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diff --git a/old/64191-0.txt b/old/64191-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 1a75ca2..0000000 --- a/old/64191-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8804 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Seminoles of Florida, by Minnie -Moore-Willson - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Seminoles of Florida - -Author: Minnie Moore-Willson - -Release Date: December 31, 2020 [eBook #64191] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -Image source(s): https://archive.org/details/seminolesofflori0000moor/ - -Produced by: WebRover, Susan Carr, MFR and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The Internet - Archive) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA *** - - - - - 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.” - -The foul means used to capture the young Seminole leader was not -blessed by victory, as a continuance of the bloody war for five years -proved that the God of justice was not wholly on the white man’s -side. The stain on our national honor will last as long as we have a -history. Osceola with the other chiefs was confined for a short time -in St. Augustine, but the daring savage was too valuable a prize to -trust on Florida territory, and he was taken to Fort Moultrie where -he died January 30, 1838, at the age of thirty-four years. - -It is related that Osceola on being questioned as to why he did not -make his escape, as did some of the other chiefs from Fort Marion, -replied, “I have done nothing to be ashamed of; it is for those to -feel shame who entrapped me.” Chas. H. Coe, in his Red Patriots says, -“If the painter of the world-famed picture, Christ before Pilate, -should seek in American history a subject worthy of his brush, we -should commend to him, Osceola, before General Jessup. Osceola, the -despised Seminole, a captive and in chains; Jessup, in all the pomp -and circumstances of an American Major-General; Osceola, who had -“done nothing to be ashamed of,” calmly confronting his captor, who -cowers under the steady gaze of a brave and honorable man!” - -But such is the Irony of Fate. Osceola, the free son of the forest, -fettered by the chains of Injustice, was destined to eat out his -heart in a musty dungeon. - -Thoroughly and thrillingly dramatic was the death scene of the noble -Osceola as given by Dr. Weedon his attending surgeon. Confinement no -doubt hastened his death, and his proud spirit sank under the doom -of prison life. He seemed to feel the approach of death, and about -half an hour before the summons came he signified by signs--he could -not speak--that he wished to see the chiefs and officers of the post. -Making known that he wished his full dress, which he wore in time of -war, it was brought him, and rising from his bed he dressed himself -in the insignia of a chief. Exhausted by these efforts the swelling -heart of the tempest-tossed frame subsided into stillest melancholy. -With the death sweat already upon his brow, Osceola lay down a few -minutes to recover his strength. Then, rising as before, with gloom -dispelled, and a face agleam with smiles, the young warrior reached -forth his hand and in dead silence bade each and all the officers -and chiefs a last farewell. By his couch knelt his two wives and his -little children. With the same oppressive silence he tenderly shook -hands with these loved ones. Then signifying his wish to be lowered -on his bed, with slow hand he drew from his war belt his scalping -knife which he firmly grasped in his right hand, laying it across -the other on his breast. In another moment he smiled away his last -breath, without a struggle or a groan. In that death chamber there -was not one tearless eye. Friends and foes alike wept over the dying -chief. Osceola died as he lived--a hero among men. - - OSCEOLA--PATRIOT AND WARRIOR, - DIED, JAN. 30,--1838. - -Such is the inscription, that marks the grave of the hero of the -Seminoles. - -Even at this writing, it is a melancholy satisfaction to know that -the great Indian leader was buried with the honor and respect due so -worthy a foe. - -A detachment of the United States troops followed by the medical -men and many private citizens, together with all the chiefs, and -warriors, women and children of the garrison in a body, escorted the -remains to the grave, which was located near the entrance to Fort -Moultrie, Charleston Harbor. A military salute was fired over the -grave and as the sound reverberated over the dark waters of the bay, -Justice and Patriotism, must have pointed with fingers of scorn to -our great Nation, yet with tender pity, said “Osceola--the Rising -Sun, may the Great Spirit avenge you, keep you, love you and cherish -you,--the Defender of your country.” - - - THE HIDDEN WAR CAMP. - -Wild Cat and Cohadjo were allowed to remain in old Fort Marion the -prison at St. Augustine, Florida. Wild Cat feigned sickness and was -permitted, under guard, to go to the woods to obtain some roots; -with these he reduced his size until he was able to crawl through -an aperture that admitted light into the cell. Letting himself down -by ropes made of the bedding, a distance of fifty feet, he made his -escape, joined his tribe and once more rallied his forces against -our army. Latter day critics have questioned the correctness of -this bit of written history. Last winter, during the height of the -season, the Ponce de Leon guests enjoyed a unique entertainment. A -wealthy tourist made a wager of one hundred dollars that “Wild Cat -never could have made his escape through the little window in the old -castle.” Sergeant Brown accepted the wager and himself performed the -feat, to the great delight of the excited spectators. - -[Illustration: - - _Courtesy of the Bureau of American Ethnology._ - -OSCEOLA - -A copy from Catlin’s painting.] - -Our soldiers fighting in an unexplored wilderness, along the dark -borders of swamp and morass, crawling many times on hands and knees -through the tangled matted underbrush, fighting these children of the -forest who knew every inch of their ground could hope for little less -than defeat. Even General Jessup in writing to the President said: -“We are attempting to remove the Indians when they are not in the way -of the white settlers, and when the greater portion of the country is -an unexplored wilderness, of the interior of which we are as ignorant -as of the interior of China.” - -By way of illustrating the enormity of the task the government had -in subduing the Seminoles, it is only necessary to describe one of -the many Indian strongholds in the swamps of Florida. About ten -miles from Kissimmee, west by south, is a cypress swamp made by the -junction of the Davenport, Reedy and Bonnett creeks. It is an aquatic -jungle, full of fallen trees, brush, vines and tangled undergrowth, -all darkened by the dense shadows of the tall cypress trees. The -surface is covered with water, which, from appearance may be any -depth, from six inches to six feet; this infested with alligators -and moccasins would have been an unsurmountable barrier to the white -troops. - -A few years ago when the Seminoles yet frequented this section for -trading purposes old settlers have seen them coming from the swamp -carrying bags of oranges. Interrogations received no answers and -white settlers year after year searched for the traditional orange -grove, but without success. - -So difficult to penetrate and so dangerous to explore is the swamp -that it was not until fifty years after the Indians had left their -island home that a venturesome hunter, during a very dry season, -accidentally discovered the old Seminole camp. The Indian mound, -the broken pottery and the long hunted for sweet orange grove were -proofs of the old camp. The majestic orange trees laden with golden -fruit were an incentive to further research. With a surveyor working -his way, as guided by the point of the compass, this wonderland was -explored, and proved to be a complete chain of small hommocks or -islands running through from one side of the swamp to the other; -the topography of the marsh being such that a skirmish could take -place on one side of the jungle and an hour later, by means of the -secret route through the swamp, the Indians could be ready for an -attack on the other side, while for the troops to reach the same -point, by following the only road known to them, it would have -required nearly a day’s marching. The Indian trail is lost in the -almost impenetrable jungle; but the tomahawk blazes are perfectly -discernible. The Seminoles held the key to these mysterious islands -and in the heart of the great swamps they lived free from any danger -of surprise. This retreat must have been a grand rendezvous for -them, as its geographical position was almost central between the -principal forts. Lying between Fort Brooke (Tampa) and Fort King -(Ocala), within a distance of thirty miles from the scene of the Dade -massacre, about forty miles from Fort Mellon, the present site of -Sanford, the camp could have been reached in a few hours by Indian -runners after spying the movements of the troops at any of the forts. -The old government road, over which the soldiers passed in going from -Fort Brooke to Fort Mellon, passes so close to the old Indian camping -ground that all travel could have been watched by the keen-eyed -warriors. - - - - - WILD CAT AND GENERAL WORTH. - - -At this period of our national history we are unable to picture or -appreciate the condition of those slave days, when all blacks of -Southern States were regarded as the property of the whites. The -fear, the torture, the grief suffered by the negroes and half breeds, -who had been a people with the Seminoles almost one hundred years, is -beyond our conception. When Indian husbands were separated from wives -selected from the exiles, when children were torn from their homes -and carried to slavery, the vengeance of these persecuted people was -constantly alive. Persons of disreputable character--gamblers, horse -thieves--were employed as slave catchers and showed no mercy to the -helpless victim. - -After the violation of the treaty at Tampa, and the capture of -Osceola and Wild Cat, under the sacred truce of the white flag, Wild -Cat became a most daring enemy to the troops, and kept his warriors -inspired to the most savage hostilities. - -General Scott was now placed in command of the army, yet the same -harassing marches continued, and it was not until seven generals had -been defeated at the game of Indian warfare by the wily chieftains -that any sign of success was apparent. - -Our government, discouraged at being unable to conquer the Indians -or protect the white settlers, again negotiated for peace, but using -a more powerful weapon than in former years, that of moral suasion. -Executive documents show that, all through the war, artifice and bad -faith were practiced upon the Indians. The government was astonished -that a few Indians and their negro allies could defy United States -troops. All efforts had failed, even to the horrible policy of -employing bloodhounds. To-day we shudder at the barbarity of such an -act, but official documents show how much the subject was discussed -by Congress and war authorities. A schooner was dispatched to Cuba -and returned with thirty-five bloodhounds--costing the Government one -hundred and fifty dollars apiece. They were speedily put upon the -scent of Indian scouting parties, but proved utterly inefficient. -The public believed the hounds were to trail Indians, but reports -show their use was to capture negro slaves. The Seminoles were a -species of game to which Cuban hounds were unaccustomed and they -refused to form acquaintance with the new and strange objects. The -Indians had a secret peculiarly their own of throwing the dogs off -the scent, and the experiment, to close the war thus, proved a -failure and served no other purpose than to reflect dishonor on our -nation. - -Wild Cat, after his escape from prison, was a terrible and -unrelenting foe. Occupying with light canoes the miry, shallow -creeks, and matted brakes upon their border, he was unapproachable. -A flag was sent him by General Worth, but, remembering well another -flag which had meant betrayal, capture and chains, the daring hero -fired upon it and refused to meet the general. In the summer of 1841, -General Worth’s command captured the little daughter of Wild Cat -and held her for ransom. The little girl,--his only child--was the -idol of the old warrior’s heart. On learning of her capture, Wild -Cat relented, and, once more guarded by the white flag, was conveyed -to General Worth’s camp. History gives an interesting account of -the old chief’s approach. His little daughter, on seeing him, ran -to meet him, presenting him with musket balls and powder, which she -had in some way obtained from the soldiers. So much overcome was the -fearless savage on meeting his child that the dignified bearing -so carefully practiced by all Indians gave way to the most tender -emotions. - -The moral suasion, the humanity of General Worth made a friend of -Wild Cat, and he yielded to the stipulations. - -The speech of the old chieftain, because it breathes the same -sentiment of the Seminoles of to-day, we give below. Addressing -General Worth, he said: - -“The whites dealt unjustly with me. I came to them when they deceived -me. I loved the land I was upon. My body is made of its sands. The -Great Spirit gave me legs to walk over it, eyes to see it, hands to -aid myself, a head with which I think. The sun which shines warm and -bright brings forth our crops, and the moon brings back spirits of -our warriors, our fathers, our wives, and our children. The white man -comes, he grows pale and sickly; why can we not live in peace? They -steal our horses and cattle, cheat us and take our lands. They may -shoot us, chain our hands and feet, _but the red man’s heart will be -free_. I have come to you in peace, and have taken you by the hand. I -will sleep in your camp, though your soldiers stand around me thick -as pine trees. I am done. When we know each other better, I will say -more.” - -Through the gentleness and humanity of the “gallant Worth,” Wild Cat -at this meeting agreed to emigrate with his people. He was permitted -to leave the camp for this purpose. By some contradictory order, -while on his way to his warriors, he was captured by one of our -commands, put in chains and transported to New Orleans. - -When General Worth learned of this violation of his pledge he felt -the honor of our country had again been betrayed, and acting on his -own discretion sent a trusty officer to New Orleans for the return of -Wild Cat. General Worth by this act not only showed the nobility of -his own character, but proved that the savage heart can be touched -with kindness and is always keenly alive to honor and faithful -pledges. Moreover the justice of the act had much to do with the -successful turning of the war. - -When the ship which brought the chief reached Tampa General Worth was -there to meet it and publicly apologized to the brave old warrior for -the mistake that had been made. Our gallant commander had proven his -humane heart, although at expense of both time and money. Through the -policy of General Worth, the whole character of the war was changed. -On the 31st of July, 1841, Wild Cat’s entire band was encamped at -Tampa, ready to be transported to their new homes. - -The original idea of re-enslaving the fugitives was abandoned. -General Worth and Wild Cat now became the most ardent friends, the -general consulting with the famous chieftain until every arrangement -for the removal was perfected. Seeing a chief of such prominence -yield to emigration, band after band gave up the fight and joined -their friends at Tampa. From the time of Wild Cat’s removal in the -fall of 1841, until August, 1843, small bands of Indians continued -to emigrate. General Worth now advised the withdrawal of the troops. -A few small bands throughout the State refused to move, signed -terms of peace, however, by which they were to confine themselves -“to the southern portion of the Peninsula and abstain from all acts -of aggression upon their white neighbors.” As vessel after vessel -anchored in Tampa Bay to carry these wronged and persecuted people -to their distant homes, the cruelty of the undertaking was apparent -to the most callous heart. With lingering looks the Seminoles saw -the loved scenes of their childhood fade away. The wails and anguish -of those heart-broken people, as the ships left the shores, touched -the hearts of the most hardened sailor. They were leaving the graves -of their fathers, their happy hunting grounds, beautiful flowery -Florida. But it is the destiny of the Indian. Among that band there -was not one voluntary exile. Poets and artists picture the gloom, the -breaking hearts of the French leaving Acadia; at a later day the same -sad scenes were witnessed on the Florida coast, but it was not until -years after that a philanthropist gave to the world an intimation -of the melancholy picture of these poor struggling, long hunted -Seminoles leaving the shores of their native lands. - - - - - INDIAN WARFARE. - - -There is something intensely sad in the history of the Indians who -were left in Florida at the close of the “seven years’ war.” Keeping -faith with their promise to abstain from all aggression on their -white neighbors, retiring to the uninhabited marshes of the Southern -Peninsula, they lived happy and contented for thirteen years. Then -came reports of outbreaks and the United States again opened military -tactics with the resolve to drive this brave and liberty loving -remnant from their last foothold on Florida soil. - -According to the most authentic reports, the trouble was brought on -by some white engineers encamped near the border of the Big Cypress. -It was in the year 1855 and the United States was making a general -survey of Florida. Old Billy Bowlegs, recognized as the head of his -tribe, and living at peace with all the world, had a fine garden in -this swamp and in it were some magnificent banana plants, which were -the delight of the old Indian’s heart. - -As the old warrior visited his garden early one morning, he -discovered some ruthless hand had ruined his garden. They were -deliberately cut and torn to pieces. Going to the engineers’ camp, -he accused the men of the outrage, when they insolently admitted it, -refusing to make amends, and saying that they wanted to “see old -Billy cut up.” _And they did!_ - -The government paid for it to the extent of several thousand dollars, -a number of lives and adding another dark page in the history of our -Nation. - -No white man would have submitted to the outrage, neither did the -famous Chief. Summoning his braves early the next morning, the war -cry “Yo-ho-ee-hee,” was heard and Lieutenant Hartsuff and his men -were fired upon, some of them being wounded. - -Like a flash of electricity the news encircled Florida, and Billy -Bowlegs became the target of many old muskets. - -Then came the clamor of white settlers for the removal of the -“savages” and white guerrillas dressed and painted as Indians went -about the country robbing and murdering mail and express riders, -driving off stock, burning houses and committing other lawless deeds. -Old inhabitants tell of these depredations. But there was a reason -for such cowardly acts. The Government at Washington was perplexed -and, not grasping the fact that the raids were perpetrated by white -men, disguised as Indians, believing that military forces could -do nothing towards breaking up the warfare, designed the plan of -offering the sum of $100 to $500 for living Indians delivered at -Fort Brooke (Tampa) or at Fort Myers. After Governmental hunting for -three years, the white guerrillas still busy with their malicious -depredations, Old Billy Bowlegs, with his band of one hundred and -fifty persons, was induced to emigrate, but they went with sore -unwillingness, silent or weeping towards the land of the setting sun, -driven before the power of the white man, a group of broken-hearted -exiles. - - - - - INTERLUDE - - ‘DAT SEMINOLE TREATY DINNER.’ - - -The author begs the indulgence of the reader in giving the following -dialect story of that historic Treaty Dinner, when our gallant -American General Worth made peace terms with the Indians in 1842. - -The treaty was signed at Fort King, now the present site of Ocala, -Florida, and as one listens to the story of that eventful day, a -story complete in its setting as told by our old Bandanna Mammy, the -heart throbs and the pulse grows quicker--so vivid is the recital. - -As the tale is related a most picturesque scene comes before the -mind, the garrison with its stack of arms, dusky warriors mingling -with American soldiery, glittering sunshine and singing birds, tables -spread under the great live oaks, joy on every countenance--the end -of the Seven Years’ War. Because this old ante-bellum slave is a -bright link, forging as it were, those olden days of warfare with the -present, a few words of her individuality must interest. - -Martha Jane, for so she was christened full ninety-five years ago -when, a little shining black pickaninny, her birth was announced to -the mistress of the old Carter plantation, is the true type of the -old time loyal, quaintly courteous Bandanna Mammy of ante-bellum -days. Leaving Richmond about 1839, she was brought to Florida with a -shipload of slaves. Since that time her life has been a rugged and an -eventful one--a servant for the wealthy, nursing the sick, sold again -and again, hired out, and, since freedom, working for her daily bread. - -This white haired relic of Old Virginia is worthy a place in the -pages of history. She is old, decrepit and poor, the muscles of her -once powerful arms are shrunken and her hands gnarled with the labor -of years, but she has a memory as keen as when almost 80 years ago -she watched the “stars fall” from the upper windows of the Old Swan -Hotel in Richmond. She has kept pace with many points in history, -particularly of the wars of the country. - -As the old dame--a study in ebony--rocks back and forth in the -creaking split-bottom chair, memory runs back to the imperial days of -Virginia when the cavalier was supreme, and she the pampered nurse -girl of the little mistress. She says, “Oh, dem was dream days. I hab -nebber seed any days like ’em since. De mounfulest day I ebber seed -was when dey took me from my mistress, for the sky was a drippin’ -tears and de wind was a groanin’.” - -“No, honey, dey ain’t stories ’bout dem Seminole war days, dey is de -Lord’s blessed truf, what ole Marthy see wif dese same ole eyes. - -“Oh, dem wuz high times! I reckelmember dat Krismas day jest like hit -wuz yisterday; the sun wuz a shinin’ an’ de birds a singin’ (you see, -de mokin’ birds didn’t sing while dat cruel war wuz a goin’ on) an’ -ebbery body wuz a laughin’ an’ a talkin’ an’ de white ladies wuz -a coquettin’ wif de sojers an’ dem Indians wuz as thick as hops an a -laughin’ an’ a jabberin’ too. - -[Illustration: MARTHA JANE, “BANDANNA MAMMY” - -who cooked the Treaty dinner for General Worth in 1842. Now living in -Kissimmee.] - -“When Colonel Worth see dem long tables settin’ under the big live -oaks an’ see dem beeves an’ muttons an’ turkeys an’ deer we cooked, -he jest natchelly laughed an’ say, ‘Clar ter goodness, what kin’ o’ -Krismas doin’s is dis’; an’ how dem sojers an’ Indians did eat. - -“How come I ter cook de treaty dinner? - -“Well, I wuz livin’ out on ole Marse Watterson’ plantation, ’bout -four miles from Fort King, dats to Ocala, now, you know, an’ Jim, dat -wuz Colonel Worth’s servant, he ride out on dat big white horse o’ de -Colonel’s an’ say ‘Colonel Worth want Marthy Jane ter cook de treaty -dinner;’ so me an’ Diana Pyles an’ Lucinda Pyles cook dat dinner. - -“Oh, Lordy, what scufflin’ roun’ an’ jumpin’ like chickens wif der -heads off as we do dat day. - -“All de sojers’ guns an’ de Indians’ guns, too, wuz stacked in dat -garrison, an’ when de night come, dey make big camp fires an’ de -white folks dance an’ de Indians wuz a dancin’ too, wif dem ole -coutre (terrapin) shells a strapped ’roun’ der legs. - -“Tell you ’bout Colonel Worth? He wuz de gem’men ob all dat crowd; -he wuz de nobles’ lookin’ man an’ so kind an’ easy; de United States -nebber would hab conquered dem Seminoles if dey had not induced -Colonel Worth ter come down an’ argufy wif dem. Him an’ old Captain -Holmes wuz de mos’ like our folks ob any ob dem big generals. - -“Arter dey had all eat, an’ eat dem fine wituals we cook, den dey hab -de speech makin’; oh, dat wuz high ’stronomy talk! - -“I reckelmember jest like hit wuz to-day, me an’ Diana Pyles wuz a -standin’ right inside de garrison an’ dat noble-lookin’ Colonel Worth -wuz talkin’ kind an’ persuadin’ like ter dem savages an’ axin’ dem -all ter come up an’ sign de treaty. - -“You see dat treaty wuz foh dem ter quit fightin’ an’ go ter Arkansas. - -“All dem chiefs walk up but two. Oh, Lordy mercy I kin jest see dat -Sam Jones yit standin’ close ’side Colonel Worth. He wuz sut’n’ty a -big Indian an’ could talk English good as we alls white folks. - -“He jest look at de Colonel pizen like an’ I smell de trouble den, -an’ he up an’ say, ‘My mother died heah, my father died heah, an’ be -demned I die heah; yo-ho-ee, hee-ee!’ - -“How dat Indian could gib dat war whoop; an’ he walk right ober -yonder ter dat big stack ob guns an’ take his rifle an’ ebbery Indian -ob his band follow’ ’m an’ dey walk out ob dat garrison as easy as a -cat arter a mouse. - -“Colonel Worth did look so peaked, but twan’t no use, foh he couldn’t -stop dese chiefs; he hab gib dem the promise dat if dey would all -come in he would treat ’em all right. - -“Dem wuz cruel days,” and old Martha Jane quivered with indignation -as she brought her fat hand down upon her knee. “But hit wasn’t de -Indians’ fault. No man what hab a gun is gwine ter let somebody -steal the cattle an’ horses, an’ dat jest what de white people do ter -de Seminoles. - -“Lord a mercy, I hab seed Paynes’ Prairie covered wif de cattle an’ -horses dat ’longed ter de Indians, an’ de white rapscallions would -carry ’em off a hundred at a time. Umph! I heah ’em brag how dey -carry off de Indians’ horses. Ole Thorpe Roberts he wuz a ole fief. -He would say, ‘We make many a good haul ob dem savages’ cattle, ten -ob us come in at onct an’ drive off a thousan’ head.’ - -“Yes, Mistis, dat ole Seminole war make a heap o’ white folks rich in -Florida. - -“Oh, Lord hab mercy on all dem souls. Dey wuz hard times, times o’ -misery, chile, but de Indians wuzn’t ter blame. God make ’em an’ dey -hab ter hab a place ter stay, jest same as we alls white folks. - -“De white people bring all dat ’struction on der own heads foh dey -commence dat war. I see hit wif my own eyes; I see ’em kill de -Indians’ slaves. You see de Seminoles hab slaves jest de same as -white folks, an’ some ob der niggers wuz as fine-lookin’ black men as -you ebber ’spect ter see in Ole Virginia. - -“When de Indians would come ’roun’ ter esquire ’bout der cattle de -white rapscallions (an’ a heap o’ dem wuz dem low down nigger traders -too) dem white men would up an’ shoot de Indians. - -“Lordy chile, when I gits ter ruminatin’ ’bout dem days I sees de -longes’ line o’ haunts whats obtained in dis world o’ sin an’ sorrow.” - -I laid down my tablet and looked up; the old woman’s lip was -quivering from suppressed emotion. Passing over the tragic she began -again. - -“No, chile, ’xcusin’ ob de truf, de United States nebber whipped de -Seminoles; she whipped dem Britishers when George Washington wuz de -captain, an’ de Mexicans, den she tuck a little ’xcursion ’cross ter -Cuba an’ whipped dem Spaniards; but she nebber whipped the Seminoles. -Umph; where wuz de Indians when de sojers wuz all shinin’ in dem new -uniforms an’ der ammunition all packed up? Dem savages wuz all gone, -hidin’ in dem hammocks an’ swamps what wuz so thick wif trees an’ -bushes dat a black snake could skacely wiggle through. - -“De sojers would go marchin’ ’long an’ way up in de tops ob some ob -dem big trees some ob dem sly ole Indian scouts would be sittin’ -wifout any clothes on, a watchin’ an’ a laughin’ at de sojers.” - - * * * * * - -“You want ter heah ’bout dat battle o’ Micanopy? - -“De Seminoles didn’t hab no battles like dem Britishers in George -Washington times; no chile, but dey hab scrummages an’ kill de white -people jest like dey wuz black birds,” and the old negress, seemingly -oblivious to the fact that cruel time has bowed her frame and dimmed -the once bright eye, lives over again the story of those days so long -ago, when she was the pampered slave of the old aristocracy. - -“How come I ter see dat big fight, I b’longed ter Marster Mundane; de -Mundane fambly wuz powerful rich and owned the big hotel where the -officers wuz stayin’. - -“Der warn’t no Indians ’roun’ der jest den, an’ ebbery thing wuz -peaceful an’ quiet, an’ I heah de sojers a jokin’ an’ sayin’ day wuz -jest a spendin’ de winter in de Sunny South an’ de Governmen’ wuz -payin’ de grub bills. - -“I reckelmember jest like I am tellin’ you ter day, I wuz standin’ on -dat big piazza ’side o’ Missus; you know I wuz riz up ter be ’roun’ -white folks, foh I wuz allus so peart dat my ole Missus in Virginia -would call me in ter de parlor ter show me off ter de white ladies. - -“Well, honey, dis mornin’ de sojers wuz a cleanin’ der guns an’ -laughin’ an’ dey ax Mistis, ‘How many deer you want foh dinner?’ Den -anudder likely young sojer would say, ‘How many turkeys you want, -Mistress Mundane?’ an’ den dey went off a whistlin’ an’ a singin’; -but oh, my God, what lamentations der wuz dat same night. - -“Twan’t long will I heah, bang--bang--bang, an’ I says ter myself, -Marthy Jane, too many deer, too many wild turkey, sound ter me like -Indian shootin’; ’spect dem rapscallions sneak up on de sojers, an’ -dis black chile gwine ter see foh herself. I jest slipped out o’ de -house an’ kachunk! kachunk! I went down that big lane as fas’ as a -horse can trot till I come ter de prairie an’ den I clumb in ter a -big oak tree, den de nex’ thing I do I wrap dat gray moss ’roun’ me -so dem debbils couldn’t see me. - -“How dem Indians did shoot! If dat sight didn’t beat de lan’! -Zipp--zipp--bang--bang, an’ ebbery time dey shoot dey yell like -debbils, yo-ho-e-hee-eee bang, den fall on de groun’ an’ load dat -musket, stan’ up an’ shoot again; de sojers a droppin’ ebbery time a -Indian shoot. - -“De sojers wuz so skeered dey couldn’t load der guns when de Indians -would gib dat Satan screech. - -“An’ den de poor sojers jest dropped guns an’ run in ter de lake an’ -de woods an’ dem savages would go an’ take de guns an’ de ammunition -offen de dead bodies an’ den go runnin’ like a deer. - -“Lord a mercy, hit seems ter me I heah de wind blowin’ ghosts an’ de -sperits ob de brave gem’men what wuz killed on dat field ebbery time -I talks ’bout dat day. - -“Yes, Mistis, dat scrummage wuz called de battle ob Payne’s Prairie. -When de Colonel found out de Indians killed so many ob de sojers, -he tore roun’ like a wild bear an’ clar ’foh de Almighty dat he wuz -gwine ter sen’ off an’ fetch de whole United States troops ter come -down an’ kill ebbery Indian in Florida. - -“But what good wuz all dat big talk; dey hab two regimen’s stayin’ -der den, and ’foh dey could git outen de garrison de sly ole Indians -wuz all gone an’ didn’t leave a track behin’ dem, nuther. - -“Dem wuz days ob ’struction, ter be shure! but dey mought ha’ -knowed dat war wuz a comin’, kase Daddy Charles see dem divisions -in Virginia an’ tell de white people great ’struction ob war wuz a -comin’, he tell dem dat hit gwine ter wrestle wif a foreign country, -an’ den ’sides de divisions, de wild pigeons come an’ dey wuz so -thick you couldn’t see de trees and de slaves kill ’em wif der hoe -handles in de corn field. - -“Yes, dat big Seminole war did come,” said Martha Jane triumphantly, -“jest like dat ole saint o’ black man tole de people. - -“I ain’t nebber seed no lonesomer place like dat Payne’s Prairie from -dat day ter dis arter dey hab dat skirmishin’. - -“I see de folks lyin’ on de grass an’ de tall grass blowin’ backards -and forrerds, but dem sojers nebber move. Den de men come an’ carry -’em ter de hospital. I shrouded so many dat night dat I got hardened -jest like a dog wifout a soul. - -“Colonel Whisler, he wuz a Yankee man, he sayd, ‘Marthy Jane, you -orter hab been a man, you is so nervy.’ Dat why I can’t eat hominy -ter dis day, I make so many poultices endurin’ ob de war ter draw out -de bullets; dey didn’t hab dem pizen balls o’ Satan like dey do in -dese regenerate days since surrender. - -“Arter dem scanlous time, Colonel Worth an’ Colonel Whisler ’cided -dat dey mus’ go ter Fort Myers to see how dem scrummagers wuz goin’ -on down dat way. - -“De headquarter men ’low dey mighty nigh perish’d foh sumptin’ good -ter eat an’ tell ole Mistis dey ’bliged ter hab me go ’long ter do de -cookin’. Colonel Whisler wuz one ob dese kind o’ captains what want -his coffee hot an’ all de victuals on de jump. - -“Dem wuz high camp-meetin’ times all de way. In dem days de game wuz -powerful plentiful, an’ dem victuals I cooked wuz a plum sight; deer, -wild turkey an’ ducks wuz a flyin’ wherebber der wuz a pond o’ water. -Um-um-m, didn’t I cook ’em de fine victuals. - -“Colonel Worth ’cided dey couldn’t kill de Indians so he say he would -jest campaign along an’ destroy all der crops an’ burn der houses; he -’lowed dat wuz better dan shootin’ dem; an’ oh Lordy, didn’t we eat -de corn an’ watermelons dem Indians raise. - -“We march an’ we stop, an’ we march an’ we stop, till hit wuz de -Lord’s blessin’ dat we hab so many horses an’ wagons. - -“Oh, dem long wagon trains, wif sojers betwixt, sojers in front an’ -sojers behind. - -“You see, de officers hab der wives along an’ some mighty fine white -ladies what wuz a visitin’ at de garrison. Dem wuz shure camp-meetin’ -days. - -“Ole Billy Daniels an’ old man Strafford, dey wuz along too; dey wuz -ole men den. I ’spect dey both dead afoh now.” - - * * * * * - -“I wuzn’t anyways skeery, but we sut’n’ty wuz a long way from ole -Mistress, mighty nigh two hundred miles. - -“Arter all dat camp-meetin’ frolickin’ Colonel Worth ’cided he would -come back ter Fort King an’ leave de sojers ter keep on destroyin’ at -Fort Myers. - -“Billy Daniels wuz obliged to ’scort us back, kase he is de man what -drawed de map of Florida an’ put all de lakes an’ islan’s in foh -Colonel Worth. He couldn’t read, nuther write, but he could ’cite de -Seminole language like he hab book learnin’; he wuz de interpreter -foh Colonel Worth too. - -“Hit sut’n’ty wuz scrumagen’ times arter me an’ Diana Pyles cooked -dat treaty dinner foh Colonel Worth. - -“Mos’ generally de troops went a troopin’ north, but dey lef’ some ob -de sassiest white men I ebber see top o’ earth ter guard de State; -low down white rapscallions. - -“You see, hit wuz dis away, terrectly dey fin’ out de Indians wuz all -gone south dey make up dat dey bes’ skeer our people so de United -States would keep payin’ dem government money. - -“No, Mistis, hit wuzn’t de Indians dat did de skirmishin,’ hit wuz de -white rapscallions what wuz hankerin’ foh dem government rations. - -“Our people wuz rich den wif de big sugar plantations an’ cotton -fields an’ a heap o’ slaves an’ cattle an’ horses; our folks didn’t -want no war, but hit wuz de poor white people dat rousted ’roun’ at -night an’ kill de cattle an’ put moccasins on der ole foots, what -look as rough as alligators’ hides, den dey go an’ make tracks all -roun’ like a hundred Indians been a spyin’. Hit sholy did skeer our -people, but twan’t de Seminoles, kase de Indian is a debbil, but he -ain’t gwine ter stay ’roun’ Fort King when he done promise Colonel -Worth he gwine go ’way. - -“Dem white men keep up dat debbilment till de United States find out -’bout hit, an’ she say if dey any moh o’ dat meanness foun’ out dat -dey will hang ebbery rapscallion what prowlin’ ’roun’ we alls white -folks houses.” - - - - - PART II - - The Florida Seminoles of To-day - - - - - PART SECOND - - THE PRESENT CONDITION AND ATTITUDE OF THE SEMINOLES - - -To-day the Seminoles of Florida are a beggared and spectral type -of a once powerful race. And in their swamp homes we find these -brown-skinned people, living in the primeval customs of their -fathers, little changed from the Indians De Soto found in the “Land -of Flowers,” or Columbus upon the little island upon which he landed -the weary and anxious cargo of the frail Pinta, and of whom he wrote -to his Queen, “Because they showed much kindliness for us, and -because I know they would be more easily made Christians through love -than fear, I gave to them some glass beads for their necks, some red -caps with which they were so delighted and entirely ours, it was a -marvel to see.” - -Thus we have dispossessed the original owners of as goodly a land as -the sun ever shone upon, a land that cost us nothing but the beads of -the early adventurers and the bullets of their successors, a race, -savages ’tis true, but heroes many of them, and proud and courtly as -their conquerors. - -The American people expend thousands of dollars annually in -scientific research for antiquities and many more thousands are -spent by the antiquarian for the preservation of the relics and -ancient records. The North American Indian is fast vanishing from -the continent. Are not the Seminoles of Florida, the descendants of -the old monarchs, this race around which shadowy romance hovers, as -worthy of preservation as the inanimate treasures of ancient Egypt? -Are there no Rameses in American history? In the old turbaned tribe -of Florida, we have a remnant of the most picturesque, deserving and -moral of all the Aborigines of America, and they belong to a type -that is everywhere else extinct. Are they not worth preserving and -protecting to a point worthy the proud and historic name of Seminole? - -Secure in the mysterious marshes, these Indians present an eloquent -picture of a helpless wandering tribe. - -At the close of the war, a few bands of the Indians refused to submit -to banishment and, concealing themselves in the fastnesses of the -Everglades, made their removal an impossibility. This part of the -tribe, according to their traditions, belonged originally to the -Aztec race and for this reason they claim a preëminence over all the -tribes of Aborigines of America. - -Though defeated in war, they never submitted to the Government of -the United States, and hence regard themselves as more valiant in -defense, more determined in purpose than that part of the tribe -which succumbed to emigration to the Indian Territory; in fact, the -old chieftains say of the Indians who emigrated, “Arkansas Indians, -cowards and traitors.” - -So to-day the Seminoles of Florida occupy a unique position with -respect to the United States Government, as, being unconquered and -unsubdued, having no legal existence nor allegiance to our Nation; in -short, so far as the United States is concerned officially, _there -are no Indians in Florida_. - -The tribe to-day numbers about 600 souls, living at peace with all -mankind, independent, but suspicious of Washington officials, only -asking to be let alone, a homeless people in a free land, ever -pushing on before the insatiable cupidity of the white man. - -An inexorable decree has forced the Florida Indian into the most -desolate lands of Florida. Where they once trod as masters they -now fear to place foot. We cannot be unmoved by the thought that -here are the tattered and poverty stricken handfuls of a tribe of -warriors that held at bay a strong government for half a century, -a tribe that counted their cattle, their lands and their slaves in -magnificent proportions. At the present time, to avoid complications -with the South Florida cattle herders none of the race are permitted -to own cattle. There is a certain pathos in the Indian’s story of his -relation to the white race, which arrests our attention and compels -sympathy. But, it is destiny! What of the future? Touch any point -in the red man’s history, where you will, or how you will, and the -helpless savage always gets the worst of it. - -There is no use in muck-raking about it. We are leisurely taking -our time at finishing the extermination of the original American. -Whether or not the future historian chronicles this as a century of -dishonor, the fact remains that, since he could not withstand the -white faces, the Indian will go--pass out of existence. - -We judge the Indian too harshly. It is hard to give up old -traditions, especially if the adherence to them means a life of ease. -We are all in the pursuit of that which will make us happy. - -The story is the old one of merciless extinction of the lower race -before the higher. It is a story of the “survival of the fittest.” -The Florida Indian can go no further. An old anecdote is brought to -light which illustrates the Indian’s own view of the case. The famous -Seneca chief, Red Jacket, once met a government agent, and after -pleasant greetings they both sat down on a log, when Red Jacket asked -the agent to “move along.” The agent did so and the chief followed. -This was done several times, the agent humoring the whim of the -old chief, until he had reached the end of the log, when the same -request, “move along” was repeated. “Why, man,” angrily replied the -agent, “I can’t move along further without getting off the log into -the mud.” “Ugh! Just so white man want Indian to move along--move -along; can’t go no further, yet he say move along.” And so with the -Seminole to-day. The clearings they have made in the forests and the -only homes they have ever known have been bought from the State by -speculators and they are compelled to “move along.” The history of -the western Indian as he sells or surrenders the heart of his great -reservation proves that the white man will have his way. The broken -treaties of the past the Seminole has not forgotten. The old chiefs -are as proud as the most imperious king. They regard these lands -as their own, and cannot understand the Government’s claim. They -say “What right has the big white chief at Washington to give to us -what is already ours--the lands of our fathers?” The white man who -receives any confidence from the Florida Indian must indeed possess -great magnetism, for the Seminole is suspicious of every overture and -will mislead his questioner on all occasions. And while the white man -is studying “poor Lo,” “poor Lo” is similarly engaged in studying -him, and continually revolving in his suspicious mind, “what can pale -face want from the Indian anyway?” - -The chiefs have taught the young braves all about the outrages -perpetrated upon their tribe by unscrupulous agents during the wars; -and while the Indians themselves in many cases practiced cruelty, it -was always in retaliation for some grievous wrong of anterior date. -History records case after case of robberies and enormities committed -on the Seminoles previous to the war and during its progress. -Micanopy requested a lawyer to draw a form of writing for him which -soon after proved to be a conveyance of a valuable tract of land! -Afterwards the war-whoop and the deadly hand of Micanopy was heard -and felt among the swamps and prairies. Micanopy was one of the most -powerful, as well as one of the wealthiest Seminole chieftains. -His estate, a mile square, he ceded to the United States. Of the -disposition of his slaves--he had eighty--nothing is said. - -In connection with the portrait of Micanopy as used in this -volume, this bit of almost forgotten history is worth mention. -When the famous Indian portrait painter, Catlin, was commissioned -by the War Department to paint the most prominent chiefs then in -captivity at Fort Moultrie, Micanopy, as chief of the Nation, was -first approached, but positively refused to be painted. After much -persuasion, he at last consented, saying, “If you make a fair -likeness of my legs,” which he had very tastefully dressed in a -handsome pair of red leggins, “you may paint Micanopy for the Great -Father,” “upon which, I at once began,” says Catlin, “as he sat cross -legged, by painting them upon the lower part of the canvas, leaving -room for the body and head above.” - -When the chief saw every line and curve brought out on the canvas he -smiled his approval, and the work proceeded, to the delight of both -artist and subject. - -In the mutual relations between the whites and the Indians it -requires no skilled advocate to show on which side must lie the -wrongs unrepaired and unavenged. Without doubt the Indian has always -been the victim. One thing is certain, the Indian chiefs, when fairly -dealt with, have always evinced an earnest desire to make just terms. -Ever since the Caucasian landed on the shores of America, a white -man with a gun has been watching the Indian. Four centuries have -gone and with them a record of broken treaties and violated pledges. -The records of the Indian Bureau support the statement that, before -the first half of the present century had passed, we had broken -seven solemn treaties with the Creeks, eleven with the Cherokees; -the Chickasaws and Choctaws suffered too, saying nothing of smaller -tribes. History reveals how well the Delawares fought for us in the -Revolutionary War. They were brave “allies,” fighting out of loyalty -to the “Alliance,” and inspired by the promised reward, viz.: “The -territorial right to a State as large as Pennsylvania and a right to -representation in our Congress.” But where are the Delawares to-day? -One remove after another was made until we find only a remnant -existing--some with the Cherokees, and a few with the Wichita agency. - -A great deal has been written about the Florida Indian which is not -in accordance with facts. There are many obstacles in the way of -an intimate acquaintance with their customs and home life. Living -as they do in the almost inaccessible morasses, their contact with -civilization has been regulated by their own volition. Visitors, -traders and government agents have been denied their confidence, and -it is only on their visits to settlements for the purpose of trading -that they meet the white man. At such times the Seminole is on the -alert, ever suspicious, and to the numerous interrogations applied to -him by the inquisitive stranger, his answer is an indifferent “Me -don’t know.” When questions become of a personal character, touching -upon subjects sacred to a Seminole, he quietly walks away, leaving -his questioner wondering. - -The Seminoles live to themselves, shun all intimacy with the -Caucasian, and their personal appearance is therefore almost unknown -to Americans. The greater part of the tribe seldom, if ever, leave -their marshy homes. To reach their camps uninhabitable wilds must be -traversed and sometimes miles of mud and water waded, then perhaps -only to find the camp deserted. For, while the Seminole has regular -settlements, at various times during the year the entire camp will -assemble at some point where game is abundant and a “big hunt” will -occupy a few weeks. Again syrup boiling will be the festival all will -join in; at another time a large quantity of koonti (wild cassava) -will be made into flour. At these gatherings the tribe or families -occupy temporary dwellings called lodges. - -The innate dislike of the Seminole toward strangers is his hardest -prejudice to overcome; yet he is hospitable when he convinces himself -that the visitor is no Government agent, nor come for any mercenary -motive. The person who is fortunate enough to reach their hunting -grounds, secure their confidence, observe their weird home life, and -their childish untutored ways, meets with an attractive spectacle of -romance and may study these aborigines in their primeval customs. -For to-day, with the exception of the chiefs and a few of the -adventuresome warriors, they know nothing of the innovations of -the last half century. So strong are they in their resolution to hold -no intercourse with our nation, that neither bribery nor cajolery -will have any effect upon them. A few years ago an effort was made -by the authorities of the Sub-Tropical Exposition at Jacksonville, -Florida, to secure a few of the Seminole braves for exhibition. -After many proffered bribes, the young warriors with the adventurous -spirit of youth consented to go to the “big city.” A council was held -and the chiefs said “_halwuk_ (it is bad); if you go you never come -back.” The council of the chiefs is always respected and the young -braves remained with their fathers. - -[Illustration: - - _By the courtesy of the American Bureau of Ethnology._ - -A SEMINOLE DWELLING] - -The life of the Seminole has been without any aid or instruction from -the white man. He has adopted a few of the implements, weapons and -utensils of civilization; but in no other way has he imitated his -pale-faced brother. In the natural course of evolution he has made -some progress; he has not degenerated. - -Government reports show an annual appropriation of almost $7,000,000 -for the Indian service; yet the Florida Indian has not received any -part of it and without it he has shown a prosperous condition. The -Smithsonian report, in comparing this interesting people with the -native white settlers, says “that success in agriculture and domestic -industries is not to be attributed wholly to the favorable character -of the climate and soil; for, surrounded by the same conditions, -many white men are lazy and improvident, while the Seminoles are -industrious and frugal.” - -President Cleveland in his message for 1895 pertinently says, “In -these days, when white agriculturists and stock raisers of experience -and intelligence find their lot a hard one, we ought not to expect -Indians to support themselves on lands usually allotted to them.” - -Years later, while the late lamented ex-President was fishing in -New River at the edge of the Everglades, he said, “This country was -made for the Seminoles and they should be permitted to live here -undisturbed forever.” - -Yet in Florida, we find the red race not only self-sustaining, but -refusing any aid from our Government. Twenty years ago the Government -appropriated $6,000, “to enable the Seminoles of Florida to obtain -homesteads upon the public lands, and to establish themselves -thereon.” A few of the Indians consented to accept; but the agent, -on investigation, found that the lands which the Indians desired -had passed into State or Improvement Companies. Today the Seminole -is embittered; and, having been driven from one reservation to -another, he refuses to exchange “Indian’s good lands for white man’s -bad lands,” and in the bitterness of his conquered spirit, takes -his dusky tribe to the dark shadows of the cypress swamps, where no -pale-faced Government officer dare disturb him. Again Congress tacked -an item to the appropriation act, giving $7,000 “for the support -of the Seminoles of Florida, for the erection and furnishing of a -school for teachers and the furnishing of seeds and implements for -agricultural purposes.” In the winter of 1889, an agent inspired with -confidence in himself, and with the hope of manipulating a $12,000 -appropriation, came to Florida by appointment from Washington to -renew the effort “to find suitable lands upon which to settle the -Indians, and to furnish the seat of an educational establishment.” -Securing an interpreter the agent visited the Indian camp. A council -of chiefs listened quietly to his overtures, but with the same proud -spirit of Osceola’s day, they refused firmly to accept any aid from -a Government which they regard as having stolen from them the lands -of their fathers. As the agent dwelt on the presents the red men of -Florida should receive from the big white chief, Tiger Tail, a worthy -descendant of the invulnerable Tustenuggee, replied, “You came from -Great Chief? You say that Great Chief give Indian plow, wagon, hoe?” -Then pointing in the direction of a small settlement of shiftless -whites, he added, “He poor man, give ’em him. Indian no want ’em.” -Delivering his speech with the spirit of an old Norse King, the chief -strode majestically away, leaving the agent no nearer the fulfillment -of his trust. - -An Indian Agency was established, however, in Florida in 1892, -located east of Fort Myers, and about thirty-five miles from the -nearest Seminole camp. It was supported by a yearly appropriation of -$6,000, the appropriation act reading, “For the support, civilization -and instruction of the Seminole Indians in Florida $6,000, one-half -of which sum may be expended at the discretion of the Secretary of -Interior in procuring permanent homes for said Indians.” - -The Government built a saw mill, and attempted a school, but the -Indians, according to the statement of Col. C. C. Duncan, U. S. -Indian Inspector at that time, refused to send their children to -the school or to work at the saw mill. Many white traders who -purchase hides, plumes and furs from the Indians, tell them that the -establishment of an agency is for the purpose of rounding them up -and sending them west. These Indians have been cheated and baffled -so often by knaves, who go among them for that purpose, that they -imagine all whites to be of the same character, and cannot tell -whether a “talk” comes from their great white father at Washington, -or whether some imposter be imposing upon them for his own gains; -hence, the Seminole never removed his cloak of suspicion. Little -progress was made and the work of the agency as a government -institution was abandoned. - -Once or twice it has been tried to locate the Seminoles, but when the -chiefs examined the land, they found it “ho-lo-wa-gus” (no good) and -they refused the offer. - - - - - NATIONAL INDIAN ASSOCIATION - - ITS WORK AND ITS RESULTS - - -When the National Indian Association first organized, like many -innovations in humanitarian work, it met with rebuffs and criticisms, -and not until after five years of petitioning to Congress, newspaper -recognition and the circulation of leaflets, did the splendid body -receive legal recognition and protection for the United States -Indians. With this much accomplished, the work became easier and -plans to evangelize the Indians of the United States were instituted. - -It became the duty of the Association to gather money for the work, -establish stations, one by one, finance the expense of building -mission cottages and chapels, and then when established, give the -station, with all its property, to whichever of the denominational -boards should ask for it. - -The work has been one of the noblest of pioneer mission labor, for -its activities are directed to America’s original owners, whose -God-given inheritance should never be questioned by any patriot, -whether he be Christian or moralist. - -In 1891, this organization entered Florida and the Seminole Indians -received recognition and the first ray of Christian light pierced the -dark camps of the Everglade Indians. - -While the missionary in charge found the work difficult and results -were not flattering, still, the seeds were sown that have brought -later and better results, and in 1893 the Mission was transferred to -the Episcopal Church of the South Florida Diocese. - -During the period of the National Organization’s stay in Florida, -Congressional agitation of the subject of Seminole lands was aired by -deeply interested friends and pauseless workers, and resulted in the -voting of 800,000 acres of land by the Florida Legislature as a home -for the Seminoles, a gift needing action on the part of Congress to -make it a sure and permanent home for this long-neglected people. But -this action alas! was never taken.[3] - -In giving the Florida Station over to the Episcopal Church, the -National Indian Association made no mistake, for through the untiring -efforts of the Rt. Rev. William Crane Gray of the South Florida -diocese, the mission has each year been getting better results. The -Station has been named Im-mo-ka-lee (home), and is situated about -thirty-five miles from Fort Myers. Forty miles farther is a hospital, -called Glade Cross; here an immense white cross has been erected at -the entrance to the glades. - -The present arrangement, under the charge of the estimable Rev. Dr. -Godden, seems to be solving the mission question better than any -former plan. The mission owns a store where the Indians may buy or -sell; the missionary in charge may meet and converse personally with -the Indians; he wins their friendship and is able by degrees to -instill religious thoughts into them. The Rev. Dr. Godden is working -along industrial lines, and says, “We must fit these Seminoles by -education and Christianity to meet the coming conditions, and teach -them to become self-supporting by industrial pursuits and _now is the -time to do it_.” - -The work proposed is to erect suitable houses for the residence of -the missionary and his family with sufficient room to entertain -visiting Indians when in over night and a barrack or rest room for -laborers employed in clearing land and working crops. - -Writing in 1909 of the work and Mission, Dr. Gray says: - - To Bishops, Clergy and Laity of - The American Church, Greeting: - - I desire to commend most heartily my well-beloved in the Lord, - Rev. Irenæus Trout, Missionary to the Seminole Indians in Southern - Florida. I believe that God has in a marvelous way designated him - as the very man to go forward with the work in which he has already - been signally blessed, viz: that of leading the Seminoles into the - Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are now at the very crisis of - opportunity. - - Hear him and help him. Here is a cry, not from Europe, Asia or - Africa, but from the Everglades, in your own Florida: “Come and - help us!” A thousand prayers accompany him from this Missionary - District. - - God gives you the privilege of helping this poor Seminole remnant - into the kingdom. - - Faithfully, - For Christ and the Church, - (Seal) WM. CRANE GRAY, - Bishop of Southern Fla. - - The Cathedral Church - Of St. Luke, - Orlando, Fla., Jan. 15, 1909. - - - - - THE FRIENDS OF THE FLORIDA SEMINOLES. - - -A few years ago great interest was manifested in these Florida -wards, when a Society called “The Friends of the Florida Seminoles” -was organized at Kissimmee, Fla., with the Rev. William Crane Gray, -Bishop of the South Florida Episcopal Church, President; Rev. D. A. -Dodge, Vice-president; Mr. James M. Willson, Jr., Secretary, and -State Senator C. A. Carson, Treasurer. Other officers (trustees) -were the late George W. Wilson, Editor-in-chief of the Florida -Times-Union; Hon. J. R. Parrott, President of the Florida East Coast -Railroad Co., and Capt. F. M. Hendry, Fort Myers, Fla. - -This body, assisted by the active interest and sympathy of Gov. W. D. -Bloxam, Mr. P. A. Van Agnew, and Mr. Kirk Munroe, made it possible -for the Society to accomplish its State-wide results, numbering among -its members philanthropic people from Maine to California. - -The object of this society was to enlist the sympathy of the American -people for these homeless people and to strenuously oppose the -removal of the Seminoles from the State against their consent. No -really true American, whether he be an Indian sympathizer or not, can -feel any but sympathy for the Florida Seminole if he understand the -true status of his condition, and when the Society of the Friends -of the Florida Seminoles was established, a great wave of sympathy -was felt all over the country and requests for membership came in -from all ranks, the highest circles of finance, from social leaders, -educational centers and government officials. It was recognized an -honor to belong to the organization. - -The membership list is still open and the Society earnestly appeals -to the people of America to take a friendly interest in the future -fate of this forlorn remnant, who are one of Florida’s most native -possessions, and to aid in securing for them permanent homes in the -unsettled portions of the State before it is too late. - -The interest and work of the Society was greatly aided through the -editorial columns of Harper’s Weekly, when Edward S. Martin made an -appeal in behalf of that band of Seminoles known as the Cow Creeks. -The object was to purchase a tract of land on which was located -about seventy-five Indians. They had lived here for thirty years, -cultivating part of the land and using the rest as a range for their -hogs, but as they had no legal title to the land, they were at the -mercy of squatters who coveted them. About four hundred dollars -were raised, but when the attempt was made to locate these Indians, -cowboys and land-grabbers had alarmed them, by telling them that the -Government was getting ready to round them up and take them West, and -like frightened deer they left their homes and retired again to the -swamp fastnesses. - -The Society purchased some fields upon which the Indians were camping -with Harper’s fund--the remainder of the funds being held in trust -for its original purpose. The Society secured great public sentiment -in their favor, and hoped to obtain lands through legislation. -Centuries of wrong from hands too powerful to be resisted have taught -these red Americans the patience of despair. - -Amid the blessings of Christianity, the Seminole is an outcast from -sympathy and an alien to hope, yet he has never ceased to be manly. -While we protect the deer and the alligator, the quail and the fish, -shall we leave our brother in bronze a prey to the lawless and a -helpless victim of every loafer? - -The only way to protect these wards of Florida is to buy a -reservation, and hold it in trust for them--forever. - -Even at this writing, that trackless waste of saw-grass and water -with its scattering islands and lagoons, constitutes the great -political question among Florida people--the drainage of the -Everglades. - -[Illustration: A SEMINOLE CAMP-FIRE - -The Indian mode of making a fire.] - -We cannot but admire the proud and independent spirit of the Seminole -as he refuses, in firm but Indian-like measures, the proffered -liberality of a Government which he believes has wronged him. -And, from his high pinnacle of pride, he certainly bears the -distinction of being the only _American_ who has been found unwilling -to share the spoils of the nation. So he says, “We have listened to -the great father at Washington. The Great Spirit wishes no change -in his red children. If you teach our children the knowledge of the -white people, they will cease to be Indians. To know how to read and -write is very good for white men, but very bad for red men. Long -time ago, some of our fathers wrote upon a little piece of paper -without the nation knowing anything about it. When the agent called -the Indians together he told them the little paper was a treaty -which their brethren had made with the great father at Washington, -and lo! they found that their brethren by knowing how to write, -had sold their lands and the graves of their fathers to the white -race. Tell our great father at Washington that we want no schools, -neither books, for reading and writing makes very bad Indians. We are -satisfied. Let us alone.” After this speech delivered in the native -tongue, the council breaks up, and the proud Seminole betakes himself -to the Everglades. The Seminole is disposed to make a child’s bargain -with the big white chief: “You let me alone, and I will let you -alone.” - -Photographs of the Carlisle Indian boys have been used to illustrate -the improvement which follows education; but the Seminole youth -turns away with disdain, as he notes the closely shaven head and -the American dress, and says, “Indian no want books, make ’em white -man, white man mean heap lie too much.” With a gesture faithful to -the Indian, he refers to the “long time ago, Seminoles had lands, -cattle, slaves; white man steal ’em.” This