Oxford in Calhoun County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
The "Shattering" of the Mississippian World
AD 1540 to AD 1730
Choccolocco Park Interpretive Trail
Photographed by Mark Hilton, January 26, 2020
1. The "Shattering" of the Mississippian World Marker
Inscription.
The "Shattering" of the Mississippian World. AD 1540 to AD 1730. The arrival of European explorers and colonists in North America disrupted the Mississippian world in ways that researchers are still working to understand. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto arrived in the interior in AD 1540. He traveled through the Coosa chiefdom, which at that time extended from present-day eastern Tennessee to present-day Childersburg, Alabama. Some archaeologists believe he may have traveled down the Choccolocco Valley but no definitive evidence has yet been discovered. After de Soto's expedition, the people of the southeast experienced several waves of epidemics and populations began to move around the landscape. At the beginning of the 18th century, the people inhabiting scores of Native American towns in the Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Chattahoochee Valleys formed an alliance that became known as the “Creek Confederacy.” These groups later became the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
The arrival of European explorers and colonists in North
America disrupted the Mississippian world in ways that
researchers are still working to understand. Spanish
explorer Hernando de Soto arrived in the interior in AD
1540. He traveled through the Coosa chiefdom, which at
that time extended from present-day eastern Tennessee to
present-day Childersburg, Alabama. Some archaeologists
believe he may have traveled down the Choccolocco
Valley but no definitive evidence has yet been discovered.
After de Soto's expedition, the people of the southeast
experienced several waves of epidemics and populations
began to move around the landscape. At the beginning of
the 18th century, the people inhabiting scores of Native
American towns in the Coosa, Tallapoosa, and Chattahoochee Valleys formed an alliance that became known as the “Creek Confederacy.” These groups later became the Muscogee (Creek) Nation.
Location. 33° 36.26′ N, 85° 47.802′ W. Marker is in Oxford, Alabama, in Calhoun County. It can be reached from Leon Smith Parkway.
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Located within Choccolocco Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 954 Leon Smith Parkway, Oxford AL 36203, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in East Alabama. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in North America, a Gulf of Mexico state, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the original Cherokee Nation, the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
2. The view south from the marker along a walking trail.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 30, 2020. It was originally submitted on January 30, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama. This page has been viewed 541 times since then and 12 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on January 30, 2020, by Mark Hilton of Montgomery, Alabama.
