DeSoto Falls & DeSoto State Park - Fort Payne/Mentone

DeSoto Falls

While you might not think of the winter as a great time to explore the outdoors, it is actually the best time of the years to see Alabama's waterfalls flowing at their best.

One of the most spectacular and easiest to access of these is DeSoto Falls, part of DeSoto State Park. Located on the outskirts of Mentone and just a few miles from I-85 and Fort Payne, the waterfall is 100-feet high and is both a scenic wonder and a historic site rich in the heritage and culture of North Alabama.

Archaeological evidence indicates that prehistoric Indians frequented the waterfall area long before the first Europeans arrived in North America. Some researchers also say that the famed "Welsh Caves" at the falls date from the Woodland era and are more than 1,000 years old. Others, however, say they were excavated by the Welsh explorer Prince Madoc, who some believe explored Alabama in 1170 A.D.

Azalea Cascade at DeSoto State Park

Legend also holds that Spanish artifacts dating from the Hernando de Soto expedition were found in the waterfall area. This accounts for the naming of the falls after de Soto, although if such artifacts did exist, they could also have originated from the Tristan de Luna expedition of 1559.

Better known is the role of the waterfall area during the Civil War. As the Union army was advancing on Chattanooga during the days before the Battle of Chickamauga, the 20th (XX) Corps) crossed Lookout Mountain at Mentone and cavalry forces are known to have visited the waterfall itself. The waterfall was also the site of one of the earliest hydroelectric plants in Alabama.

While DeSoto Falls is the largest, there are actually a number of other waterfalls in DeSoto State Park and they flow at their best during the winter months. The park also features cabins, camping, picnicking, a boardwalk that leads to a nice little waterfall, restaurant, hotel/lodge and more. Here are some links you might enjoy exploring for history, photos and more information:

• Desoto Falls: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/desotofalls1
• Desoto State Park: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/desotopark1
• Desoto State Park in Winter: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/desotowinter
• Mentone, Alabama: www.exploreosuthernhistory.com/mentone
• Fort Payne, Alabama: www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortpayne

Fort Payne's Old Fort - A Reminder of the Trail of Tears

While many have heard of Fort Payne, Alabama - thanks largely to the success of the famous country music group Alabama and the growing popularity of nearby Little River Canyon National Preserve - far fewer are aware of how the city got its name.

There once really was a fort named Fort Payne. Built in 1838 at the site of the present city of the same name, it consisted of a rough log house or cabin surrounded by a log stockade. The U.S. Army was then engaged in forcing the Cherokee people west at bayonet point along the long and tragic Trail of Tears to new land in what is now Oklahoma. As the Alabama militia moved to support this operation, Captain James Rogers and 22 state militiamen built Fort Payne.

The fort was occupied only from April until October of 1838, but unlike most of the stockades thrown up at points where the Cherokee were concentrated for movement west, some traces of it can still be seen. A stone chimney and a few other stone ruins mark the site of the fort, which also lives on in the name of the modern city of Fort Payne.

To learn more of the story of the original Fort Payne, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortpayne3.