statement of the Indians -is corroborated by the old white settlers of to-day, who fought the -Indians. They tell that General Jessup’s army, on coming to the great -cattle country of South Florida, began a systematic slaughter of all -the cattle found. A body of soldiers, too large to fear an attack, -would round up a herd of the Indian’s cattle and sitting on their -horses, shoot them all down. Up to this time the Indians were regular -stock dealers, their customers being the Cubans and Minorcans. -General Jessup’s report of his march into the “Indian country,” says, -“On the 28th (January, 1837), the army moved forward and occupied a -strong position on ‘Ta-hop-ka-li-ga’ Lake, where several hundred head -of cattle were obtained.” - -The tribe to-day are taught by the chiefs to regard the whites, in -general, as lacking in honor and courage, weak and insignificant, or -in Seminole dialect, “white man--_ho-lo-wa-gus_” (no good). This is -easily understood when we consider the strong attachment an Indian -bears to his native hunting grounds; and when the memory runs back -to the time when our Government banished their friends and relatives -to the unknown wilds of the West, and they went silent and weeping -toward the setting sun. Their bitterness is consistent with their -ideas of injustices practiced upon them. - -History, romance and poetry have held up the characteristics of the -red man to our gaze from childhood. And while treachery may be a -distinguishing feature of the Indian nature, yet the lowest one of -them has some conception of honor when fairly approached. History -shows that all through the Seminole war, misrepresentations and -dishonorable schemes were practiced against them by the whites. -Almost universal sympathy goes out to this remnant of people who -fought so bravely and so persistently for the land of their birth, -for their homes, for the burial place of their kindred. As their -traditions tell them of the oppression their people suffered as -they wandered in the wilderness thrice forty years, who can tell -the secret of their hearts? To do this, it would be necessary to -become, for the time, an Indian, to put ourselves in his place--and -what white man has ever done this? Ask the waters of Tohopeliga, or -the winds that waft across Okeechobee. To the elements are whispered -the heart throbs of these red fawns of the forest. The present -Florida Indians are descendants of that invincible tribe who were -never conquered by the force of arms. Refusing in 1842 to accompany -their people to the mysterious West, they ceased to exist save for -themselves. Finding refuge in the almost inaccessible Everglades, -they were for a time almost lost to the historian. They have no -legal existence, and hence no rights that a white man is bound, by -law, to respect. There are no Indian troubles in Florida at present, -but every few months a cry comes from hungry land-grabbers, or from -trappers and hunters, that the Seminoles are killing off the deer and -plume birds. The changing conditions in the lower peninsular country -will eventually lead up to difficulties; and “Where shall we locate -the Indians?” becomes a serious problem. - -The Florida _Times-Union_ editorially says: - - All the murderous, cut-throat, unkempt and squalid Indians in - the United States whom the Government fears are provided with - reservations and such luxuries as they never before had in their - lives, but the Seminoles of Florida, the finest specimens of Indian - manhood in this country, clean in body, pure in morals, and as - brave as the lion that roams the desert, with whom so many treaties - have been wantonly broken, are being driven farther and farther - into the Everglades and their hunting grounds confiscated to the - land grabbers. Is this justice? - -Should the whites drive off the Seminoles, and thus approve their -greed for land by taking the possessions the Indians now occupy, -what good would it do them? Internal improvement companies, by their -franchises, would sooner or later take the blood-stained acres from -them. Let settlers in Florida, or in any part of the country, turn -over their accounts and see how many acres have been credited to -them, either from the State or from the general Government, without -the equivalent of homesteading or for cash. The “Western” style of -disposing of the Indian’s inheritance must not be followed in fair -Florida. It seems hard that these natives who ask no aid of our -nation, should be forced to the wall by the march of civilization. -To the Western Indians, under the protection of the Government, and -supplied in a large measure by the taxes which civilization pays, -pages are devoted by philanthropists for the betterment of their -condition. The rights of the Seminoles of Florida should be defended. -The day is not far distant when they must be made to go to the -reservation in Arkansas or to lands set apart for them in Florida. To -remove them from their tropical homes to the chilling blasts of the -Indian Territory would be an act of cruelty and wholly unnecessary. -Those of us who have enjoyed life in this land of the palm, this land -of the balmy air and life-giving sunshine, reveling in the eternal -bloom of the flowers and the ceaseless song of the birds, can well -picture the struggle it would cost the patient Seminole to be forced -to a cold western land. No, fair Florida, the ancestors of these -proud people were forced to the country of the setting sun silent -and dejected. But, with the spirit of Osceola, if they must perish, -it will be here--here upon the land of their birth, upon the graves -of their kindred. The lands they now occupy are of little value to -the white race and might be made a safe reserve for them--forever. -Cowboys who hunt upon the Okeechobee plains, say the Indians are -peaceably disposed and friendly, and have never yet disturbed or -threatened. They are certainly not foot-sore for the warpath and are -fearful of doing anything to arouse the whites. “Indian no fight,” is -the answer to the questioner. They have sense enough to know that if -war should come again it would mean extermination for them; and their -love for the “Flower Land” is so deep that the thought of exile would -cost a struggle they dare not attempt. Yet, feeble remnant that they -are, with the same heroic blood coursing their veins that inspired -their ancestors and made them almost invulnerable, the present -Seminole would choose to die rather than submit to removal. And in -their swampy fastnesses, they could maintain a contest that would -cost us thousands of dollars and many precious lives. - - - - - OUR DUTY TO THESE WARDS OF THE NATION. - - -Under the present status the Seminoles are prosperous, happy and -contented. But the vanguard of civilization is marching on, and -thinking, friendly minds must solve the question of the protection -for this remnant of a tribe we have dispossessed of their natural -rights. Dwellers of every land, from Scandinavia to the Congo have -a Christian welcome to our shores. The slums of Europe pour in upon -us to fill our almshouses and to be supported by our taxes. We have -during the past quarter century contributed more than $50,000,000 to -the education of the freedmen, yet except in individual cases, the -improvement is scarcely noticeable. - -Men and women are sacrificing their lives for the heathen of other -lands. Is not the Seminole, this remnant of a long-persecuted people, -as worthy of consideration as the oppressed Cuban or the half-naked -Filipino? - -Christianity is donating millions of money to this end, while our own -“wards,” too many of them, are yet living in the dark superstitions -of their fathers. - -[Illustration: - - _Photograph by E. W. Histed._ - -CHIEFTAIN TALLAHASSEE, WITH HIS WHITE FRIEND, THE LATE L. A. WILLSON - -“The very history of the tribe is carved in poor Tallahassee’s face. -He is the incarnation of ‘The Man without a Country.’”] - -It is possible it will take time and patience before any shining -results are apparent. Not until confidence is restored will the -embittered Seminole yield to the overtures of our Government. In an -educational sense the older Indians will not be benefited, except -through the influence of their children. The logic of events demands -absorption of this people into our National life, not as Indians, -but as American citizens; and the sooner they can be induced to -accept lands from the Government, and education for the youth, the -sooner will the civilization of the Seminole cease to be a theory. -The permanent duty of the hour is to prepare the rising generation -for the new order of events that must come. Because these bands of -the Seminoles are prouder, more invincible than the old Saxons, -because they are savages, yet heroes many of them, all the good of -life should not be withheld from them. It has taken years of labor -to obtain the shining of even the few rays of light that relieve -the gloom of the heathen countries of the Orient. It would be -unreasonable to expect the offspring of savages to attain in a short -time to anything like the thrift of a Nation like ours. Yet, with a -few years of humane treatment, unviolated pledges, with Christian -and patriotic examples set before them, this little band of Florida -Indians would become worthy representatives of this fair land. - -Were any future danger to threaten the United States, the Seminoles -would be found to be brave allies. The pledge to General Worth by -this remnant of hostiles, who, in 1842, refused to emigrate with -the rest of their tribe, temporarily agreeing “to confine themselves -to certain limits and abstain from all aggressions upon their white -neighbors,” seems to be held sacred by their descendants. The -question was put to Billy Bowlegs, one of the most intelligent of -the present Indians, as to what his people would do were the whites -to encroach, and take the clearings of his tribe are now occupying, -“Would Indian fight?” The young brave replied with downcast face, -“Indian no fight, Indian no kill, Indian go.” Pursuing the subject -further, “but, Billy, by and by, may be one year, five years, may -be, white man go, take all your land, take Okeechobee, then where -will Indians go?” With the same bowed head, the answer came low and -soft, “Me don’t know--Indian go.” Then to test his idea of an ally, -the question was asked, “What would Seminole Indians do, Billy, if -the Spaniards from across the big salt water would come to fight the -white people of Florida?” Quickly and with spirit came the answer, -“Indians help white man to fight.” Unless action be taken, there will -come a time, when, leaving no trace behind them, the Seminole shall -pass out of the world. He shall go, like the mist. - -We cannot undo the past, but the future is in the hands of the -people. In Canada there are over 100,000 Indians. They are called -the Indian subjects of His Majesty; all held amenable to the law -and protected by it. Statistics show that on one side of the line -the nation has spent millions of money in Indian wars, while on the -other, with the same greedy Anglo-Saxon race, not one dollar has been -spent, and there has never been a massacre. - -The caustic remark that the only good Indian is a dead Indian might -apply to the savage Apache; but when one has studied the home life -of the Seminoles, observed their domestic felicity, from which -many white men might take example, noted their peaceful, contented -character, he can only see in them an attractive race, and worthy the -proud lineage they claim. Surely if ever the strong were bound to aid -the weak, we are bound to help them, to treat them as human beings, -possessed of human rights, and deserving the protection of American -law. This without doubt, they will be willing to accept, when our -nation by kind, courteous and honorable means secures their lost -confidence; and when our National Christianity shall take measures -to make our land for them a home where they may dwell in peace and -safety. - - - - - CHIEF TALLAHASSEE. - - -Almost four hundred years have passed since that fair April day when -Ponce de Leon anchored on the verdant shores of Florida. Since the -Spanish cavalier planted the silken flag of Spain upon her soil, -Florida has been surrounded by a halo of romance and tragedy. Between -the time of her discovery and to-day, what marvelous scenes have been -witnessed upon her fair plains and along the borders of her wild, -dark rivers. - -The ancient race who greeted the old Castilian has vanished and, save -in the little band of Seminoles secreted in the mysterious and weird -wilderness of the Everglades, no trace of the red man is visible. A -description of a type of this fragment of a people will enable the -reader to form a better conception of the tribe as a whole; and no -name is more worthy to place in these pages than that of Tallahassee. - -The old chieftain in appearance is noble and intellectual, and -there is that in his look and bearing which at once pronounces -him something more than the mere leader of a savage tribe. While -his silvered head marks the cycle of many years, in his attire of -scarlet and white, embraced by the traditional brightly beaded sash, -he exhibits a dignified and patriarchial bearing. His countenance, -while indeed mellowed with the cares of four-score years and ten, -is kindly, and shows a conquered spirit. The lineaments of noble -features are traceable in the broad forehead, the firm, thin lips, -and eyes that might pierce the rays of the sun. Tallahassee shows no -resentment to the whites, yet he believes that they have treated the -Indian badly. - -It may seem strange to talk of gentlemanliness in an untutored -savage, but the demeanor of this Seminole chief must dignify any -family in the land. But that face! Heaven forbid that any native of -free America should wear so sad, almost heartbroken an expression as -that which seams poor Tallahassee’s face. No child could look upon -it without being impressed by its mournful pathos. The very history -of the tribe is carved there. - -When Osceola, with his compatriots, went on the warpath, -Tallahassee was a small boy, and remembers well when his father -and a few companions were surrounded and killed by the soldiers -near Tallahassee, the capital of the State. Chipco, the chief of -the tribe, was Tallahassee’s uncle; he escaped from the soldiers, -and made his way to the Everglades where he lived to be nearly one -hundred years old. Rosa, the sister of Tallahassee, became his squaw. -They were childless, and at Chipco’s death, Tallahassee inherited the -title, but as a reward for bravery displayed in saving his life on -two occasions, Chipco had made him chief years before he died. - -There is no trace of a revengeful spirit in either word or manner -when Tallahassee speaks of his father’s tragic death, but with the -stoicism of a philosopher, he seems to have accepted it as one of -the cruel fortunes of war, and has nobly “buried the tomahawk.” -Tallahassee is no stern warrior with blood-stained hands, but -wears worthily the dignities of his ancestral station, and in many -ways might be imitated with profit by his more cultured pale-faced -brother. He is a true type of the “noble red man,” and in any other -walk of life would have risen to eminence. Of all the Seminoles, -Tallahassee is the most friendly to the whites. With the inborn -courtesy that is native to all true greatness, this untutored Indian -will welcome you to his wigwam and with royal grace dispense the -hospitalities at his command. Few enter his presence, and none leave -it without this mental tribute to his high character. The old chief -is treated with care and consideration, and a homage is paid to him -by the younger members of the tribe. Among the Seminoles, when a -member of the tribe becomes too old for usefulness or self-help, it -becomes the duty of the young men to contribute their share to his -support. They are taught to do this more as an honor than as a burden. - -As the years pass, more pathetic grows the life of the hereditary -chieftain. - -A few years ago, after numerous invitations, Tallahassee was -persuaded to leave his swamp home to make a visit to the home of -the writer. The old patriarch was accompanied by Billy Bowlegs, -who showed the tenderest care for him. With one horse between them -they traveled from the Everglades to Bassinger, the terminus of the -steamboat line to Kissimmee. Then they boarded the steamer Roseada, -arriving at Kissimmee after two days’ river travel. They attracted -much attention and were the recipients of many small presents from -sympathetic friends. They were both in full costume, the old chief -wearing the regalia of his rank, sashes of bead work and red beaded -leggins. On reaching the home of their host, they immediately began -unpacking the bundle they carried, which indicated they had been -preparing for many moons back for this eventful visit. Numerous -garments, new and fanciful, were carefully withdrawn. The next -morning being the Sabbath, they dressed with greatest care for the -Sunday School and church services, which they enjoyed to the fullest. -Knowing the famous chieftain would attend service, the church was -crowded and at the close of the services parents with their children -crowded around the old chieftain eager to shake hands with him; and -with a pleasant beam of gratitude in his eyes, he received these -greetings of the white friends. - -It is a pleasing fact that Tallahassee, a savage and the -representative of an almost destitute people, received a homage and -as kindly a greeting as was ever accorded to any visitor to the -little city of Kissimmee. However adverse a man may be to the Florida -Indian in general, if he looks into the history of the Seminoles of -Florida, he not only becomes friendly, but eager to see justice meted -out to them. - -As Tallahassee bade “good-bye,” he said, “Me no more come to -Kissimmee City--old too much.” He had come as an ambassador of his -tribe to tell his white friends the history of his race, and as -memory went back to the olden days of bloodshed and accounts of home -after home wrested from his people, he trembled with suppressed -emotion. Anguish, interblended with the mournful pathos of his face, -made a picture too sad to look upon. It was a period of agonizing -struggle for this gallant, but conquered Seminole. - -Sad and prophetic were his farewell words, for a short time after -he reached his swamp home, he was taken with violent pains in his -head, and as Billy Bowlegs reported it, “Pain three days--pain -go,--Tallahassee blind _ojus_” (heap). The old chieftain, though -totally blind and physically helpless, rules his band with the same -stoic will of days long ago, when he carried them to the wilderness -and wrenched them from the white man’s bullets and Uncle Sam’s -bloodhounds.[4] - - - - - INCREASING. - - -It is generally believed that the Seminoles are dying off, and -can last but a few years longer. On the contrary, they have large -families of strong, healthy children, and the past ten years has -shown a marked increase in their number. The strict law allowing no -persons of like gens to marry is a reason why the tribe does not -multiply still more rapidly. There are instances where eligible young -men find great difficulty in getting wives because of the strictness -governing the gens or consanguinity law. One chief has two daughters -who find the same trouble in getting married because the men of their -choice are too closely connected to them. Thus, a member of the -Deer clan may not marry into the same clan, no difference how far -removed the relationship may be. Relationship on the father’s side -is not guarded against so strenuously, as the gens is all counted -through the mother. Very often the law of marriage causes strange -alliances--young men twenty years of age having old women for wives. -From the best obtainable resources, there were in the year 1859, only -one hundred and twelve Indians left in Florida. In 1880, by actual -count, as reported by the Smithsonian Institute, the Seminoles of -Florida numbered two hundred and eight. According to data gotten -from the Indians themselves the tribe to-day numbers nearly six -hundred. Of this number a great proportion are young children, or in -the language of the chief as he made a numerical calculation of the -members of the different families--“heap pikcanannies, pikcaninnies -_ojus_” (plenty). The Seminoles are divided into four bands, who -live in groups apart; each independent of the other, but in friendly -relation. They are the Miami Indians, the Big Cypress band, the -Talla-hassees and the Okeechobees. Since the death of Woxo-mic-co -(Great Chief) five years ago, no one has been elected to fill his -place, and it is doubtful if his office will ever be filled. - -No event in the history of the Seminole tribe since the closing of -the war has been more tragic than the slaughter of eight of the band, -by the hand of Jim Jumper, a half-breed belonging to the tribe. The -killing occurred in February, 1891. According to the Indians, the -negro had bought some bad whiskey from a white trader, and it made -him “crazy too much in his head”--doubtless delirium tremens. With -his Winchester in his hand he started out. The first victim was his -faithful squaw who happened to be close by. Rushing forward and -through the camp and meeting the venerable Woxo-mic-co, head chief -over all the tribe, who was on a visit to the Cow Creek band from his -council lodge at Miami, the crazy half-breed sent a ball through the -old chief’s head, killing him instantly. Old Tom Tiger, one of the -landmarks of the Indian wars, hearing the firing, came to the rescue, -but was shot down before he had time to interpose. Young Tiger, -stepping out of the wigwam in time to see his father fall to the -ground, with a blood-curdling war-whoop sprang upon the maniac and a -hand-to-hand fight ensued; but he was at the wrong end of the rifle, -and before he could wrest it from his antagonist, another report was -followed by the death-cry of the brave, young Indian. The wildest -panic ensued, the women and children huddling in their wigwams or -fleeing to the woods. The murderer now rushed into the wigwam of his -sister, and with his knife murdered her and her two little children, -who were clinging to her dress in terror. Brandishing his knife, -he started into the woods, where he was killed by a bullet from -Billy Martin’s rifle. The wailing and the anguish in that camp can -better be imagined than described. After the burial ceremony over -the murdered victims, the body of the murderer was dragged far into -the swamp, to be fed upon by the vultures. Thus passed away in less -than half an hour eight innocent lives, victims to the demoralizing -influence of the white man’s whiskey. The Indian village was broken -up, the entire band moving away to escape the visitations of the -spirits of the murdered ones. - -[Illustration: - - _Photograph by E. W. Histed._ - -A SEMINOLE GROUP OF THE TALLAHASSEE BAND, KNOWN AS THE COW CREEKS - -A people without a country.] - -On the death of Woxo-mic-co, four candidates for the position of -Big Chief appeared, but five years have passed and yet no chief -has been elected. In the old chieftain’s death the last vestige of -Seminole war spirit is obliterated. Nowhere in their history is -their determination to live at peace with their white neighbors -more conclusively proven than in the abolition of the office of -Great Chief, “Big Chief” and war councils, in their minds, being -inseparable. - -The authority of the sub-chiefs, who are leaders of the different -bands, is purely personal; they cannot decree punishment--a jury or -council alone can do this. The government is not harsh, and there is -as much freedom as could be possible in these forest homes. - - - - - APPEARANCE AND DRESS. - - -In personal appearance, many a Seminole brave might be taken as a -type of physical excellence. He is bright copper in color, is over -six feet in height, his carriage is self-reliant, deliberate and -strong. His step has all the lightness and elasticity that nature -and practice can combine to produce, as lithe and soft as the tread -of a tiger. The Yale, the Harvard or the Oxford student with years -of training in the athletic school, would be but a novice in the art -of grace, suppleness and mode of walking, as compared with this -son of the forest. His features are regular, his eyes jet black and -vigilant, always on the alert; his nose is straight but slightly -broadened, his mouth firm as a stoic’s. The hair is cut close to -the head, except the traditional scalplock of his fathers, which is -plaited and generally concealed under the large turban that adorns -his head. - -The dress of the Seminole chief consists of a tunic embraced by -a bright sash, close fitting leggins of deer-skin, which are -embellished with delicately cut thongs of the same material, that -hang in graceful lines from the waist to the ankle, where they -meet the moccasin. The moccasin is also made of deer-skin, and -covers a foot shapely and smaller than that of the average white -man. A picturesque feature of the dress is the turban. Oriental -in its effect, it has become the emblem of the race. It is worn -almost constantly; and is made impromptu from shawls or colossal -handkerchiefs wrapped round and round the head and then secured in -shape by a band, often made of beaten silver which encircles the -whole with brilliant effect. With young braves the more important the -occasion, the more enormous the turban. Another characteristic of the -dress is the number of handkerchiefs worn, knotted loosely about the -neck. Regardless of the temperature, the Indian adorns himself with -six, eight or perhaps a dozen of bright bandannas, exhibiting great -pride in the number he possesses. A belt made of buckskin completes -the costume. From this are suspended a hunting knife, a revolver, a -pouch in which is carried the ammunition and small articles necessary -for the chase. - -The physique of the women will compare favorably with that of the -men. They are healthy and robust, and among the younger members some -comely well-featured women are found. The dress of the squaw is -very simple, consisting of a straight, full skirt, made long enough -to hide the feet. The upper part of the dress is a long sleeve, -loose-fitting waist, which fails to meet the waist band of the skirt -by about two inches; this oddly fashioned garment is cut large -enough in the neck to be put on or taken off over the head. A large -collar, fashioned after the collarettes worn by the fashionables of -the season of 1896, completes the toilet. A Seminole woman wears -no head-dress of any description. Even when visiting the white -settlements they go with their heads uncovered. Neither do they wear -moccasins, at home or abroad, in winter or in summer. They are always -bare-footed. - -Vanity and coquetry are inborn in the female character. The Seminole -maiden whose life has been spent among the swamps “far from the -madding crowd” and fashion’s emporium, still practices the arts of -her pale faced sister. She affects the bang and the psyche knot with -as much ease as the New York belle, and with such metropolitan airs -soon captivates her forest lover. The same passionate desire for gold -and jewels, ever uppermost in the heart of the civilized white woman, -be she peasant or queen, shows itself in the Seminole squaw. Silver -breast-plates, made from quarters and half dollars, beaten into -various designs, add to their personal adornment on festal occasions. -What the turban is to the brave, such is the necklace of beads to -the woman. It is her chief glory and is worn constantly. Her ambition -seems to be to gather as many strings of these highly colored beads -about the neck as she can carry, often burdening herself with several -pounds. Even the wee tots are adorned with small strings of the much -prized necklace. - -Many years ago, when the Indians were encamped on the Kissimmee -River, Chief Tallahassee with two or three of the squaws visited -Kissimmee. Being taken into a room to see a newly-born babe, he -directed a squaw to take from her neck a string of beads and put -it around the neck of the “little white pappoose.” This was done -as an act of greatest honor, to show the Indian’s appreciation of -hospitalities received at this house. - - - - - INDEPENDENCE AND HONOR. - - -To-day as we meet the Seminole “at home,” we find the wigwam made -of palmetto leaves and the skins of wild animals; the floor of this -structure is made of split logs and elevated about two feet above -the ground. A few of the Indians have in late years built board -houses, but the roof is made of palmetto thatch. Here, surrounded -by the gloom and weirdness of the Everglades, miles from white -man’s habitation, the baying of the alligator, the hooting of the -great horn owl, and the croaking of the heron are the only sounds -to be heard. Truly the picture is one of melancholy and profound -dreariness. But here we find the aborigines contented because they -are out of the white man’s power. Here they hold their councils, -here around the camp fires the traditions of the old turbaned tribe -are taught to the youths; here, too, they follow the same customs of -the race of one hundred and fifty years ago. Here is instilled into -the youth the story of the perfidies practiced upon their fathers by -the white man; and as the children listen to the glories of Osceola, -and the tragic ending of their hero, the spirit of conservatism -is engendered, and with swelling hearts they go on, on, resolute -in their determination to avoid disaster, by keeping aloof from -the white man. Although far from the influence of civilization, -knowledge has come to these people naturally which we have painfully -acquired by books. Driven to these Florida jungles after a seven -years’ bloody war, here the Seminole, thrown absolutely upon his -own resources, has continued to dwell. He has accepted no aid, his -people have increased, and in a manner have prospered. No alms-houses -are supported for their benefit. This independent Indian does not -increase the expense of the jail nor the penitentiary; he is no -starving Indian who must be fed at the expense of the Government. -In these red sons of the forest we meet the original “real Indian,” -unchanged by contact with the white man. The visitor to the “Wild -West,” who complains that “the Indians do not look like the Indians -of fifty years ago,” would have little ground for his complaint -were he to visit the Seminoles in their marshy fastnesses. Florida -can boast of one of the few tribes of “real Indians” in the United -States. The present Seminole must be credited with a high sense of -honor; and he can keep a pledge as well as did Massasoit. A few years -ago, during a terrific coast storm some Indian braves asked shelter -of a Florida settler. The Indians were received and entertained -until the weather settled. On leaving, the chief sweeping his hand -toward the broad Savannah, said, “Captain, hunt deer?” The answer was -“Sometimes.” “Indian no hunt Captain’s deer,” was the rejoinder. Very -little in itself, but it meant much, for since that time there has -not been an Indian hunter within miles of the place. - -[Illustration: CHIEF TALLAHASSEE MARTHA TIGER SHE YO HEE - TOMMY HILL MILAKEE] - -Famed in song and story is the pledge of the old turbaned tribe of -the Seminoles. Not more worthy are they of commemoration than their -descendants of to-day. A few months ago, Billy Bowlegs and Tommy -Doctor paid an unexpected visit to Kissimmee. They walked from their -camp at Okeechobee Marsh, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five -miles to tell their white friend that “Indians no lie.” This was all. -They apparently had no other business in town, and after a few hours’ -visit left as quietly as they had come. Their mission was completed, -their white brother believed them, their honor was clear; they could -now dance at the