150 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bull. 73 
to present the calumet to M. d'lberville." 1 La Harpe in his Journal 
Historique says that on October 1, 1702, at Mobile, "other savages 
were received who sang the calumet, and promised to live in peace 
with the* Chicachas, the Pensacolas, and the Apalaches." 2 These 
" other savages" were probably Alabama Indians. And finally, 
Bienville in an unpublished account of the native tribes of Louisiana 
dating from about 1725 says that the villages of the Pensacola and 
Biloxi lay near each other on Pearl River, the two containing but 40 
warriors. 3 In a letter on Indian affairs, dated Pensacola, December 
1, 1764, is an estimate of the Indian population in the Gulf region, 
and among the entries, we read, "Beloxies, Chactoes, Capinas, 
Panchaculas [Pensacolas], Washaws, Chawasaws, Pascagulas, 251." 4 
It is therefore probable that a remnant of the tribe continued a preca- 
rious existence, probably in close alliance with some larger one, for a 
long time after it was supposed to be extinct. This would be quite 
in line with what we find in the case of so many other small tribes. 
THE MOBILE AND TOHOME 
So far as our information goes, the first white men to have dealings 
with the Indians of Mobile Bay were probably the Spaniards under 
Pinedo. Pinedo was sent out by Garay, governor of Jamaica, in the 
year 1519, to explore toward the north, and he appears to have 
coasted along the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico from the 
peninsula of Florida to Panuco. In the description of this voyage 
in the Letters Patent we read that after having covered the entire 
distance " they then turned back with the said ships, and entered 
a river which was found to be very large and very deep, at the 
mouth of which they say they found an extensive town, where they 
remained 40 days and careened their vessels. The natives treated 
our men in a friendly manner, trading with them, and giving what 
they possessed. The Spaniards ascended a distance of 6 leagues 
up the river, and saw on its banks, right and left, 40 villages." 5 
The river referred to is usually identified with the Mississippi, but 
I am entirely in accord with Mr. Hamilton in finding in it the River 
Mobile. 6 When first known to us the banks of the Mississippi near 
the ocean were not permanently occupied by even small tribes, and 
occupancy the year around would have been practically impossible. 
On the other hand, the shores of Mobile River must once have been 
quite thickly settled, for Iberville, on his first visit to the Indian 
tribes there, notes numbers of abandoned Indian settlements all 
along the way. There seems to be practically no other place answer- 
i Margry, Dec, v, p. 378. * Amer. Hist. Rev., xx, No. 4, p. 82.5. 
* La Harpp, Jour. Hist., pp. 73-74. 6 Harrisse, Disc, of N. Amer., p. 168. 
1 French t .unscription, Lib. Cong. 6 Hamilton, Col. Mobile, p. 10. 
