Dr. Richard Bailey Seeks To Discover
Explorer De Soto's Trail Through State
 by Alvin Benn
Staff Writer
As a young man, Richard Bailey read everything he could get
his hands on. He also loved to deliver his hometown Newspaper because it not
only provided him with valuable tips on current events, but history lessons as
well.
Today, Dr. Bailey is one of the state's most respected
historians, and his love of the past was underscored when he was one of only a
few named to the Alabama De Soto Commission.
He and his colleagues spent years trying to come up with
answers to a riddle 450 years in the making - what route did the famous
Spanish explorer take on his ill-fated trip through the Southeastern United
States in the 16th century?
It was a controversial assignment for commission members
because they knew that regardless of their findings, there -would be
disagreements from those with differing opinions and agendas.
"The biggest disagreement was which route he took when he
left the Selma area," said Dr. Bailey, 44, who is a research and writing
specialist at the Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research, and Education at
Maxwell Air Force Base. "Some believe he went into Mississippi, while others
feel he went south toward Mobile."
De Soto's route has been a puzzle ever since he and his
Spanish troops landed in what now is Tampa, Fla., in 1539. His was the latest
effort to find gold and other riches in the "New World" discovered 47 years
earlier by Christopher Columbus.
It is known that De Soto's 1,000-man force and the
traveling city they inhabited moved through Florida, Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
The exact path may never be known, Dr. Bailey said, because
time has taken its toll on the expedition, and there are few clues to make a
definitive statement on it.
"It's impossible to say definitely where somebody traveled
450 years ago," he said. "There are such widely diverse views on it, that we
may never know."
As the years go by and modern science merges with
computerized technology, De Soto's exact route might be found, he said.
"We don't have the proper tools right now, but nothing is
out of the realm of possibility in the years ahead as we continue to move
forward scientifically," said Dr. Bailey.
A scholar and author, he admits his fascination with De
Soto probably had its roots when he was a youngster delivering The
Montgomery Advertiser and The Alabama Journal.
His first route included about 135 Journal customers
just after he finished the sixth grade, and after finishing the ninth grade he
moved on to a bigger route with The Advertiser. He walked part of the
time and rode a bicycle other times. He delivered The Journal in the
area around Alabama State University near downtown Montgomery and The
Advertiser in the Dalraida area.
Dr. Bailey's pride and joy was his bicycle, bought at Sears
and Roebuck with profits from his newspaper routes I remember it had big
rubber tires," he said with a smile. "It didn't cost as much as a Schwinn, but
it was just what I wanted and needed at the time."
Most of Dr. Bailey's life has been spent in academia, and
it has given him a special appreciation for good study habits. He has a
bachelor 's degree in science and two master's degrees - in education and arts
- as well as a doctorate.
He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from
Alabama State University and then picked up his Ph.D. in philosophy from
Kansas State University. He and his wife, Judy, have two daughters
and a son.
In 1985, then-Gov. George Wallace named him to the
32-member Alabama De Soto Commission chaired by Doug Jones of the University
of Alabama. "He (Dr. Bailey) was very enthusiastic about what we were
doing and was an asset to our committee," Dr. Jones said. "He was faithful in
his attendance and was not afraid to let his opinions be known. Richard was
very supportive or what we did and is a good citizen."
... Although De Soto's movements generally are common knowledge to
historians, specifics often, are unavailable and amount to a needle in a huge
historic haystack. Those in De Soto's party who were entrusted to keep
records did their best but couldn't pinpoint exact locations. Whatever they
did and wherever they went were firsts - much like the Lewis and Clark
expedition into the uncharted Northwest Territory in the early 1800s.
Dr. Bailey and other members of the Alabama De Soto
Commission pored over thousands of documents and visited areas the Spaniards
are believed to have explored. De Soto's army included a little
bit of everything - from soldiers to priests who blessed them, from scribes to
a large herd of swine.
The huge entourage traveled up to 4,000 miles as it wound
its way into the Carolinas, Tennessee and then down to Mexico during a
three-year odyssey in search of treasure that always eluded them.
De Soto's caravan "discovered" the Mississippi River, and
it is believed he was buried there in 1541 when he died of fever, Dr. Bailey
said.
A major assignment of the Alabama De Soto Commission was to
designate a trail to spotlight the route taken by the Spaniards. For
historians such as Dr. Bailey, it offered a rare opportunity,
"We got a chance to look at the expedition from an academic
perspective," he said. "We dealt with the opening up of the New World by the
Europeans. Few people today can condone De Soto's methods, but the trip itself
was a major historical event." Dr. Bailey believes that De Soto and his
troops entered the state in the Childersburg area, but he tends to disagree
with those who feel the Spaniard went through the east Alabama city.
... He said the biggest question mark of all on finding the
definitive route is the exact location of Mabila where De Soto got his
comeuppance at the hands or Chief Tascaluza and about 5,000 Indians.
Some historians believe Mabila is somewhere near Cahawba,
which is about 12 mills southwest of Selma. Others contend it's in Clarke
County, while another group feels it’s in the Mobile area because of
the spelling similarity.
"If we can determine the exact location of Mabila, I think
it would go a long way in figuring out the definitive route taken by De Soto
on his way toward the Mississippi River," Dr. Bailey said.
Chief Tascaluza, angered by the brutal treatment of his
people by the Spanish explores lured De Soto and a group into the walled city
of Mabila and then sprang his trap.
By the time the smoke and dust had cleared, a large portion
of the De Soto expedition lay dead or dying and the rest was,
indeed, history as it worked its way into virtual oblivion.
Only a handful of the De Soto group ever got back to Spain
and 450 years later, their trek through Alabama is noted by markers from U.S.
270 in the Piedmont area near the Georgia line to U.S. 82 west of Tuscaloosa
near the Mississippi border. Dr. Bailey believes Mabila is
in the Cahawba area and that De Soto moved west from that point toward
Mississippi.
His tenure with the Alabama De Soto Commission is viewed as
another learning experience - one which provided him invaluable political as
well as historical lessons.
"I think we can look back at that time in our history arid
learn the value of keeping good records based on what we see and not what our
perspectives might be," he said.
In the meantime, he's looking ahead to the 500th
anniversary of De Soto's trek...around the year 2040. Richard Jr.
is only 1 year old, "so he should be about the right age when
they try to find the definitive route again."
~
Montgomery Advertiser, December 1, 1992 |
