Charleston, South Carolina. The response to the proposition to have
the remains removed to their native soil is full of gratification
and shows the generous sentiment in favor of the Seminole Indians.
To do honor to Florida’s world-known patriot and in part, atone for
the cruel capture under the truce of white flag, cannot wipe out the
national stain, but will show that this new democratized America is
ready to atone even at this late day.
Osceola was a soldier worthy of any race and came under the white
flag to “talk” to the American general. During the “peace talk,” the
ring of bayonets closed around him and seeing that he was entrapped
he folded his arms scornfully and said nothing by way of protest from
that moment to the day of his death. When Osceola was questioned as
to why he did not make his escape, as did some of the other chiefs
from the dungeon at Fort Marion, St. Augustine, he replied: “I have
done nothing to be ashamed of; it is for those to feel ashamed who
entrapped me.”
Enough pressure should be brought upon the National Congress to have
the Government take favorable action on the removal of Osceola’s
remains, and to do it at once.
Osceola County, among all the counties of Florida, has honored this
liberty-loving American by choosing his historic name, and the last
resting place of the Seminole patriot should be at the capital of the
county which bears his name.
With simple inscription, “Osceola, Patriot and Warrior, died January
30, 1838,” the body lies at the entrance of Fort Moultrie.
Shall the Seminole hero not be given six feet of soil in his native
land for a grave and sleep the sleep of the brave in the great
country he loved so well?
Commenting upon the subject of Osceola and the removal of his remains
to Florida soil, the _Tampa Tribune_ editorially says:
“While the zealous patriots of the present generation of Floridians
would desire such a removal, with a fitting ceremony and a memorial
shaft erected to the memory of this American Chieftain, it is a
question if South Carolinians, and especially Charlestonians would
give up the body--all that is left of the hero they gave protection
to, during the last hours of his life when the rapacity of the United
States soldiers jeopardized his existence.”
“Moreover, the gates of Charleston have preserved the warrior’s
grave for eighty years and with the love of patriotism born in
every Charlestonian heart, it is believed that an interment of
Osceola’s bones in Florida as a final resting place would be met with
opposition from South Carolina.”
A MEMORIAL TO OSCEOLA.
Representative Frank Clark, of Florida, has already introduced a bill
in the Lower House, asking for an appropriation of $25,000 for a
memorial monument to be erected in honor of Osceola.
Because of the extravagance of war, the bill has remained in its
initial stage, but with the National Government reverting to pre-war
ideas and the citizenship of the Nation again building to the memory
of her heroes, it is believed that the Florida Congressman will have
the support of his colleagues in his efforts to place a memorial to
the memory of the departed Osceola.
The romantic interest around the Seminole Chieftain has been so
enhanced by sympathy, that when the Blackfeet Indians from the
Northwest came East on a pilgrimage, stopping at the Nation’s capital
on the way, five thousand people went down to Charleston from
Washington to be with them when they paid tribute to the resting
place of the martyred Osceola.
A BRONZE STATUE IN THE EVERGLADES.
The Battle of Okee-cho-bee! A battle that decided the issues of two
wars and proved the fitness of an American soldier for a long and
glorious march from the Everglades of Florida through struggles in
Mexico to the White House in Washington. Of this battle in Florida,
between Indians and Americans, many have never heard, few can
identify the locality and no national monument marks the spot.
Turning a historic searchlight upon this scene of eighty years
ago, one sees the American soldier, Zachary Taylor, meeting the
noble warrior of the Seminoles, Coa-coo-chee (Wild-Cat) in his last
struggle for his country and his people.
In the wilds of the Okee-cho-bee country, a shattered remnant of the
Seminoles, fought against the American army, with a victory for the
white troops, defeat, of course, for the Seminoles.
The battle was planned by Coa-coo-chee,[5] who had recently escaped
from the musty dungeon at St. Augustine where he and Osceola had
been confined after their capture under the truce of the white flag,
while negotiating with the American officers. Coa-coo-chee, as if
challenging the American army with retaliation and revenge for the
indignity of such a violation of recognized warfare, now combined his
forces for one great battle.
