THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA
[Illustration:
_Photograph by E. W. Histed._
HOKE-TI-CHEE. LITTLE GIRL WITH THE BRIGHT EYES]
THE SEMINOLES
OF
FLORIDA
MINNIE MOORE-WILLSON
ILLUSTRATED
[Illustration: (Colophon)]
NEW YORK
MOFFAT, YARD AND COMPANY
1920
Copyright 1896, 1910 and 1920
by
MINNIE MOORE-WILLSON
_First Edition_, _Jan., 1896_
_Second_ ” _Jan., 1910_
_Third_ ” _Dec., 1911_
_Fourth_ ” _Sept., 1912_
_Fifth_ ” _Aug., 1914_
_Sixth_ ” _Oct., 1916_
_Seventh_ ” _Feb., 1920_
Printed in the United States of America
MEMORIAL TRIBUTE
MRS. ELIZABETH STAUFFER-MOORE
IN GRATEFUL RECOGNITION OF HER PHILANTHROPIC INTEREST IN A BRAVE
AND HEROIC REMNANT OF THE ABORIGINAL AMERICANS, THE SEMINOLES OF
FLORIDA, THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.
HER TIMELY AID IN THE CRISIS OF THEIR EXISTENCE HELPED TO RESCUE
THEM FROM OBLIVION AND TO PROVIDE FOR THEM THE RIGHTS OF A FREE
PEOPLE.
MINNIE MOORE-WILLSON.
FOREWORD
When most of the Seminoles were moved from Florida to Indian
Territory, a few score of them were unwilling to go. Of these who
remained, the descendants, ten years ago, numbered about six hundred.
An effort was made at that time to buy for this band the land on
which they lived and a few hundred dollars was given for that purpose.
In the study of this fragment in their singular surroundings as
portrayed in the pages of this book, one gets, as it were, a glimpse
of their camp-fire life, a view of their sun-bleached wigwams and an
insight into the character of these proud but homeless people.
Not much apparently can be done for this home-keeping remnant of the
Florida aborigines, but it is help and a protection to them that
their continuing presence in Florida and the conditions of their life
there should be known to the rest of the Americans and especially to
those who go to Florida or are concerned with the development of that
State.
To diffuse this helpful knowledge and give these Indians such
protection as may come from it, is the aim of the present book.
EDWARD S. MARTIN.
New York, Nov. 9, 1909.
PREFACE
That there is yet a tribe, or tribes of Indians in Florida is a
fact unknown to a large part of the people of this country; there
are even students of history who have scarcely known it. These
people, driven, about seventy or more years ago, into the dreary
Everglades of that Southern Peninsular, have kept themselves secluded
from the ever encroaching white population of the State. Only
occasionally would a very small number visit a town or a city to
engage in traffic. They have had no faith in the white man, or the
white man’s government. They have aimed to be peaceful, but have,
with inveterate purpose, abstained from intercourse with any of the
agencies of our government. My friends, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Willson,
Jr., of Kissimmee, Florida, have found their way to a large degree of
confidence in the hearts of this people. They have learned something
of their history, and have studied their manner of life, their
character and habits.
Mr. Willson has been allowed, and invited to go with some of their
men on familiar hunting expeditions. He has seen them in the swamps,
in their homes, and in their general life environments. He has been
admitted to their confidence and friendship. He has consequently
become deeply interested in them. Mrs. Willson also has become
acquainted with some of their chief personages. Both have learned
to sympathize with these Indians in their hardships and in their
treatment at the hands of the white race.
Mrs. Willson began to write about them and her writing has grown into
a book; and she has been encouraged to give this book to the world,
in the hope that the attention of good people may be drawn toward
them, and that at least a true interest may be awakened in their
moral and material well-being. They are truly an interesting people,
living, although secluded, almost at our doors.
Mrs. Willson has written earnestly, enthusiastically, and lovingly
regarding them, and it is to be hoped that a new interest may soon
be taken in them both by the churches and the government, and that
they may soon enter upon new realizations, and be encouraged to place
a confidence in the white race to which, until quite recently, they
have been utter strangers.
Mr. Willson has prepared the vocabulary. The words and phrases here
given have been gathered by him in the course of ten or fifteen years
of friendly intercourse with members of the tribe. They have assisted
him in getting the true Indian or Seminole word and in finding its
signification. Old Chief Tallahassee has been especially and kindly
helpful; so has Chief Tom Tiger. This vocabulary of this peculiar
Indian tribe, though not complete, ought to prove helpful to those
who are interested in the languages of the people who roamed the
forests of this great land before it became the home and the domain
of those who now live and rule in it.
This book, in its first part, gives some account of the earlier years
of the Seminole history. In the second part the reader is introduced
to the later and present state of things and facts regarding them.
In the third part is found the vocabulary--a number of Seminole
words, phrases and names, with their interpretation into our own
tongue.
This little book is given to the world in the hope that it will be
found both interesting and valuable to many readers.