Green Corn Dance with merry hearts. - -A few months prior to this, these Indians had promised their white -friend to act as guide on a bear hunt in the Everglades. All -arrangements had been made for the hunt, except to fix the time and -place of meeting. This was to be done through a white settler. Later, -plans for the hunt were perfected, and word was sent to the Indian -village. According to their promise the Indians came to the settler’s -home on the day specified, but found that the white man had left his -house early in the morning with no message as to how or where the -Indians should follow. The Indians, not knowing which way to go to -find the party, could do nothing but return to their camp--a distance -of forty or fifty miles. Subsequent developments proved that the -white man wished to act as guide, and thereby earn for himself the -remuneration he expected the Indians would receive. - - - - - THE SEMINOLE’S UNWRITTEN VERDICT OF THE WHITE RACE. - - “Es-ta-had-kee, ho-lo-wa-gus, lox-ee-o-jus” - (White man no good, lie too much.) - - -In some mysterious way, the Seminole’s conception of the Decalogue -neither to lie, nor steal, nor cheat, is the foundation stone upon -which he builds his character, principle and honor, for it is taught -to the race, from the cradle to the grave, to the swinging papoose -on its mother’s shoulders, all through life, till the Great Spirit -calls to the Happy Hunting Grounds. Let the reader stop and consider -that here is a community of hundreds, living in open palmetto camps. -No locks, no doors, no courts, and no officers to keep the law; a -people, who for generations have lived, pure in morals, with no -thieving, no trespassing, and no profanity (for the Seminole has -no oath in his language). With his conception of the Deity, he -reverences the name of the Great Spirit, and “Thou shalt not take -the name of the Lord thy God in vain,” he venerates, as did the -Hebrews in the days of Moses. What would be the result if an equal -number of the negro race were left under the same conditions for two -generations? Nay, what would be the history of six hundred whites -forced to live for even twenty-five years like the Seminoles? - -With the Seminole’s power to condense into a single phrase, he -crystalizes his verdict of the white man into the above forcible -expression. In pathetic, but terse language, it tells of generations -of wrong treatment at the hands of the white brother; sharp practices -and broken treaties, and misrepresentations are all included in the -general summing up. - -From his oral lexicon, he has chosen these few words, which reveal -the throbbing inner soul of these red children of the forests. - -No pages, no volumes, no libraries are required to chronicle his -experience. - -Be it remembered that all history of the relation of the two races -has been written by the white historian, but were the Indian to -write the story, the other side of the picture would be shown. The -complaints of the white man are carried, as it were, on the wings of -the wind, while that of the poor Indian is drowned in the tempest. - -With a stoicism born of generations of training, the Seminole shows -no ill-will, no resentment, and the harshest criticism he ever makes -against his white conquerors and victorious brothers is this phrase, -“Es-ta-had kee, ho-lo-wag-us, etc.” And whether in vindication of -some offense, or given as a simple opinion, his pent-up feelings find -expression in this one forcible epithet, and seems to be the missile -he hurls at the white man. - -The average American with his standard of morals calloused by -dealings in the business and social world, smiles at the Seminole’s -verdict of his character and with indifferent shrug, jocularly -repeats it as being only--the opinion of an Indian. - -But, measured by the Indian’s conception of honor, how small we -must appear to the Seminole patriot, for, from his unwritten code -of ethics, to one who knows the well grounded Indian character, his -estimate of white manhood means more than is apparent underneath his -calm exterior. - - - - - ENDURANCE AND FEASTS. - - -When one sees the great moral strength of the Seminoles, notes the -wonderful physical endurance of which they are capable, observes the -fearless, haughty courage they display, he cannot but be surprised -that the Florida wars were not more disastrous than they were, or -that any of the Seminoles ever yielded to removal. To test their -endurance the old chiefs have been known to take a live coal from -the camp fire, place it on the wrist and without an emotion let it -burn until the heat was exhausted. Tustenuggee would remove the -cool ember and quietly reach down and put a fresh one in its place. -This old chief, so famous in history, never yielded to removal, -and lived till a few years ago with his tribe in the Everglades. -The goal of the Seminole is to learn to endure and to achieve. To -this end is every Seminole boy educated, and different modes of -developing the powers of endurance are employed. Carrying a deer for -a long distance without fatigue, walking or running for many miles, -jumping, wrestling, poling a canoe, etc., are some of the practical -modes. The Spartan spirit is supreme in the minds of the tribe, and -the youth are taught that no merit is greater than that of bearing -pain without complaint. At the annual feast of the Green Corn Dance -the young Indians of a certain age are initiated into the rights -of warriors, and are subjected to trying ordeals. They must pass -through the “In-sha-pit,” which means the cutting of the legs till -the blood flows, and other cruel arts, after which the Indian boy -is pronounced a warrior, ready for the battle of life, whatever the -Great Spirit decrees. It is the strict adherence to the teachings -of their ancestors that makes the present generation the brave and -proud people that they are. - -Strange as it may seem, the Seminoles celebrate a Christmas--“All -same white man’s Kismas,” is their reply when questioned concerning -the celebration. This is the great feast day of the “Shot-cay-taw,” -(Green Corn Dance) and occurs each year about the first of July, and -is the time for assembling the whole band. - -The ceremony is largely under the control of the Medicine Men, who -are important personages among all bands, and act as advisers, as -priests and as doctors. In the authority of the Medicine Man one -recognizes a similarity to the priests of the Ancient East as well -as the doctrines laid down by the Aztecs. The festivals observed -by the Florida Indians show teachings centuries old--blending the -peculiarities of different races--the carnival of the Romans, with -the Jewish feasts of Moses’s day, and the mystic link of the Aztec -jubilee. - -The Feast of the Shot-cay-taw has many similarities to the historical -records of the National Festival of the Aztecs. The feast is for -sorrowing, rejoicing and purifying. This is the beginning of the New -Year when, following the traditions of ancient people, old fires -are allowed to go out, not a spark is allowed to remain. New fire -is produced artificially; this is the Sacred Fire and must be made -with the flint rock of their ancestors. The new fire is presented -from one tribe to another, and is received as a token of friendship. -Then they assemble around the fires singing and dancing. Gratitude -is expressed to the Great Spirit, if the year has been abundant. If -death has overtaken the tribe mournful strains expressive of pity and -supplication are invoked. This custom was borrowed from the ancient -tribes who worshipped the sun. The Medicine Men arrange the date for -the Green Corn Dance, which is governed by a certain phase of the -moon, and runners are sent from band to band to announce the time. - -The ceremony preceding the dance permits all men who have evaded the -laws to be reinstated by indulging in certain trying ordeals. The -transgressors appear a short time before the dance. They are placed -in a closed skin tent where a large hot stone lies on the fire. The -famous “Black Drink” of Osceola’s time is administered, water is -poured on the stone, and the culprits are shut up in this suffocating -heat. If they pass the ordeal, they are forgiven and allowed to join -in the feasting and dancing when it occurs. This same “Black Drink” -which is a nauseating medicine from herbs, is taken by all the tribe -on the first day of the dance. This cleanses the system and enables -them to “eat, drink, and be merry” to the fullest extent. - -At this great re-union, old friendships are revived, courtships take -a prominent part, and plans are formulated for hunting expeditions, -syrup boilings and “Koonti” gatherings. Members of one settlement -will agree to meet certain members of another family at a certain -point on a fixed day of the moon. - -[Illustration: BILLY BOWLEGS AND TOMMY DOCTOR - -“They walked one hundred and twenty-five miles to tell their white -friend, ‘Indian no lie.’”] - -There will be no broken pledges--no disappointments. The Seminole -promises nothing to his people that he will not fulfill. - -One of the most picturesque games enjoyed by the Indians during -this festival is the dancing around the festal pole. On the night -of the full moon, they dance from sunset until sunrise. It is very -interesting to see the harmony in running around the circle. As the -women throw the ball at the pole in the center, the men catch it in -their bags that are made around bent sticks, which have bows each -about four inches in diameter, with a cross at the lower side. - -When the dancing is over, the circle about the pole is perfectly -symmetrical, and about ten inches deep, made by the running and -dancing. - -An exciting feature of the dance is the racing for a wife. A level -course is laid off and the race begins. The dusky lover selects the -maiden for whom he would strive, because he must catch her before he -may court her. The Indian girl is his equal, and often his superior -in fleetness, and need not be caught unless she so wishes. But, like -her civilized sister, she generally encourages the pursuit until -she is tired, and then gracefully yields on the homeward stretch. -However, should she win the race the young lover need have no further -aspirations in that direction. He may be saved the embarrassment of -future humiliation. - - - - - THE HUNTING DANCE. - - -But the Hunting Dance! What memories of centuries past are kept alive -by this brown-skinned race, as they observe the ancient feast of an -aboriginal people. - -With an invitation from the old chieftain, Tallahassee, who is -patriarch of the tribe, to attend the Hunting Dance or Harvest -Feast, the temptation was too great to resist. This festival occurs -only in cycles--once every four years--and the character of its -observance is known to but few, if any, white people. The Indian -camps are so inaccessible that it takes nerve and muscle to reach -them; but knowing that the entire band of Indians would be on hand -in gala spirits and gorgeous attire, and knowing, too, that it was -an opportunity that might come but once in a lifetime, the question -of “to go or not to go,” was soon settled, and preparations for the -irksome journey were under way. - -By train ride of one hundred and sixty miles we reached a little -Florida hamlet, where a teamster with a creaking wagon and a pair -of lean, cadaverous-looking horses were secured. Then followed a -drive of thirty miles through ponds, swamps, prairie flats, slush -and water; with sand-flies whirring and buzzing in our ears as they -seemed to offer their orchestral escort through the dismal funeral -Allapata flats. The journey was nearing its end. The sun, shining -with a July fierceness, glinted the wigwams of the Seminoles. Tired -and hungry we approached the village. Here the signs of the festival -were everywhere apparent. With the inborn courtesy, that is ever -present with these untutored Seminoles in the presence of a friend, -they met us with royal grace. A wigwam was placed at our disposal, -our baggage was unloaded, and in a quiet and unobtrusive manner a -fine saddle of venison was presented. - -The Indians were bubbling over with excitement, for it was a time of -rejoicing--a carnival, when men, women and children all joined in the -merriment. - -As our visit always means presents for the Indians, expectant faces -from the little toddling children, as well as from the older members -of the camp, reminded us that it was time to distribute tobacco, -pipes, red handkerchiefs, trinkets for the women, candy and nuts for -the little ones. - -Happiness pervaded the Everglade village. The older Indians, with the -exception of the old chief, played like children, keeping the joyous -revelry up from hour to hour. - -The afternoon of our arrival was devoted to a ball game. An -aboriginal ball game! Certainly played by a code of rules more than -one hundred and fifty years old, where no curved balls nor Yale -coaching had entered, but where swelled and echoed the glad free -trump of joy as the game went on with scientific strokes and measured -tread, with now and then a “rush” as the ball missed its target and -bounded out of its circle. Both men and women participated in the -game, the women being as adept as the men. The game is unique, and -might be practised with much pleasure by our American boys. - -Within a circle whose circumference is about thirty feet is erected a -pole, which serves as a goal. The players take sides, or in country -school parlance, “choose up.” The object of the game is to strike the -pole with the ball, which is knocked with a racket or stick, which is -made of hickory, with a netted pocket made of deer thongs. - -The ball is tossed up and caught in the netted pocket, and then -hurled at the pole. The opposing side endeavor to prevent the ball -from touching the post. Sometimes the ball strikes the ground away -beyond the line of play, and then a scamper for it is a moment of -great excitement. Men, women and children make a rush for the ball, -the victor having the next play. A scorekeeper stands by the pole, -keeping a record of the play. - -As the twilight falls the players end the game and the feast begins. -The edibles are distributed into three parts, the men taking their -portion and going to a selected spot, the women likewise to a point -designated for them, and the children to a third location. This -peculiar arrangement is not indulged in at any other time, but has -some ancient significance and is followed at this festival. - -When the feast is over, which consisted of the fruits of the chase -and the best products of the little palmetto-fenced gardens, the band -assembled for the grand hunting dance. Campfires burned all around -the dancing square, and as the dusky forms emerged from the shadows -of the great live oaks, clad as they were in most fantastic attire, -the scene was most picturesque. - -Women, men and children gathered at the council lodge. Yards and -yards of brightly-colored ribbons floated from the head, neck and -shoulders of the women, with beads of various hues and many pounds in -quantity around their necks, while beaten silver ornaments fastened -on their waists added to the decoration. The men, likewise, were -in brilliant coats and enormous turbans, with leggins gracefully -adorned with the fringe of the doe skin, with moccasins fresh and -new. Nor had the children been neglected, for, with swirling ribbons -and bright red dresses that reached to their slim ankles, they came -bubbling with joy and laughter, ready to take their places in the -dance circle. - -Now the dancers are ready. In the centre of the square the fire, -the Sacred Fire, flashes and flickers. At each corner of the square -stands a pole. The leader, who on this occasion is Chief Bill -Stewart, waits at the door of the lodge. He starts a weird melody, -and the band locks hands, marking time as they make up the chant. -The chief leads off the entire band in the procession, making as -picturesque a figure as was ever witnessed in a New York cotillion. - -With the reader’s permission to digress--pertinent at this point -is the ironical comment of an editorial writer in one of the great -dailies, when he says, “Fancy Lo in a stove pipe hat.” We have seen -him and he makes a good-looking native American. As he approached, -the splendid form of Billy Doctor was recognized in stove pipe hat, -full evening broadcloth suit, with white cravat, low cut waistcoat, -and satin lined “spike tail” coat. The entire outfit was possibly the -gift of some Palm Beach tourist. To Billy’s credit, he only wore the -costume for fantastic effect. - -If the reader will follow the lines of the accompanying diagram, -tracing from left, he will see that the long line of dancers, as they -pass around the poles, appears to be coming and going, sometimes -three and four abreast, but all in such symmetrical motion that the -dance is very beautiful, coupled with the grace and modesty of -innocence, with an accompaniment of singing strangely sweet. - -[Illustration: SACRED * FIRE - -COUNCIL HOUSE - -THE HUNTING DANCE.] - -The various dances of these people show how close they live to -nature. As they move to the rhythmical cadence of the owl song, we -hear “Waugh-ho-ooo-whoo whoo,” of the great horned owl; then the -penewa, or wild turkey dance, with its notes of the gobbling bird; -and so on with many others. - -A feature of the dance, and one that might be commended, is that -those who dance must work or hunt. Each morning of the festival every -member of the camp, down to the wee child, must hunt, leaving the -camp by daybreak and hunting till twelve o’clock noon. The men hunt -large game; the boys go for rabbits, birds and squirrels; while the -women hunt the hogs and dig potatoes, and the very small children -“hunt” water, and bring in sticks of wood. To their white friends, -they said, “Dance to-night?” This was intended for an invitation, -and was an honor rarely accorded; but with the stern, unwritten law -before them, they explained, “White friends must hunt, hunt, hunt. -All same Indian. No hunt, no dance.” - -Another picturesque game is the dancing around the festal pole. In -this dance, the women enter from one side, and the men from another. -Around the ankles of the women are strapped clusters of shells of -the highland terrapin, partly filled with pebbles; these shells are -concealed by the long dress skirt, and as they dance, singing the -long-cadenced song of their fathers, they make melodious music. A -remarkable feature in the perfection of the dance is that as the -women move off not a sound is heard, that bunch of shells is as -silent as the tomb; and yet it would be practically impossible for -one to move the shells by hand without causing them to rattle. - -There is so much that is elevating and purifying in the conduct of -these people that it would be hard to describe the scenes, the love -and good humor that flash between the moments of the times spent in -the council at the feasts and the dances. - - - - - SLAVERY. - - -That slavery existed among the present Seminoles has been a disputed -question. That it did is known to a few; but any interference would -have been received as an act of impertinence by the Indians, as well -as by the slaves themselves; as was evidenced a few years ago when a -tourist meeting Tustenuggee’s slave (who was watching his master’s -canoe while his master sold some skins) attempted to enlighten the -negro on his true condition. As the chief came back to the canoe, the -philanthropist stranger began to explain his mission. The chief, with -the ferocity which at once stamped him as a true Tustenuggee, ordered -the negro to “go,” which command was instantly obeyed. Then, turning -to the stranger, he said, “White man’s slave free. Injun _este lusta_ -(negro) belong to Injun--now _you_ go.” The philanthropist also -quickly obeyed. - -Tallahassee’s squaw died about thirty-six years ago, leaving a -family of six boys, the youngest one being but a small pickaninny. -These boys were cared for by the two negro slaves who spoke only the -Seminole language and were perfectly content to do the drudgery for -the family. The number of slaves among the remnant left in Florida -was small, but they were allied to the Indians and, while treated -kindly, they were expected to obey. In the last few years they have -all died off with the exception of one old slave, Hannah, in the -Tallahassee band. - - - - - HANNAH, THE LAST LIVING SLAVE OF THE SEMINOLE INDIANS. - - -A character holding a position unparalleled in Uncle Sam’s domain, is -Hannah, the negro slave, belonging to Tallahassee’s family. She is -a full-blooded negress, with thick lips, broad flat nose and kinky -hair, which is tied in little plaits with the proverbial string of -the Southern negro. - -Hannah is the last vestige of Seminole slavery--the one great subject -of warfare seventy-five years ago between the Seminoles and the -Southern planters, and upon which, truly speaking, was based the -“Seven Years’ War.” Hannah does the work of the family, and, though -she is kindly treated, yet a certain contempt is felt for her, for -Hannah is an _este lusta_ (a negro) and to the haughty Seminole a -negro is the lowest of human creatures. - -The occasion when Hannah’s picture was kodaked is fresh in memory. -All preparations were being made for the feast, but Billy Ham, -Tallahassee’s son, had not been able to get a deer, and so had -purchased beef from a market thirty miles away. With pots and -kettles in evidence, Hannah was preparing the beef, when the little -box-like instrument was gently rested on a rail near by. Hannah’s eye -detected the object and she turned away, and began busying herself -around the boiling kettle on the ground. The camera was adjusted, -finger on button ready to snap, and a masked indifference affected, -and an animated conversation begun with one of the Indians near by. -When Hannah returned to her work about the table, snap! went the -button, and Hannah’s ebony face and twisted, string-tied locks was -photographed on the plate, and proud was the owner to possess so good -a likeness of Uncle Sam’s one and only unfreed slave. - - - - - UNWRITTEN LAWS. - - -The government among the Seminoles is peculiar, it is remarkable, it -is magnificent. There is no lying, no stealing, no murder and yet -apparently there is no restraining law. The Seminole has many noble -traits; he is proverbially truthful. Pertinent was the reply to the -hunter when he asked if it was safe to leave his gun in the wigwam. -“Yes,” replied the chief, “there is not a white man within fifty -miles of the place.” - -Reverence, too, is one of his distinguishing features. His language -contains no oath, nor any word to express disrespect to the -Supreme Being. A missionary will receive most respectful attention, -for their reverence to God will not permit them to laugh at His -messenger. - -[Illustration: HANNAH, THE ONLY REMAINING SLAVE OF THE SEMINOLES - -In Tallahassee’s camp making sofka for dinner.] - -If the annals of this heroic band were chronicled, they would -say, “They are prouder than the proudest Inca, braver than the -boldest Saxon knight, fearless and unrelenting as foes, devoted and -unflinching in friendship, and the purity of their morals without a -parallel in the history of any other race or tribe on the globe.” - -Anxiously and carefully have we studied their form of Government, -knowing that they leave their money, their trinkets and their -garments in the open wigwam. With carefully-framed questions we -asked of Billy Bowlegs, while on his recent visit to our home, -“Billy, your money, you leave it in your wigwam, you go back, money -_hi-e-pus_ (gone), Indians steal it, then what you do?” He answered, -“Me don’t know.” “Yes, but, Billy, white man come in my house, my -money steal ’em--by-and-by, in jail me put him. Indian, all the same, -bad Indian steal. What does Indian do?” Again the answer came, “Me -don’t know.” Making the points plainer, illustrating by the theft -of his gun, his provisions, showing him that a bad Indian from one -of the other settlements might come in his absence and steal his -Winchester, with perfect understanding of our meaning, the reply came -as before, “Me don’t know, Indian no take ’em--Indian no steal.” In -such a socialistic State, where there is no crime, there can be no -punishment. Were a crime to be committed, a council of chiefs would -meet and decree a punishment, and it would have enough severity to -serve as a lesson for all future miscreants. - -The only “fall from grace” we have ever known among any of the bands, -extending over a period of twenty years’ acquaintance, was in the -case of Buster Flint. Old Buster was a large, powerful Indian, but -as the braves express it, he was “_ho-lo-wa-gus_” (no good), “lazy -too much,” and laid around the settlement as a regular loafer, too -indolent to work or hunt; and in consequence was ragged and unkempt. -On one occasion, while our tent was pitched near the palmetto -wigwams and the hunters had been absent for the day, on the return -a small red napkin was found to be missing. Upon calling Captain -Tom Tiger’s attention to the fact, he replied, “Me know,” and very -soon the napkin was quietly returned to its place. Old Buster could -not resist the bright red cloth and the others knew his weakness. -What punishment was meted out to the old Indian was not learned, but -certainly enough to terrify him during the remainder of our visit. - -The Seminoles mean to be honest in their dealings with the whites. -Occasionally the white man may be deceived when the Indian intends -no wrong. As the National Editorial Excursion once made a tour of -Florida, the train made a stop at a little trading post on the east -coast. Quite a joke was innocently played upon the party by Captain -Tom Tiger. A few Indians had come into the village to trade at the -stores. Captain Tom had brought with him a load of sour oranges which -grow wild in the region of his camp. The oranges are beautiful to -the eye, but oh, how bitter! The merry editors saw the golden fruit -and immediately offered to purchase. The chief was glad to sell, and -only asked one cent apiece for the fruit; but the editors would not -take advantage of the Indian’s ignorance of the price of oranges, so -they paid him twenty-five cents per dozen for them. At this the load -of oranges was soon disposed of and the chief, with perfect honesty -of intention in the transaction, was the proud possessor of about -twenty-five dollars. Those of the party who first tasted the fruit -said nothing until all the oranges had been bought; then they were -told to taste their oranges, and a laugh, long and loud, went up from -one end of the car to the other, and as the train rolled away the -good-natured but victimized passengers treated Captain Tom Tiger, -chief of the Seminoles, to a shower of sour oranges. The Indian was -dumbfounded. The wild orange is an article of barter in Florida, -but not until the idea dawned upon Tom that the excursionists had -mistaken his fruit for the sweet orange did he awaken from his -bewilderment, and with earnest nods of the head and impressive -gestures he soliloquized, “White man no like Indian’s orange--sour -too much. Me tell white man, one orange, _one_ cent. White man tell -me one orange, _two_ cents. Indian no cheat white man.” - -The Seminoles look upon the dim past as a lost paradise in which -there was happiness and innocence. “Before the white man came we -were men,” says the Indian. Their faith in their forefathers is -reverential. They believe they always did what was right. They were -kind and true to their friends, but terrible to their enemies. - -The Florida Indians are an industrious people. While the fruits of -the chase are their main support, they cultivate the fields, raising -vegetables, corn and sugar cane. The men make canoes, which they -sell to hunters and trappers. Moccasins, baskets and koonti starch, -plumes, smoked skins and venison are among their exports. Complaints -are sometimes heard that the Indians are killing off the deer and the -alligator, which is very true; but alike are the white men and the -negro engaged in the same occupation. Before the white race taught -the Indian the monetary value of the game of the country, he slew -them only for food and clothing. Long centuries had he lived on this -continent, but the herds of buffalo were not lessened; nor the vast -quantities of game driven to the fastnesses of the forest. Till the -white trader came to hunt the game as a source of revenue or for -ruthless sport, the Indian knew no such motive. - -Like his forefathers, the Seminole is no prohibitionist, but enjoys -the fire water, as much as did the savage tribe that greeted the good -ship, The Half Moon, in the land-locked waters of Manhattan, three -hundred years ago, and drank the first American toast to the intrepid -Henry Hudson. Since that first great tipple in New York which -ended in such a scene of intoxication, causing the Mohicans to name -the island “the place of the big drunk,” the Indian practices more -precaution; and one of their number always remains sober and watches -his boozy brother like a hawk. This is the practice of the Seminoles. -Before going on a spree, a selection is made of one of the band whose -duty it is to stand guard over all weapons and see that no injury is -done to any member of the tribe. The “sprees” in which they indulge -are too infrequent to warrant them being classed as intemperate. -It is opportune at this point to say that only under the degrading -influence of whiskey, which the white civilization brings to him, -does the Seminole ever show any demoralized condition, and the proper -official should see to the enforcement of the laws against selling -liquor to these childlike people. - -Only a few of the tribe talk broken English. The chiefs disapprove -of it on general principles--for fear they will talk too much. To -keep aloof from the white man, and the white man’s ways, is the -training of the Seminole youth. Occasionally a few of the tribe leave -their marshy homes. These talk sufficiently to do their trading when -visiting towns to dispose of their plumes, deer skins, basket work, -etc. These products always find ready sale, and when the great day of -shopping begins, a “corner” in red calico and fancy colored beads is -the result. The squaws have control of their own money, when on a -purchasing expedition, a fact which makes them very _American_. - -The squaws are about as sociable as the half-wild deer that are -petted by the guests of the St. Augustine hotels. As seen in their -camps, clustered together, half-alarmed, half-curious, the side -glances from their dark-brown eyes seem to utter a protest against -the Government’s eternal “move on.” A more severely pure-minded -people are not to be found on the globe. The women are above -reproach. Were a white man to insult a Seminole woman by word or -look it would be well for that man never to appear in the presence -of the tribe again. The Seminole girl who would unwisely bestow her -affections would be killed outright by the squaws. In the history of -the Everglade Indians only one such case is known and at the birth of -the half-breed child the mother was taken to the woods and there hung -to a tree by the indignant squaws. The infant was also destroyed. In -questioning, as to which of the squaws did the killing, the answer -was “All, every squaw.” On the principle of American lynch law each -hand helped pull the rope. - - - - - GENS AND MARRIAGE. - - -The Seminoles, like other Indian tribes, are classified by gens. This -lineage in the Florida tribe is traced through the mother. The child -belongs to the clan which the mother represents. The mother exercises -absolute ownership, and should a squaw and her husband separate -for any cause, the children belong unconditionally to the wife. - -[Illustration: - - _Photograph by E. W. Histed._ - -A PICTURESQUE GROUP - -Seminoles of the Cow Creek band.] - -Modesty, as the great ornament of women, is taught to the girls, -and as she is about to enter into life there is a moral sublimity -in the counsel that teaches her to hold an implicit reverence -for her husband, but at the same time she becomes a teacher and -custodian of her children. One young Indian of our acquaintance is -divorced from his squaw. They have one pickaninny now, three years -old. Asking the father to give the boy up, and holding out alluring -inducements, he replied, “_Munks-chay_ (no), squaw’s pickaninny.” -The gens represented in the Seminole tribe to-day are the Otter, the -Tiger, the Deer, the Wind, the Bird, the Snake, the Bear, and the -Wolf. Other gens are now extinct in Florida. Thus, in asking about -the Alligator tribe, the chief replied, “All gone--long time ago--to -Indian Territory.” A young brave dare not marry a girl from his own -gens, he must select her from another clan. When asking a chief what -he would do were he to want a girl from his own gens for a wife, and -the girl should want to marry him, he replied, “Me no marry her.” -The young Indian is shy and bashful in his courtships, and having -resolved to marry, conceals his first overtures with all the Indian -cunning. His intention is secretly conveyed to the girl’s parents, -and should there be no objection the young woman is at liberty to -accept or reject. No Seminole girl is forced into a marriage. The -lover, with permission to woo, shows some token of affection; a -deer is killed, and laid at the door of the wigwam. If the present -is received the lover is happy. If it remains untouched, he may do -as his white brother does, go hang himself, or, as is usual, go -seek a more willing fair one. The prospective bride, to show her -appreciation of her lover, makes a shirt and presents it to him. No -pomp or ceremony is connected with the marriage. The day is set by -the parents, the groom goes to the bride’s house, at the setting -of the sun. He is now her husband, and at her home, he lives for a -period. When the young couple build their own wigwam, they may build -it at the camp of the wife’s mother, but not among the husband’s -relatives. - - - - - BEAUTY AND MUSIC. - - -The Indian has a high sense of beauty in woman, and has been -demonstrated on several occasions during their visits to the -different towns. A Seminole chief was taken to the parlor of a -hotel, where a new piano was the exciting theme, to see what effect -the music would have upon his savage mind. But the fair-haired -_performer_ absorbed his attention, and with a shrug which showed his -appreciation for beauty more than for music, he said, “Ugh! white -man’s squaw heap purty!” - -Music is not a genius with the Seminoles. True, they have some songs -which are monotone and rhythmical. They are the hunter’s songs, the -camp songs and the lullabies. The war songs which sent such terror -to the hearts of the white settlers in Seminole war days they seem to -have forgotten. Some of the Indians have natural musical ears, and -they are recognized by their people as musical leaders. They have no -standard pitch, but start their songs where the natural quality of -the voice renders it easiest to sing. The pitch of the song depends -upon the individual. - -An incident, full of pathos, yet illustrating one of life’s parodies, -is recalled. It was occasioned by hearing the music of some old -familiar tunes played in a gruesome Everglade home. As the picture -recurs, one sees a savage tribe--a weird camp scene, with its -storm-beaten wigwams in the background--and dusky warriors and squaws -moving hither and thither in the dim shadows of the camp fire. In the -center of the group sat the musician, who was the happy possessor of -a “box of music,” an organette, which he had recently purchased. The -melodies of “Home, Sweet Home,” “Hail Columbia,” and “Nearer My God -To Thee,” floated out upon the stillness of the night, telling the -story of the white man’s inheritance--happy homes, a free Government -and an ennobling religion. To the Seminole the tuneful strains -contained no more sentiment than the murmur of the brook: for they -are a people without a home, without a country, and without a God in -the sense of these songs. - - - - - RELATIONSHIP TO THE AZTECS AND EASTERN TRIBES - - “YAH-VEY, YAH-VEY” - - -To-day, the antiquarian may lay aside his musty parchments of -antiquity and in the heart of the Big Everglades study the history of -an ancient people through living authors. - -“_Jah-vey--Jah-vey--Yehovah--Yehovah!