Hernando De Soto, a Spanish explorer seeking gold, landed in Tampa, Florida in 1539. He and his army of 800 to 1,000 men came across Florida through Georgia to near the Tennessee line then into Alabama in 1540. During his trip, the Native Americans told him about a large Native American city in the area that is now Alabama.

That city was Coosa which was located on the site just north of the present city of Childersburg between Talladega Creek and Tallassahatchee Creek on the east bank of the Coosa River. The town of Coosa was the capital of the Creek Nation which had some 250 small Native American towns.

De Soto and his men went to Coosa and stayed about 6 weeks. De Soto was with Cortez in Mexico a few years earlier where they found large amounts of gold. He therefore explored much of this area looking for gold and other riches.

On De Soto's trip through this area several writers recorded valuable information concerning the landscape and living conditions of the Native Americans of that day. The Native Americans, unlike we often imagine, lived in a very civilized world with fields of corn and other crops.

They had runners that carried messages and news from village to village. Game was very plentiful in the area and included deer and turkey. The natives lived in thatched covered wood huts and observed rigid religious customs. They lived in family circles much as we do today.