Ready for the Winner's Circle

Historical affiliations Spanish Empire 1559–1719, 1722–1763 and 1781–1821 French Empire 1719–1722 British Empire 1763–1781 Confederate States of America 1861–1865 United States 1821–1861 and 1865 to present The original inhabitants of the Pensacola Bay area were Native American peoples. At the time of European contact, a Muskogean-speaking tribe known to the Spanish as the Pensacola lived in the region. This name was not recorded until 1677, but the tribe appears to be the source of the name "Pensacola" for the bay and thence the city. Creek people, also Muskogean-speaking, came regularly from present-day southern Alabama to trade, so the peoples were part of a broader regional and even continental network of relations. The best-known Pensacola culture site in terms of archeology is the Bottle Creek site, a large site located 59 miles (95 km) west of Pensacola north of Mobile, Alabama.