[Illustration: Piachi]
After crossing the Great Smokies, De Soto in August 1540 entered the
territory of a rich chiefdom called Coosa. It dominated an area from
the French Broad River in North Carolina into central Alabama. De
Soto’s chronicler described this country as “Thickly settled in
numerous and large towns, with fields between, extending from one to
another, [it] was pleasant and had a rich soil and fair river
margins.”
One of the subject towns was _Piachi_ (the King Site to
archeologists), on the banks of the Coosa River in northwest Georgia.
De Soto and his expedition spent a day here in early September 1540.
The chronicles are silent on the visit, but from the archeological
work of David Hally and others, as interpreted by artist L. Kenneth
Townsend, we have a good idea of life here.
_Piachi_ was about 5 acres in extent, protected by a palisade and
ditch. Inside were about 50 domestic structures and a central plaza
with several larger buildings perhaps used for ceremony. Nearby were
several tall poles, from which scalps or war trophies probably hung.
About 350 persons lived here, less than half the number of the main
town of Coosa or the substantial village of Itaba (Etowah Indian
Mounds State Historic Site to the north). A good part of the
villagers’ living came from growing corn, which they stored in cribs.
As the Spaniards traveled from village to village, they expected the
Indians to yield up food, guides, porters, and women. Without this
sustenance, the expedition could not have covered the territory that
it did.
[Illustration: Acoma Pueblo, New Mexico, visited by the Coronado
expedition in 1540. It is one of the oldest continuously inhabited
communities in the United States.]