Baldwin County History - European Explorers to the Birth of the United States

In 1519, the Spanish government sent cartographer Alonzo Alverez de Pineda in search of treasure in the new world. When Alvarez de Pineda sailed into Mobile Bay, history recorded him as the first European explorer to reach the Alabama Gulf Coast. Many have theorized that explorers reached this area earlier, but no evidence supports this, only speculation.



In 1558, Spanish Guido de las Bazares explored the area and recorded his visit to the high bluffs over the eastern shore of Mobile Bay. He named the bay Bahia Filipina in honor of King Phillip II, King of Spain.

In 1539, another Spanish explorer, Hernando DeSoto explored much of the southeastern United States, including the Alabama Gulf Coast. DeSoto was in search of treasure at any cost and had no regard for the Native Americans that he met along the way. It was routine for him to take them hostage to ensure safe passage.

In August 1540, he met Chief Tuskaloosa of the Maubila Indian tribe. After an exchange of gifts, a dispute arose that soon escalated into an armed conflict. That is the most prevalent account of the battle.

Some sources say that there was an ambush of DeSoto's forces by the Maubilas, and other sources report that some of DeSoto's men were attacked while attempting to take Chief Tuskaloosa hostage.

Approximately 20 Spaniards were killed and between 2,000 and 6,000 Native Americans were killed, many of them from the fires that were set by DeSoto's men when they broke through the palisades of the Indian village.

The tribe was decimated, and though casualties among DeSoto's forces were few in number, he lost many of his horses and most of his provisions.

The Spanish controlled this area until 1670, but expeditions were few in number.

Later in 1698, Pierre LeMoyne Sieur d'Iberville crossed Mobile Bay and established a colony at present-day Biloxi, Mississippi. Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, brother to d'Iberville and his second in command, was left in charge when d'Iberville returned to France. The 21 year old de Bienville moved the colony to Mobile in 1702, making it the first permanent French settlement in Alabama.

The French left their mark on the area with names like the small Baldwin County community of Bon Secour (French for safe harbor) and the introduction of azaleas to the landscape.

The British took control of Baldwin County at the conclusion of the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763). Winning the war left England saddled with serious debt that compelled it to overtax the colonies. The colonists rebelled, leading to the American Revolution.

The French allied with the colonists against Britain during the American Revolution. Spain took advantage of a weakened England and declared war against the nation in 1779. The Spanish governor at New Orleans, José de Gálvez, led forces that took Baton Rouge and Natchez in October 1779 and then Mobile in May 1780.

A new nation, the United States of America, took control of the area when British General Charles Cornwallis surrendered and signed the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.

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