The Memphis area was originally settled by the Chickasaw people. Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto reached the Mississippi River near the site of present-day Memphis in 1541. The French built Fort Assumption on the bluffs above the river here in 1739. The area passed to Britain in 1763, and a U.S. fort was erected here in 1797. In 1818 the Chickasaw ceded the territory to the United States government. Memphis, founded in 1819 by Andrew Jackson (later president) and two partners, was named for Memphis, Egypt. Memphis grew as river traffic increased. It became one of the nation's busiest ports and was incorporated in 1849.
Early into the American Civil War the city was an important Confederate military center, and it served as temporary state capital in 1862. Memphis was captured by Union forces after a river battle (June 1862) in which federal gunboats sank or captured seven out of eight Confederate vessels, and the city remained in Union hands until the end of the war. The long military occupation and severe recurring yellow-fever epidemics (especially one in 1878) depopulated Memphis and brought bankruptcy; the city's charter was revoked in 1879. Sanitary reforms and renewed activity at the community's natural harbor contributed to its economic recovery, and the charter was restored in 1893. Memphis's economy prospered during World War II (1939-1945), and in the 1950s the harbor was developed to provide many industrial sites. In the 1980s community leaders and government officials launched economic reforms, marketing Memphis as a distribution center. In 1991 W. W. Herenton became the city's first black mayor.
