Hernando de Soto Route Map

The map shows the best reconstruction of the most likely route through the Southeast of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his men after they landed in Florida on May 30, 1539. The Spaniards entered Alabama probably near present-day Centre, Cherokee County, and followed the Coosa River south and west, burning towns and murdering their inhabitants along the way. Their most brutal action against the area's indigenous population occurred on October 18, 1540, when they destroyed the tribal capital of the Mabila and killed almost all of the residents, including their chief, Tascaluza (for whom Tuscaloosa and Tuscaloosa County are named).

Based upon the map by anthropologist Charles M. Hudson, Creative Commons