Carrying their little bundles, the pitiful salvage from the wreck of
their once happy homes, the Indians had fled to the dark haunts of
Florida’s weird morasses. With his people already encamped in this
vicinity, Coa-coo-chee naturally selected the battle ground for its
advantage of position, within easy reach of his warriors and by
strategy and decoys succeeded in leading the American army to the
chosen site. Contrary to the usual tactics of fighting in small bands
and at widely scattered points, the Seminoles staked their all in
this supreme battle, apparently not awed by the overwhelming odds of
four to one.
This battle brought the generalship of Colonel Taylor prominently
before the world and confirmed the Nation’s faith in him, which sent
him, no doubt, to the Mexican battle field.
Here he was given the task of opening the way to the Halls of
the Montezumas, and from this stepping stone he soon received
the Presidency of the United States as a testimonial of national
appreciation.
But of Colonel Taylor’s gallant opponent, Coa-coo-chee, what shall
we say? Finally surrendering, he was put in chains and transported
with a ship-load of his people, a group of broken-hearted exiles, to
the waiting ships at Tampa; as the transports left Tampa Bay for the
far western country, the anguish of this oppressed, terror-stricken
people touched the hearts of the most hardened sailor--reduced from a
powerful nation to a decimated band of starving humanity, they went
silent or weeping toward the land of the setting sun, driven like
dumb beasts before the power of the white man.
With lingering looks, these red patriots saw the loved scenes of
their homes fade away, their happy hunting grounds, the graves of
their fathers--their beloved Florida.
It was the closing of a sad chapter in American history. With the
battle of Okee-cho-bee, few are familiar today. Is it not a fitting
location for a national park, and a monument to the memory of this
noble chieftain whom we have so sadly treated?
Upon this sacred soil a battle was fought that would not shame the
Greeks of Leonidas, nor the Romans of ancient days. Today the white
man treads heedlessly upon the land, with no other thought than that
of commercialism attuned to the jingle of dollars.
In this beautiful valley of the “Place of the Big Water” the present
Seminoles, like Chief Joseph of the West, say: “We love this land
more than all the rest of the world. An Indian who would not love his
father’s grave is worse than the wild beasts of the forest.”
No finer or more chivalrous treatment of an enemy can be shown in
history than that of Coa-coo-chee to Colonel Taylor even though the
sting of his treacherous capture with his friend Osceola was fresh
in his mind. No braver defense was made at Thermopylae than was
made in the hammock on Lake Okee-cho-bee. The site of the Battle of
Okee-cho-bee is now before the eyes of the world as a terminus of a
Florida Railroad; it is eminently fitting that the American people
make a plea for a memorial where Indian and American may be honored
and will be the means, too, of bringing graphically before the
people a history so little known, and may we not hope, a tender pity
for the vanquished Red Knights who fought so bravely for home and
honor.
In the legends of the Seminoles, the spirit of Coa-coo-chee returns
once a year to visit the sacred retreats of his race.
Would not the spirit of this brave patriot rejoice to note that his
fame was known to his conquerors and a memorial erected that would
link the names of the Indians and the Americans in this last battle
for country and people?
THE POCAHONTAS OF FLORIDA.
U-LE-LAH, THE PRINCESS OF HIRRIHIGUA.
Around the very name of Florida clings a wealth of legend of romantic
interest, and patriotic suggestions that will yield in beauty and
value to no other State in the Union.
To close the pages of this book, without giving a sketch of the
first heroine of American romance, would seem like depriving the
sympathetic reader of the glittering pearl that lies within easy
reach beneath the sparkle of the waves.
Almost coincident with “America’s Answer” to the war cry of Europe,
the Atlantic cables in peace-loving contrast, were repeating to
America the account of the dedication services at old Gravesend,
England, to the memory of Pocahontas, the heroine of Virginia’s early
history. Our late Ambassador Page, in unveiling the memorial windows,
dwelt largely on her influence as a bond of peace between the United
States and Great Britain. So to-day, a spirit of thankfulness should
come over us as individuals and as a nation for the influence of our
Virginia princess.
America grasped hands with our English friends on this occasion, when
our American officers and sailors from the battleships Missouri and
Illinois took a prominent part in the ceremonies.
At the close of this touching ceremony Ambassador Page, with our
American officers and cadets, was extended a cordial reception from
the thousands of persons who had assembled inside and outside the old
parish church, whose register bears the name of the Indian princess.