R. BRADEN MOORE.
CONTENTS
PART FIRST
PAGE
FACTS OF THE EARLIER DAYS 1
ORIGIN OF TROUBLES 6
EFFORTS AT INDIAN REMOVAL 11
THE MASSACRE OF GENERAL THOMPSON AND OF DADE’S FORCES 15
A DISHONORED TREATY 19
AS-SE-HO-LAR, THE RISING SUN, OR OSCEOLA 21
OSCEOLA’S CAPTURE 26
THE HIDDEN WAR CAMP 30
WILD CAT AND GENERAL WORTH 33
INDIAN WARFARE 38
“DAT SEMINOLE TREATY DINNER” 41
PART SECOND
THE PRESENT CONDITION AND ATTITUDE OF THE SEMINOLES 53
NATIONAL INDIAN ASSOCIATION, ITS WORK, AND ITS RESULTS,
EPISCOPAL MISSION 65
THE FRIENDS OF THE FLORIDA SEMINOLES 68
OUR DUTY TO THESE WARDS OF THE NATION 76
CHIEFTAIN TALLAHASSEE 79
INCREASING 84
APPEARANCE AND DRESS 87
INDEPENDENCE AND HONOR 90
THE SEMINOLE’S UNWRITTEN VERDICT OF THE WHITE RACE 93
ENDURANCE AND FEASTS 95
THE HUNTING DANCE 100
SLAVERY 106
HANNAH 107
UNWRITTEN LAWS 108
GENS AND MARRIAGE 114
BEAUTY AND MUSIC 116
RELATIONSHIP TO THE AZTECS AND EASTERN TRIBES 118
SEMINOLES AT HOME--THE EVERGLADES 126
ALLIGATOR HUNTING 139
BEAR HUNTING WITH THE SEMINOLES 142
CAPTAIN TOM TIGER (MIC-CO-TUS-TE-NUG-GE) 148
NANCY OSCEOLA 154
BILLY BOWLEGS 155
RELIGION 162
BROUGHT BACK 168
MOUNDS 169
PICTURE WRITING 171
MEDICINE 172
ABIDING WORDS OF BEAUTY 174
CONCLUSION 179
SUPPLEMENT
THE LEAST KNOWN WILDERNESS OF AMERICA 185
THE LAND OF THE SEMINOLE 187
CROSSING THE EVERGLADES BY AEROPLANE 190
EVERGLADE GEYSER 192
SEMINOLE HISTORY REVIEWED 194
THE 1917 LAND BILL 199
A VISIT TO A SEMINOLE CAMP 204
VISITORS FROM THE EVERGLADES 207
STEM-O-LA-KEE 214
HOME AND RELIGION 223
SEMINOLE INCIDENTS 224
MESSAGES FROM THE EVERGLADES 227
SEMINOLES FIRST SUFFRAGISTS 229
OSCEOLA--THE GARIBALDI OF THE SEMINOLES 231
SHALL OSCEOLA’S BONES BE REMOVED? 234
A BRONZE STATUE IN THE EVERGLADES 236
THE POCAHONTAS OF FLORIDA 242
VOCABULARY
INTRODUCTION TO VOCABULARY 253
WORDS REGARDING PERSONS 255
PARTS OF THE BODY 256
DRESS AND ORNAMENTS 258
DWELLINGS, IMPLEMENTS, ETC. 260
FOOD 264
COLORS 265
NUMERALS 265
DIVISIONS OF TIME 266
ANIMALS, PARTS OF BODY, ETC. 268
BIRDS 269
FISH AND REPTILES 270
INSECTS 271
PLANTS 272
THE FIRMAMENT, PHYSICAL PHENOMENA, ETC. 273
KINSHIP 274
VERBS, PHRASES, SENTENCES 274
INDIAN NAMES OF SOME PRESENT SEMINOLES 279
RHYTHMICAL NAMES OF SOME FLORIDA RIVERS AND TOWNS 280
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Hoke-ti-chee, “Little Girl with the Bright Eyes” _Frontispiece_
Florida Indians Carrying Their Crops to the Storehouse 6
An Indian Retreat During the Seminole War 16
Micanopy 20
One of the Last Seminole Battle Grounds 24
Osceola 30
Martha Jane, “Bandanna Mammy” 42
A Seminole Dwelling 60
A Seminole Camp-fire 70
Chieftain Tallahassee 76
A Seminole Group of the Tallahassee Band 86
Chief Tallahassee, Martha Tiger, She Yo Hee, Tommy Hill
and Milakee 90
Billy Bowlegs and Tommy Doctor 98
Hannah, the Only Remaining Slave of the Seminoles 108
A Picturesque Group 114
An Enchanting Study of the Younger Generation 122
Seminoles on the Miami River 130
Tiger Tail 140
Indian Mode of Hunting Alligators in Florida 144
Captain Tom Tiger 148
The Indian’s Hunting Ground 150
A Section of a Saw Grass Swamp 156
Hi-e-tee, Captain Tom Tiger, Ho-ti-yee and “Little Tiger” 164
Dr. Jimmie Tustanogee with His Two Wives and the Children 168
Billy Buster, Tommy Hill, Tallahassee and Charlie Peacock 172
The Wild Heron in Domestication 176
The White Plumed Egret in a Florida Yard 180
Coacoochee 188
Latest Photograph of Billy Bowlegs 192
Billy Bowlegs and His Sister 194
Osceola, the Napoleon of the Seminoles 200
Billy Bowlegs Photographed While Visiting the Author 202
THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA
PART FIRST
FACTS OF EARLIER DAYS
The history of the American Indian is a very Iliad of tragedy. From
the day Columbus made the first footprints of the European in the
damp sands of Cat Island, the story of the original owners of fair
America has been full of melancholy, and fills with its dark pages
every day of a quartet of centuries.
