
Linguistically the expedition was on another border, this
time between Catawba speakers to south and east and Iroquoian speakers to the
north and west, most importantly the Cherokee. (Hudson 1997, 188)
Tuesday, May 25, they left Xuala, and on that day went over a very high
range and at nightfall they encamped at a little mountain; and the next day,
Wednesday, in a plain where they suffered from severe cold, although it was the
26th of May. There they crossed the river, wading up to their shins, by which
later they were to depart in the brigantines they had made. This, when it
reaches the sea, the chart indicates to be the Rio del Spiritu Santo (River of
the Holy Spirit), which, according to the maps of the geographer Alonso de
Chaves, empties into a great bay; and the mouth of this river, where the water
is salt, is in 31 degrees north of the equator.
According to Hudson’s original version, the army headed
west following the Catawba River when it departed Xuala, and following near present
I-40, crossed the Blue Ridge escarpment at Swannanoa Gap and proceeded west to
Asheville where they came to the French Broad River. (Hudson 1984, 74) Beck’s version has the army marching
northwest from the Berry site near Morganton and camping near Jonas Ridge,
Rangel’s “little mountain”. From there,
near present Linville Falls, the army followed a trail alongside the Toe River.
(Beck 1997, 164)
The Rio del Spiritu Santo was the Spanish name for the
Mississippi River into which the rivers of either Hudson’s original or Beck’s
route would eventually empty. (Hudson 1997, 190)
Returning to my narrative, from this place where, as was said, they waded
across the river, the woman chief of Cofitachequi, whom they carried with them
in return for the good treatment which they had received from her, escaped and
that day there remained behind, it was supposed intentionally, Alendoca de
Montanjes and Alaminos of Cuba. And since Alonso Romo kept that day the
rearguard and left them, the Governor made him return for them, and they waited
for them one day. When they arrived, the Governor wished to hang them. In that
region of Xalaque was left a comrade whose name was Rodriquez, a native of
Peñafiel; and also an Indian slave boy from Cuba, who knew Spanish, and
belonged to a gentleman named Villegas; and there was also left a slave
belonging to Don Carlos, a Berber, well versed in Spanish; and also Gomez, a
negro belonging to Vasco Gonçalez who spoke good Spanish. That Rodriguez was
the first, and the rest deserted further on from Xalaque. The next day they
passed the night in an oak grove, and the day following along a large stream,
which they crossed many tines. The next day messengers of peace appeared and
they arrived early at Guasili, and they gave them many tamemes, many little
dates and corn; and since this was a fine stopping place, the soldiers
afterwards in throwing dice called out "the house of Guasuli," or, a
good throw.
The Lady of Cofitachequi made her escape either on the French
Broad River near Asheville (Hudson 1984, 74) or on the Toe River near Linville
Falls. (Beck 1997, 164) According to
Beck, the army next passed near the present town of Ingalls, a few miles
northeast of Spruce Pine, where they crossed the North Toe River, and from
there proceeded to near the town of Webb where the Toe and Cane Rivers join to
form the Nolichucky. (Beck 1997, 164).
Both the French Broad and Nolichucky flow into the Tennessee River and
the Tennessee into the Ohio River and the Ohio into the Mississippi – the Rio
del Spiritu Santo.
Swanton’s route
from his proposed Xuala in the northwestern corner of South Carolina proceeds
northwest across the Blue Ridge to
Highlands, North Carolina and then on to Franklin on the Little Tennessee River
– his Rio del Spiritu Santo. (Swanton 1985, 207-8)
Considering the desertions, it seems some of Soto’s troops
had had enough of exploration and perhaps wished to return to the comfort of
Cofitachequi. The expedition was reaching the western edge of the territory
under the influence of the Cofitachequi chiefdom when the “woman chief”
escaped. (Hudson 1997, 187)
Hudson located Guasili near Marshall, North Carolina on his
original French Broad River route. (Hudson 1984, 74) Beck locates Guasili at the Plum Grove archaeological site near
Embreeville, Tennessee on the Nolichucky River. At Plum Grove, Spanish artifacts including glass beads, brass
tinkling cones, brass gorgets and brass animals were unearthed. (Beck 1997,
164)
Swanton’s Guasili is on the Hiwassee River near the mouth
of Peachtree Creek, southeast of
Murphy, North Carolina. (Swanton 1985, 208)
Monday, which was the last day of May, the Governor left Guasili and came
with his army to an oak wood along the river; and the next day they crossed by
Canasoga, and at night they slept in the open country. Wednesday they slept
near a swamp, and that day they ate an enormous amount of mulberries. The next
day, Thursday, they went along a large stream near the river which they had
crossed in the plain where the woman chief went off. It was now very large. The
next day, Friday, they came to a pine wood on the stream, where appeared
peaceful Indians from Chiaha and brought corn. The next day, Saturday, in the
morning the Spaniards crossed one arm of the river, which was very broad, and
went into Chiaha, which is on an island in the same river.