To Florida belongs a romance not less fascinating and wonderful than
that of Virginia’s Pocahontas. But alas, in the “manana” of the
first Spanish invaders, much interesting history was lost to the
world. Enough has been preserved, however, to excite the imagination
and cause this age of research to go deep into embalmed records of
centuries ago and revive the quaint philosophy of the old, entrancing
Florida.
U-LE-LAH, THE POCAHONTAS OF FLORIDA.
With the extinction of the powerful Hirrihigua tribe passed the
life story, tantalizing in its meagerness, of the Indian princess,
U-le-lah. The full history of our lovely Florida princess, who was
in very truth the first heroine of American romance, slumbers in the
unwritten archives of forgotten history, yet one dramatic incident
in her life has been preserved to us to give us the right to call
her “the Pocahontas of Florida,” and in the heroism of this young
Indian girl is a setting for as dramatic a story as has been given to
history.
The old chroniclers tell us that the word Hirrihigua, which
ethnologically considered, must be a mixture of both Spanish and
Indian, was the name of the country first invaded by the Spaniard on
Tampa Bay; the seat of government of a mighty tribe of aborigines,
who, according to Bourne’s Narratives of De Soto, occupied a vast
domain extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean,
and makes the history and romance of the Princess U-le-lah most
fascinating and worthy of special commemoration.
FERDINAND DE SOTO.
When the cavalier of Spain in the person of the intrepid Ferdinand De
Soto, landed in 1539 on Tampa Bay with all the pomp and pageantry of
the Spanish court, he found himself at a loss for interpreters and
guides to this wild and strange land.
Learning of a young Spaniard, Juan Ortez by name, who was the only
survivor of the great De Narvaez expedition, and who had been captive
of the Indians for ten years, De Soto quickly sought to find him in
order to use him as a guide for his conquest.
The history of this young Spaniard, who is reported to have been
handsome, together with the saving of his life at a crucial moment by
the daughter of the proud old Chieftain of Hirrihigua, parallels that
of the Virginia annals, of Pocahontas and John Smith, and antedates
this epoch-making history of Virginia almost one hundred years. In
memory of Pocahontas, the Lady Rebecca of the English courts, toasts
of all England have been given; entertainments have been planned in
her honor, and medals have been struck off to commemorate her visit
to the imperial court of James the First.
The proudest blood of Virginia runs through her descendants and every
history of white America gives the tragic story of her heroism and
her instrumentality in saving Virginia to the Caucasians.
Of U-le-lah, our Florida princess, whose heroic stand and womanly
courage stand out as the peer of any character in history, we know
but little and honor has been withheld, not only as an Indian
princess whose father was the emperor of an unbounded area, but as
a historical character of gracious personality. She was truly the
heroine of the first American romance, where honor, dignity and a
woman’s heart shone forth, and as Floridians, we should endeavor to
memorialize her name and her deeds in the history of America. A brief
sketch of this young Indian girl is appended.
Juan Ortez, a Spanish youth deserted by his comrades, was captured
on the shores of Tampa Bay by the Indians, and taken to their chief
U-ci-ta. This chief was the reigning monarch of this southern
province of Hirrihigua, and thoroughly embittered against the
butchery his people had suffered at the hands of De Soto, was ready
to wreak vengeance on the pale face, the only survivor of the De
Narvaez expedition.
Florida, from the day the first Spanish invaders, with blood-hounds,
chains, battle-axes and sabres, set foot upon her flower-bordered
soil, has been a battle ground. Her sands have run red with blood of
the innocent native, who always held out a hand of welcome and gave
sustenance from his well filled storehouses, while the newcomers
ever practiced the same atrocities and butcheries that have been
perpetrated upon the Indians of America, although with greater
cruelties and no restraining power.
It is not surprising that the proud chief of Hirrihigua wished to
be relieved entirely of every vestige of white blood, for, added
to the rapacities from which he and his tribe had suffered, the
Narvaez expedition had even subjected the chief’s mother to the most
atrocious cruelties, and thus his desire for vengeance upon this
representative of the white intruders was natural. With revenge
uppermost in his mind, the chief ordered Juan Ortez to be bound hand
and foot and placed upon a rack made of poles--and to be slowly
burned to death.