Columbus describes the innocent happiness of these people. “They were
no wild savages, but very gentle and courteous,” he says, “without
knowing what evil is, without stealing, without killing.” They gave
to him a new world for Castile and Leon, while in exchange he gave
to them “some glass beads and little red caps.” The tragedy of the
new world began when we find this same admiral writing to the Spanish
majesties that he would be able to furnish them with gold, cotton,
spices, and slaves--“slaves! as many as their Highnesses shall
command to be shipped”; and thus, this land, a paradise of almost
primeval loveliness, was transformed into a land of cruel bondage,
desolation and death.
History scarcely records an instance when hospitality was not
extended by the red man to our first explorers. Swift canoes shot out
from the shaded shores, filled with men clad in gorgeous mantles,
and, in broken accents, their greeting was “Welcome!” “Come, see the
people from Heaven,” they cried, but were soon destined to believe
they were from a very different region.
From old Spanish accounts we conclude that the Indian population
of De Soto’s time was very large, and that the natives were in a
higher state of civilization than at any later period; that their
speech, though brief, was chaste, unaffected, and evinced a generous
sentiment. Cortez found the Aztecs and their dependencies challenging
comparison with the proudest nations of the world, and in their
barbarous magnificence rivaling the splendors of the Orient. Advanced
in the arts, dwelling in cities, and living under a well-organized
government, they were happy in their position and circumstances.
Who were the barbarians of the early history of America, our
Mayflower ancestors, or the Red Men of the forest?
With a careful study of the early records, the question answers
itself.
Four hundred years ago Indian warfare began. Shall it continue until
we exterminate the race? When it is, alas, too late, the American
people will awaken to the fact that the preservation of the Indian
race will be a theme that will stir the very heart of the Nation.
Shall Justice blush as the future historian pens the account of the
vanished Indian and our treatment of his race? Will Patriotism hang
her head in shame and confusion as the pen portrays the history of
the red heroes, who gave up their lives for their home and liberty?
Since that sunny day in May, 1539, when De Soto, amid the salutes
of artillery, the music of trumpets, the cheers of thousands of
Castilians, sailed into Tampa Bay, Florida has been the scene of
stirring events--with the Aborigines forming a tragical background.
Marching across the flower-bedecked country with his gallant men
of Spain, with his cavalry, with fleet greyhounds and furious
bloodhounds to turn loose upon the savages, also handcuffs, chains
and collars to secure them, with priests, workmen and provisions,
this proud adventurer reached the present site of Tallahassee. Here,
in this vicinity, they came upon a fruitful land, thickly populated.
Ever pressing onward for the gold that was supposed to abound in this
new land, one village after another was passed, when provisions and
welcome were furnished by the Laziques.
On, on, the proud and haughty Spaniards marched, until they reached
the province of Cofaqui. Here the splendor of the reception would
amaze us, even to-day. The chieftain and the people gave up their
village for the Spanish quarters, moving to another town for the
occasion. The following day the chief returned, offering De Soto
8,000 armed Indians, with maize, dried fruits and meat for the
journey, 4,000 to act as defenders, 4,000 as burden bearers, to
escort the Spaniards through a wilderness of several days’ journey.
Such were the proud and generous people the Caucasians found in
America.
The haughty Castilian continued his march till he reached the banks
of the Mississippi, where he halted and sent his carrier to the
chief on the opposite shore, with the usual message, that he was the
“Offspring of the Sunne, and required submission and a visit from the
chief.” But the chieftain sent back a reply, both magnanimous and
proud, that if he were “the Childe of the Sunne, if he would drie
up the River, he would believe him; that he was wont to visit none;
therefore, if he desired to see him he would come thither, that if he
came in peace he would receive him in special good will, and if in
Warre in like manner he would attend him in the Towne where he was
and for him or any other he would not shrinke one foot backe.”
Old history says this haughty repulse aggravated the illness of De
Soto, “because he was not able to passe presently to the River and
seeke him, to see if he could abate that Pride of his.”
Notwithstanding the hospitable treatment shown by the natives to
the newcomers, the Castilians destroyed them by the thousands: One
explorer after another wrote of these friendly people in the new
land. “They are very liberal,” says the narrator, “for they give what
they have.” Sir Ralph Lane describes the welcome by the natives, who
came with “Tobacco, Corne and furs and kindly gestures to be friends
with the strange white men,” etc., etc., but adds, “the Indians stole
a Silver Cup, wherefore we burnt their Towne and spoylt their Corne,”
etc., etc.
The time will soon be over for the study of the Aborigines of
America. We have in 250 years wasted them from uncounted numbers to a
scattering population of only about 275,000, while in the same length
of time a cargo of dusky slaves from the African shores have become a
people of millions, slaves no longer, but protected citizens. In the
redskin, whom we have dispossessed of his native rights, we recognize
no equality; yet the descendant of the barbarous black, whose tribe
on the Golden Coast still trembles before a fetish, may now sit at
the desk of Clay or Calhoun. Truly the tangled threads of modern
morals are hard to unravel.
The first explorers made captives of the Indians, and carried them
in irons to Spain, where they were sold as slaves to the Spanish
grandees. Two hundred years later the people of Carolina sought to
enslave those among them. The red men rebelled at the subjection, and
in order to escape bondage, began to make their way to the “Indian
country,” the present site of Georgia. African bondsmen soon followed
the example of the Indian captives, and in time continued their
journey to Florida.
_In the attempts to recapture runaway slaves, is based the primeval
cause of the Seminole wars._
ORIGIN OF TROUBLES.