_” Monotone, yet rhythmical, -the brown-faced singers chanted the hymn. Over and over again were -the words repeated by the Seminole choir, till the word “_Jah-vey_” -mystical with the centuries past, dwelt with the listener. None but -a Hebrew scholar would have caught the word with an understanding -of its meaning. The occasion was a Fourth of July celebration when -the Rt. Rev. Wm. Crane Gray was visiting the Seminole Mission at -Im-mo-ka-lee, situated near the western border of the Florida -Everglades. - -The Indians, full of confidence and kindly feeling, had consented to -sign and here appeared the wonderful, yes, startling, observation -made by Bishop Gray. “Jah-vey” is the Hebrew word meaning Jehovah, a -word held in such awe by the children of Israel, and as claimed by -scholars, too sacred to pass the lips of man, that even its correct -pronunciation is unknown. - -To-day in the weird fastnesses of the Everglades, a band of wild -Indians chant the name of the Great Jehovah in the Hebrew tongue, -a name that is meaningless in its original form to thousands of -educated Americans. - -When questioned by Bishop Gray as to the meaning of the sacred word, -the Indian answered, “God, white man’s God.” The question now appeals -to the scientist, to the antiquarian, and to the theologian. From -whence came the Seminole’s knowledge of the word? - -From its use in the depth of the Everglades, one may work back to the -prehistoric ruined temples of Mexico and Yucatan, so similar to those -of Egypt; and thus may find in Seminole speech a language link to -connect the new world with the old. - -Is this single word as verified by Bishop Gray the keynote to the -history and origin of the North American Indian? - -With a close study of the Seminoles of Florida, one finds a subject -mystical with the history of centuries past. We meet in this -old-turbaned tribe a history vague, ’tis true, but as interesting as -the data gleaned from the hieroglyphics of Mexico, or Egypt, and why -not? - -While the archæologist delves among the ruins of ancient Egypt, and -as he disturbs the inanimate forms of the old Pharoahs, let him pause -and like Diogenes of old, shine his lantern in scientific research -for the American Rameses. Tracing the proud and invincible Florida -Seminole through all his wanderings, from the plains of Mexico, -we meet him to-day in the confines of the mysterious and weird -Everglades. - -Reaching Florida in 1750, under the name Seminole or Wanderers, -his history verges into a singularly distressing drama and forms a -tragical chapter in American history. - -Tracing their lineage, as we may, to the Aztecs of Mexico, the -student must find in their usages and customs links that connect -their present history with that of the ancient tribes. - -In this remnant, proud as the old Montezumas, may the scientist and -antiquarian find a history teeming with interest, while the novelist -may revel in story, both real and legendary--the most romantic of -Indian life that has ever been written. - -If we accept the Le Plongeon theory of prehistoric Mexico, as well -as Professors Holmes and Seville’s research of Mexican antiquities, -we must note the relationship between the early Central American -civilization and the Ancient Egyptians; and that the builders of the -pyramids and temples of Mexico and Yucatan were closely allied with -the architects of the Cheops. - -After the conquest of Mexico by Cortez in 1519-20, the Muskogee -Indians left Mexico and gradually traversed the country till in -1620 we find them in Alabama, where they added other bands to their -ranks. The British name them Creeks, from the many small streams that -traversed the country. - -Thus the great Muskogee tribe of the Mexican Empire vanquished by -Cortez became one hundred years later the Creek Confederacy, _from -which branched the Seminoles_. - -It will take no great stretch of fancy to suppose that before the -mysterious chain of migration the Aztecs and the early Egyptians -were allied. As we study, to-day, the frail remnants of the -vanishing Aborigines in the heart of the Everglades, may we not -find a coincidence of usages that at least give abundant food for -speculation, and the resemblance of the present Seminole to the -ancient Egyptian suggests strong points of similitude to that of the -old Israelites, and a common origin for the North American Indian and -the older tribes, whose magnificent wrecks strew the borders of the -Nile? - -Prescott in his history of Mexico refers to some traditions of the -Aztecs, as bearing a singular resemblance to those found in the -Scriptures. More or less does one start with surprise and awe as he -notes in the Indians of Florida a strict observance of those customs -as well as religious beliefs as laid down in the book Leviticus. - -The similarity existing between the ancient Egyptian principles and -that of the Aztecs is conceded by scholars, and when the Florida -Indian follows so closely these old religious rites, with the theory -that the Florida Seminoles are traceable to the mighty Aztecs, may we -not feel a pride in these red children of the forest homes and while -it is yet possible preserve this almost forgotten remnant? - -To-day the student may study, in the swamp fastnesses, the history -of an ancient race, through the present-day Seminole. - -Around the hereditary chief Tallahassee is the authority for the -government of the Cow Creek band. He is the honored chieftain, whose -duty it has been to teach to the younger generations the traditions -of his ancestors. “My grandfather, old, old man, tell me, me tell -my boys.” The stories never diverge--the same to-day that were told -one hundred and fifty years ago, and different slightly from the -teachings of the vanquished Muskogeeans of the Mexican Empire. - -In their weird camps, by a glimmering light from the camp fire, is -instilled into the youth the laws of the old turbaned tribe, laws -startling in the rites they contain. A brief reference to a few of -these observances must convince that there is at least a keynote for -a chapter that must prove both interesting and valuable to science. - -In the head dress of the Florida Indians, oriental in its effect, one -quickly recognizes a perfect imitation of that as worn in 1800 B. C., -as shown in the statue from Tel Loh (showing early Akkadian type). - -Passing through the realms of history, covering a period of 3,000 -years, in 1563 we find Le Moyne’s delineations of the turban, -now worn by the Seminole chieftains. Likewise might the dress -of old Tallahassee in his chieftain regalia be mistaken for the -costume of the patriarchs in the days of the Pharaohs, when the -long tunic embraced by the brightly embroidered sash, with its -heavily-tasseled belt, made a picturesque attire. - -[Illustration: - - _Photograph by E. W. Histed._ - -AN ENCHANTING STUDY OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION OF SEMINOLES] - -Not the least startling, after thirty-four centuries, do we find -the Seminole observing the rigid laws of health as laid down to -the Children of Israel after the Exodus. With reference to the -preservation of health, we find in the Scriptures, that those -affected by disease were separated from the tribe and as health -returned, we read, Leviticus 15: 13, “Then shall he number himself -seven days for his cleansing and wash his clothes and bathe his flesh -in running water and be clean.” Verse 7, “And whosoever toucheth -the flesh of him shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the -evening.” Note the following: On a recent visit to the Seminole -camps, and after receiving a warm welcome from the squaws and -pickaninnies of former acquaintances, a solitary figure was observed -sitting in a small detached wigwam. Approaching for the purpose of -shaking hands, from all sides came gesticulations and dissenting -tones from the squaws, and feeling that the woman was a prisoner or -taking some kind of punishment, we passed on. During a visit of three -days at the camps, the squaw was kept aloof from the band, receiving -all necessary attention with the kindliest spirit, but fulfilling the -law of Moses, as recorded in Leviticus, “And she shall be apart seven -days and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean.” - -The Aztecs made crimes against society capital; among their -registered laws, adultery was punishable, as with the Jews, by -death. The same laws hold good among the Seminoles to-day. - -Marriage laws are held sacred, but divorces are permitted where some -incompatibility of temper is found. This is done after the manner of -the old Jews--“out of mercy to the woman.” Either party may marry -again, but the marriage must meet with the approval of the leaders of -the band. - -Taking up the question of land tenure, one sees the similarity -between the Everglade Indians and that of the ancient tribes. - -Their tribal organization being a socialistic and communistic order, -it is not their policy to encourage individual land holdings. - -Socialism finds its greatest example among the Seminoles and they -realize freedom in a greater degree than can possibly be found -in any community governed by man-made laws. They do not violate -any teachings of the tribe and are honorable and upright in their -dealings with one another and equally so with the white people with -whom they come in contact. Their law allows of individual occupancy -of land and the individual rights are respected, but the Indian is -not allowed to acquire title. - -The Seminole, like his Aztec ancestors, shows an honorable contrast -to the other tribes of North America, in the treatment of the -women. No severe agricultural labor is imposed upon them and the -consideration shown them by the men would do credit to a high -civilization. Those who know some of the habits of the Florida -Indians (Seminoles) are cognizant of the fact that they will not eat -the green corn until the second day of the annual feast. - -On a visit to the camps, old chief Tallahassee was invited to join -his white friends at dinner, and as he was offered a roasting ear, -he said, “Me not eat green corn, Shot-kay-taw (Green Corn Dance) eat -plenty.” Pointing to a small patch of corn from which the ears had -been stripped, he said, “Squaws eat corn plenty, men no eat,” and -as we read Leviticus, 23: 14, the thought comes: Is the law, though -divested of part of its meaning, being fulfilled to-day by a band of -wild Indians? - -“And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, -until the self-same day ye brought an offering to the Lord.” - -Another link is a feast day which seems to correspond in its rites to -the Day of Atonement on old Jewish days. It is of peculiarly solemn -character and takes place in cycles. The sacredness attached to the -assembling of the band prevents little insight from the outside world. - -With only an oral tradition, with their unwritten but priceless -history of an ancient race, with the white man daily encroaching on -their last domain, the time for studying this primitive people in -their purity will soon be over, and of their customs and usages, -where is the Œdipus at this day who shall solve the riddle of their -origin? - - - - - SEMINOLES AT HOME - - THE EVERGLADES - - -The characteristic of the Seminole is to make his camp in some -secluded spot where the white man would least expect to find his -habitation. - -The peculiar physical formation of Florida makes this very possible. -The Everglade region, which is the immediate environment of the -Seminoles, is a watery prairie, with here and there high points of -ground, and because land-grabbers, corporations and state officials -are already clamoring for these watery wastes, and selling thousands -of acres from paper plats, with the land still under water, a -more detailed description of the Everglade region would be better -appreciated. This vast region contains about 4,000 square miles of -marsh lands and tropical forests, interlaced with thick clustering -vines and is the greatest area of unexplored country in the United -States. - -The accounts of the interior of the mysterious swamp is to be found -only in dim tradition or Indian legends. - -However fast the door of the swamp may be locked, it opens quickly -enough to whomsoever carries the key. The Seminole is the true -key-bearer and with moccasined foot he enters when and where he will. - -A writer, in a Miami paper, gives the following interesting account -of his approach to the Indian camps: - -“Traveling through this aquatic jungle in a light canoe, the motive -power of which is plenty of muscle, a broad-blade paddle and a -push pole about eighteen feet long, we enter a trackless waste of -saw grass and water, with scattering islands and lagoons, channels -running in all directions. These channels often terminate in what -is called a pocket and then trouble begins, as these pockets are so -shallow that a canoe or skiff has to be pulled by rope or pushed by -hand through the mud and grass, until deep water is found. All signs -fail in the Everglades, as often to go north you will take the other -three points of the compass.” - -“There is nothing quite so aggravating,” continues the writer, “as to -get sewed up in one of these pockets, in the open saw grass with deep -water in plain view and fine shady trees to welcome you, but tired -and disgusted you stand as high as possible in the canoe and see only -one chance in a hundred to find the right channel to go through.” - -“There is no use for a compass, and it is a waste of time to think -about it. There is a sure thing of going overboard in the mud or -going back and starting over again.” - -“When the water is high the trouble is not so great, but when it -is low, the traveler can lay aside his Bible, quote a chapter from -Dante’s Inferno, and plough through the mud until his energy is -exhausted and wonder if Dante ever heard tell of the Everglades.” - -The channels running through these Glades are alive with fish, while -the saw grass ponds provide homes for thousands of alligators. The -myrtle and cypress clumps are the winter homes of the heron and -migratory birds. - -From this vast morass, with an elevated position, and a rare -atmosphere, the view that would meet the eye would differ from -any other on the globe. Ballou says: “A thousand square miles of -saw grass would be seen spreading out in the shape of an artist’s -palette. Towards the end would be seen a series of little inland -lakes, fed by minute rivers. Interblending with the lakes, thousands -of islands would be visible, far beyond the saw-grass sea. The -flutter of bird life would be like the milky way, and the swarm of -insects like a distant sand storm on the Sahara.” - -Bordering the sedgy lagoons, are dense cypress forests, with here -and there cabbage palms, Indian rubber and mangroves, while tangled -vegetation weaves itself in chaotic style over underbrush and tree. -These are the primeval woods of the United States. To be lost in -these great marshes means more than death. They are the paradise of -the serpent and the alligator. It is said in old slavery days, slaves -who ran away to the swamps, were entered on the books as dead. - -Except the few points touched upon by adventurous botanists and -hunters, this entire region has remained _terra incognita_ until -within the past two or three years, when the subject of drainage has -caused deeper and more scientific investigation. These explorers have -brought interesting accounts of the great swamp. - -The subject of drainage of this vast aquatic jungle is causing many -disputes and many opinions, but under the Legislature of 1907, with -the imperturbable Governor Broward in power, the work of drainage was -begun. - -Those engaged in the reclamation of this rich soil look upon the -enterprise as being one of the most colossal of American ingenuity -and one that will made the Okeechobee region the Egypt of America. -While it is not the object of the writer to enter into the question -of reclamation--still, the thought comes, “Is it worth while to make -this region fit for habitation?” - -The Florida Everglades Land Company who are carrying on the work of -drainage on scientific rules, in the employment of government experts -and following natural laws, show in their practicable demonstrations, -the great benefit the redemption of submerged Florida will be, not -only to the South, but to the whole country. - -Prof. H. W. Wiley, Chief of the Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Department -of Agriculture, says of this great State question of drainage: “There -is possibly no other body of land in the world, which presents -such remarkable possibilities of development, and with a depth of -soil averaging perhaps eight feet, it reaches beyond the limits of -prophecy.” - -Then, when enterprise and capital enter the last home of the -Seminole, converting the tropical swamp into golden Everglades, may -we not pause to ask, “Is there not room enough for this remnant of a -helpless people in the country to which they have been driven.” - -Here in the heart of the Okeechobee country, we find the only remnant -of our native American Indian, in his original simplicity, meeting -in the hunting-grounds of his ancestors the mighty power of Capital, -Industry and the Twentieth Century methods of progress. Shall we -wrest from him every vestige of this last foothold in Florida, his -last resting-place in his direst necessity? - -The ultimate end of the Seminole should be, to be civilized and -Christianized and assimilated into the present status of the American -citizen. While to-day reclamation looks a calamity to the interests -of the Florida Seminole, it is possible under the direction of an -overruling Providence to be made an almoner of benefit. There is at -this time plenty of land for both interests. It becomes the duty of -the United States Government through its Indian Department and the -friends of the dependent Seminole, to see to it that land sufficient -for their use be left in the Okeechobee country, with Uncle Sam’s -signboard reading, “Penalty to Tresspassers.” - -[Illustration: SEMINOLES ON THE MIAMI RIVER] - -Let us, as a great American jury, pause in our mad scramble for -dollars, and consider our brother in red. As we plead for these -relics of the warriors of old, we ask, “Why molest them? They are -brave, self-supporting and piteously plead to be let alone.” - -Over seventy-five years ago an officer of the Fourth Artillery wrote -in a Charleston paper, “Can any Christian in the Republic pray for -the continuance of blessings, when he is about to wrest from the -unhappy Seminole all that the Great Spirit ever conferred upon him?” - -On the larger islands of this tropical swamp are found the fertile -hommocks, the home of the Seminole Indians. Approaching such a home -one sees marks of labor; a clearing is made, the wigwams built, sugar -cane, sweet potatoes and squash are growing. Chickens and pigs run -about and an air of contentment pervades all. - -A visit to these Indians is still fresh to memory. After an arduous -journey, the village is reached. It was the occasion of the Green -Corn Dance and preparations were going on. The hunters were out for -game, the corn was ripening and an air of festivity was all around. - -Dogs barked as the white guests approached, but a commanding Seminole -reprimand soon drove them away; pickaninnies came around with timid -advances, squaws greeted with handshaking. A wigwam was built for us -by the hospitable hands, and the visitors were assigned to this part -of the camp. - -What a world of interest, both romantic and tragic, hangs around the -wigwams of a Seminole family! - -To Tallahassee was assigned the greatest part of the entertaining, -and he it was who directed the movements that would add to the -pleasure of the guests. - -Without giving thought to it, the team was hitched to a pole that -stood in the open. It proved to be the festal pole for the dance, and -the spot was sacred for that occasion, but the innate courtesy of the -old chief prevented his showing any offense, and in the morning he -waved his hand in the direction of the horses and asked, “Horses, you -want ’em there?” Learning what the pole was for, we were the ones to -beg pardon and feel chagrin. Then came the attention to the guests, -in showing around the little fields, telling the names and kinship -of the various members as they came into camp. This devolved on -Tallahassee, and the honor was two-fold. - -As the shadows fell and the camp fire flickered, the old chief -regaled the company with history dating back one hundred and fifty -years. The old patriarch and warrior rambled on in low monotone, -living over in dreamy reminiscence his hunting days, and with the -record of seventy bear, to say nothing of panther, deer, ’coon, -possum and turkey. How the enthusiasm of the twentieth century hunter -was put on fire. - -As the old chief drew closer his tunic, we asked, “Tallahassee, last -winter, cold much; Kissimmee City, ice come; what you do?” A young -brave spoke up, “Tallahassee old, get cold heap, blankets put on him -and big log fire make.” Then came the jokes as told by one member -on another and how these children of the forest would laugh as the -tales were recounted. They are children only in mind, but full of -discernment and strong in character. - -A present of a picture containing Tallahassee’s picture had been sent -to the old chief a year before, and this must now be brought out to -show the visitors. Spelling and copybooks were the occasion of much -comment and much praise from the white friends. The older Indians -say, “Me no write--old too much. Little Tiger make letters by-and-by; -write good--keep store.” - -The utensils that hang around the wigwam would do credit to many a -white family; they have buckets and pans of agate ware, and well made -wagons purchased in Jacksonville. - -The hum of the sewing machine was heard in the wigwams, being used -equally well by both men and women. - -While the patient Seminole is at the mercy of the white man, and each -day becoming more helpless, he is still proud as the old race. - -A purse of ten dollars had been made up for one family where the -husband had died, but with the suspicion that the money was from the -Government, the older members held a talk with the result: “Money -no take ’em. Squaw no want ’em.” With mouth-watering glances the -little ones on the same occasion refused candy and cakes; they had -been forbidden to accept what the old Indians believed was from -Washington--the home of the Big White Chief. (This was at the time -the Indians had been alarmed by cowboys telling them the Government -wanted them for Arkansas.) - -To-day in the forest home of the Seminoles, where yet gleams the -council fires, and within a mile of the palmetto thatched camp of the -Osceolas, the big dredges groan an accompaniment, as it were, to the -echo of the throbbing hearts, the death song, the Recessional, of the -Seminole. - -Dynamite blasts shake the very pans and kettles hanging around the -wigwams and, while this monster of a machine destroys the only -home of the tribe, is the time not ripe for decisive action in the -protection of these wards of Florida? - -A visit to the Seminoles’ camp reveals many interesting little things -which touch the heart and evoke the sympathy of the observer. The -affection displayed by the stern-faced father, when coddling his -pappoose, convinces the most skeptical that in the fastnesses of the -forest “The heart of man answers to heart as face to face in water,” -whatever the skin it is under. Old Tom Tiger, without question one of -the most ferocious-looking of the Seminoles, would take the baby-boy -from its tired mother’s arms and softly croon a lullaby, swaying the -pappoose backwards and forwards in his great strong arms till the -little fellow would fall asleep. - -Another instance of parental affection, as given by the Rev. Clay -McCauley in his report on the Seminoles of Florida to the Bureau of -Ethnology, is full of touching interest. While the incident occurred -many years ago, and the little boy is now grown to manhood, still -it cannot fail to reach the heart of the reader. We give it in the -writer’s own words: - - “Tallahassee’s wife had recently died, leaving him with the care of - six boys; but the strong Indian had apparently become mother and - father to his children. Especially did he throw a tender care about - the little one of his household. I have seen the little fellow - clambering, just like many a little pale face, over his father’s - knees persistently demanding attention, but in no way disturbing - the father’s amiability or serenity. One night, as I sat by the - camp fire of Tallahassee’s lodge, I heard muffled moans from the - little palmetto shelter on my right, under which the three smaller - boys were bundled up in cotton cloth in deer skins for the night’s - sleep. Upon the moans followed immediately the frightened cry of - the little boy, waking out of bad dreams, and crying for the mother - who could not answer; ‘_Its-Ki, Its-Ki_,’ (mother, mother) begged - the little fellow, struggling from under his covering. At once the - big Indian grasped his child, hugged him to his breast, pressed - the little head to his cheek, consoling him all the while with - caressing words, whose meaning I felt, though I could not translate - them into English, until the boy, wide awake, laughed with his - father and was ready to be again rolled up beside his sleeping - brothers.” - -Where the Seminole is hospitable is around the camp fire and the -“_Sof-ka_” kettle. “_Hum-bux-chay_” (come eat) is his salutation. The -kettle is placed in some convenient part of the camp and at the meal -hour the members of the household sit around it. A large Sof-ka spoon -rests in the pot, and is handed from one to another, each taking a -single mouthful. A fastidious taste might shrink from using the large -spoon, but to affect such taste would be to offend mine host. Sof-ka -is the Seminole standard dish, and is simply a stew made by cooking -the meat in a large iron pot, and thickening with meal, grits or -vegetable. Sof-ka corresponds in its importance with the Seminole to -“_frijoles_” among Mexicans. The Indians observe a regularity in meal -hours, yet at most any hour the Sof-ka kettle is ready for those who -may come in from the chase enhungered. So plentiful is game that it -is a common sight to see a saddle of venison or a wild turkey and -perhaps a duck roasting before the fire, and, as appetite prompts, -any member of the camp may help himself to the savory roast. - -The Seminole pickaninnies are healthy, good-natured little toddlers, -and show no more savage spirit than do their little pale-faced -brothers. They play with bows and arrows, make dolls and playhouses, -revel in mud pies, roast the small birds they kill before a “spit -fire,” and play they are roasting wild turkey. They rarely cry, as -they are taught from infancy to show no such weakness; they must -obey the slightest command of their elders. The little four-year-old -is taught to assist in the duties of the camp. He can carry water, -gather wood, watch the little pappoose, and learns thus early that -he is an important feature in the tribe. - -The boys are allowed to handle no weapons until old enough to use -them successfully. When an Indian boy is taught to use a Winchester -and returns from the chase with his first deer, favors are shown him -by the elders, tokens are presented and he becomes for the time the -young Nimrod of