As history records the account of this tragic scene, the beautiful
daughter of U-ci-ta, who was about the same age as the handsome
Spaniard, when she saw the dreadful fate about to be inflicted upon
the young white stranger, rushed to the burning fagots, and braving
the anger of her all-powerful father, threw herself at his feet
and implored him to spare the life of the captive youth, urging
and pleading with all the compassion of a woman’s heart, that this
white stranger had done no injury and that it was nobler for a brave
and lofty chief like U-ci-ta to keep the youth a captive than to
sacrifice so mere a lad to his revenge.
Looking back four centuries, a vision rises. We stand in the midst
of an aboriginal people. A tragic scene is before us. We see Indians
wreaking vengeance for the wrong inflicted upon them, and a stern
visaged chieftain, whose word is law, in command. A boyish form
is bound upon a rack of fagots, with the flames already gently
licking the poles and creeping to his helpless body. All at once a
trembling, girlish form rushes to the rescue, and with the pleading
of a compassionate woman, forgetting her own natural resentment for
the past wrongs done for her kindred, touches her stern and stoical
father and secures the release of the captive youth.
This was the youth Ortez, who, released from his fiery bed, was cared
for by his gentle protector, his burned flesh bound and dressed, and
under her gentle administrations restored to health, and as an act
of honor he was given the position of guard over the sepulchres of
the dead. It was the custom to place the dead upon scaffolds, and, as
these sepulchres in those wilderness days were beset by wolves and
wildcats, a guard watched over them day and night.
Ortez guarded these mausoleums through the lonely hours of the night
and grew in great favor with the haughty chieftain; but one night,
so the narrative goes, a wolf carried away the body of a child of a
chief. Ortez threw an arrow and wounded it, but did not know that
the child had been taken. The next morning the loss of the child’s
body was made known, and Ortez ordered to be put to death. Some
friendly Indians, following on the trail of the wolf, discovered the
child, and the wolf lying dead just beyond it. The chief, with a
justice ever belonging to the American Indian, being satisfied of the
faithfulness of Ortez, took him again into favor.
For three years this young Spaniard, now only twenty-one years old,
continued to live with the Hirrihigua tribe, but at the end of
that time a fierce war broke out between old Chief U-ci-ta and a
neighboring tribe. According to the savage custom of those days, in
order to insure a victory, it was decreed that a sacrifice must be
made, and the Spanish youth was selected as the victim.
Again U-le-lah, the counselor and friend of her father, and still the
faithful friend of the white stranger, came at night and warned him
that he had been selected to be sacrificed the next morning. This act
was wholly one of womanly courage and compassion, and not for any
sentimental consideration for the handsome young Spaniard, for this
Indian princess was betrothed to the Chief Mucoso of another tribe.
At the midnight hour she came and guided him on his way a half a
league to her lover, sending as guards and envoys two friendly and
trustworthy Indians.
Juan Ortez, with his guides, traveled all night, and morning found
him on the boundary of Mucoso’s territory, where he was met by the
lover of his fair protector and received with the assurance, so
early historians chronicle, “that if any white men ever came to his
country, he would allow him to go back with them.”
The old chief of Hirrihigua, much chagrined at his daughter’s
conduct in usurping his kingly authority, demanded of Mucoso the
return of Ortez. Mucoso refused and his refusal caused such a breach
between the two monarchs of these big provinces that it was several
years before Mucoso claimed the fair Indian princess as his bride.
With true Indian honor he sacrificed his love for a principle, and
continued to protect the Spanish captive.
It is an interesting fact in history to know that Ortez remained with
Mucoso for eight years, until the landing of De Soto, to whom Mucoso,
keeping his pledge to Ortez, sent him under a guard of several
Indians.
Ortez, now become one of De Soto’s band, was however destined to live
but a short time, for De Soto, with no other object than conquest
and search for gold, such as he had learned under the way of the
relentless Pizarro in the land of Incas, traversed the country
murdering and plundering the innocent natives until they reached the
Mississippi, where, it is recorded, Ortez died only a short time
before death claimed the proud and relentless De Soto.
PRINCESS OF HIRRIHIGUA.