The history of the Seminoles of Florida begins with their separation
from the Creeks of Georgia as early as 1750, the name Seminole,
in Indian dialect meaning wild wanderers or runaways. Sea-coffee,
their leader, conducted them to the territory of Florida, then under
Spanish colonial policy. Here, they sought the protection of Spanish
laws, refused in all after times to be represented in Creek councils,
elected their own chiefs, and became, in all respects, a separate
tribe.
To-day the Seminoles of Florida are only a frail remnant of that
powerful tribe of Osceola’s day. Their history presents a character,
a power, and a romance that impels respect and an acknowledgment of
their superiority. Of the private life of the Seminole less is known,
perhaps, than of any other band in the United States. His life has
been one long struggle for a resting-place; he has fought for home,
happy hunting grounds and the burial place of his fathers. At present
we can only see a race whose destiny says extinction.
[Illustration:
_From a drawing by the French artist, Le Moyne, 1563._
FLORIDA INDIANS CARRYING THEIR CROPS TO THE STOREHOUSES]
The wilds of Florida became a home for these Indians as well as for
the fugitive negro slaves of the Southern States. The Indian and
the negro refugee, settling in the same sections, became friendly,
and in time some of their people intermarried. The same American
spirit that refused to submit to “Taxation without Representation,”
was strong in the breast of the Seminole, and Florida, belonging
to Spain, afforded him a retreat for his independent pursuits.
Subject only to the Spanish crown, the exiles found a home safe
from the inexorable slave catchers. The Seminoles were now enjoying
liberty, and a social solitude, and refused to make a treaty with the
colonial government, or with the Creeks from whom they had separated.
One demand after another was made upon the Spanish government at
St. Augustine for the return of the fugitives, which was always
rejected. African slaves continued to flee from their masters to find
refuge with the exiles and the Indians. They were eagerly received,
and kindly treated, and soon admitted to a footing of equality. The
growing demand for slaves in the southern colonies now made the
outlook serious, and from the attempts to compel the return of the
negroes grew the first hostilities.
One of the first communications ever sent to Congress after it
met was by the Georgia colony, stating that “a large number of
continental troops would be required to prevent the slaves from
deserting their masters.” But, in that momentous year of 1776,
Congress had more important duties on hand, and it was not until 1790
that a treaty was entered into between the Creeks and the United
States. In this treaty, the Creeks, now at enmity with the Seminoles,
agreed to restore the slaves of the Georgia planters who had taken
refuge among them. The Seminoles refused to recognize the treaty;
they were no longer a part of the Creeks, they resided in Florida
and considered themselves subject only to the crown of Spain. One
can readily believe that the Spanish authorities encouraged their
independence. Legally the exiles had become a free people.
The Creeks now found themselves utterly unable to comply with their
treaty. The planters of Georgia began to press the Government for
the return of their fugitive slaves. Secretary Knox, foreseeing the
difficulty of recovering runaway slaves, wrote to the President
advising that the Georgia people be paid by the Government for the
loss of their bondmen. The message was tabled, and until 1810 the
Seminoles and negroes lived in comparative peace.
The people of Georgia, now seeing the only apparent way to obtain
possession of their slaves would be by the annexation of Florida,
began to petition for this, but the United States, feeling less
interest in slave catching than did the State of Georgia, manipulated
affairs so slowly that Georgia determined to redress her own
grievances, entered Florida and began hostilities. The United
States was too much occupied with the war with Great Britain to
take cognizance of Indian troubles in a Spanish province, hence the
Georgia intruders met with defeat. For a short time after these
hostilities ceased the Seminoles and their allies enjoyed prosperity,
cultivated their fields, told their traditions and sang their rude
lays around their peaceful camp fires. Seventy-five years had passed
since their ancestors had found a home in Florida, and it was hard
for them to understand the claims of the southern planters.
The year 1816 found the Seminoles at peace with the white race. In a
district inhabited by many of the Indians on the Apalachicola river
was Blount’s Fort.
The fort, although Spanish property, was reported as an “asylum
for runaway negroes.” General Jackson, now in military command,
ordered the “blowing up of the fort, and the return of the negroes
to their rightful owners.” The exiles knowing little of scientific
warfare believed themselves safe in this retreat; and when in 1816 an
expedition under Colonel Duncan L. Clinch was planned, the hapless
Indians and negroes unknowingly rushed into the very jaws of death.
A shot from a gunboat exploded the magazines and destroyed the
garrison. History records that of 334 souls in the fort, 270 were
_instantly killed_! The groans of the wounded and dying, the savage
war whoops of the Indians inspired the most fiendish revenge in the
hearts of those who escaped, and marks the beginning of the First
Seminole War.
Savage vengeance was now on fire, and “Blount’s Fort” became the
magnetic war cry of the Seminole chiefs as they urged their warriors
to retaliation. This barbarous sacrifice of innocent women and
children conducted by a Christian nation against a helpless race,
and for no other cause than that their ancestors, one hundred years
before, had been born in slavery, marks a period of cruelty, one of
the most wanton in the history of our nation.
The inhuman way in which the massacre was conducted was never
published at large, nor does the War Department have any record of
the taking of Blount’s Fort, as is shown by the following:
An examination of the records of this Department has been made, but
no information bearing upon the subject of the taking of Blount’s
Fort, Florida, in the year 1816, has been found of record.
By authority of the Secretary of War,
F. C. AINSWORTH,
Colonel, U. S. Army, Chief of Office.
Washington, July 25, 1895.
