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| George Buster Singleton |
Saturday, Oct. 10, 1998, was a quiet day along the banks of the mighty Alabama River at Claiborne. But, this was not the case on Oct. 12, 1540. That day, 458 years ago, the Spanish explorer Hernando DeSoto and his army gathered on the west bank of the mighty river, preparing to make a crossing that would change our history. The day was Tuesday, DeSoto’s scouts had chosen this location because of the low banks. Due to the dry season, the river was at its lowest level.
Two days prior, DeSoto and his army had made camp on the east bank, where the large creek that has come to be known as Silver Creek joins the Alabama. The weary army, after slowly making its way down from the area now known as Cahaba, stopped here. Bad food and probably contaminated water had taken its toll on DeSoto’s followers. The army’s scouts reported that a very large native village was just across the mighty stream. The village was known as Piache. The village sat on the very spot where Alabama River Pulp is now located.
Since the army had landed in this strange and unfamiliar land, things had not gone as well as DeSoto had wished. DeSoto had great expectations of finding riches in the huge villages along the rivers. During his expeditions in South America, he had been told of the legendary “Seven Cities of Gold” that lay to the north. Returning to his native land, he organized another expedition and sailed with his army to the new world, leaving word that when he returned he would be wealthy beyond his wildest dreams.
The river crossing was not an easy one for DeSoto. Timbers had to be cut with which large rafts were made that would bring the heavy armor of his army across the swift river. Along with the army were large herds of swine and cattle that had to be brought across by raft. Due to the fact that the swine couldn’t swim the wide stream, they had to be caught, tied and placed one-by-one on the rafts. Most of the soldiers were suffering from severe dysentery that plagued the army.
Oct. 12, 1540 was a long day for DeSoto as he waited on the east slope, watching his tired, weary army slowly make the dangerous crossing. Several of his war horses, along with many pieces of body armor was lost during the crossing. Many of the swine and cattle that were to feed his army were lost. The river god had demanded his toll.
The river crossing was finally completed Oct. 31. Slowly the weary, rag tag army made its way up the east bank and camped on the outskirts of Piache. The villagers knew the army was coming as their scouts had been keeping track of the approaching army and its herds. The villagers were totally amazed at seeing Spanish soldiers riding war horses toward the village. These were the first horses the Indians had ever seen. A man in full body armor riding the strange animal was very strange indeed.
Through the slave labor of captured Indians, DeSoto had with his army, village medicine men learned of the dysentery. In the deep woods along the river bank, the medicine men gathered a certain type weed and returned to the village. Here, they burned the special weed and mixed the ashes in the food of the suffering army. Soon, the severe dysentery vanished.
Record has it that DeSoto’s army left Piache Oct. 15 and headed northeast into what the Spanish referred to as “the mountainous area.” Their route took them along the high ridges of the Red Hills and Old Scotland areas. At one time at Old Scotland, inscribed on the stone blocks of the old church were the words, “built on the route of DeSoto.” The slow moving army made its way along the high ridges into the area of what is now the community of Pine Orchard. There, in the area where Flat Creek begins was the large village of Maubila. Here, the famed “Battle of Maubila” took place. Here, DeSoto would lose a large number of his trained warriors and many of his war horses. DeSoto himself, received a head wound so severe it affected his ability to reason for the rest of his life. But, that is another story.
Many who read this article probably will disagree with me about the location of Maubila. Our history of Alabama tends to locate Maubila over near the town of Grove Hill in Clarke County. I do not with to be different, nor am I trying to be smart, but over the years, I have done much research on the route of DeSoto, where he and his army crossed the river at Claiborne. I have walked this ancient path inch by inch many times. I have proven to myself, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if the proper research was done, one would find that the large Indian village of what was once Maubila was nestled in the area of what is now Pine Orchard in Monroe County.
So today, Saturday, Oct. 10, 1998, I stand here on the high embankment overlooking the location where 458 years ago the Spanish explorer DeSoto stood. I am reminded that much of our early history is fast fading. Before too long, such events that I have tried to bring to attention of our local citizens will have passed into oblivion. And, the places thereof will know them no more.
“This is the place, stand still my steed. And let me review the scene, and summon from the shadowy past, the forms that once had been.”
(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, was bitten at least twice by venomous snakes, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He also helped organize the Monroe County Museum and Historical Society and was also a past president of that organization. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)
