Editing Wetumpka, Alabama (section)

===French and British colonization===
[[Image:Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne.jpg|thumb|100px|left|Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville]]
After moving the 1702 settlement of [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]] to [[Mobile Bay]] in 1711, [[Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville]] sent an expedition up the [[Alabama River]] to establish a fort in the interior of the colony, known as [[La Louisiane]] or [[New France]], to stop the encroachment of British colonists and to foster trade and goodwill with the Creek.
[[Image:Mississippi Territory dark.gif|right |thumb|190px|Mississippi Territory from 1798 (expanded 1804/1812), with [[Alabama Territory]] created March 3, 1817]]
Bienville directed the construction of [[Fort Toulouse]] along the Coosa River in 1714, {{convert|4|mi|0}} above the confluence of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers and the Creek village of ''Taskigi''. Bienville selected this area as a strategic locale for a fortification.

The French traded at Wetumpka and garrisoned Fort Toulouse until 1763, when they ceded the territory to the British following defeat in the [[Seven Years' War]] (known as the [[French and Indian War]] in North America). For nearly a quarter century, the British had control of this area. Several Scots and Irish traders, such as McGillivray and Weatherford, were active in the region. They married into the Creek [[matrilineal]] aristocracy and later claimed vast land grants. Their descendants became important Creek leaders because of their mothers' status.