Rising from trader to ruler across parts of present-day Guinea, Mali, and Côte d'Ivoire, Samori Ture built the Wassoulou Empire and fought the French advance for roughly seventeen years. He purchased modern rifles, trained gunsmiths, and used scorched-earth retreats — stripping entire districts bare and moving his population east — to stay one step ahead of conquest. His armies were also financed by raiding and slave-trading; the lands he crossed paid dearly. Captured in 1898 and exiled to Gabon, he died in 1900. Guinea's first president, Sékou Touré, claimed descent from him and made Samori an icon of anti-colonial resistance.
A French column expecting a quick campaign found only ash. Wells were filled in, granaries emptied, whole districts deliberately stripped bare and abandoned. The man who had ordered it was retreating east on purpose, dragging an entire population with him and rebuilding his kingdom as he went. His name was Samori Ture, and for the better part of two decades he kept one of the most formidable armies in West Africa one step ahead of conquest. He had bought modern rifles, trained his own gunsmiths, and turned a trading career into a state. Yet the same armies that held off France were fed by raiding and the sale of captives, and the lands he crossed paid dearly. He fought European empire to the last and built his own power over other Africans in the process.