The "Gwenan Gorn" and "San Pedr" landed in Mobile Bay, probably some time during the summer of 1170.

The Prince Madoc was impressed with the land and the local people were pleased to see the visitors, but this as we shall see would change.

The ancient tale has it that Madoc having found such a paradise decided that he would return to Wales and recruit more individuals to the new land, which he had found.

It is said that on his first return to Wales Madoc regaled his brother King David and the Queen, Emma, who was a half sister to King Henry II of England, with tales of the exotic lands far to the West.

This incident was described in Robert Southey's poem 'Madoc', written hundreds of years later.

It is also described in other accounts of the fable. Was it because of the promises of riches and extended territory that Madoc was allocated the facilities of the port, which is now known as Rhos on Sea which were utlised to fit out the "10 or 11 sailes" for the long journey back?

It could be construed from this information that major finances for such an expedition could have come from a wish of the ruling family to acquire more territory and power.

Migrants who would have chosen to accompany Madoc into the unknown would have had a compulsive urge to make such a voyage.

Their motives, whether they be religious, political or the wish for adventure, are not explained.

The charisma, which Madoc exercised, must have been exceptional in persuading them to subscribe physically and financially to such a highly dangerous venture.

One of the primary purposes would have been to escape the discontent and chaos, which prevailed in the unsettled state of the medieval small kingdoms of Wales.

Four of "Gwynedd's sons" who would have been siblings of Madoc, and his sister, the Princess Goeral were said to have chosen to sail into the unknown on his second voyage, further illustrating the confusion of their Welsh status.

There is much speculation about the navigation of Madoc's long sea voyage.

It is possible that the seafarers had observed and had utilised the favourable Trade Winds, which blow from the North East towards the equator, enabling them to round the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately to disembark in the Bay of Mobile.

Possibly this and the combination of currents brought them to their destination, rather than knowledge of such a land.

During the second expedition, Madoc must have assembled people with many skills to hopefully sustain the community which he hoped to settle in the Americas.

It was impossible to foretell the wild and exciting journey, which lay before them.

The Viking-style ships left Wales loaded with supplies, princes, priests and paupers, all of whom wanted to live in peace in the magical land, which Madoc had told them about.

Initial contact with the natives seems, from the sparse information provided, to have been friendly, as illustrated by the tale which an old Muskogee chief related.

During the year of 1942 two teenage boys visited the town of Gadsden, Alabama, making the acquaintance of a rather talkative old man by the name of Chief Tappawingow of the Muskogee Nation.

The old man repeated to them legends handed down for generations that "white men" sailed the Coosa river (which joins the Alabama river) trading in fur, metals and wood.

Although no physical proof currently exists for this story, it is one of the many rumours which have circulated about the Welsh migrations amongst the native tribes.

The old chief mentioned trading which would have been of advantage to both communities.

The ancient legends state that Madoc had left, after his first voyage some 120 people, to form a base camp.

Having reached, for the second time, the long coastline with so many similar inlets and bays, it was impossible for Madoc to recognise the place which he had left some months earlier.

Searching for the abandoned party he sailed further West, and then turned inland searching for his comrades, of which there was no trace, and of whom he heard no more.

As time passed the adventurers became curious and moved out from Mobile Bay up the Alabama River, and here so the legend tells us he stopped at the Desoto Falls on the Coosa River, where seemingly the first of the fortified settlements was established.

Here begins the mystery of the 'stone forts' of Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia.

Historians, archaeologists have long speculated about the purpose of, and identity of the people who built these fortifications.

Researchers have found for example, that the fortification at the Desoto Falls was identical in plan to Dolwyddelan Castle, which was the birthplace of Madoc.

The many scholars who have investigated the stone forts believe that the native Americans could not have built these strange constructions, as they did not have the technology.

The adventurers moved on and appear to have constructed a number of these 'forts'.

About seventy miles west of Chattanooga is situated the Old Stone Fort at Tennessee.

Forty-five miles south lies the Welsh Caves fortification Desoto Falls Alabama.

Fort Mountain, Georgia, is situated about seventy miles southeast of Chattanooga.

There are a few other settlements mentioned in old records and tales, of which none have survived.

The general opinion of archeologists and other scholars are that the 'forts' were of 'prehistoric' origin, although the builders have never been identified.

It seems that for a time the adventurers settled in the area of Chattanooga, but bad luck seems to have again dogged them. They were uprouted again by the Cherokee and forced to leave the area, despite the huge efforts to protect themselves and the area of land which they presumably wished to settle.

The next part of the venture is another mystery only supported by myth and legend, but is a fascinating aspect of the tenacity of the Welsh migrants, who wandered the land for many years after.

Bee Richards