Cotton Was King: Indian Farms to Lauderdale County Plantations (Alabama Plantations)

Rickey Butch Walker has captured the enormous role cotton played in the history of this region. Walker describes the importance of cotton and slavery for the Native Americans who first explored and used this area, now known as Lauderdale County, even before white settlers arrived. In the first section, Butch presents a wonderful account of the Indian claims to the land, together with stories of Doublehead and Chief George Colbert kin and the twisted dealing with the Government before the Indian Removal. The next section of the book describes the early white settlements that depended upon black slaves, and the final section details some of the Lauderdale County plantations, family relationships, and holdings, pre-Civil War. Walker had the benefit of an unpublished manuscript of William L. McDonald, the distinguished local historian who passed away in 2009. Many of McDonald’s stories are nicely integrated throughout the text. This is a valuable read for anyone interested in local history.