Hudson believed Canasoga was on the French Broad at Hot
Springs, North Carolina. (Hudson 1984, 74)
Beck places the town by the Nolichucky River near Philadelphia,
Tennessee. (Beck 1997, 162) Swanton’s
Canasoga is near Cleveland, Tennessee on the Hiwassee River. (Swanton 1985,
202)
It was Saturday, the 5th of June, that they entered Chiaha, and since all
the way from Xuala had been mountainous and the horses were tired and thin, and
the Christians were also themselves worn out, it seemed best to tarry there and
rest themselves; and they were given an abundance of corn, of which there was
plenty of good quality, and they were also given an abundance of corn cakes,
and no end of oil from walnuts and acorns, which they knew how to extract very
well, which was very good and contributed much to their diet. Yet some say that
the oil from nuts produces flatulence. However, it is very delicious. The
Indians spent fifteen days with the Christians in peace, and they played with
them, and likewise among themselves. They swam with the Christians and helped
them very much in every way. They ran away afterwards on Saturday, for
something that the Governor asked of them; and, in short, it was because he
asked for women. The next day in the morning the Governor sent to call the
chief and he came immediately; and the next day the Governor took him off with
him to make his people come back, and the result was they came back. In the
land of this Chiaha was where the Spaniards first found fenced villages. Chiaha
gave them five hundred carriers, and they consented to leave off collars and
chains.
Here, Hudson’s original route and that of Beck come
together as both identify the location of Chiaha as Zimmerman’s Island on the
French Broad River near Dandridge, Tennessee. (Hudson 1984, 75) ( Beck 1997,
165) The island is now under Douglas
Lake. Swanton locates Chiaha on Burn’s
Island in the Tennessee River west of Chattanooga. (Swanton 1985, 202-3)
The army remained
at Chiaha for twenty four days, resting up from their ordeal in the Appalachian
Summit. Chiaha was the first fortified
town the expedition had encountered, possibly because it was the northernmost
ally of the paramount chiefdom of Coosa, and as such stood on the frontier
between it and its enemies. (Hudson 1997, 199)
Monday, June 28, the Governor and his soldiers departed from Chiaha, and,
passing through five or six villages, they spent the night in a pine grove near
a village. There they had much labour in crossing a river which flowed with a
strong current, and they make a bridge or support of the horses in the
following manner, so that the foot soldiers should not be endangered, and it
was this way: They put the horses in the river in line, head and tail, and they
were as steady as they could be, and on each one his master, and they received
the force of the stream, and on the lower side, where the water was not so
violent, the foot soldiers forded, holding on to the tails and stirrups,
breast-pieces, and manes, one after the other. And in this way the whole army
got across very well.
Hudson has the army marching along the south bank of the
French Broad River until they reached the mouth of the Little Pigeon River
which they had difficulty crossing. From there the army marched southward along the French Broad
River. (Hudson 1997, 204-5)
The next day, Tuesday, they passed through a village and took corn and went
beyond to sleep in the open country. Wednesday they passed over a river and
through a village and again over the river and slept in the open country. On
Thursday the chief of Coste came out to receive them in peace, and took the
Christians to sleep in a village of his; and he was offended because some
soldiers provisioned themselves from, or, rather, robbed him of, some barbacoas
of corn against his will. The next day, Thursday, on the road leading toward
the principal village of Coste, he stole away and gave the Spaniards the slip
and armed his people. Friday, the 2d of July, the Governor arrived at Coste.
This village was on an island in the river, which there flows large, swift, and
hard to enter.
