The De Soto Trail - near Abernathy, AL - Alabama Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

County of marker: Cleburne County
Location of marker: I-20, WB, mile post 1, Cleburne Welcome Center
Marker erected by: AlDoT

Marker Text:

THE DE SOTO TRAIL    1492 - Columbus visits Caribbean islands
   1519 - Pineda visits Mobile area
   1528 - Narváez reaches Mobile area
   1540 - De Soto explores Alabama
   1559 - De Luna retraces De Soto’s route in Alabama
   1702 - French establish first permanent colony at Dauphin Island

Today, after 450 years of searching, the exact route of Hernando de Soto through the southeastern United States remains the foremost historical mystery of the South. Despite the work of professional and amateur archaeologists and historians, and a national commission, there are still several alternate routes that have their defenders.

The problem is that even with a large army, De Soto left very little physical evidence along the route and neglected to record accurate latitude and mileage measurements.

A major study in the search for the De Soto route was in the 1939 (400th anniversary) United States De Soto Commission report. This report presented an “official” route that was intended to combine the best features of the various hypotheses developed at that time. Since then a great deal of archaeological work has been done (over 300 Indian sites have been studied in Alabama alone).

The route that now has the widest acceptance is that of Dr. Charles Hudson of the University of Georgia and his associates. Most scholars in Alabama agree with that route from the point where it enters northeastern Alabama near Piedmont, down the Coosa River Valley and into the Montgomery-Selma area. There are those who believe that from there De Soto went south to the forks of the Alabama-Tombigbee rivers. This route tends to follow that of the 1939 United States Commission. Other scholars think De Soto may have gone west from Selma. Hudson thinks he went northwest.

The route that has been marked as the Alabama Highway Route of the De Soto Trail is primarily that of Charles Hudson. It has been approved by the Alabama De Soto Commission as being based on the best currently available evidence. Only further archaeological exploration is likely to settle this question definitely.

Marker Name: The De Soto Trail Marker Type: Rural Roadside Addtional Information:: "Hernando de Soto (c. 1495 – May 21, 1542) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador who led the first European expedition deep into the territory of the modern-day United States (Florida, Georgia, Alabama and most likely Arkansas), and the first documented European to have crossed the Mississippi River. A vast undertaking, de Soto's North American expedition ranged throughout the southeastern United States searching for gold, and a passage to China. De Soto died in 1542 on the banks of the Mississippi River in what is now Guachoya, Arkansas or Ferriday, Louisiana." ~ Wikipedia Date Dedicated / Placed: 1988 Marker Number: unknown

Visit Instructions:
Please post a photo of you OR your GPS at the marker location. Also if you know of any additional links not already mentioned about this bit of Alabama history please include that in your log.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   11/04/2023 ckirbee visited it