Friesian Horses for Sale near Dauphin Island, AL

About Dauphin Island, AL

Serpentine shell middens, perhaps 1500 years old, attest to at least seasonal occupation by the Native American Mound Builder culture. Shell Mound Park, along the Island's northern shore, is administered by Alabama Marine Resources Division. In 1519, the Spanish explorer Alonso Álvarez de Pineda was the first documented European to visit, staying long enough to map the island with remarkable accuracy. The island's French history began on January 31, 1699, when the explorer Pierre Le Moyne, sieur d'Iberville, one of the founders of French Louisiana, arrived at Mobile Bay, and anchored near the island on his way to explore the mouth of the Mississippi River. D'Iberville named it Île du Massacre (Massacre Island) because of a large pile of human skeletons discovered there.