The army continued along the French Broad passing south of
modern Knoxville until they arrived at Coste on Bussell Island at the junction
of the Little Tennessee River with the Tennessee River near Loudon, south of
present Lenoir City, Tennessee. (Hudson 1997, 204-5) Swanton thought Coste was on Pine Island on the Tennessee River south
of Scottsboro, Alabama. (Swanton 1985, 203)
And the Christians crossed the first branch with no danger
to any of the soldiers, yet it was no small venture, and the Governor entered
into the village careless and unarmed, with some
followers unarmed. And when the soldiers, as they were used to do, began to
climb upon the barbacoas, in an instant the Indians began to take up clubs and
seize their bows and arrows and to go to the open square.
The Governor commanded that all should be patient and endure for the evident
peril in which they were, and that no one should put his hand on his arms; and
he began to rate his soldiers and, dissembling, to give them some blows with a
cudgel; and he cajoled the chief, and said to him that he did not wish the
Christians to make him any trouble; and they would like to go out to the open
part of the island to encamp. And the chief and his men went with him; and when
they were at some distance from the village in an open place, the Governor
ordered his soldiers to lay hands on the chief and ten or twelve of the
principal Indians, and to put them in chains and collars; and he threatened
them, and said that he would burn them all because they had laid hands on the
Christians. From this place, Coste, the Governor sent two soldiers to view the
province of Chisca, which was reputed very rich, toward the north, and they
brought good news. There in Coste they found in the trunk of a tree as good
honey and even better than could be had in Spain. In that river were found some
mussels that they gathered to eat, and some pearls. And they were the first
these Christians saw in fresh water, although they are to be found in many
parts of this land.
Friday, July: 9, the commander and his army departed from Coste and crossed
the other branch of the river and passed the night on its banks. And on the
other side was Tali, and since the river flows near it and is large, they were
not able to cross it. And the Indians, believing that they would cross, sent
canoes and in them their wives and sons and clothes from the other side, away
from the Christians; but they were all taken suddenly, and as they were going
with the current, the Governor forced them all to turn back, which was the
reason that this chief came in peace and took them across to the other side in
his canoes, and gave the Christians what they had need of. And he did this also
in his own land as they passed through it afterwards, and they were there
Saturday and were given carriers and they set out Sunday and passed the night
in the open country.
Crossing the Little Tennessee the army encountered Tali,
probably the Toqua archaeological site located where the Tellico River joins
the Little Tennessee. (Hudson 1997, 213-4) Swanton places Tali at Mckee
Island, now beneath Guntersville Lake in Alabama. (Swanton 1985, 204)
Monday they crossed a river and slept in the open country. Tuesday they
crossed another river and Wednesday another large river and slept at Tasqui.
During all the days of their march from Tali the chief of Tali had corn and
mazamorras and cooked beans and every thing that could be brought from his
villages bordering the way. Thursday they passed another small village, and
then other villages, and Friday the Governor entered Coça.
According to Hudson, the large river they crossed was the
Hiwassee and the town of Tasqui was near present Ocoee, Tennessee. On Friday, July 16, 1540 the expedition
entered Coosa (Coça) which Hudson places at the Little Egypt archaeological
site on the Coosawattee River, east of Carters, Georgia. Coca was the central town of the Coosa
paramount chiefdom, the first such chiefdom they had encountered since leaving
Cofitachequi. (Hudson 1997, 215) Swanton
located Coosa at Childersburg, Alabama on the site of the old Creek town of
Coosa. (Swanton 1985, 208)
Coosa consisted of two or perhaps three mounds arranged
around a plaza with the large village surrounding the plaza. The town stood at approximately the midpoint
of the chiefdom which ran northeast to southwest along the Ridge and Valley
Province which forms the western border of the Appalachian Mountains. The paramount chief of Coosa held sway over
Indians from northern Tennessee to central Alabama. (Smith 2000, 3,31,85,90) Twenty
four days were required to travel
across the five provinces comprising the Coosa chiefdom. Each province was composed of several towns,
one of which served as the provincial capital where the chief lived. (Hally 1994, 247-8)
This chief is a powerful one and a ruler of a wide territory, one of the
best and most abundant that they found in Florida. And the chief came out to
receive the Governor in a litter covered with the white mantles of the country,
and the litter was borne on the shoulders of sixty or seventy of his principal
subjects, with no plebeian or common Indian among them; and those that bore him
took turns by relays with great ceremonies after their manner.
There were in Coça many plums like the early ones of Seville, very good;
both they and the trees were like those of Spain. There were also some wild
apples like those called canavales in Extremadura, small in size. They remained
there in Coça some days, in which the Indians went off and left their chief in
the power of the Christians with some principal men, and the Spaniards went out
to round them up, and they took many, and they put them in iron collars and
chains. And verily, according to the testimony of eye-witnesses, it was a
grievous thing to see. But God failed not to remember every evil deed, nor were
they left unpunished, as this history will tell.