Of the noble-hearted Indian princess, little more is known, but as a
heroine, she is truly the peer of the long-famed Pocahontas, and her
history must touch every romance-loving heart.
All Florida should feel a pride in the name of this Indian girl, for
to her alone is credited the heroism of saving the life of the only
Caucasian at that time on the southern shores of Florida. For her
compassion and womanly tenderness, for her heroic stand for justice,
this Florida princess is deserving, even after four centuries,
of recognition and upon the brow of U-le-lah, the Princess of
Hirrihigua, should be lovingly placed laurels of gold, and her name
commemorated in American annals.
Particularly should Florida rise to the occasion by publishing to
the nation the glorification of her own aboriginal princess, and
proclaiming to the world memorial tributes commending her bravery and
her virtue.
Vocabulary
INTRODUCTION TO VOCABULARY[6]
In presenting the following words, phrases and sentences to the
public, we beg to add a few explanations. The words have been
obtained from the Indians themselves. To collect words from an Indian
requires patience at any time, and in dealing with the Seminoles
particularly so. The Florida Indian is suspicious of the white man,
and until a confidence was established and a friendship formed, it
was impossible to obtain any accuracy from him. To secure the words
in this work methods were devised, in order to have the Seminole
fully understand the collector, as well as to enable the collector
to grasp with a certainty the Indian’s meaning. As will be seen by a
close study of the vocabulary, the noun does more than simply denote
the thing to which it belongs; it also assigns to it some quality or
characteristic. As for instance the word elephant. The Indian had
never seen an elephant, but on being shown one in a circus parade,
after a careful thinking, he named it, “e-po-lo-wa-kee”--“heap long
nose.” Great latitude is thus permitted in an Indian vocabulary.
On account of non-intercourse with a civilized race the Seminole
language is very pure. Economy in speech is followed, the highest
aim of the Indian being to express in a single word both action
and object. Every cluster-word is a description or a definition.
The study of an unwritten language finds its phonology difficult.
In this collection, the words are spelled phonetically; the accent
and division into syllables are indicated to assist the student to
make the correct pronunciation. Not only were these words given in
good faith by the Indians with the present use in view, but each
succeeding year, as we visited the Glades for a hunt, the various
members of the tribe showed decided interest in our note book,
assisting in revising the words by going over and over again the
Seminole meaning and accent. The Seminole has a keen sense of humor.
As we gathered words and phrases many amusing incidents occurred,
always at our expense and to the greatest merriment of the Indians.
To Tallahassee we are indebted for much of this vocabulary, as well
as for many interesting incidents and fragments of the history; yet
it was not until the fourth year of acquaintance that the old chief,
beside the dying embers of our camp fire at the midnight hour, opened
his heart and told the story of his people, their myths, religion,
legends--their heartaches. The night was chilly, the old chief lost
in his own earnestness drew his tunic closer about him, yet the
writer could not say “it is late--you are cold.” It was a golden
opportunity; a word, the rustle of a branch and the current would
have changed. Until daybreak, in his broken English Tallahassee
told his story. Never before, nor ever since has such an occasion
presented itself.
VOCABULARY[7]
PERSONS
SEMINOLE ENGLISH
Es-ta-chat-tee Indian.
Es-ta-had-kee White man.
Es-ta-lus-tee Negro.
Ho-non-waw Man.
Hoke-tee Woman.
Ach-o-be-li-tee Old man.
Hoke-tee-li-tee Old woman.
Ho-non-wa-mi-nit-ti-tee Young man.
Hoke-tee-ti-mi-nit-ti-tee Young woman.
Che-pon-no-shi-tee Boy.
Hoke-ti-chee Girl.
Est-to-chee Infant.
Ho-non-o-chee Male infant.
Hoke-to-chee Female infant.
Poke-taw Twins.
E-hi-wa-o-chit-ee Married man.
E-hi-was-ko Bachelor.
E-hi-wa-se-ko Widower.
E-hi-lift-mus-chee Widow.
E-he-see-ko Old maid.
E-he-see-ko-hoke-ti-lee The old people.
Es-tee-min-nit-tee A great talker.
O-pa-na-ki-tee A silent person.
Host-cope-e-taw Thief.
Host-cope-e-gost-chee Not a thief.
PARTS OF THE BODY