point acquisition THE TALE OF FORT TOMBECBE

ACQUISITION

The Tale of Fort Tombecbe

Protect Our Irreplaceable National Treasures

The Conservancy partners with the University of West Alabama to obtain the 18th-century fort site.

This photo of the Tombigbee River was taken from the fort site. In 1736, Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville traveled nearly 300 miles up the river to establish the fort.

as 18th–century colonial powers struggled for control of lands in the New World, they quickly learned that it was essential to gain the friendship and loyalty of the Indian tribes controlling the major waterways, and thus the large swaths of land. In what is now the state of Alabama, the French managed to do this when they established their colony at Mobile in the southern part of the state in 1702. However, not too far north, along the Tombigbee River, the Chickasaw tribe maintained a friendly relationship with the English, who were sending traders from the Carolinas to live with the tribe. This alliance brought English influence so close to the French colony that it presented a potential threat to France’s foothold in the region. JeanBaptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville had this in mind in 1736, when he traveled nearly 300 miles north of Mobile, up the Tombigbee River, to establish a fort near the Choctaw Indians, who were the mortal enemies of the Chickasaw.

Bienville established the fort, called Fort Tombecbe, on a bluff above the river. From here, the French were able to court the Choctaw with trade goods and the promise of protection from the Chickasaw. During their occupation of Tombecbe, the French launched several military expeditions against the Chickasaw until the British took control of the fort in 1763, renaming it Fort York. They abandoned it in 1768.

In 1794, Spain garrisoned the fort as part of its defense of its West Florida and Louisiana territories, and renamed it Fort Confederación. By 1797, the Spanish had signed a treaty with the United winter • 2010-11

The Colonial Dames of America, which then owned two acres of the fort site, erected this monument in 1915. The organization later deeded its land to the University of West Alabama.

States and the fort changed hands for the final time. While it is still known by its French name, it’s the Spanish occupation that’s visible, 200 years later, in the form of earthen walls or berms that were built around the fort. There is also evidence of the Choctaw occupation that was located just outside the fort.

The most recent work at the site took place this past spring and was sponsored by the University of West Alabama and the Alabama Archaeological Society. The excavations focused on finding portions of the French occupation of the fort, and Ashley Dumas, with the University’s Center for the Study of the Black Belt, believes the group found traces of the French wooden palisade. This find, as well as the remains of a Spanish limestone brick oven uncovered during excavations in 1980, illustrates the wealth of information that remains at the site.

The University of West Alabama owned part of the fort, but much of it was in private hands. Recently, when a landowner defaulted on a loan, Dumas received word that a 23-acre tract adjacent to the university’s property was soon to be auctioned. Upon being contacted by Dumas, the Conservancy used emergency POINT funds to partner with the university and purchase the land, with each party obtaining a 50 percent interest. Fort Tombecbe will continue to be the focus of Dumas’ research, and it may one day be the site of an interpretive park where visitors can learn about the soldiers’ lives at this colonial outpost, as well as how they influenced, and were influenced by, the Choctaw. —Jessica Crawford

PoINT Acquisitons

HewittOlmstead H

The Protect our Irreplaceable National Treasures (PoINT) program was designed to save significant sites that are in immediate danger of destruction.

H

H

Fort Tombecbe Shelton Stone Mound