The Aftermath of Soto, ca. 1541–1650

This chapter shows how most scholars agree that the military losses at the hands of the early explorers and the destabilization of Native chiefdoms had a profound effect on many Mississippian polities. Soto and his men came as a conquering army, and the intense combat of a direct military assault by the Spanish may have precipitated the collapse of some chiefdoms. This was probably the case at the chiefdoms of Napituca in northern Florida, Anlico in Arkansas, and Tascalusa in Alabama. Unlike these battles, Indian casualties at the battles of Chicaza and Alimamu seem to have been low. Therefore, it is unlikely that Spanish conflicts with Chicaza and Alimamu alone could account for the fall of these chiefdoms.