Before Contact The Native Americans

As DeSoto traveled from the Gulf coast of Florida northward, he encountered an area well populated by a predominately agricultural society. However, the peoples he encountered had already suffered from disease spread previous European contact with the American continent. Mississippian Culture

Development of the Mississippian culture probably began around 700 c.e. Its center was Cahokia, a city on the east bank of the Mississippi, near St. Louis. At its height, it covered 6 square miles and had a population of over 40,000.

Between 900 and 1200 the Mississippian culture developed into a network of communities spread across the southern mountains. The introduction of northern flint corn around 1200 contributed significantly to the culture’s success, and increased its dependence on agriculture.

The principal field crops were the “three sisters” of corn, beans, and squash, grown in the rich river valleys. There were semi-cultivated orchards of fruit trees and abundant nut trees, dominated by the American chestnut.

The Mississippian culture and most of the remnants which de Soto encountered were matriarchial, matrilocal, and matrifocal. Women were primarily responsible for the crops and for most governance. Men would participate in the clearing of land. Otherwise, they hunted, made war, or played ball.

There was a system of tribute, maintained by war or threat of war. This supported the major towns. Artifacts indicate that trade extended as far as Mexico, the Rockies and the Great Lakes.

There was extensive use of river cane in home construction, furniture, and baskets. Controlled burns were probably used to clear land for crops, control underbrush in the forests, and encourage the spread of cane patches. Trees were felled for home construction and for fortifications.

Crop production was nearly no-till. Corn, pole beans and squash were planted together. The beans provided nitrogen for the corn and the squash shaded out the weeds. Rivers were major food sources, and quite different than what we see today.

“…the average depth of the Tennessee River, the largest stream course in the southern Appalachian region, was less than 1.3 feet, and during high-water season…its average water level rose only to 3 feet. Fish, eels,mussels and turtles were in abundance, taken by spear or trap.

Woodlands-era village (artistic interpretation from archaeological evidence)

5 Major Languages found in Southeast and thus in Appalachia PLUS ONE: 1: Muskogean 2) Iroqoian 3) Caddoan 4) Siouan 5) Algonkian PLUS Mobilian (universal) for trade

Map of pre-contact cultural regions From the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas

Before 1675 Settlement by 1800 Settlement by 1820 From the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection, University of Texas

Conquest Trails

Long-distance routes of early Appalachia Williams, p. 36

What de Soto and other early explorers left behind was European diseases to which the natives had little resistence. The most likely to survive those waves of epidemics were young girls not yet weakened by childbirth. When the English and Dutch begin to settle from the east, and the French from the west, the people they meet have already met disaster.