History does not dwell on the cruel treatment the Indians received
from the United States authorities during the Seminole Wars, yet
pages of our National Library are devoted to the barbarity of the
Seminoles. There are two sides to every question, and it is only what
the Indian does to the white man that is published, and not what the
white man does to the Indian.
The facts show that instead of seeking to injure the people of the
United States, the Seminoles were, and have been, only anxious
to be free from all contact with our government. In no official
correspondence is there any reference made to acts of hostility by
the Indians, prior to the massacre at Blount’s Fort.
But Floridians, who had urged the war with the hope of seizing and
enslaving the maroons of the interior, now saw their own plantations
laid waste, villages abandoned to the enemy, and families suffering
for bread. The war had been commenced for an ignoble purpose, to
re-enslave fellow-men, and taught that every violation of justice is
followed by appropriate penalties.
Few of the people of the United States knew the true cause of the
war, nor the real inwardness of the purposes of those in command, as
history and official documents show that affairs were in the hands
of the Executive rather than in those of Congress. The first war was
in itself an act of hostility to the King of Spain; yet nothing was
gained by our government except possession of part of the fugitives.
Military forces could not pursue the Indians into the fastnesses of
the Everglades, and after two years of bloodshed and expenditure of
thousands of dollars, peace was in a manner restored, and the army
was withdrawn without any treaty being signed.
EFFORTS AT INDIAN REMOVAL.
The Indians had set the American government at defiance. The slaves
of Southern States continued to run away, taking refuge with the
exiles and Seminoles; the slave-holders of Georgia became more
clamorous than ever. The Spanish crown could not protect herself from
the invasion of the Americans when in pursuit of runaway negroes. She
had seen her own subjects massacred, her forts destroyed or captured,
and her rights as a nation insulted by an American army. In 1819, by
a combination of force and negotiation, Florida was purchased from
Spain for $5,000,000.
Thus the Seminoles were brought under the dominion they so much
dreaded. Slave-holders once more petitioned to the United States
for aid in the capture of their escaped property. The United
States, foiled in their treaty with the Creeks, now recognized the
Seminoles as a distinct tribe, and invited their chiefs to meet our
commissioners and negotiate a treaty. The Seminoles agreed in this
treaty to take certain reservations assigned to them, the United
States covenanting _to take the Florida Indians under her care and
to afford them protection against all persons whatsoever, and to
restrain and prevent all white persons from hunting, settling or
otherwise intruding upon said lands_.
By this treaty all their cultivated lands were given up to the
whites, and the Seminoles retired to the interior. Once more this
long persecuted people found refuge, but it was only for a short
time. The value of slaves in States North caused slave catchers with
chains and bloodhounds to enter Florida. They seized the slaves of
the Indians, stole their horses and cattle and depredated their
property. With such a violation of the treaty, renewed hostilities
were inevitable.
The Indians petitioned for redress, but received none. Affairs grew
worse until 1828, when the idea of emigration for the Indians was
submitted to the chiefs. After much persuasion, a few of the tribal
leaders were induced to visit the Western country. They found the
climate cold, and a land where “snow covers the ground, and frosts
chill the bodies of men,” and on general principles, Arkansas a
delusion and a snare. The chiefs had been told they might go and see
for themselves, but they were not obliged to move unless they _liked
the land_. In their speech to the Commissioner they said: “We are not
willing to go. If our tongues say ‘yes,’ our hearts cry ‘no.’ You
would send us among bad Indians, with whom we could never be at rest.
Even our horses were stolen by the Pawnees, and we were obliged to
carry our packs on our backs. We are not hungry for other lands; we
are happy here. If we are torn from these forests our heartstrings
will snap.” Notwithstanding the opposition to a treaty, by a system
of coercion a part of the chiefs were induced to sign, and fifteen
undoubted Seminole cross-marks were affixed to the paper. This was
not enough, according to Indian laws, to compel emigration. The
stipulations read, “Prepare to emigrate West, and join the Creeks.”
There was no agreement that their negroes should accompany them, and
they refused to move. To expect a tribe which had lived at enmity
with the Creeks since their separation in 1750 to emigrate and live
with them was but to put weapons into their hands, and did not
coincide with the ideas of the Seminoles.
The United States prepared to execute; not a redskin was ready, and
troops were sent. The Indians began immediately to gather their
crops, remove the squaws and pickaninnies to places of safety, secure
war equipments--in short, prepare for battle.
It was a question of wonderment many times among the officers how
the Indians procured their ammunition in such quantities, and how
they kept from actual starvation. Hidden as they were in their strong
fortresses--the fastnesses of the swamps--many believed that they
would be starved out, and would either stand a fair field fight or
sue for peace. An old Florida settler who carried his rifle through
seven years of Indian warfare explains the mystery. He says: “The
Indians had been gathering powder and lead for years, ever since the
time Chief Neamathla made his treaty with General Jackson. Besides,
Cuban fishing smacks were always bringing it in, and trading with
the redskins for hides and furs. As for provisions, they had their
‘Koontie’ flour, the acorn of the live oak, which is fair eating when
roasted, and the cabbage of the palmetto tree. For meat, the woods
were full of it. Deer and bear were abundant, to say nothing of small
game, such as wild turkey, turtle and squirrel.” The Seminoles at
this time, 1834, owned, perhaps, two hundred slaves, their people
had intermarried with the maroons, and in fighting for these allies
they were fighting for blood and kin. To remove the Indians and not
the negroes was a difficult thing to do. The Seminoles, now pressed
by the United States troops, committed depredations upon the whites;
bloody tragedies occurred, and the horrors of the second Seminole War
were chronicled throughout the land.
