Nie: Florida's famous Seminole leaders

A proud Seminole Indian warrior prepares to board the steamer Grey Cloud. Forced to leave his native land as part of a government act, to face a life in the unfamiliar lands of the west, his words haunt us still.

Tallahassee, Chattahoochee, Okeechobee, Loxahatchee, Suwannee -- the names of our cities, counties, lakes and rivers are constant reminders of Florida's Seminole Indian roots.

Fiercely determined to live forever among the mangroves and scrub palms of Florida, the Seminoles are the only tribe never to sign a peace treaty with the United States government.

Our journey to explore the wonders of Florida wouldn't be complete without including these people so important to our state's heritage. This week we'll meet three leaders of the Seminole people: Osceola, Abiaka and Billy Bowlegs.

The Seminole Wars

Biographies are one of the best ways to understand history. Looking through the lens of the people who shaped our world, we see dull facts and dates transformed into exciting stories.

This week we're going back nearly 200 years, a time of expansion with white settlers on the move, pushing beyond the borders of the original colonies into new territories, including what would later become Florida.

The problem for these settlers was the territories were already occupied. The United States government's solution: Move these tribes to land settlers didn't want, into what is now Oklahoma and Arkansas.

This is our home, and we're not leaving, said the Seminoles.

Forty years and $40-million, that's how much the U.S. government devoted to putting this plan into action. In a series of conflicts, known as the First (1816-1818), Second (1835-1842) and Third (1856-1858) Seminole Wars, U.S. troops battled Seminole warriors.

The result: 3,000 Seminoles removed; 1,500 more killed, no peace treaty signed.

But a small, yet determined, group found a haven in the swamplands of the Everglades. These were the ancestors of many Seminole Indians who live in Florida today.

Osceola: 'Black Drink Singer'

The name Osceola is actually an incorrect pronunciation of "Asiyahola." Asi, means "black drink." Yaholo is the cry made by tribal members after they drank the herbal tea in a ceremonial cleansing of the body and spirit.

Osceola, born Billy Powell in 1804 in Alabama, was the son of a Creek Indian mother. His stepfather was a Scotsman named Powell. When he was 9, Osceola and his mother came to what is now Florida, home of the Seminoles -- a group of people made up of various tribes from the Southeast as well as runaway slaves. The name Seminole is an English mispronunciation of the Spanish word cimmarones meaning "wild."

If you hear people refer to "Chief" Osceola, correct them. According to the official Web site of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, "Osceola was not a chief with the heritage of a Micanopy or Jumper, but his skill as an orator and his bravado in conflict earned him great influence over Seminole war actions."

One of Osceola's most defiant acts took place in 1835 when he was asked to sign a treaty forcing the Seminoles to leave their homeland for the unoccupied territory west of the Mississippi. Osceola refused, plunging his knife into the paper. Seven years of war followed.

In 1837, under a white "flag of truce," Osceola was captured and sent first to Fort Marion (known today as Castillo de San Marcos Fort in St. Augustine) and later to Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, where he died a year later at age 34.

Abiaka

Although not nearly as well known as Osceola, Abiaka (also known as Sam Jones) was a spiritual leader of the Seminoles. Like Osceola, Abiaka embodied the Seminole qualities of pride, defiance and independence.

A man of great cunning, Abiaka directed a number of successful battles, including the Battle of Okeechobee in 1837.

Abiaka's powerful role took place during and after the leadership of Osceola. He was a man of endurance and resistance. Abiaka, according to the Seminole Tribe's Web site, "was the only major Seminole leader to remain in Florida. Starved, surrounded, sought with a vengeance, Sam Jones would answer no flag of truce, no offer of compromise, no demand of surrender. His final camp was in the Big Cypress Swamp, not far from the Seminole Tribe's Big Cypress community of today."

Billy Bowlegs

Of all the Seminole leaders, Hollater-Micco (more commonly known as Billy Bowlegs) was the one most closely tied to the Tampa Bay area. Bowlegs, part of a ruling Seminole family, and his tribe settled in Hillsborough County a few miles southeast of Lake Thonotosassa.

Fluent in both Spanish and English, Bowlegs (a name that resulted from a mistranslation of his English surname "Bolek") dealt frequently with Cuban fishers and Spanish traders along the Gulf of Mexico.

Wonders of Florida

Introduction and previous chapters

NIE

Bowlegs, a wise politician, traveled to Washington twice to meet with President Millard Fillmore. Each time he steadfastly refused the government's offers of money and small tracts of farmland if his people left Florida.

One by one, other Seminole leaders began to agree to relocate. Not Billy Bowlegs. With an ever-dwindling band of warriors, Bowlegs continued to fight U.S. troops.

In 1856, under pressure from white settlers, the government stepped up its efforts to end the Third Seminole Indian War (often referred to as the Billy Bowlegs War) by sending more money and troops -- concentrating on west-central Florida.

Two years later, the effects of war, disease and hunger food had caused Billy Bowleg's band of warriors to dwindle.

May 8, 1858, marked the end of the Third Seminole Indian War. Billy Bowlegs and his followers were sent first to Fort Myers and then taken to a fort on Egmont Key, at the mouth of Tampa Bay.

Eventually, the group boarded the overcrowded steamship Grey Cloud bound for the Seminole reservations created in unfamiliar lands to the far west.

Sites to explore

Learn more about the Seminoles and other American Indian tribes who call Florida home by checking out these Web sites:

www.seminoletribe.com -- The official Web site of the Florida Seminole Indians; learn more about the history and culture of these true native Floridians.

www.dos.state.fl.us/dhr/flafacts/seminole.html -- Florida Department of State's Web site devoted to the Seminole Indians.

www.flausa.com/interests/multicultural/native.php -- Web site of the official tourism and marketing corporation for Florida; check out the "biographies" link to meet other important American Indians from our state.

-- Other sources used in this story: James W. Covington's The Billy Bowlegs War, Gene M. Burnett's Florida's Past: People and Events That Shaped the State.

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