the tribe. - -Seminole children are on the whole very much like other children, -some bright, some good, some perverse, all exceedingly human. With -the discipline already instilled into their natures, and education, -first for the heart, and then for the mind, added, success would be -assured. A Seminole luxury which serves as a target as well as food, -is the fruit of the climbing pumpkin vine, which is often seen among -the branches of the trees. When wanted a well-directed rifle ball -cuts the stem and the pumpkin drops to the ground. This was the sport -enjoyed by the troops during the Seminole war. - -The absence of all earthenware is noticeable in a Seminole camp. -The Seminoles say, “Long time ago,” their race made earthen pots, -but white man’s kettle “heap good,” and they have long since ceased -to work in clay. All through Florida pieces of pottery are found -in the sand mounds. In the pine forests where the land is good for -cultivation, broken pottery is frequently dug up out of the ground. -These forests have grown over this land evidently since it was -cultivated by former races. The pottery found in parts of Florida, -is said by those having made a study of the subject to resemble the -Aztec pottery to some extent. - -One of the peculiarities of the Seminole man is the number of shirts -and handkerchiefs he wears at one time. An instance is related -where a white man in company with Billy Ham went out deer hunting. -Emerging suddenly from the thick forest, some deer were observed -feeding on the Savannah in front of them. The Indian was dressed in -the bright colors of his race, and stealthily slipping back into the -shadows of the tree, he began to remove shirt after shirt and untie -handkerchiefs from around his neck. As each article was removed, -the Indian became less conspicuous. After divesting himself of six -or eight shirts and eight or ten handkerchiefs, the Indian and his -costume now blended with the surrounding objects. His dusky form was -in perfect symphony with the dead leaves and grasses, through which -he silently crept toward his prey. The Indian prefers to make sure of -his game by creeping upon it. He can advance to within a few feet of -a deer. The deer, while feeding, is always on the alert for an enemy. -If it sees nothing moving it will not be alarmed. This is where the -strategy of the Indian comes in. He stops just before the animal -raises its head. The lifting of the head is always preceded by a -movement of the tail, hence the cunning Seminole watches the tail and -knows when to be still. - - - - - ALLIGATOR HUNTING. - - -At this point, a detailed account of an alligator hunt with the -Seminoles may prove interesting to the huntsman who may scan these -pages. - -Some tourists hire the Indians who frequent civilization to guide -them in hunts, but it is poor Lo’s idea to show the white man his -hunting; and he will take him around and around, always keeping -out of sight of game, with a cunning that would do credit to a -Connecticut Yankee. - -Possessing that talisman, friendship and confidence of the Seminole -chiefs, our hunter arranged for his first alligator hunt. To simplify -the account of the tenderfoot’s experience, we give it as related to -the writer. - -“Taking the little steamer Roseada at Kissimmee City, a two days’ -ride landed us at Basinger, where I was met by an ox-cart, driven and -owned by the Seminoles. A ride of forty miles, slow but sure, took us -to the Indian village. Here I was met by dogs, pickaninnies, squaws -and braves. With time limited and eager for the hunt for big game, I -rested but a few hours and then announced myself ready to _hi-e-pus_ -(go). - -“In a cypress canoe, poled by Chief Tom Tiger Tail, we turned our -boat toward the interior of the Everglades, and for three days -traveled over as wild and weird a land as Stanley ever explored in -Darkest Africa. - -“Poling through water lilies, tall grass and overhanging branches, -frequently getting stuck in the shallow water and marsh, all gave -more zest to the square mile than a hundred hunts in the North could. - -“Reaching the objective point of our trip, the chief tied up the -canoe, and after a hearty repast, we were ready for the alligator -hunt. No game laws obstructed our progress, no sign boards read, ‘No -Trespassing,’ and soon we were equipped for the night’s hunt. - -“With a bullseye lantern attached to my cap, I took my seat in the -bow, while Tiger Tail, standing in the stern, propelled the canoe -with long, dextrous strokes. Reaching a deep bayou, where the -Seminoles kill hundreds of alligators each year, I was directed to -throw the light quietly over the water, and the presence of the -saurian would be revealed by the reflection. Silently, slowly, our -canoe cleaved the dark waters. Truly, the scene was worthy the pencil -of a Doré. A moonless sky, a wild expanse of bleak water, a canoe -propelled by a savage, splendid and careless in his unconscious -grace, and as silent as the oarsman of the River Styx. Soon the -dismal solitude was broken by our entrance into the alligator haunt. -With stealthy glide through the still, dark water, we were soon aware -of being near a very large ’gator--the two balls of fire shining in -the darkness told the tale. Without a ripple the Indian glided his -canoe within ten feet of the monster, and a shot between the eyes -from a .38 Winchester blew the top of his head into small pieces. -Before the reptile could flounder out of reach, the carcass was -grabbed and pulled into the canoe by Tom Tiger, and the spinal cord -was severed with an axe to prevent any future trouble. - -[Illustration: TIGER TAIL, A REPRESENTATIVE SEMINOLE - -In picturesque harmony with the land of the cocoanut.] - -“At the first approach of our light the alligators gazed at it in -the most fatuous manner, allowing the boat to approach within a very -close position; but after one of their number had been slain they -commenced a vibrating roaring, playing see-saw with their heads and -tails and slowly rolling forth their feelings in deep, thundering -tones. To me, there seemed to be 500 alligators in that body of -black water that night, and each and every one seemed to turn his -burning eyes on my little searchlight--and they shone like stars. I -could easily tell a big fellow by noticing if his glaring balls were -close together or far apart. After killing four or five I called out -‘Enough!’ The picture was growing too gruesome. The quivering mass -of reptiles in our canoe made me think longingly of home. ‘Ungah’ -(all right) from the Indian reassured me, and the canoe was turned -toward camp. During the evening the Indian chief had killed an eleven -foot ’gator, and so lifeless did it seem when dragged into the canoe -that it was not considered necessary to cut the neck and back. The -extraordinary vitality of an alligator keeps it from dying for some -time, the nerves often living for several hours after the head has -been severed. Our canoe was loaded to the water’s edge, with the -large saurian in the bottom. Presently a low breathing greeted my -ears; soon it grew louder, and a faint motion could be felt in the -boat. Still I remained passive, the Indian poling through the deep, -tortuous stream. I had instinctively drawn my feet up, when the -great mouth, which was toward me, opened and began snapping angrily. -His body began to writhe and twist and wriggle, which set all the -other alligators in motion. The situation was growing critical and -dangerous, when Captain Tom, perceiving the trouble, came to the -rescue with his axe and none too soon, for the huge saurian began -lashing his tail from side to side, and had the Indian been less -skillful in handling the canoe we certainly would have been turned -overboard. With the hideous cargo silenced, the Indian always cool -and nerveless, looked up and with a humorous twinkle in his eye said, -‘White man ’fraid _ojus_’ (heap).” - - - - - BEAR HUNTING WITH THE SEMINOLES. - - -Under the head of American Sport, the following story of a “Bear Hunt -with the Seminole Indians,” appeared in the columns of the _Asian -Sporting Newspaper_ of Calcutta, India. - -The story had been accepted from the pen of the writer by Forest -and Stream Publishing Company of New York, and because our British -hunters of lion and elephant fame had appreciated an American hunt -sufficient to scissor it (neither giving credit to the author nor to -the American journal), the story is here appended: - -“Hunting the black bear in Florida is a sport to which few are -introduced. This bear is not fierce nor dangerous, but still he is -big game, and a bear hunt is always full of incident and excitement. -About ten miles from Kissimmee, is a cypress swamp--it is an aquatic -jungle full of fallen trees, brush, vines and tangled undergrowth, -all darkened by the dense shadows of the tall cypress trees, and full -of moccasins and alligators. Running through the swamp is a chain -of islands. Here is a field for sportsmen, and here live unmolested -a whole colony of the bruin family. Hunters hear their growls, and -numerous fresh tracks show where the night marauders have entered -the hommock, where they feast on wild honey, huckleberries, the -cabbage of the palmetto and the wild orange. They seldom come out to -expose themselves during the day, hence they are rarely captured, -and in consequence are on the increase. Settlers frequently report -depredations on their hogs; but bruin is safe in his swamp home, for -without dogs trained to hunting bear, even if he were surprised, he -would quickly make his escape into the jungle. - -“Of all game of the forest bear meat is the favorite dish of the -Florida Indians; squaws, pickaninnies and dogs revel in it. With -this knowledge, it was an easy matter to secure a party of Seminole -chiefs and their trained dogs for a bear hunt. The auspicious day -arrived. This picturesque hunting party came striding into Kissimmee -as unconscious and statuesque as bronze figures of Mercury. The -party was led by Chief Tom Tiger, following after in Indian file was -old Chief Tallahassee, Doctor Tommy and Little Tiger, while trailing -along by their sides were the formidable looking dogs. Dressed in -their holiday attire, with new leggins and moccasins, bright calico -shirts, a half-dozen red handkerchiefs around their necks, crowned -with the immense red turban, the emblem of their race, with knives -and cartridges in their belts and Winchesters at their sides, the -Indians attracted as much attention as a Presidential party. - -“If ever men deserved the name of Nimrods, it is these sons of the -Everglades. Even Little Tiger, a boy of twelve, with his fine rifle, -could put to shame many a skilled marksman. But on to the chase. The -souls of the red men seemed to leap into them at the thought of the -sport after bear, while the hounds barked gleefully, so with hasty -preparations our hunting party started for the Reedy Creek jungle. At -this point we will turn the story over to the tenderfoot, that the -reader may better follow the chase. - -[Illustration: - - _From Le Moyne’s Narrative of the French Expedition in 1563._ - -INDIAN MODE OF HUNTING ALLIGATORS IN FLORIDA, AS CONTRASTED WITH THE -PRESENT DAY HUNTING] - -“As we reached the hommock, which has been for years a veritable -elysium for the bears, the dogs seemed to become possessed of a very -spirit of unrest; soon they struck a trail. ‘Lo-co-see ojus’ (bear -plenty), exclaimed Captain Tom Tiger, as he observed the numerous -cabbage palms with their buds freshly torn out, as well as the -conduct of his dogs, and with a word of command to the hounds, he -started. The rest of us followed, till we struck a marsh heavily -timbered with cypress, which grew so close that sun’s rays could -not reach the earth. It made a dark, damp and dangerous ground to -enter. The dogs were now running with broad scent, heads well up and -throats wide open. If ever there was a sound sweet to the hunter’s -ears, it was the baying of five hounds close on bruins trail. With -nerves on a tension we rushed along, with gun carried at ready. -On swept the riot. The Indians yelled as only Indians can, and -the tenderfoot brought up the rear. A hunt in a Florida jungle, -pulling through soft mud, climbing over logs, pushing through vines, -sprawling on hands and knees through the tangled, matted undergrowth, -expecting or fearing each step we would strike a moccasin, are the -penalties paid for the romantic, adventurous hunt with a Seminole -Indian. At last the supreme moment arrived; the leading dog had -reached the bear, and soon the five dogs and the bear were having a -vigorous rough and tumble fight. We were in good hearing distance, -but traveling was very difficult, and our progress was slow. The -Indians’ cry, ‘Yo-ho-ee-hee, Yo-ho-ee-hee!’ to the hounds, made them -fight furiously, so much so that bruin broke from cover and started -on the chase just before we reached shooting distance. Further into -the woods the chase led. Soon the sound of the pursuing dogs ceased, -much to our surprise. We appealed to the nearest Indian for an -explanation. ‘Lo-co-see (bear) climb tree,’ was the brief reply, and -later, when we reached the dogs, they were running wildly around on -the bank of a dark creek. We were again at a loss to comprehend the -situation, until we were shown by the Indians a leaning tree, the top -of which reached to the further side of the creek, over which bruin -had safely passed. ‘Lo-co-see-hiepus’ (bear gone). - -“Three hours’ tramping through the swamp and hot sun had taken all -the enthusiasm out of us, and we were ready to play quits, but the -stalwart red men had defiance in their faces as they said, ‘Big -lo-co-see; fight heap; Indian kill lo-co-see to-day.’ Away to the -left the brown legs of little Tiger Tom could be seen twinkling -through the foliage; he had found some fresh tracks of a cub, and in -his eagerness to capture a baby bear he proved a similar nature to -his little pale-faced brother. But the stern hunters had no time for -a cub, and soon started for old bruin, who by this time had crossed -the marsh and gotten into a tree on the opposite bank, and by this -trickery put the creek behind him. This did not daunt a Seminole -Indian. Wading the shallow part of the creek, with water to the -armpits, again cooled our ardor, but safety depended on not losing -sight of the Indians, as we were miles in the swamp, and with no hope -of finding our way out without the guidance of our red pilots. At -last the bear was driven to a small island and surrounded, the island -covered with tall grass and weeds hiding both dogs and bear. The dogs -grew furious, and several times forced the bear to stand and fight, -and such a battle as it was; the dogs didn’t hesitate to take hold -of old bruin, and as a result were badly lacerated from the blows -of her powerful paw. We closed in and our game was in a trap. The -Indians were in their future heaven; but the tenderfoot was getting -very shy of being hugged. Bruin, now finding herself cornered, made a -break for the open, and as she emerged from the tall grass, with the -dogs at her heels, she met the stalwart figure of Tom Tiger. Rising -on her hind legs, with open arms, she made one dash for him, when -stepping back, in a cool and deliberate manner, he pulled the trigger -of his ‘scatter’ gun and emptied both barrels into the bear’s side. -This ended the chase, and a happier set of Indians the world never -saw. Immediately they drew their knives and commenced skinning the -bear. As the skin adheres very tenaciously it should be taken off at -once, as it then comes off much easier; besides, it is difficult to -scrape away all the fatty tissue after it cools, and wherever any -remains it rots the pelt. - -“The Indians’ method of educating their dogs for hunting bear is well -worth knowing. They take the gall of the bear and thoroughly saturate -the nostrils of the young dog. This is excruciating pain to the dogs, -and they howl and whine for hours; but it makes ‘bear dogs’ out of -them, perfect on the trail, and this is the point with the Indian. - -“The huge carcass of bruin was divided and each Indian carried a -load to camp. A fire was soon built, and a huge chunk of bear meat -was thrown on the coals. All night long they cooked and ate, the -tenderfoot getting into his hammock beneath the bough of the oaks. -We rested and dreamed--the flicker from the camp-fire, the Indians -moving to and fro, the silence occasionally broken by their low, -soft voices, and ever and anon in this wakeful slumber came the -half-dreaming thought, ‘Betty and me killed the bear!’” - - - - - CHIEF TOM TIGER (MIC-CO TUSTENUGGEE). - - -It is a number of years now, that Tom Tiger, chieftain, reached -Kissimmee after a ride of 160 miles. Tall, straight and muscular, he -proved himself a worthy descendant of the royal Tustenuggee. Dressed -in the regalia of a chief, and mounted on a raw boned horse, he -might have been mistaken for a sheik of the Arabian desert. He had -come on a friendly visit incidentally, but to tell his white friend -his trouble over a horse which had been procured under a fraudulent -pretense, by a white trader. The story is a long one, but suffice to -say proceedings were instituted and with the result that Captain Tom -Tiger, Seminole chieftain, was the first Florida Indian that ever -stood up in a white man’s court, making, as the spectators remarked, -the most imposing picture they had ever witnessed. - -The tall, magnificent looking savage, with uplifted hand, took the -oath on the holy Book, with a perfect understanding of its meaning. - -[Illustration: CAPT TOM TIGER - -(Micco Tustenug-gee.)] - -The case was prosecuted by the Society, “Friends of the Florida -Seminoles,” and achieved notoriety for being the first case in -Florida in which a Seminole sought the protection of the court. -It was told that the State’s Attorney made the most thrilling speech -of his life as he pleaded for the barbarian of the swamp. The Indian -never swerved under the strongest cross-examination, but told the -story simply and direct. The status of the case was this: The white -man was to return the horse at the end of two moons, binding the -promise by writing. The argument was written on a cartridge box; -a terrific rain storm came; the box was soaked in water, and the -writing made illegible. Because Tom could not read, he could not make -oath as to what was written on the box, the white man testifying he -had bought the horse. On this simple technicality the case was lost -and the white man escaped the penitentiary. - -Like many of his race, Tom had a love for Wy-o-mee (whiskey), and -was not averse to taking it. In speaking of a saloonkeeper he would -say, “Captain, good man, five Indians go in saloon, five drinks give -’im. No money take,” but when Tom was asked to drink no whiskey in -Kissimmee, he promised, “un-gah” (all right). A day or two after, the -white friend stepped out of his office, and looking back saw the tall -form of Tom just passing into the saloon--headed by three cowboys. -Tom returned to the office, and his friend chided him for going to -the saloon. “Whiskey, me no take ’em, lemonade, me take, cowboys -wy-o-mee take.” The white friend’s trust had not been betrayed. - -In this Indian’s visit of a week, many chapters were revealed of the -character and home life of this tribe. Savages, it is true, but -honor, justice and religion shine forth in their tribal life. - -During his absence, the squaws and pickaninnies watched the potato -and corn patch, and cared for the hogs, surely worthy tribute to a -domestic life. - -In relating a tragedy of the forest, Capt. Tom seemed much affected. -The chief, attracted by the cries of young birds, found that a -rookery of the beautiful white heron had been completely destroyed -by plume hunters, and the grounds strewn with the mutilated bodies -of the parent birds. From the tall trees overhead the starving -nestlings were spending their waning strength in calling for food. -The pitiful scene touched the heart of the strong red man, and he -paused in his journey to find food for the helpless birdlings. In -relating the circumstance, the Indian said, “Little birds, cry, cry, -all day. No water, no fish,” till the Indian boys caught minnows and -daily climbed the lofty trees and fed and watered the young egrets, -a tribute to the savage mind over the cruelty of the civilized and -Christianized white man. - -A few years ago, Florida was an ornithological Eden, the winter home -of countless thousands of the migratory birds of the North American -Continent; but alas, the blood thirsty greed of the Caucasian for -gold is shown in the brutal extermination of the plumed egret, and -“the passing of the snowy heron” is the price of human callousness. -The Indian chief probably did not see in the fate of the innocent -plume bird, a prophecy of the destiny of the Seminole. - -[Illustration: THE INDIAN’S HUNTING GROUND - -“Within a mile of the wigwams, the big dredges clank and groan, an -accompaniment as it were, to the dirge of the recessional Seminoles.”] - -The same forces are at work to-day to take from the helpless -Seminole his home and happy hunting ground. - -Tom Tiger made his last visit to Kissimmee during the -Spanish-American war, and a touching and pleasing feature of the -visit was the meeting between General Fitzhugh Lee and this Chieftain -of the Seminoles. - -The train bearing General Lee and staff stopped at Kissimmee, where -crowds of citizens went to welcome the hero of the Southland. General -Lee, dressed in his rank as U. S. general, Chief Tom Tiger in the -regalia of a Seminole chieftain. The scene is indelibly impressed -upon all who witnessed the meeting. The Indian chief with the Stars -and Stripes in his hand, was introduced and shook hands with the -great American soldier. In hearty tones General Lee responded, “I am -glad to see you, Chief.” - -Tom was told he must “yell” when the train came in. He understood and -answered, “Me holler (ojus),” and he did, a genuine Seminole war cry, -“Yo-he-ee-hee--Yo-ho-ee-hee!” - -Driven and hunted, homeless and helpless, this Indian was a strong -ally of the United States. “No fight white man,” meaning the people -of the United States, “shoot Spaniards, ojus” (heap), was Tom’s reply -when the attitude of the two countries was explained to him. - -One by one the older Indians are passing away, and when word was -received that Captain Tom Tiger had been killed by a stroke of -lightning, the news was received with genuine sorrow. In his death, -a fair, generous and faithful friend was gone. Captain Tom was -building himself a dugout canoe on the edge of the cypress swamp, his -family being with him at the time. Seeing an approaching storm, he -sent them back to their wigwam. When he did not return, the Indians -went to seek him and found his dead body. Other Indians turned the -unfinished canoe into a mausoleum, and there rested his remains until -an avaricious curio seeker sought it out and robbed it of the body of -the chief. Considering the tender respect the Florida Indians have -for their dead, and also the superstition that any desecrations of -the bones bring dire calamities to the tribe, it is not surprising -that this act of vandalism aroused the Seminoles to the highest -pitch, and they were stirred as they have not been since the days of -the Indian wars. The whites realized that unless they were pacified -they were liable to give trouble. - -Two of the leaders of the band visited the authorities at Fort -Pierce, Florida, and the newspapers of that date give the following -account, “Big Yankee steal bones of Tiger Tom, Indians Big Chief and -best friend. Indians all fight. Kill white man ojus, bones no bring -back by big white chiefs next moon.” - -The matter was immediately taken up, and information filed by the -State Attorney in the Circuit Court against the party, charging him -with disturbing the grave of another and having in his possession a -dead body. All over the United States the account was taken up by -the press and looked upon as a matter of serious importance, as the -Smithsonian Institution was credited with being behind the rapacious -curio hunter. - -The matter was brought to Mr. J. M. Willson, Jr., recognized as the -Seminoles’ best friend among the whites. - -The letter following explains the situation and is herein given: - - SECRETARY RATHBUN’S STATEMENT. - - “Mr. J. M. Willson, Jr., Secretary Society of Friends of Seminole - Indians, Kissimmee; Fla. - - “_Dear Sir_:--Replying to your letter of the 24th inst., I beg to - say that about six weeks ago a Mr. ----, about whom nothing is - known here, wrote to the National Museum and offered to present - certain Indian relics which he had obtained in Florida, including a - skeleton of an Okeechobee (not Seminole) chief. Assuming that these - objects were properly acquired by him, he was notified that they - would be accepted. No further word or the objects arriving, it has, - therefore, been supposed that he disposed of the relics elsewhere. - The heading of his letter paper indicates that he is the secretary - and general manager of an amusement resort, called Island Park, at - ---- Pa., and it is not impossible that the relics were taken there. - - “Although I find that the name of the chief was mentioned in Mr. - ----’s letter, the fact that he spoke of him as belonging to the - extinct Okeechobee tribe entirely misled the Museum authorities - who did not associate him with the Seminole Captain Tom Tiger, - about whom so much has lately been printed in the papers until the - receipt of your letter to-day. - - “I cannot express too strongly my abhorrence of the act of Mr. - ----, whose desecration of this grave I consider outrageous and - sacrilegious. The man had no connection with this museum or any - branch of the Smithsonian Institute, as he seems to have claimed - several weeks before he sent in his letter. - - “You can readily understand, therefore, that the museum will be - only too glad to coöperate with your society in securing the return - of the remains and of any objects that may have been taken with - them from the grave. If they should be received at the museum they - will be promptly forwarded to Florida. - - “I have forwarded your letter to Mr. ----, at the address given in - his letter, viz: Box 531, ----, Pa., and I have also written him. - - “Trusting that this unfortunate matter may soon be satisfactorily - adjusted, I am, dear, sir, very respectfully yours, - - “RATHBUN, - “Assistant Secretary in charge of National Museum.” - -The bones of the noted Indian were quietly restored, and all trouble -averted, but of the throbbing hearts of these interesting countrymen -of Osceola what shall we say? - - - - - NANCY OSCEOLA. - - -A short time ago, the press chronicled the news that the old Seminole -squaw, Nancy, living at the Big Cypress camp, was dead. The account -stated that Nancy was the widow of the famous chieftain (Osceola), -and that she was survived by seven children. The associated press -took up the story and many accepted it as true. - -It is the desire of the writer to say that Osceola’s wives (for -he had two) went into captivity and were with him when he died, a -captive of the United States Government, and it is safe to suppose -they, with his children, were taken with the other Seminole captives -to the West. - -Old Nancy was the squaw of a half-brother of Osceola--hence a -sister-in-law. A few years ago she consented to have her picture -taken amidst a group of her great-great grandchildren. Chief -Tallahassee quickly recognized the picture and said, “Old too -much--eyes no see, blind ojus.” When questioned as to her identity, -with the suggestion that she might be Osceola’s widow, Tallahassee -showed marked disdain, “No, no, Osceola, big chief. Squaw no got one -in Florida. Old Nancy Osceola’s brother’s squaw.” - - - - - BILLY BOWLEGS (CHO-FEE-HAT-CHO). - - -Several months ago, Cho-fee-hat-cho (Billy Bowlegs), a warrior -of more than usual intelligence, made his long-promised visit to -Kissimmee. - -Here, away from his natural surroundings, one could study his Indian -characteristics from an unprejudicial standpoint. - -As a specimen of manhood, he is far above the average. Although six -feet, two inches tall, he is so symmetrically proportioned that one -loses sight of his height. His features are good, his hands and feet -remarkably small, his voice soft and low--a characteristic of every -Seminole. - -His dress was the holiday attire of the tribe, his tunic or shirt -he had made himself, was highly decorated with bands of narrow -red,--leggins and moccasins elaborately thonged, and around his neck -about a dozen gaily colored handkerchiefs, not worn for warmth, but -because it is a Seminole fashion. - -His large turban was embraced by a silver band, made from four silver -dollars beaten with the implements which can be found at an Indian -village. He wore a gold watch and chain and regulated his timepiece -by the railroad clock. Billy is a fantastic dresser, but he is a -loyal Seminole and a progressive one, too. He keeps posted on the -markets in his own particular line of business. His pockets bulge -with letters received from New York and Jacksonville buyers of skins -and otter pelts. He expects no favors, pays for what he receives and -keeps a promise, although a year may elapse before he is able to do -so. He is often a purchasing agent for members of the band, and in -his small way has a mercantile mind, buying four shawls for $1.75 -that would retail at fifty cents each, he will sell out, with the -satisfactory remark, “25 cents me make ’em.” - -Billy ventures beyond the confines of his Everglade home, much -oftener than any other of the tribe. To the stranger he is all -indifference, answering: “Yes,” “No,” “Me don’t know,” as it suits -him. - -[Illustration: A SECTION OF A SAW GRASS SWAMP WITH THE STAKES SET FOR -A NEW DRAINAGE WAY - -“The onward march of the white brother into the last hunting ground -of the Seminoles.”] - -Billy has visited St. Augustine, and has seen the Ponce De Leon -Hotel, but explained that “no get inside.” The season was not “on,” -otherwise the Seminole brave would have been one of the celebrities -that enter its great portals. New York and Washington do honor to -dukes and counts, and this Aboriginal American Knight is no less a -Prince of the Everglades. - -He has made several visits to Kissimmee, hence is well known to the -white people. At the ringing of the church bells on Sunday morning it -was explained to the Indian that they were to call the people to the -church, so that the preacher might tell them of the white man’s God. -With the inquiry, “You go?” to his host, and receiving an answer in -the affirmative, Billy said, “Me go too.” - -He was escorted to the chapel and through the long sermon was a model -of propriety and conformed perfectly with the customs of the church. -He expressed himself later as liking the music, but remarked that the -“preacher talked too fast.” - -From time to time colored pictures from Sunday School charts have -been given or mailed to the Indians and Billy reports, “Indians got -’em,” keeping them with their treasures in boxes or trunks. - -Blue backed spelling books had been sent to these Indians, for the -spelling book is the Seminole’s ideal in literature, and Billy -reported that the books were in good order--and Indian boys, spell -“littly bit.” - -Who shall say there is no hope for the civilization of this -picturesque tribe? - -Not a hair’s breadth will this Indian diverge from the truth. Even -to the simple question as to when he would visit his white friends -again, he replied, “Six moons; me don’t know, maybe ten moons; six -moons, me say--no come, white man say, ‘Billy Bowlegs lock-a-dox -ojus!’ (lie too much).” - -Billy is grateful for favors shown him and on his return from a -visit always sends some remembrance. A letter usually accompanies -the present, and the following is a unique specimen of his literary -ability: - - “Indian Town, Fla., J. M. Willson, Jr., Kissimmee. - - I write you Letter. I send you Big Alligator Feet skin. Big - Alligator 12 ft. long 4½ inches. This time Indian no sick. All Good - Well Ojus. You write to me Letter. Your Friend - - Mr. Billy Bowlegs.” - -In his signature, Billy always uses the prefix, “Mr.” - -At another time on Billy’s return to his Okeechobee home, a letter -was received which read: - - “MY GOOD FRIEND: - “Littly white birds me send. Indians all well.” - -The egrets, snowy white and beautiful as a poem, came in a crate made -of green palm stems, with a door fastened by buck skin hinges and -buck skin catch, the whole a marvel of neatness and ingenuity. - -The birds were at once given the freedom of the lawn, where they have -been a constant surprise, in showing how full of confidence, how -charming the wild heron can be made under habits of domestication. -They love companionship and at meal time they station themselves like -two sentinels, at the dining room piazza. Here they stand, with their -long necks craning into the door-way, alert and tense, waiting for -their beef to be thrown to them. - -These white plumed egrets, with their dark, piercing eyes, their -spotless white figures adorned in their bridal veil of long silken -plumes, make a picture that an artist may envy. - -It is a pleasing and encouraging fact that on all occasions when the -Seminoles visit white settlements they are warmly welcomed by the -whites and treated with the utmost respect and many times entertained -as one would celebrities. - -The _Florida Times-Union_ always breaks a lance in favor of the -Seminole. During a carnival season in Jacksonville, Billy Bowlegs -visited the city, and of his visit an editorial read: - - “Jacksonville has among her guests this week one of the most - representative Indians in America to-day--the highest type of what - is known as the savage tribe.... Billy was a conspicuous figure - in last night’s parade; he rode in one of the most striking and - effective floats of the parade, that of the Florida East Coast R. - R. Company.... This float bore the distinction of conveying the - noble figure of this Seminole chief and thus the only one with a - member of the real and single strictly American race. Billy Bowlegs - is no savage, but a magnificent specimen of physical manhood, with - a dignity, a reserve, a keen intelligence and an honest heart--a - representative of that forlorn remnant who regard honor with - commendable sacredness.” - -Billy visited the _Times-Union_ office, and took the keenest interest -in the mechanical equipments for making a newspaper. - -A fac-simile of Billy’s writing appeared in the paper at this time -and, a year later, it made an amusing picture to witness Billy’s -expression when he was shown the fac-simile; the clipping having been -taken from the paper at the time. Very quickly memory came to him and -he said, “Me know; my name write big paper, Jacksonville.” - -[Illustration: - - Okeechobee Dade County - Florida Nov 28 - Mr. Billie Bowlegs - Seminole Indian - My Home Okeechobee Fla] - -Such names as Tom Tiger, Doctor Tommy, Wild Cat and Billy Bowlegs, -are white man’s names for the Indians. Each Indian has his Indian -name, which is significant of some family or personal characteristic, -and which contains the root word of the gens to which the Indian -belongs. During the Indian’s visit he expressed a wish to have the -Seminole names of a number of his people written down so that he -might make a copy and carry home with him. Certainly this young brave -could not be called stupid or sluggish. Knowing that the information -was sought for the purpose of putting it into a book, so that “the -people could read about the good Indians of Florida,” he showed the -greatest interest in the questions, making his answers direct and -truthful. - -With the patience of a sphinx this Indian answered questions till -dark. When asked if he were tired, he answered, “Tired ojus,” -although his native politeness had not permitted him to show any -special restlessness at the tedious afternoon’s questioning. An air -of deepest solemnity would rest upon his face until he was assured -his meaning was thoroughly understood. During his visit he expressed -an eagerness to learn, and followed a copy with remarkable exactness. -With the desire to read and write, however, ended all ambition to be -like the white man. - -Every effort was made to please so rare a visitor, favors were shown -him, in fact he was treated as a most honored guest, yet this son -of the forest received it all with a silent dignity that would have -graced a monarch. When he was ready to leave he quietly arose, -remarking, “Me hi-e-pus” (go), and noiselessly passed out of the -house. - -It is a disputed question whether a wild Indian of pure blood has -ever been permanently civilized. One of the missionaries of the Osage -band once said that “it took fifteen years to get a blanket off -Joseph Pawnee-o-passhee, Chief of the Osage tribe, and it took Joseph -just fifteen minutes to get it on him again.” - - - - - RELIGION. - - -A pretty tradition among the Seminoles is that a beautiful race of -Indians, whose women they call the daughters of the sun, reside among -the swamps and lakes of the O-kee-fee-ne-kee wilderness and live in -uninterrupted felicity upon islands of eternal verdure, feasting upon -the luxuries of the islands, but inaccessible to the approach of -human footsteps. - -Unlike the child of Africa, who lives in a world of ghosts and -goblins, the Seminole is not superstitious. He has his traditions, -his mythologies, and on these are based his history. He obeys the -Great Spirit, but it is not from any spirit of fear; it is the -teaching of his fathers, and becomes the duty of the Indian. The -religion of the Seminole has been without question the most difficult -of all their history to reach. - -The Florida Indians believe in a Supreme Being; in the immortality of -the soul; in the future existence and the resurrection of the dead. -Reverence, too, is one of his distinguishing features. His language -contains no oath, nor any word to express disrespect to the Great -Spirit. A missionary will receive most respectful attention for their -reverence to God will not permit them to laugh at His messenger. The -Seminole qualifies the Supreme Being as the “Giver and Taker away of -Life.” The Aztec designated, as the “God by Whom We Live.” - -Their conception of the creation of man is very unique. “Long time -ago, E-shock-e-tom-isee (God) took seeds and scattered them all -around in a rich valley bordering a river. By and by, God saw fingers -coming out of the ground and great people--heap too many came up from -out of the sand. Some went to the river and washed, washed, washed -too much; it made them weak and pale; this was the es-ta-chat-tee -(white race). Others went to the river and washed not too much, they -returned full of courage, strong, heap; this was the es-ta-had-kee -(red race). The remainder no wash, lazy too much, es-ta-lus-tee -(black man).” - -In an extract taken from an old history printed in London in 1776, -descriptive of the native inhabitants of Florida, these people are -described as idolaters, worshipping the sun and moon--the worship -consisting of saluting the rising sun, chanting his praise and -offering sacrifices to the planet four times a year. They believe -that the sun was the parent of life. - -Whatever may have been the ancient rites of this race, the present -people seem to have outlived all remembrance of them as well as of -their early ancestors themselves. A glimmering of the Christian -religion, no doubt instilled into the race more than two hundred -years ago by the Franciscan priests, still seems to linger among the -descendants of to-day and constitutes their religion largely. These -rites they observe as faithfully as they did a century ago; and yet -in all that time they have received no further teaching, and have no -personal knowledge of the civilizing effects of the gospel of Christ. -In the same length of time where would have been the religion of the -Caucasian race, without the divine word, and without the influence of -men who have devoted their lives to the cause of Christianity? The -Seminoles believe in God (E-shock-e-tom-issee); that God had a son -(E-shock-e-tom-issee-e-po-chee) who came on earth and lived with the -Indians “long time ago to make them good Indians.” - -[Illustration: HI-E-TEE, CAPTAIN TOM TIGER, HO-TI-YEE, AND “LITTLE -TIGER”] - -One is tempted upon an intimate knowledge of this race to wonder -whether the Son of Man appeared to the Indian also; could not the -Light of the World in some mysterious way have touched the soul of -this innocent people? The more one studies the Seminole, the more -one wonders. Christ, according to their traditions, was killed by -the “wicked Spaniards” when they first came to this continent. -Since that time it has been the duty of the medicine men to teach -the Indians “to think with God,” and to impart the Great Spirit’s -wishes to his red children. Each tribe has two or more medicine -men who act as priests as well as doctors. These men are highly -honored by the tribe, because they believe them to be directed by -the Supreme Being. Just before the festival of the Green Corn Dance -the medicine men leave the tribe, and going to a secret spot, there -build a lodge. Here they fast for twenty-four hours, after which they -take a potion, made of herbs, which causes a deep sleep to come over -them. It is now that God appears to them in a dream and tells them -how to make the Indians “think good,” and how they shall prepare -the herbs for medicine. Returning in time to prepare for the great -feast they occupy a most prominent position in the dance circle. The -Seminole tradition of Christ’s coming to live with the Indians, is -that the Son of God stopped at the most southern point of Florida, -at which place he was met by three Indians who carried him around -the Southern Peninsula on their shoulders, while he sowed the seeds -of the “koonti” root, which was God’s gift to the red men. (This -koonti is a wild cassava and found only in the extreme southern -portion of Florida.) According to the legend, the Indians were in -a starving condition. The ground was parched, no corn grew and the -game had all left. During the long time in which the Indians waited -for the koonti to grow, God rained down bread “heap, plenty,” which -the Indians gathered and ate. In describing this bread, which came -down in the rain each morning, the Indian illustrated in this wise: -“Littly bread, white man’s biscuit all the same, good, every Indian -eat plenty.” The Mosaic account of the manna from heaven is evident -in this legend. - -The Seminole believes in a future state, In-li-Ke-ta (heaven or -home). To this place do the good Indians go after death. Here they -may “hunt, hunt, hunt, plenty deer, plenty turkey, plenty bear find, -and cool water ojus (plenty) all the time. Bad Indians after big -sleep hunt, hunt, hunt, hunt deer, turkey, bear--no find ’em, hot -water drink all the time.” - -The Indians’ religion, for we may justly call it so, is sacred to -him, and it is difficult to get him to reveal his inmost thoughts. -His idea of the Bible is vague, because he understands it as the work -of man. “White man got book, him good one day, he steal, cheat next -day; book no good. Injun no make book, he no see hunting ground, him -no go and come back. Big sleep, no come back, him no lie about it. -Me think good Injun find hunting ground all right; me think me find -it. White man, big sleep comes, me think no find In-li-Ke-ta (heaven) -easy.” - -After death the body of a Seminole is immediately prepared for -burial, the corpse being clad in new clothes. When a chief dies one -cheek is painted red, the other one is painted black. The rest of the -tribe do not have the face painted for burial. It will be recalled -that Osceola, with the death struggle already upon him, rose in his -bed, and “with his own hand painted one-half of his face, his neck -and his throat, his wrists, the back of his hands and the handle of -his knife red, with vermillion,” the marks of a war chief. - -At sunrise, on the day following a death, the body is carried by -two Indian men to the place of interment. The corpse is placed on a -base made of logs with the face to the rising sun. If the deceased -be a warrior, his rifle and accoutrements are placed by his side, -“that he may be fully armed on his arrival at the happy hunting -grounds.” A bottle of Sof-ka is buried with him that he may eat on -his long journey. Around the body is built a pen of logs sloping -till they close at the top and thickly covered with palmetto leaves. -The protection is to prevent the wild beasts from despoiling. With -faces now turned reverently to the rising sun, they commend into the -keeping of the Great Spirit the bivouac of the dead. The bearers of -the dead then make a fire at each end of the grave, and the mourners -return to camp, the women loudly wailing and tearing their hair. -At the death of a husband the widow must live with disheveled hair -for one year. Her long black tresses are worn over her face and -shoulders, and she presents a forsaken, pitiable appearance. At the -end of twelve moons her period of mourning is over, and she may again -arrange her hair, don her beads, which have been removed during her -period of mourning, and may marry again. The husband, on the death -of his squaw, may not hunt for four days, and for a period of four -moons must appear in mourning, which consists in the removal of his -neck handkerchiefs, and the laying aside of his turban. When a death -occurs in one band or settlement, the news is not communicated to the -other bands until such time as it is convenient for a messenger to be -sent. - - - - - BROUGHT BACK. - - -About fifteen years ago, one young Indian brave, Ko-nip-hat-cho by -name, stepped beyond the Seminole law and asked permission to live -with a white man at Fort Myers, Florida. He was eagerly received -by the gentleman, and was taught much of the English language and -civilized mode of living. But for a Seminole to so far forget the -teachings of his fathers, as to wish to affiliate with the white -race, caused the greatest dissatisfaction in the Indian camps. -“Talk after talk” was “made” by the chiefs as they met in council -concerning the actions of this bold young Indian. He was repeatedly -warned to return to the tribe. They even threatened to kill him if -he refused to do so. At length, however, artifice succeeded, where -all else had failed. The daughter of Charles Osceola was promised to -him for a wife if he would but return to his people and once more -don the costume of his race. No Indian girl in all the nation could -boast of the beauty of Nan-ces-o-wee; damask and dark, with features -as refined as the Caucasian, a form superb in its symmetry, a step -as graceful as the doe’s, a spirit as fearless as the falcon, such -is the woman who moved Ko-nip-hat-cho from his foreign alliance. -Ko-nip-hat-cho has four children, is contented and happy in his -forest home, and with his knowledge is an important personage among -his tribe. His wife is the belle of the Seminole nation. All the -Indian braves say, “Ko-nip-hat-cho’s squaw _heap purty_,” and in -their native tongue declare, “Nan-ces-o-wee most beautiful of all the -Seminole squaws.” - -[Illustration: DR. JIMMIE TUSTANOGEE WITH HIS TWO WIVES AND THE -CHILDREN] - - - - - MOUNDS. - - -The great number of mounds found in Florida afford attractive study -to the lover of scientific research. These mounds are of many -shapes, heights and areas. They are found in all parts of the State, -but are more abundant on or near the coast and along the water -courses. Every few months some explorer, armed with shovels, picks -and other instruments used in excavating mounds, comes before the -public and announces new discoveries, based on new theories. The -best possible explanation of the source of these mounds is founded -on the theory that they are of Indian origin. One scientist has -aimed a happy stroke at writers of our antiquities when he says, -“Whoever has time and patience and will use his spade and his eyes -together, and restrain his imagination from running riot among -mounds, fortifications, etc., etc., will find very little more than -the indications of rude savages, the ancestors of the present race.” -No better theories can be advanced than those of Major Powell, who -says, “Remove the Indian element from the problem and we are left -without a hypothesis.” One of the latest mound excavations in Florida -was made by Dr. Moore. A thousand skeletons were unearthed as well -as many articles of pottery, and other things considered of great -value by the explorer. The height and character of the Florida -mounds indicate the different uses for which they were built. These -mounds vary from three feet to thirty feet in height, and their -areas range from a few square feet to four hundred feet square. -The shell mounds which are numerous throughout the peninsula seem -to have grown without any idea of purpose by the builders, and are -merely accumulations of shells and soil. Year after year it was the -custom of the tribes to congregate at certain localities for their -festivals, and, living on shell fish, the shells in course of time -formed vast mounds or elevations. There are a number of small mounds -on the outskirts of Kissimmee City. Excavations have been made, and -pieces of skeletons, beads, pottery and gold trinkets were exhumed. -Other mounds in Florida indicate that they were built for tombs, -while others, being composed of strata of sand and other soils, from -their height might have been built for outlooks or signal towers. -Chroniclers of De Soto’s day describe the manner in which the natives -brought the earth to these spots and formed these elevations. The -Indians say in Seminole war days these mounds were used to build -their signal fires upon. By smoke telegraphy, they communicated war -news from one band to another. By this means, with their fleet Indian -runners, who acted also as spies, the entire tribe was kept informed -of the innermost workings of the white army. In asking a chief about -the burial mounds, he answered, “Long time ago heap many people -here,” and that their “ancestors buried their dead in mounds so that -other bands coming along might not disturb their bones.” Many times -the body would be carried a great distance in order to bury in a -sepulchre where rested the bones of their ancestors. “Now,” said the -chief, “Seminoles no fight, not too many people;” and he buries his -dead near his camp. - - - - - PICTURE WRITING. - - -The Seminoles have no picture writing, nor do their minds in any -way run to art. They prefer the rough athletics of forest life, -which educates them for the chase and makes them the vigorous and -hardy people that they are. They would sooner “hook” an alligator -than paint the finest picture the brush is capable of producing, -and yet there is nothing in the white man’s home they enjoy more -than studying the pictures of a book. In this way they may be taught -much. Through the teaching by pictures they have learned the story -of Pocahontas, and of William Penn, “the red man’s brother.” On an -occasion the picture of a heathen Zuni god was shown to an Indian and -its meaning explained. The effect produced would have done credit to -a Christian believer. - - - - - MEDICINE. - - -The Seminoles have a superstitious faith in the efficacy of certain -roots and herbs known to their tribe, the knowledge of which has -been handed down from their remote ancestors. The curative property -of these plants they never question. A few of the band to-day have -carefully concealed about them small pieces of a root, which they -call “hil-lis-waw.” This root was gotten by some of their tribe sixty -years ago when their people were encamped at Tampa, and has been -carefully treasured ever since, having been handed down from father -to son. Their faith in the healing powers of this root is marvelous, -their idea being that the smallest possible piece being made into a -tea would restore life from death almost. Those fortunate enough to -own a small piece the size of a pea are considered to have a great -treasure. On testing this root it was found to be a simple plant, the -great medicinal qualities of which exist largely in the minds of the -Indians. They are ignorant as to what the root is and believe it to -be very valuable, saying, “So much (what one could hold in the palm -of his hand) cost $25.” “Long time ago,” says the Seminole, “chief -sick _heap_ too much; by-and-by, big sleep come. Medicine man bring -hil-lis-waw, fix ’um quick. Chief get well.” - -[Illustration: - - BILLY BUSTER TALLAHASSEE - TOMMY HILL CHARLIE PEACOCK] - -A late incident occurred, showing the childlike faith of this people. -The little son of Ko-nip-pat-cho was taken very ill and when Seminole -medicinal efforts failed, the father learned from other Indians -that their white friend at Kissimmee City could procure for them the -“hil-lis-waw.” A runner was dispatched from the Everglades to the -nearest boat landing (a distance of 160 miles from Kissimmee) where a -note could be sent in person. This note was given to the Captain--the -Indian waiting for the return of the steamer. The Indians reported -afterwards, “Boy sick ojus, arms cold--feet cold--big sleep come -soon--Indian bring medicine from white friend, boy no die.” - -Did not the Great Spirit, Who watches over His children, reward the -childlike faith of these Indians? - -Pais-haw is the name applied to a plant which the Indians regard as -an antidote to the rattlesnake bite. Old settlers tell that they -have known of Indians allowing themselves to be bitten by a rattler -on a wager of a silver dollar. The Indians after being bitten would -go to the woods, a short distance away, and procure their antidote. -Returning they would apparently be no worse for the bite. Requesting -an Indian to procure some of the roots, he replied, “No find ’em -here--by-and-by me go to Okeechobee swamps, find ’em plenty.” - -A few weeks later there came through the mail a small box full of -roots, neatly done up and addressed by the Indian’s own hand, a -perfect copy of name and address as he had learned to write it during -his visit. - -On sending the roots to the Smithsonian Institute for analysis, the -secretary reports that they belong to a species of plant known as -_Cyperus_, and adds, “This is one of the large number of reputed -cures for snakebites, which have become so regarded from the -fact that a person who has been bitten has been known to recover -after taking the drug.” The use of water enters largely into the -_materia medica_ of the Seminoles, bathing in cold water being one -of their principal treatments for fevers. During the war with the -whites a soldiers’ camp was found deserted; the Indians immediately -appropriated the clothing, blankets and other things. Very soon the -loathsome disease of small-pox broke out among them. Ignorant as to -the nature of the malady, they immediately applied their bathing -remedy. The result was a frightful mortality, few of that band were -left to tell the story. In this instance, the Government army gained -a victory over their foe without the firing of a gun. - - - - - FLORIDA’S ABIDING WORDS OF BEAUTY THE HERITAGE - OF THE ABORIGINAL PATHFINDERS. - - -All through Florida the musical softness, peculiar to the Seminole -dialect, is sustained in the names of the lakes and rivers. Each -having a history descriptive of its character, or some incident -connected therewith. - -The old names of the chiefs were very euphonious, such as Osceola, -Micanopy, Tusteenuggee, Coacoochee and Tallahassee. These are being -displaced by names adopted by the whites, such as Billy Ham, Tommy -John and Billy Buster. Accident, too, seems to have credited the -aborigines with words not really their own if it be true that -“Yankee” is only an attempt made by the Indian to speak the word -English, and that pappoose is the effort of the natives to say -“baby.” The symphonious cadence of such words as Alabama, Tuscaloosa, -Caloosahatchee and Minnehaha has often been noticed. - -Tohope Ke-liga is the name of one of the most beautiful lakes in -Florida, its Indian significance meaning “fort site.” All around -the lake are the old hunting grounds of the Indians and memorable -points in Seminole war fame. To-day the Okeechobee drainage canal -connects it with the lakes south, plantations surrounding its shores; -the thriving city of Kissimmee is situated on its north side and -all trace of the Seminole has vanished. The only memorials he has -left are his words firmly embedded in the history of his conquerors. -Kissimmee river is said to have taken its name from a romantic -episode. A young Spanish grandee in a moment of impulse snatched a -kiss from a Seminole girl, and the frightened maiden’s childlike -plaint to her mother established the name of the river on whose banks -the kiss was stolen--Kiss-him-mee. - -The romance attached to our beautiful Kissimmee river gives it -especial interest and we give it only as a traditional meaning. The -present Indians cannot give the English rendition, saying, “Indian -long, long time ago named the river,” which is corroborated by the -Bureau of Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, as follows: - - In reply to your letter I regret to say that it is impossible to - give you the meaning of “Kissimmee.” Several of our ethnologists - think the word dates back to the Ais Caloosa, or some other tribe - antedating the Seminoles, in which case the meaning will never be - known. - - Very respectfully yours, - W. H. HOLMES, - Chief. - -So many of the euphonious words abounding in Florida belong to the -ancient tribes and were picked up by the Seminoles. - -An interesting bit of information was gotten after much care -and questioning from Chief Tallahassee as to the meaning of his -name--Tallahassee being only a nickname, or white man’s name for -him--his Indian name being Fo-so-wa-los-te-nock-ee, meaning chief of -the Bird gens or tribe. - -The origin of the name of Florida’s State capital dates back to the -days that are but traditions to the Seminole. - -As the Seminole interprets, “Long, long time ago,” many Indians and -houses were on the site where the city of Tallahassee now stands. - -One day, as the tradition goes, all the Indians left. Some time -after, some Indians came along, Seminoles presumably, and seeing many -houses--but Indians “hiepus” (gone), exclaimed, “Tallahassee”--“all -gone or deserted.” - -[Illustration: THE WILD HERON IN DOMESTICATION - -“Littly white birds me send.” - - “Mr. Billy Bowlegs.”] - -We-la-ka is the Indian name for the St. John river and describes -it so graphically that the old Spaniards retrograded when they -named the “river of lakes” for their patron saint. Ock-la-wa-ha, -“crooked water,” appropriately describes the most crooked stream in -America. Okeechobee, with her vast expanse of water and over-hanging -mists, in Seminole significance means “the place of big water.” -With-la-coo-chee, so memorable in Seminole war days as the place of -Osceola’s strategic movements, is a long but very narrow stream, -meaning, in the Seminole tongue, “Little Big river.” Alachua, “the -big jug without a bottom,” We-Kiva, “mystery,” and so on all over the -Peninsula do we find names preserved which mark the wanderings of the -picturesque Aborigines. - -The unwritten, but highly poetical, language of the Florida Indians, -should be incorporated into schoolcraft form and preserved with -the archives of history for future generations. One who has heard -the war shouts, their mythological tales, the words accompanying -their dancing tunes, or listened in the darkness of the night, with -breathless wonder to the heart-moving dirges sung by wailing women -as they move around the corpse of some dead member, the whole scene -lit up by the flickering flames of the lurid camp fire, cannot doubt -but that the Florida Indian _has_ a literature, and the white race is -to blame for its imperfect knowledge of the unwritten but priceless -productions of a savage race. - -The linguistic perfection of the Seminole language, with its fluent, -oratorical powers, shows itself in every speech or talk ever made to -the white man. - -With linguistic research, the scientist readily finds that man does -not invent language any more than a bird does its twittering or a -tree its leaves. It requires a whole nation to produce a language. - -Of the world’s famous orators we have our Demosthenes of the Greek, -Cicero of the Roman, England’s great Gladstone, America with her -Calhoun, Clay and Webster; but as yet has the world ever found -greater eloquence than in the “talks” of the famous Indian chiefs? - -Red Jacket, on the religion of the white man and the red race, is a -marvel of eloquence. Then what shall we say of Tecumseh, the great -Shawnee, as he delivered his famous talk to General Harrison, or -Black Hawk, the captive, in his plea before General Street? - -In dealing with the Seminole language we meet with long -words and mammoth expressions. The Seminole greeting, -“Ha-tee-eten-chee-hick-cha-hit-is-chay,” sounds formidable, yet it -only means “Glad to see you.” These, with well-understood Indian -phrases, such as “burying the tomahawk,” “going on the warpath,” -we employ familiarly without a thought of the tribe we have -dispossessed. The time for studying the aborigines of America will -soon be over. Only remnants of the tribes remain among us. Old myths -and customs are being displaced by new ones, and we can truly see -that the red man’s inheritance is nearing the horizon of its destiny. - - - - - THE SEMINOLE’S RECESSIONAL. - - -When the last Seminole goes, he will in every sense be the last. He -will leave no history; neither monument. His narrow path through -the Savannah lasts no longer than the doe’s road to the ford of -the stream. His race have had their joys, their triumphs and their -defeats, and then been swept into oblivion. - -Like the white plumed egret of the vast forests of the Everglades, -he will pass, like the mist. As memories come up, we hear the faint -rustle of the leaves and see the dusky forms of those ancient people -as they glided through the leaf-carpeted aisles of the forests. We -see the happy wigwam homes, gleaming in the red flames of the camp -fire and hear the soft lullabies of the crooning mothers; the dusky -hero of the chase returns game-laden from the hunt, and, in the -picture, framed, as it were, by the boundaries of nature, we see -long lines of moving life, the graceful forms of thousands of flying -creatures, while the song of the forest minstrel hallows the wooded -silence. _It is the land of the Seminole._ - -Thou, Florida, with thy laughing waters and sunny skies, art the -Seminole’s elysium. Thy spreading palms form the only canopy he -desires. To part from thy loved scenes would be like separating from -his kindred. No, under the shadows of the live oak and the magnolia -has he lived, under their shadows let him die. - -As the patient Seminole, with swelling heart “moves a little farther, -and yet a little farther,” he goes not willingly, but with a sad -heart and a slow step. Micanopy, when told by the officers that he -might choose between emigration and death, answered, “Kill me here -then, kill me quickly.” The same spirit is manifested by the Seminole -to-day when he says, “We have never done anything to disgrace the -land of our birth, nor the honor of an Indian. For fifty years the -pledge to our great father has been kept inviolate. Our tongues are -not forked and our feet tread not in the white man’s path. We threw -away the rifle and grasped hands with the white skin. We know the -white man’s power, and though we love peace, we fear not death. We -will not leave the land of our birth. The Great Spirit loves his red -children, and says to them, “Your bones must rest with the dust of -your fathers.” Brothers, when the pale face came to the shores of our -land, our fathers made him a fire from their flint rock to warm by, -and gave him hominy to stay his hunger. Brothers, the Seminole wishes -no harm to the white race, but his heart heaves and surges as it -says, “Let us alone; let us alone. Though you slay us, you shall not -move us.” - -“A kingdom as full of people as hives are of bees,” wrote the first -discoverer to King Ferdinand. Where are they now? - -[Illustration: THE WHITE PLUMED EGRET IN A FLORIDA YARD - -“In their bridal veil of long silken plumes.”] - -There is something intensely sad in the picture of these sons of the -monarchs of that race, who, for centuries held sway on the slopes -of the Atlantic. As the Stars and Stripes proudly herald liberty -and independence to the comers of all nations, how can we be -unmindful of that “charity which begins at home?” The panorama of -Indian history passes before us, and we see nothing more tragic than -the pictures of the wrongs endured by the native Americans. Let us -then deal kindly with the tribes we have dispossessed, whose removal -to the swamps has made room for our own enlargement. In the person -of these descendants of a now disinherited race, who with shy, -frightened faces still hide in the wilderness, we may yet atone in -part for the tragedies of the past by making Florida a free, safe -and Christian home for this patient and long-persecuted remnant of a -once-powerful Indian nation. - -May the almoner of justice, under the guidance of an overruling God, -protect and keep and cherish these red children of the forest homes. - - - - - SUPPLEMENT - - The Least Known Wilderness of America - - - - - THE LEAST KNOWN WILDERNESS OF AMERICA - - TOGETHER WITH THE STORY OF THE RED INHABITANTS - - -Would you see the Land of the Seminole? Then visit the Everglades -of Florida and in the heart of this mystic region--a very uncharted -wilderness--you will find a thrilling beauty, and yet a lurking -terror; the dark, cypress, laden trees are massed together, now -swaying, now quivering, as the Gulf winds circle around them, and -they seem like human things, crowding together like shuddering -people, frightened by ghosts. - -This is the “Big Cypress”--the last foothold of the vanishing red man -of America. - -This tropic jungle of islets, lagoons and cutting saw-grass prairies -is an unexplored treasure house for the man of research--a virgin -field for the adventurer, in short a tropic mimosa, with its secrets -closely held against the disturbing exploiter--yet awaiting, with -sphinx-like calmness, the intrepid traveller, who would dare to -explore this Least Known Wilderness of America. - -Then why should the American go to the land of the Vikings or to -“Darkest Africa” for themes? Florida has the Everglades--grey, -misty, water covered. - -Scientists have crossed these “weird drowned prairies” as a ship -crosses the ocean, yet no well defined lines have been made, and no -flagstaffs mark the trail of the adventurous explorer. - -The Everglades, properly christened with the red man’s -name--Pay-hay-o-kee, or “Grass Water Country,” comprise a territory -of more than 5,000 square miles, and, while considered a swamp, -the region is more of a shallow sea or lake, thickly studded with -thousands of islands, which are covered with thickets of shrubbery -and vines. Aquatic flowers, brilliant butterflies and the flutter of -bird life add color and animation to the scene. - -Here and there in the mysterious depths of the great Florida -jungle live the descendants of the bravest, purest blood American -Indian--those patriots who refused, nearly a century ago, to desert -their country, and, escaping capture by bloodhounds and bullets, hid -themselves in the wilds of this tangled Everglade wilderness, and -were for years lost to the historian. - -All aboriginal history holds much interest, but none is more replete -with the tragedies and romance that go to make up life wherever -it is lived than the shadowy history of the self-exiled Seminoles -about whom so little is known and who have lived this jungle life as -lords of a conquered race--proud heroic, with blood as pure as the -race who governed the territory long before Columbus sailed from -Palos. Monarchs of America’s primeval continent, mystery envelops -the Seminoles’ past and the historian can only catch glimpse of the -fleeting figures of the ancestors of this peculiar people, who wrote -no history, except by deeds. - - - - - THE LAND OF THE SEMINOLE - - -The Caucasian has battered at the gates of this great American Jungle -for nearly four centuries, but some impregnable force, directed by a -Higher Power than commercialized graft or the greed of selfish men, -has kept the gates secure. _It is the Land of the Seminole!