Tuscaloosa (chief)
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Tuscaloosa (d. ca. 1540), also called Tuskaloosa, was a notable chief of the Choctaw tribe in what is now the U.S. state of Alabama.
The conquistador Hernando de Soto, already famed for his exploits in South America, was appointed governor of Cuba by Charles I of Spain, and directed to conquer what is now the Southern United States, searching for fabled gold treasures. He landed near Tampa with 600-1000 men and 200 horses and began a circuitous exploration of modern-day Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Alabama, his troops brutally raping and pillaging all the way. A usual technique was to take a local chief as a hostage and guarantee of safe passage.
Told of great stores of gold, they ventured into Alabama, eventually coming upon Tuscaloosa and the Choctaws. Tales of the expedition's brutality apparently heightened his suspicions, and he sprang a trap at the walled city the Spanish dubbed Mabila or Mauvila. Though de Soto probably planned to take Tuscaloosa captive, the battle was engaged unexpectedly when a Spanish swordsman slashed the back of a Choctaw man. A Choctaw force of between 2000 and 6000 then ambushed de Soto's men on the central plaza. The Spaniards managed to fight their way out, only to attack the city over and over again. In a battle of nine hours, twenty Spaniards died, almost all were wounded, and twenty more died during the next few days. Mabila was burned down, and the Choctaw fighting force was killed in battle, the fires, or at their own hands. Tuscaloosa is believed to have perished in the flames.
Though the Spaniards won the battle, they lost most of their supplies and forty horses. They were wounded, sickened, and almost without equipment in an unknown territory, and surrounded by emboldened enemies. The Spanish retreated north, possibly into Tennessee, and headed west, where de Soto discovered the Mississippi River and died of fever in 1542.
The exact location of Mabila is unknown; although the name may be connected to the Mobile River, it was probably inland from modern-day Mobile.
The city of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, commemorates the Choctaw leader.
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