On Friday, August 20, the Governor and his people left Coça, and there
stayed behind a Christian named Feryada, a Levantine; and they slept the next
night beyond Talimachusy, and the next day in a heavy rain they went to Itaba,
a large village along a fine river, and there they bought some Indian women,
which were given them in exchange for looking glasses and knives.
Though Ranjel does not mention it, according to Elvas Soto,
as usual, forced the paramount chief of Coosa to go with him as a captive when
he left the capital city: “It was the practice to keep watch over the Caciques
that none should absent themselves, they being taken along by the Governor
until coming out of their territories; for by thus having them the inhabitants
would await their arrival in the towns, give a guide, and men to carry the
loads, who before leaving their country would have liberty to return to their
homes, as sometimes would the tamemes, so soon as they came to the domain of
any chief where others could be got. The people of Coça, seeing their lord was
detained, took it amiss, and, going off, hid themselves in the scrub, as well
those of the town of the Cacique as those of the towns of the principal men his
vassals.” (Bourne 1922, 83-4)
Hudson locates Talimachusy near Pinelog, Georgia and Itaba at Cartersville, Georgia at the site of
the Etowah Mounds. (Hudson 1997, 220-1) Swanton places Itaba 25 miles southwest of
Sylacauga, Alabama. (Swanton 1985, 216)
Monday, August 30, the Governor left Itaba, and came by nightfall to an oak
wood; and the next day they were at Ulibahali, a very fine village close to a
large river. And there were many Indians lying in wait for them planning to
rescue the chief of Coça from the Christians because they were his subjects,
and in order that the land should not rise in revolt nor refuse them supplies
they took him with them, and they entered the village very cautiously.
Hudson locates Ulibahali on the Coosa River near Rome,
Georgia. (Hudson 1997, 224)
And the chief of Coça ordered the Indians to lay aside their arms, and it
was done; and they gave them carriers and twenty Indian women and were
peaceful. A gentleman of Salamanca named Mancano left them there, and it was
not known whether he did so of his own will or whether he lost his way, as he
kept by himself walking alone and melancholy. He had asked the other soldiers
to leave him to himself before they missed him. This was not known for certain
but it was reported in the camp after he was gone. A negro, who spoke Spanish
and who belonged to Captain Johan Ruiz Lobillo, was also missing. His name was
Johan Biscayan. The day that they left this village they ate many grapes as
good as those grown in the vineyards of Spain. In Coça and further back they
had eaten very good ones, but these of Ulibahali were the best. From this
village of Ulibahali the Spaniards and their Governor departed on Thursday,
September 2, and they passed the night at a small village near the river, and
there they waited a day for Lobillo, who had gone back without permission to
look for his negro. On his return the Governor rated him soundly. Sunday, they
went on and spent the night in the open country, and the next day, Monday, they
came to Tuasi, where they were given carriers and thirty-two Indian women.
Monday, the 13th of September, the Governor departed thence, and they slept in
the open country. Tuesday they made another day's march and again spent the
night in open country, but Wednesday they came to an old village that had two
fences and good towers, and these walls are
after this fashion: They drive many thick stakes tall and straight close to one
another. These are then interlaced with long withes, and then overlaid with
clay within and without. They make loopholes at intervals and they make their
towers and turrets separated by the curtain and parts of the wall as seems
best. And at a distance it looks like a fine wall or rampart and such stockades
are very strong.
Tuasi, according to Hudson, was at the confluence of
Nance’s and Terrapin Creeks near Centre, Alabama. (Hudson 1997, 227) Swanton
places it northwest of Montgomery,
Alabama. (Swanton 1985, 216)
The next day, Thursday, they slept at a new village close by a river, where
the Spaniards rested the following day. On the next day, Saturday, they were at
Talisi and they found the chief and his people gone. This village is extensive
and abounding in corn and near a large river. And there a messenger came to
them from Tascaluça, a powerful lord and one much feared in that land. And soon
one of his sons appeared and the Governor ordered his men to mount and the
horsemen to charge and the trumpets to be blown (more to inspire fear than to
make merry at their reception). And when those Indians returned the Commander
sent two Christians with them instructed as to what they were to observe and to
spy out so that they might take counsel and be forewarned.
