Encyclopedia of North American Indians -

Encyclopedia of North American Indians

Osceola

(c. 1804-38)

Seminole leader

Osceola lived a short but dynamic life during turbulent years of war for the Indians of the Southeast. He was known throughout most of the country for his prowess as a warrior and his outspoken opposition to American expansion. He would become the best-known leader of the Seminoles.

Osceola was born in a cabin in Muskogee Creek country in present-day Alabama, in the Upper Creek town of Tallahassee, near present-day Tuskegee. Also known by the name of Billy Powell, he was the only child of William Powell, a British trader, and Polly Copinger, an Upper Muskogee Creek. Copinger, whose father was most likely an English trader, was Powell's second wife. From his previous marriage with an Indian woman, Powell had two daughters. Osceola's Indian name was derived from asi, a tealike ceremonial drink that he had a recognized ability to ingest, and yahola, a ceremonial cry.

In the early nineteenth century, Osceola's kinsmen at Tallahassee were pushed out of their homeland and retreated into Florida, where they joined the Seminoles, known to them as "Those Who Camp at a Distance."

Osceola was too young to fight during the Creek War or at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, at which the Creeks were defeated by Andrew Jackson. Following these disasters he accompanied his mother to northern Florida. They traveled with a Red Stick town led by a mixed-blood relative named Peter McQueen. The Creek Confederacy consisted of Red and White towns, the former providing leadership in war and the latter providing leadership on civil matters. The youth of delicate features was still too young to fight. The young warrior-to-be and other Indians were captured by Andrew Jackson's soldiers during the First Seminole War in 1817-18. Osceola was familiar with the English language, having spent much time among traders and white settlers. Both Indians and whites knew him to be a persuasive, determined young man. His mixed blood did not hinder his advancement among his people, although his followers often feared his irrepressible ego. He loved fine ornamentation, and dressed to his personal liking.

Osceola finally settled among the Tallahassees, and as a growing young man he was called Tallahassee Tustenugee. The name was actually a title of war, meaning "Warrior of Tallahasee Town." He would become a leader in war, but his mixed ancestry limited his acceptance by traditionalists, who preferred leaders with closer ties to the tribal institutions. Nevertheless Osceola won great fame for his blunt actions of patriotism and for his anti-American stance. At the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, for example, signed in September 1823, Osceola demonstrated his opposition to land sales by driving his hunting knife through the document. This action became the subject of a famous painting depicting the angry Seminole warrior defying the United States.

By 1834 Osceola, five feet ten inches tall and of slender build, was a true warrior. While living in central Florida, he had witnessed numerous battles and defeats. Osceola's obstinacy got him into trouble with the Indian agent Wiley Thompson, who in June 1835 had the Seminole warrior put behind bars. At around this time some Seminoles favored signing a treaty in which they would agree to migrate westward, and Osceola and others decided to resist. Osceola gained his freedom and, on December 18, led a party that killed Charley Emathla, an advocate of removal. Holding a personal and political grudge against Thompson, Osceola killed the Indian agent on December 28, while another party massacred a military command under Major Francis Dade on Fort King Road. Their actions precipitated the Second Seminole War (1835-42).

During the early years of the war, Osceola led various bands and influenced others in successfully skirmishing against the U.S. Army. On December 31, 1835, at the Withlacoochee River, Osceola engineered a major victory even though his warriors were considerably outnumbered. Osceola was wounded in the encounter, but he was at the height of his military powers at this battle. In 1836 he recovered from his wound and worked to recruit a force large enough to score another major victory. Instead, he met with frustration as American troops pursued the Seminoles from northern Florida into the swamps to the south. In July or August 1836 Osceola came down with malaria.

In 1837 an exhausted and ill Osceola traveled to Fort Peyton, Florida, to talk peace with the Americans. On October 21, soldiers surrounded him and a delegation as he carried a white flag of truce. He was taken as a prisoner to Fort Marion, near St. Augustine. The U.S. Army considered Osceola such a magnetic figure that in the following weeks it moved him to Fort Moultrie, South Carolina.

Realizing he was near death, Osceola requested the presence of his two wives and children. One of his wives, by whom he had four children, was known by the name Che-cho-ter, "Morning Dew." The name of his other wife, the daughter of an ex-slave, is not known, but Osceola had one child by her. One of his last wishes was to be dressed in his finest clothes. The Seminole leader had always enjoyed fancy personal adornments, and, lucky for posterity, the artist George Catlin befriended Osceola just before his death and painted him in his finery. The chief received medical care from Dr. Frederick Weedon at Fort Moultrie, but on January 30, 1838, the famed Seminole warrior and leader died, still a prisoner of war. With the hope of capitalizing on Osceola's growing fame, Weedon had the corpse of the famed war leader beheaded and laid claim to many of Osceola's personal possessions and clothes. Osceola's head passed through several hands until 1843, when it came to Dr. Valentine Mott, who put it on display and later donated it to the Medical College of New York. It disappeared following a fire in 1865.





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