THE MASSACRE OF GENERAL THOMPSON AND OF DADE’S FORCES.
It was now that the young and daring warrior, Osceola, came into
prominence. He had recently married the daughter of an Indian
chief, but whose mother was the descendant of a fugitive slave. By
slave-holding laws, the child follows the condition of the mother,
and Osceola’s wife was called an African slave. The young warrior,
in company with his wife, visited the trading post of Fort King for
the purpose of buying supplies. While there the young wife was seized
and carried off in chains. Osceola became wild with grief and rage,
and no knight of cavalier days ever showed more valor than did this
Spartan Indian in the attempts to recapture his wife. For this he
was arrested by order of General Thompson and put in irons. With the
cunning of the Indian, Osceola affected penitence and was released;
but revenge was uppermost in his soul. The war might succeed or fail
for all he cared; to avenge the capture of his wife was his every
thought. For weeks he secreted himself, watching an opportunity to
murder General Thompson and his friends. No influence could dissuade
him from his bloody purpose. Discovering General Thompson and
Lieutenant Smith taking a walk one day, Osceola, yelling the war cry
sprang like a mountain cat from his hiding-place and murdered both
men.
His work of vengeance was now complete, and almost as wild as a
Scandinavian Saga was the fight he now gave our generals for nearly
two years.
While Osceola lay in wait for General Thompson, plans were being
completed which resulted in the Dade Massacre.
The enmity of the Indian is proverbial, and when we reflect that for
fifty years the persecutions by the whites had been “talked” in their
camps, that the massacre of Blount’s Fort was still unavenged, that
within memory fathers and mothers had been torn, moaning and groaning
from their midst, to be sold into bondage, with their savage natures
all on fire for retaliation, no vengeance was too terrible.
Hostilities around Fort King, now the present site of Ocala, becoming
severe, General Clinch ordered the troops under Major Dade, then
stationed at Fort Brooke (Tampa), to march to his assistance. Neither
officers nor soldiers were acquainted with the route, and a negro
guide was detailed to lead them. This unique character was Louis
Pacheo, a negro slave belonging to an old Spanish family, then living
near Fort Brooke. The slave was well acquainted with the Indians,
spoke the Seminole tongue fluently. He was reported by his master,
as faithful, intelligent and trustworthy, and was perfectly familiar
with the route to Fort King.
[Illustration: AN INDIAN RETREAT DURING THE SEMINOLE WAR]
The affair of Dade’s Massacre is without a parallel in the history of
Indian warfare. Of the 110 souls, who, with flying flags and sounding
bugles merrily responded to General Clinch’s order, but two lived to
describe in after years the tragic scenes. One was Private Clark,
of the 2nd Artillery, who, wounded and sick crawled on his hands and
knees a distance of sixty miles to Fort Brooke. The other was Louis
Pacheo, the only person of the command who escaped without a wound.
The assault was made shortly after the troops crossed the
Withlacoochee river, in a broad expanse of open pine woods, with
here and there clumps of palmettoes and tall wire-grass. The Indians
are supposed to have out-numbered the command, two to one, and at a
given signal, as the troops marched gayly along, a volley of shot
was poured into their number. The “gallant Dade” was the first to
fall, pierced by a ball from Micanopy’s musket, who was the King of
the Seminole nation. A breastwork was attempted by the soldiers, but
only served as a retreat for a short time; the hot missiles from the
Indians soon laid the last man motionless, and the slaughter was at
an end.
On February 20, 1836, almost two months after the massacre, the dead
bodies of the officers and soldiers were found just as they had
fallen on that fatal day. History is corroborated by old settlers,
who say “that the dead were in no way pillaged; articles the most
esteemed by savages were untouched, their watches were found in their
pockets, and money, in silver and gold, was left to decay with its
owner--a lesson to all the world--a testimony that the Indians were
not fighting for plunder! The arms and ammunition were all that had
been taken, except the uniform coat of Major Dade.” Their motive was
higher and purer; they were fighting for their rights, their homes,
their very existence.
What became of the negro guide? History records that Louis, knowing
the time and place at which the attack was to be made, separated
himself from the troops. As soon as the fire commenced, he joined
the Indians and negroes, and lent his efforts in carrying forth the
work of death. An account printed over forty years ago describes the
character of the negro Louis. It reads as follows:
“The life of the slave Louis is perhaps the most romantic of
any man now living. Born and reared a slave, he found time to
cultivate his intellect--was fond of reading; and while gentlemen
in the House of Representatives were engaged in discussing the
value of his bones and sinews, he could probably speak and write
more languages with ease and facility than any member of that
body. In revenge for the oppression to which he was subjected, he
conceived the purpose of sacrificing a regiment of white men, who
were engaged in the support of slavery. This object effected, he
asserted his own natural right to freedom, joined his brethren,
and made bloody war upon the enemies of liberty. For two years he
was the steady companion of Coacoochee, or, as he was afterwards
called, ‘Wild Cat,’ who subsequently became the most warlike chief
in Florida. They traversed the forests of that territory together,
wading through swamps and everglades, groping their way through
hommocks, and gliding over prairies. For two years they stood
shoulder to shoulder in every battle; shared their victories and
defeats together; and, when General Jessup had pledged the faith
of the nation that all Indians who would surrender should be
protected in the enjoyment of their slaves, Wild Cat appeared at
headquarters, followed by Louis, whom he claimed as his _property_,
under slaveholding law, as he said he had captured him at the time
of Dade’s defeat.”
