The first Europeans to gaze upon the river’s lower half was Hernando DeSoto and his army in 1541. By doing this, it was the first step in claiming this land that would later be known as Memphis as Spain’s property. The English and French were among the owners of this city that exchanged hands numerous times over a 200 year period. In 1796, Tennessee turned out to be the 16th state to be acknowledged as a Union member, however, it wasn’t until 20 years later the municipal of Memphis was formed. The land was sold to the United States government in 1818 by the Chickasaw Indians and three people from Tennessee came to the conclusion of incorporating a new town.

Soon to be, President Andrew Jackson, James Winchester and John Overton witnessed potential influx of cash from a city on the bluffs. It was decided the name for this location would be Memphis, which is crudely translated to “place of good abode.” Memphis was legitimately incorporated in 1826, and mostly people on their way west or people working the rivers. The city began to boom in the 1840’s and this was mostly due to the cotton industry which was booming. The city was the biggest inland cotton market anywhere in the world by 1850 and it was an industry that relied heavily on slaves. The location of Memphis and its dependence on slavery would be an issue that would have to be addressed in the future.

People from Memphis were decisively rooted on the side of the Confederacy throughout the Civil War. In 1861, more than 70 Confederate companies were formed by recruits from the Memphis area. The Battle of Memphis took place not even a year later. It was a 90-minute battle between the Union Naval forces and Confederate gunboats. After this battle, the United States flag ended up replacing the Confederate flag that flew over the Memphis. Because the war was over so fast, the Union armed forces had no reason to burn the city down or terrorize the people living there. They ended up using it to house over 5,000 soldiers in a hospital they built there. The city recovered rapidly from the war, as several merchants grasped the fact that the Yankee currency was essentially worth more to them than Confederate money.