Hudson places Talisi at Childersburg, Alabama. (Hudson 1997, 227) and Swanton east of Selma. (Swanton 1985, 216) Here
the Hudson and Swanton routes come together again.
September 25, came the chief of Talisi, and he gave what they asked, such as
carriers, women, and supplies; and from that place they sent and released the
chief of Coça, so that he might return to his land; and he went in anger and in
tears because the Governor would not give up a sister of his that they took,
and because they had taken him so far from his country.
Tuesday, October 5, they went on from Talisi and came to Casiste for the
night. This was a small village by the river. The next day, Wednesday, they
came to Caxa, a wretched village on the river banks on the direct line from
Talisi to Tascaluça. And the next day, Thursday, they slept by the river; and
on the other side of the stream was a village called Humati; and the next day,
Friday, they came to another settlement, a new one named Uxapita; and the next
day, Saturday, the force encamped in the open country, a league this side of
the village of Tascaluça. And the Governor dispatched a messenger, and he
returned with the reply that he would be welcome whenever he wished to come.
The army was probably traveling down the eastern bank of
the Coosa River. Hudson places Casiste
near present-day Sylacauga, and Caxa on Hatchet Creek at the same place. (Hudson 1997, 229)
The historian asked a very intelligent gentleman who was with this Governor,
and who went with him through his whole expedition in this northern country,
why, at every place they came to, this Governor and his army asked for those
tamemes or Indian carriers, and why they took so many women and these not old
nor the most ugly; and why, after having given them what they had, they held
the chiefs and principal men; and why they never tarried nor settled in any
region they came to, adding that such a course was not settlement or conquest,
but rather disturbing and ravaging the land and depriving the natives of their
liberty without converting or making a single Indian either a Christian or a
friend. He replied and said: That they took these carriers or tamemes to keep
them as slaves or servants to carry the loads of supplies which they secured by
plunder or gift, and that some died, and others ran away or were tired out, so
that it was necessary to replenish their numbers and to take more; and the
women they desired both as servants and for their foul uses and lewdness, and
that they had them baptized more on account of carnal intercourse with them
than to teach them the faith; and that if they held the chiefs and principal
men captive, it was because it would keep their subjects quiet, so that they
would not molest them when foraging, or doing what they wished in their
country; and that whither they were going neither the Governor nor the others
knew, but that his purpose was to find some land rich enough to satiate his
greed and to get knowledge of the great secrets this Governor said he had heard
in regard to those regions according to much information he had received; and
as for stirring up the country and not settling it, nothing else could be done
until they found a site that was satisfactory.
This seems to be a supposed conversation between Ranjel and
Ovideo about Soto’s modus operandi.
Oh, wicked men! Oh, devilish greed! Oh, bad consciences! Oh, unfortunate
soldiers! that ye should not have understood the perils ye were to encounter,
and how wasted would be your lives, and without rest your souls! That ye were
not mindful of that truth which the blessed St. Augustine uttered in lamenting
the miseries of this life, saying, this life is a life of misery, frail, and
uncertain, full of toil and stain; a life, Lord, of ills, a kingdom of pride,
full of miseries and terror, since it is not really life, nor can be called so,
but rather death, for in a moment it is ended by various changes of fortune and
divers kinds of deaths! Give ear, then, Catholic reader, and do not lament the
conquered Indians less than their Christian conquerors or slayers of
themselves, as well as others, and follow the adventures of this Governor, ill
governed, taught in the School of Pedrarias de Avila, in the scattering and
wasting of the Indians of Castilla del Oro; a graduate in the killing of the
natives of Nicaragua and canonized in Peru as a member of the order of the
Pizarros; and then, after being delivered from all those paths of Hell and
having come to Spain loaded with gold, neither a bachelor nor married, knew not
how nor was able to rest without returning to the Indies to shed human blood,
not content with what he had spilled; and to leave life as shall be narrated,
and providing the opportunity for so many sinners deluded with his vain words
to perish after him. See what he wanted most of what that queen or woman chief
of Cofitachequi, lady of Talimeco, offered him when she told him that in that
place of hers he would find so many pearls that all the horses in the army
could not carry them off; and, when she received him so courteously, see how he
treated her. Let us proceed, and forget not this truth which you have read, how
as a proof of the number of pearls which were offered him, this Governor and
his people took over two hundred pounds, and you will know what enjoyment they
got out of them in the sequel.
Again, Ovideo.
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