Following Louis Pacheo’s career, we find him sharing the fortunes of
Wild Cat in the Indian Territory. Subsequently, Wild Cat, with a few
followers, Louis among the number, emigrated to Mexico. Fifty-seven
years passed from the date of the Dade massacre, when Louis Pacheo,
venerable and decrepit, once more appeared on Florida soil. The old
negro, longing for the scenes of his youth, returned to end his
days in the hospitable home of his “old missus.” In his confession,
he claims to be innocent of the charge of betraying the troops,
and asserts that he was forced into remaining with the Indians.
The vagaries of a childish mind may account for his diversion from
well-established history. The old slave lived for three years after
his return to Florida, and died in January, 1895, at age of 95 years.
A DISHONORED TREATY.
The tragic news of the Dade Massacre convinced the United States
that war had commenced in real earnest. From this time on, skirmish
after skirmish ensued, bloody murders were committed by the redskins,
thousands of dollars were being expended by our government, and the
white population of Florida was in a suffering condition. The Indians
were not suffering for food. The chameleon-like character of the
war prevented any certainty of success. General Jessup, considerably
chagrined, wrote to Washington for permission to resign both the
glory and baton of his command.
There could scarcely arise a more painful theme, or one presenting
a stranger variety of aspects, as it whirled scathing and bloodily
along, than did the Indian War. Yet it is a remarkable fact that no
Seminole warrior had ever surrendered, even to superior numbers.
Our military forces had learned what a hydra-headed monster the war
really was, and attempts were again made to induce emigration. The
horrors of the Dade Massacre and of Fort King had reached the world.
General Jessup sought negotiations, but found the same difficulties
to encounter as before, viz.: that the chiefs would not enter into an
agreement that did not guarantee equal rights to their allies as to
the Indians. Official documents show that General Jessup agreed that
“the Seminoles and their allies who come in and emigrate West, shall
be secure in their lives and property; that their negroes, their bona
fide property, shall accompany them West, and that their cattle and
ponies shall be paid for by the United States.” The Indians, under
these terms, now prepared to emigrate. History records that even
Osceola avowed his intention to accompany them. Every preparation
was made to emigrate, and a tract of land near Tampa was selected
on which to gather their people. Hundreds of Indians and negroes
encamped there. Vessels were anchored to transport them to their
new homes. Peace was apparent everywhere, and the war declared at
an end. At this point a new difficulty arose. Slave-holders became
indignant at the stipulations of the treaty, and once more commenced
to seize negroes. The Seminoles, thinking themselves betrayed, with
clear conceptions of justice, fled to their former fastnesses in the
interior, and once more determined to defend their liberty.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy of the Bureau of American Ethnology._
MICANOPY--HE WAS THE KING OF THE NATION]
In the violation of the treaty, to use General Jessup’s words, all
was lost!
All the vengeance of the Indian was again aroused, and the wild
Seminole war-cry, “Yohoehee! yohoehee,” again broke through the woods.
AS-SE-HE-HO-LAR, THE RISING SUN, OR OSCEOLA.
The fame of Osceola now reached the farthermost corner of the land.
His name, signifying Rising Sun,[1] seemed prophetic, and he became
at once the warrior of the Ocklawaha, the hero of the Seminoles. The
youngest of the chiefs, he possessed a magnetism that Cyrus might
have envied, and in a manner truly majestic led his warriors where he
chose.
In the personal reminiscences of an old Florida settler, in
describing Osceola, he says, “I consider him one of the greatest men
this country ever produced. He was a great man, and a curious one,
too; but few people know him well enough to appreciate his worth. I
was raised within ten miles of his home, and it was he who gave me
my first lessons in woodcraft. He was a brave and generous foe, and
always protected women and children. An act of kindness was never
forgotten by him.” Osceola had received a favor from one of the
officers who led the battle of the Withlacoochee. Observing him in
the front ranks, he instantly gave orders that this man should be
spared, but every other officer should be cut down. Osceola’s father
was an English trader named Powell, and his mother the daughter of
a chief known as Sallie Marie, a woman very small in stature, and
with high cheekbones. Osceola lacked this peculiarity, and was one of
the finest-looking men I ever saw. His carriage was erect and lofty,
his motion quick, and he had an air of hauteur in his countenance
which arose from his elevated pride of soul. His winning smile and
wonderful eyes drew from an army officer these glowing words of
admiration, “But the eye, that herald of the Soul, was in itself
constituted to command. Under excitement it flashed firm and stern
resolve; when in smiling it warmed the very heart of the beholder
with its beams of kindness. I tell you, he was a great man; education
would have made him the equal of Napoleon. He hated slavery as only
such a nature as his could hate. He was Indian to the heart, and
proud of his ancestry. He had too much white blood in him to yield to
the cowardly offers of the government, and had he not been captured,
the Seminole War would have been a more lasting one than it was. I
could talk all day about Osceola,” remarked the old Captain, as he
drew a sigh. “Did the Indians take scalps, Captain?” “Take scalps?
Well, yes, if Osceola wasn’t around. He was too much of a white man
to allow it himself.”
