Grateful the rain broke, the sun, finally, came out on Friday, but the temperature had dropped into the 30’s. By lunchtime, it warmed up a good bit and felt good in the sunshine. The puppies were blissful to be liberated from the van and outdoors, as were we. We hiked from the campground, across the road to Fort Toulouse, a National Historic Landmark. We had it all to ourselves. The recreated 1751 Fort Toulouse was a charming little fort that sat at the fork of the the Talapoosa and Coosa Rivers, as they came together to form the Alabama River. It had, mainly, been used as a trading post, where the Indians exchanged fur pelts for guns and household items with the French, stationed there on the frontier of their Louisiana Territory. The local Alibamu Indians were part of the Creek Confederacy. “There were no battles at the post as French diplomacy forged allies with the natives. The surrounding Indians, commonly referred to as Creeks, wanted peace so they could trade with both the French and British”. There were high pointed log walls, encircling two standing structures, two chimneys, which were remnants of a third structure, an outdoor brick oven, and ledges in the corners for armed protection of the fort. The two remaining structures were a commandant’s house and a barracks that were colonial clapboard structures.
We then toured the two Creek winter houses and the one summer house, right by Fort Toulouse. It was interesting, seeing the different types of Creek homes. Two were mud-sided and bark roofed houses with bamboo multi level sleeping quarters, ladders, and dugout fire pits inside. The summer house was open sided with multiple level bamboo sleeping areas the length and width of the structure with a bark roof. There was an outside gathering and seating area between the three.
