European Encounters
When Europeans encountered the Choctaws, they were a confederation of allied people who were geographically distributed across the region but generally shared a common language and culture.
The French Period (1699 - 1763)
Choctaw Civil War (1747-1750)
Choctaws engaged in a civil war that broke out between different tribal factions, including those that maintained diplomatic and economic alliances to the French or the British. There were many Choctaw casualties, and the pro-French faction retained its influence on the tribe.
French and Indian War (1754-1763)
A theater of the Seven Years' War between the British and the French, each with the support of different tribes. The British won, resulting in the Choctaws becoming part of the Bristih Empire. With the departure of French troops in 1763 and the abandonment of the region by most of the Petites Nations (except the Tomés), the Mobile area became primarily Choctaw country in the new providence of British West Florida
The British Period (1763-1975)
Treaty of Mobile (1765)
The Choctaw and British met to define the boundaries of the Choctaw Nation and negotiate trade terms. Despite Choctaw leaders’ advocacy for shared land, the British wrote into the treay that the land be ceded. As a result, the Choctaws ended up ceding all territory south of the 31 degree parallel between the Tombigbee River and the Mississippi River and the Natchez District.
Spanish Take Control of Mobile (1780)
The Spanish took control of Mobile and by the middle of 1781, the entire Gulf Coast, from Florida to Louisiana.
American Revolution (1775-1783)
In this conflict between American patriots and the British. Chocaws sided with the British. The Treaty of Paris ended the conflict. Britain withdrew from the former American colonies and ceded Florida to Spain, placing the entire southern section of lands under Spanish claims.
Choctaw Treaty with Spain (1784)
Spain sought to protect it’s claims to Florida against the Americans by establishing a buffer state consisting of the Choctaws and other Indigenous Nations.
Did You Know?
Choctaw kinship is primarily matrilinieal, where each child’s lineage is traced through their mother. Traditional Choctaw social organization comprises three social groups: moieties, iksas, and local groupings. Historically, these structures corresponded to a web of diplomatic, ethnic, and genealogical relationships. Moieties are groups (such as elders and youth) compromised of various iksas (or clans) that have relationships among themselves and are very important in determining marriage availability and other social restrictions. Iksas comprise kinship groups and are the traditional pillars of political and social organizations. These groups were also separated spatially within the various towns and districts, including the Choctaw territory in Mississippi and Alabama.
Louis Charles-Auguste Couder’s Siege of Yorktown (1781) depicting George Washington and French general Rochambeau during the last major battle of America’s Revolutionary War
Plan of Fort Tombecbé (1737) drawn by Ignace François Broutin
French Arrive on Gulf Coast (1699)
Pierre Le Morne D'Iberille led the expedition, establishing a settlement at Mobile Bay in 1702. The original townsite of Mobile (Old Mobile) served as the capital of French Louisiana (1702-1711) and still exists at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff on the Mobile River. The site was abandoned in favor of a more accessible location at the head of Mobile Bay, where today's modern city stands. The combined population of the Petite Nations encountered by the French was between 17,000- 20,000, and the Choctaw Nation numbered 21,000.
Establishment of Fort Tombecbé (1736)
Served as a supply depot and military command post for a French campaign against the Chickasaws. The Choctaws played an important role there by supplying the French with hides, food, medicinal plants, and other items in exchange for manufactured goods from France