The admixture of Caucasian blood stimulated the ambition of Osceola’s
Indian nature; his education, together with the teachings of nature,
made him able to cope with the most learned. Living until he was
almost twelve years of age in the Creek confederacy of Georgia, his
youthful mind received deep and lasting impressions from Tecumseh’s
teachings. To these teachings, as well as the blood he inherited
from his Spartan ancestors was due, no doubt, his supremacy in the
Seminole War. In the manner in which he led the Seminoles may be
seen the influence of the great Shawnee.[2] Osceola’s power was in
his strong personal magnetism; he swayed his warriors with a look;
a shout of command produced an electric effect upon all. He was a
hero among his people, he was feared and dreaded by our officers. In
this day, as we study his life and character, we must recognize in
the young Seminole fighter the greatest of chiefs, the boldest of
warriors. In an old Greek fable, a man seeks to prove the superiority
of his race by reading to a lion accounts of various battles between
men and beasts, to which the lion replied, “Ah, had we written that
book other tales would have been told.” In the case of the Indian
chieftain no such records exist, yet even from the testimony of his
enemies we must know Osceola.
Interviewing old settlers who well remember events of those stirring
times, one finds the heroic part of Osceola’s character to have been
not overdrawn in history. The Seminole chief, Charles Omatla, was
an ally of the whites, and was attacked and murdered by Osceola’s
warriors. On his body was found gold, which Osceola forbade his men
to touch, but with his own hands he threw the gold himself as far as
he could hurl it, saying, “it is the price of the red man’s blood.”
Osceola’s pride was majestic; he was imperious, full of honor,
but with the quickness of the Indian he noted the path to popular
favor. His power was recognized by the officers. “Talk after talk,”
with the Indians was the order of the times. It was at one of these
meetings that Osceola in the presence of the commissioners attracted
attention by saying, “This is the only treaty I will ever make with
the whites,” at the same time drawing his knife and striking it
into the table before him. The cause of this outburst was that the
stipulations of the treaty guaranteed no protection to the allies. He
was arrested for his insolence, but was released on a compromise. His
vengeance became more terrible than ever, and in defiance “Yohoehee”
echoed through the woods and “war to the knife” was resumed.
[Illustration: ONE OF THE LAST SEMINOLE BATTLE GROUNDS]
It was now that the daring chief made the bold and well-conducted
assault against the fort at Micanopy. A short time after, this savage
hero performed a piece of strategy before unheard of in the annals
of war. Surrounded by two armies of equal strength with his own, he
carried away his warriors without leaving a trace of his retreat.
That host of Indian braves melted out of sight as if by magic, and
our disappointed generals could not but agree that a disciplined army
was not adapted to the work of surprising Indians. They were learning
to recognize the character of the men our nation had to deal with.
The Indian method is to decoy by a broad plain trail, then at a
certain distance the foremost of the band makes a high, long step,
leaves the trail and, alighting on the tip of his toe, carefully
smoothes out the brushed blades behind him. The rest of the band
go on a few yards farther and make their exit the same way, and so
on till the end is reached. Many times our troops made long night
marches to find--what? Nothing but a few smouldering camp fires.
The war raged on in defiance of the power of a mighty nation, a
nation that had said to old King George, “attend to your own affairs”
and he obeyed.
What shall we say of the capture of the great Indian chief? Is not
the seizure of Osceola America’s blackest chapter? Was Osceola
treacherous? The United States failed to observe even one important
article of the three treaties made with the Seminoles. Was Osceola a
savage? It is not denied that he protected women and children when he
could. It is not denied that the soldiers of the United States shot
down women and children, destroyed all dwellings, crops and fruit
trees they could reach.
OSCEOLA’S CAPTURE.
After months of warfare, a conference among the Indians with a view
to a treaty of peace was held. An Indian chief was sent to the
American quarters.
Picture, if you will, an American camp, in the wooded wilds of
Florida, and peer beyond the confines of the magnolia and the palms
and you see a single Seminole chieftain, heralding his white flag. He
approaches our General, the representative of proud and free America,
and presents him with a white plume plucked from the egret, with a
message from Osceola, with these words, “the path shall be white and
safe from the great white chieftain’s camp to the lodge of Osceola.”
General Hernandez immediately despatched Coacoochee with a pipe of
peace, kindly messages and presents.
What was the result? Osceola, in company with Wild Cat and other
chiefs, accepted the truce and, under the sacred emblem of the white
flag, met General Hernandez on October 21, 1837 at St. Augustine.
With that grave dignity characteristic of the red man, dressed in
costume becoming their station, with as courtly a bearing as ever
graced Kings, heralding their white flags they approached the place
of meeting.
History verifies the Seminole account of this blot on our nation
that, as the officers approached, they asked of Osceola: “Are you
prepared to deliver up the negroes taken from the citizens? Why have
you not surrendered them as promised by your chief Cohadjo?”
According to history, this promise had been made by a sub-chief and
without the consent of the tribe. A signal, preconcerted, was at this
moment given and armed soldiers rushed in and made prisoners of the
chiefs.
An account of this violated honor, recently given by the venerable
John S. Masters, of St. Augustine, Florida, is opportune at this
point. The old soldier in speaking of the affair said, “I was one
of the party sent out to meet Osceola when he was coming to St.
Augustine under a flag of truce.” “Did you honor that truce?” was
asked. “Did we? No sir; no sooner was he safe within our lines than
the order to seize him, kill if necessary, was given, and one of
the soldiers knocked him down with the butt of his musket. He was
then bound and we brought him to Fort Marion and he was put in the
dungeon. We were all outraged by the cowardly way he was betrayed
into being captured.”
At this violation of the sanctity of the white flag our officers
wrote: “The end justifies the means; they have made fools of us too
often.”