Mabila
![DeSoto's route: map shows Mabila (lower left, in green circle) in Hernando de Soto's extensive expedition though Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and into Arkansas.](/Images/godic/202501/25/DeSoto_Map_Leg_2_HRoe_20083208.jpg")
![Artist's impression of Mabila: note walls appear solid (stuccoed tree trunks).](/Images/godic/202501/25/De_Soto_burns_Mabila_HRoe_20083208.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202501/25/Mississippian_cultures_HRoe_20103208.jpg")
- Also see: Mauvilla.
The town of Mabila (or Mavila, Mavilla, Mauvilla) was a small fortress town known to Chief Tuskaloosa in 1540, in a region of present-day central Alabama. The exact location has been debated for centuries, but southwest of present-day Selma, Alabama, is one possibility. Mabila was a Trojan-horse, fake village concealing over 2500 native warriors, planning to attack the expedition of Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1540.