_ - -The Seminole knows every foot of this interminable morass. The -stars are his compass; the fantastic tracery of canals, cut by his -ancestors through this chaotic tangle of grass water country, are his -highways. The appearance of the remote recesses of the Everglades is -unlike that of any other region on the globe and is certainly the -most bewildering and remarkable on this continent. - - - EVERGLADE SCENARIO - -Were we to unroll the reel of a photo-drama of the Everglades, we -would go back thousands of years, when the great billows of the ocean -rolled over the space now occupied by this territory; we would see -the millions of busy builders of that age, the tiny coral polyps, -working on the reefs and shoals; we would look again and see the -tempestuous storms and hear the thunder of the circling winds and -behold the “breaking up of the great fountain of the deep,” forcing -the sand from its depths, until a giant dam was built and the great -ocean was excluded. Then it was that the shimmering waters of Lake -Okeechobee, “the place of the Big Water” in Seminole dialect, became -an inland sea. - -We may turn the slide and see the animals of prehistoric days basking -in the sunshine or bathing in the limpid waters. The fame of Florida -as a health resort was not unknown to the animals of those ancient -days, for the remains of these monsters are exhibited today in -national museums, with labels reading that “they belonged to animals, -probably mammoths, that lived 10,000 to 50,000 years ago.” - -Film makers delight in taxing the flights of the mind and -Florida’s drama was silenced for thousands of years. The reel -makes another turn and we see a Twentieth Century renaissance of -adventure, optimism and commercialism. Engineering expeditions -entered this region to make surveys for drainage and land -selling corporations--the land was sold from the enticing -blue paper plat--but according to America’s best engineering -corps a large area of this tropic jungle still remained terra -incognita--unsurveyed--each surveying corps wisely barricading -against criticism of failure by publishing to the speculative world, -that upon “800 square miles of this unexplored country no white man -had ever placed foot.” - -[Illustration: Coacoochee. (Wild Cat.) - -COACOOCHEE - -_From an old print_] - - - FEDERAL GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATES LAND DEALS - -Like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky came the demand--from -the United States Government, in 1913, to Florida’s high -officials--“Investigate--investigate!” - -Twenty thousand purchasers of lands in the Everglades, backed by the -power of American democracy, had _demanded_ their lands or the return -of their good American dollars. The Federal Government, through -Congress, exposed the crooked deals (the lands still being under -water and unsurveyed) made by the vampire speculator, with the result -that another survey was ordered and the Florida State government put -sixty men into the Everglades at an expense of $40,000. The citizens -paid for the survey and “800 square miles” still remain--unsurveyed! -Less is known and, it can be said without fear of contradiction, less -is “told” to the reading world of inquiries in this 20th century than -was given to history four hundred years ago. - -For best accounts touching the interior of the Everglades we must -have recourse to historical documents. From French delineations upon -old maps as well as from Spanish and English authorities, we learn -that more than three hundred years ago Florida’s Everglade country -was cut up by large rivers, extensive ponds, lagoons and lakes which -connected with each other. - -That the drainage of the Everglades was contemplated by the -authorities of the Spanish government, is an established historical -fact and as late as 1840, during the Seminole War, a canal was found -large enough to float a large craft. This piece of engineering work -is credited to the Spaniards, but owing to the treacherous straits of -Florida’s coast, interior navigation was abandoned and the Spaniards -and the Frenchman left the country to the intrepid and enterprising -Indian, whose knowledge of the water world of the Glades was then, -as is now, superior to his white engineering brother; for the Indian -knows every foot of this interminable morass and travels through -these uncharted waters in his “dugout” canoe, with no compass but the -stars overhead, as he is guided by the whispering winds brought him -from the Great Spirit. - - - - - CROSSING THE EVERGLADES BY AEROPLANE - - -A recent experience told by an aviator belonging to one of Uncle -Sam’s flying squadrons and authorized by the War Department at -Washington, graphically pictures a modern view of the Everglades, -and illustrates, too, that the same hospitality extended by the Red -Man to the bewildered Spaniards, as they landed on these wild and -unexplored shores four centuries ago, may be found in the heart of -the jungle and marsh wilderness of the Seminole camps today. - -The airmen were attempting to “cross the Everglades” in order to -make a shorter flight between the aviation fields of Florida. -Encountering a storm, they were compelled to make a “forced landing” -and headed for the nearest open space in the Big Cypress country, -which proved to be soft muck, where the ship turned over on its back, -wrecked and submerged in the black water. - -The aviators wandered, hungry and exhausted, for two days, finally -finding a camp inhabited by Seminole Indians. There they received a -welcome, and food and shelter were given. - -The Seminoles, lurking in their swamp-hedged wigwams, fear the -intrusion of the white man, but like their ancient forbears they -stand ever ready, with Samaritan-like kindness, to help the white -brother in an hour of necessity. The airmen were later piloted by -the red men through their hidden channels to a dredge-boat where aid -was secured and they soon reached the Marine fields at Miami. With -the help of the Indians, who made frequent trips to the base camps -for equipments, the “fire ship of the clouds” was “launched”; the -propeller took the air, droning a new tune to the silent Seminoles, -who say “fire ships littly too much, to cross the West Wind of the -Great Spirit.” - -This aquatic jungle, whose secrets are known only to the Indian, has -not changed since the day Columbus found a new world for Castile and -Leon, as a brief extract from the airmen’s report verifies: - -“The territory in which we made our landing is known as the -Everglades (Big Cypress). Its sameness is appalling; just one small -cypress hammock after another; water and mud everywhere; innumerable -mosquitoes, alligators, water moccasins and black snakes. Here and -there a hammock would be found with a rock base and on some of these -bases Seminole Indians eke out an existence. The mosquitoes attacked -us in hordes. We drank no water, for fear it might be infected with -malaria germs or some other swamp fever, nor had any food been -found.... We were compelled to spend the night again in the swamp, -this time on ground covered with an inch or more of water, a maze -of water and prairie ways, with treacherous under-currents and -impregnable barriers.” - -The solemn silence of this mysterious swamp is only broken by the -splash of the Indian canoe, but here the Seminole lingers, giving a -background of tragedy and romance to aboriginal America. - - - - - EVERGLADE GEYSER - - -Let the captain of an air ship rest his craft in mid-air and through -his glasses gaze down upon this aquatic jungle. Near the centre of -the Glades, according to public documents filed in Washington, is an -immense spring rising from the earth, covering an extent of several -acres and throwing up large quantities of water with great force, -supplying the Everglades with torrential quantities of water. - -[Illustration: THE LATEST PHOTOGRAPH OF BILLY BOWLEGS, - -_Taken in 1911_] - -With the sun’s rays glinting on this “Everglade Geyser,” with the -evaporation caused by the intense heat of this tropical land, as it -meets the cooling waters of some underground cavern, a grey mist -is formed and hangs over the area. As the white, wandering clouds -from the fathomless cavern meet the starry skies, the Seminole sees -in this phenomenon of nature the “Breath of the Great Spirit.” - -When the torrential rains, a characteristic of the Everglade country, -come, flooding the entire area, the Queen of the Water Kingdom picks -up the rippling waters as they course over the rock-bound bottom and -like an elfish sprite hurls them into the lakes and rivers, where -they dash relentlessly on until they reach the subterranean outlets. - -Until the white engineer finds ways and means to control subterranean -flood gates, to control water forces whose source lies hundreds of -miles away, or to toss away lightly the very God of Nature’s balance -wheel, Everglade drainage in the heart of the Big Cypress must -continue to be a stupendous operation. - -The subject of the reclamation of this “The Least Known Wilderness -of America” has been a “political football” for more than a score of -years and has become a theme of nation-wide discussion. Until Florida -populates her millions of tillable and untenanted acres, certainly -she need not allure with tempting word pictures the problematical and -uncertain Everglades. - -Thousands of purchasers of lands in these tropical swamps--lands -unsurveyed and submerged--still wait for the answer to the riddle of -the Okee-cho-bee Sphinx, who alone holds fast the key to this “Egypt -of America.” - -Florida’s Everglade disaster, which was commercialized with land -grabbers’ outfit in entering the Seminoles’ heritage, violated every -humane and brotherly law of a commonwealth. The chaotic days that -followed the Federal investigation, retarded the progress of the -State fully a decade of years, and Florida, the land of singing -birds, limpid waters and “golden apples,” learned the bitterness of -the prophet’s rebuke when he said: _“Thou shouldst not have entered -the Gate of my People in the day of their calamity nor have laid -hands on their substance in the days of their distress_.” - - - - - SEMINOLE HISTORY REVIEWED - - -With the purchase of Florida from Spain in 1821 we read the death -sentence of Seminole independence--a very Iliad of tragedy in -American history. Prior to this, the Seminoles, as subjects of the -Spanish crown, were permitted to become a nation to themselves, -living and practicing the inalienable rights of independence, honor -and kindliness. - -[Illustration: BILLY BOWLEGS AND HIS SISTER, STEM-O-LA-KEE] - -For three-quarters of a century these dusky patriots prospered, -owning cattle, slaves and plantations. Listen, and you may hear the -tinkling bells of their little ponies as they traveled, caravan -style, carrying their wares from village to village. Here, for -a time, in the secluded fastnesses of the wilderness, these red -aborigines lived happily because away from the white man’s power, -but alas, we see a mocking travesty in our cherished ideals. Soon the -alien speculator and “carpet-bagger,” with bullets and blood-hounds, -entered the State, confiscating their well cultivated fields and -destroying their wigwam homes. The staccato cry of “Move on--move -on!” rang in the ears of this distracted, primitive people and, -like sheep before the rout of grey timber wolves, the Seminoles -were driven on into the more desolate regions of the great morass. -Shattered hamlets and dull ashen camp fires blackened the once -peaceful Indian country. Years of war and broken treaties followed, -until the American Nation became the conquerors and thousands of -Seminoles were forced to give up homes--life itself, and be exiled to -a cold and unknown Western land. - -The flame-lit reel makes a turn and we see, by the imperishable magic -of the camera, a silent drama of Florida history. We see a little -band of about one hundred Indians left in the Glade country in 1841. -Expedition after expedition failed to corral these patriots, whose -greatest crime (?) was love of country, kindred and reverence for the -graves of their fathers. Like animals sorely stricken, creeping to -their lair, these red mothers and little children followed the slow -tread of the stoical braves and sought refuge in the secret recesses -of their Glade country. - -Among the archives of Government statistics, one record is enough to -stir the sympathy and stimulate pity for the vanquished red dwellers -of the Everglade country. The reel makes a turn and we read: - - Record 5. “With 200 men we ascended Shark River into the - Everglades. Here we met Captain Burke of Artillery, with 67 - men. * * * Joining forces, we proceeded to Te-at-ka-hatch-ees, - and discovered two Indians in a canoe. The Indians escaped, but - we secured their packs, cooking utensils, provisions and their - canoes. We followed them three days until the trail was lost. After - destroying the growth of their fields, consisting of 50 to 60 acres - of pumpkins, beans and peas, etc., we continued to sea. - - Respectfully submitted, - JOHN T. MCLAUGHLIN, - Lieutenant Commanding Expedition.” - -From the beginning of time, down through the long centuries, the -conscience of man has awakened, in cycles, as it were, for the -betterment and uplift of humanity. - -A decade of years ago, a new spirit of quickening prevailed in -America and a growing interest in Chief Osceola’s long neglected -people became a nation-wide theme. Pressure from Maine to California -was brought upon Florida’s state officials, and a rhythmic sympathy -was felt for the destiny of the Seminole. The subject was presented -to the Chief Executive and, under the beneficent ruling of the -martyred McKinley, an expedition from the United States Government -was sent into the trackless Everglades to select and survey lands for -homes for the long persecuted native inhabitants. Belated justice -seemed assured and in the year 1899 the Florida Legislature passed a -bill granting the Seminoles a reservation of 835,000 acres. - -This act was approved by the Governor, but between the time when -President McKinley’s special government commission carefully selected -these lands in 1898--an interval of less than a year--this particular -tract disappeared (?) from the list of public domain _and went into -private ownership_. - -The bill, so inspiring in humanity, contained a clause in these days -of Everglade jests called a “joker.” Like the eagle, as he sweeps -down the lamb feeding at its mother’s side, so the spoils-taker, with -“land grabbers’” outfit, swept down upon the inheritance of the red -children of Florida, not only violating the sanctity of Florida’s -citizenship but even gathering the crumbs that fell from Florida’s -bounteous table, and the livid bar sinister of treachery again -stained the escutcheon of Florida. - -Years passed, when pressure was once more brought upon Florida’s -inhumanity toward her native people, and the legislative body of -1913 passed a bill, unanimously providing 235,000 acres in the -Everglades for the Seminoles. Alas! for the pathos of the story. On -the very last day of the session, Governor Park Trammell, untouched -by the needs of these long persecuted people, and in full sympathy -and co-operation with the politicians’ strong anti-Indian feelings, -vetoed the bill, not only denying the citizenry of Florida the -inalienable right to uphold the dignity, honor and patriotism of -Florida, but denying these oppressed natives as much as a spadeful -of earth to cover their corpses. What mathematician can ever estimate -the result of the power used by the Governor at this critical time? -By this stroke of the pen, these aboriginal Americans again became -the victims of a cowardly treason. - -A great State like Florida, whose honor is far greater than her land -possessions, need not vilify the history and lives of her native -people; there has been much more than money involved in the handlings -of the Everglade Country, and a handful of speculators, who said: -“There is no land left for the Seminole--let him ‘make bricks without -straw,’” found, as later records show, that a Florida democracy, -quickened by the spirit of human kindness, checkmated the Everglade -spoils-taker, whose fetish has been the dollar mark, and later -through the Legislature gave to the native owners land upon which -they may find peace and a refuge. - -Again in 1915 an Indian bill was introduced, but certain active land -speculators, known to be strongly opposed to the Seminoles having -_any_ land in Florida, arrived at Florida’s capital on schedule time, -and the bill, as per Seminole dialect, went into a “big sleep,” and -the story of the Seminole came before the world as rivaling that of -the “Man Without a Country.” And, throughout the country, the printed -pages of journalism carried headlines which read: “Within the Bounds -of America, ‘We Have a Little Belgium of Our Own.’” - -At this point in Florida’s history, the white American heard, as it -were, the Seminole’s wounded cry: “_Why have the lands of our fathers -been taken from us?_” And as the dirge-like wail of the oppressed -Seminole echoed and re-echoed through the solemn stillness of the -mysterious Everglades, it was transmuted into a very symphony of -sorrow. The mournful echoes of the cry of this stricken race, like -ether waves, permeated every corner of America, until Democracy -answered thus: “If this America of ours, by the furling and unfurling -of her Star Spangled Banner, can say to the war-mad nations of -Europe ‘_Touch not my people_,’ surely she will look into her galaxy -of States and see to it that the banner of her own flowery Florida -shall no longer be besmirched with a blot caused by the political -profiteers of the State; and Humanity, dignifying brotherly kindness, -challenged the white man’s hidden records and with uplifted hand -pointed the way to a just solution of the Seminole’s rights.” - - - - - THE 1917 LAND BILL. - - -_The Climax of Twenty Years’ Struggle, When the Seminoles are Granted -Homes in the Historic Stronghold of Their Ancestors._ - -Almost simultaneously with America’s entrance into the great European -conflict, as the “Defender of Liberty, for the liberation of the -oppressed nations,” the Florida Legislature convened. The hour had -struck for the humanity of the whole world. We still feel the sobbing -clutch in our throats, and we hear, as if but yesterday, the tread of -our khaki-clad youths as they marched to the colors of liberty; we -see the furling and unfurling of the Star Spangled Banner; the hearts -of the American people wakened to the love of humanity; all these -stood out like beacon lights in the springtime of 1917. - -In Florida, like a star shining through a clouded sky, was the -passage of the “Seminole Land Bill” without a dissenting vote, giving -to the Florida Indians approximately 100,000 acres of land. - -This was a fitting climax to the years of work by the Seminoles’ -active white friends in Florida. The air had become vibrant all over -the country for the betterment of Florida’s homeless aborigines. - -The Indian Rights Association, national in its scope, had sent a -special committee to the Seminole camps and learned the circumstances -of Florida’s wards, reporting to the Government the true conditions. -The camera pictures and search-light truths of this organization -barred censorship. - -Later, and just prior to the convening of the Legislature, a -Congressional committee was sent by Congress to ascertain at -first hand the real condition, as well as the legal status of the -Seminoles, and the report of this committee gave official proof that -“The Seminoles’ rights to lands in Florida were made a part of the -transfer by the Spanish Government to the United States in 1821,” -and that if justice were carried out as specified by the United -States Government treaty rights of 1843 _all_ of the lands of -Southeastern Florida (approximately 5,000,000 acres), belonged to the -Seminoles. - -[Illustration: OSCEOLA--THE NAPOLEON OF THE SEMINOLES - - From the famous Catlin portrait, by courtesy of the American Bureau - of Ethnology. “I painted him precisely in the costume in which he - stood for his picture, even to a string and a trinket” (CATLIN).] - -Of the 100,000 acres granted by the Florida Legislature to the -Indians, only about five per cent. is supposed to be tillable, but it -is at this time the best available land, and the records of Florida -for the calendar year of 1917 will go down into the long ages as -being the most humane act ever done by a Tallahassee legislature, -and the Flower State may look back upon a “Century’s Dishonor” with -sorrow, yet with triumph, because she has rectified a long standing -injustice and has given to the vanquished people of the Everglades a -refuge, in this late hour of their direst necessity. - -The reservation thus granted is the long worked for and century old -home of the Seminoles--the stronghold occupied by their forefathers, -situated on the Southwestern coast of Florida, near the “10,000 -Islands,” including within its boundaries the beautiful, palm-fringed -Shark and Harney rivers. Here many of the Indians are living today, -cultivating the same hammocks from which their ancestors fled when -hunted by the American expedition in 1841. Government records show -that while Colonel Harney “with his marine boats and artillery and -his entire force of 250 men were thrown out through this section to -hunt the wily Seminoles” they came upon numerous villages, with their -crude home belongings, and hundreds of acres of lima beans, pumpkins, -bananas and other food products, but in every instance the camps had -been recently abandoned by the Indians. - -From the Gulf to the Atlantic, naught remained of Colonel Harney’s -“trail” but the ashes of the wigwams, the devastated crops and the -skeleton of an Indian scout here and there, lying beside his canoe -where he had been attacked by the soldiers in a secreted channel in -the tall saw-grass. After a fruitless search, the boats were recalled -and the expedition given up. The Seminoles in their hidden recesses -had made good use of their ancient signal codes. - -Today, the Seminole stands upon the last sandy strip of his once vast -domain, an honorable hyphenated Indian-American. With the horrors of -the great European war as told to him, his instincts of liberty and -freedom asserted themselves and he proved himself no “slacker” as he -stood ready as a volunteer to defend his native America in the great -war struggle. - -The War Department at Washington, after seriously considering their -application for scout duty and sharpshooting service, decided against -the proffered aid. - -[Illustration: BILLY BOWLEGS PHOTOGRAPHED WHILE VISITING THE AUTHOR] - -An amusing incident, at this time, illustrates the Indian’s intense -patriotism and when questioned by a white friend, as to fighting -Germany, the Chieftain asked: - -“You go? Yes, me go, shoot Germans like Hell. One hundred Indian -men go. Indian shoot good. Indian want two Maxims,”--the Seminole’s -idea of doing double service for peace and liberty. As Belgium -and bleeding France stand by the colors today at every hearthstone -in the land, crucified that liberty and democracy might be saved for -the whole world, so the Seminole, through a century long invasion -of his wigwam and his campfire by the Paleface, has come through -the crucible, still true to the colors of the plumed knight of his -race--the martyred Osceola--American patriots that we know would -spend their last drop of blood freely and gladly in defense of their -native land and sacred soil they have loved so long. - -With the granting of the reservation in the Big Cypress by the State -of Florida, the patient, long neglected native red people of the -Everglades have had a new chapter written in their tragic life story -book. Already the United States Government has come to the assistance -of these Seminoles and under the supervision of the Special Florida -Indian Commissioner, who, too, is an educated Seminole from the -West, their lands are being fenced, the Seminole being encouraged to -perform the labor, with the prospect of stocking this section with -good cattle. - -The Seminole is a natural stock raiser and will be allowed to buy -cattle and pay for them at so much per year, using his own mark and -brand. Together with the co-operative help of the Federal Government, -the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board is planning to immediately -enter the field with industrial and missionary workers--the teachers -to be educated Oklahoma kinsmen of the Seminoles, who will in time -make this people citizens worthy of the blood of their patriotic -ancestry. - -Can you, the friend of the down-trodden and the oppressed, not see -the Seminole silhouetted against the burnished horizon, waiting for -Opportunity to open her Pandora box and give him a chance with the -people of America in a better civilization and Christianity? - -Can you not hear the heart of the big forests throb a tribute of -praise and the glittering waters ripple a melody of love for this -touch of humanity--“For inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the -least of my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” - - - - - A VISIT TO A SEMINOLE CAMP. - - -Would you visit a Seminole village in the heart of America’s Least -Known Wilderness? Then let us draw the curtain and, turning the -slide, look upon a vision of aboriginal life with its flame encircled -background. - -The view of this aquatic jungle has not changed since Spanish and -English invasion four centuries ago. Of the 300,000 Americans found -when Columbus landed on these wild and unexplored shores, the Florida -Seminoles are the only remnant left who live the old, primitive life -and practice the ceremonies of their royal, barbaric ancestors. - -We see the palmetto thatched wigwams glistening in the red lights -from the camp fire; tall trees are silhouetted against the sky, and -we see the little children playing backward and forward, their -little, brown legs twinkling through the shadows cast by the lurid -flames. We hear the century-old lullabies, softly crooned by the -mothers as they watch with careful eyes the toddling pappooses. Let -us look again on this scene from aboriginal life and see the stoical -braves, as they rearrange the “red wheel” camp fire and continuously -add to the ever ready Sofka kettle some new ingredient, possibly -fresh from the chase. The hunting dogs scent the savory odor, while -the alert and watchful squaws glide in and out amid the shadows of -the royal palms, which stand like sentinel warriors, crowned with -feathery head-dresses that rustle in the breeze. - -We look again, and the slide shows the cypress canoe “car lines”; -these are the secret channels cut through the watery saw-grass -prairies by the ancestors of the present Seminole. - -Silently a canoe cleaves the dark waters, with the chief of the clan -in the stern. Tying up among the lily pads, the canoe is hidden from -view and the red pilot with his game approaches the camp. - -Beware, adventurer, for this wilderness region gives out no secrets -and only the Seminole knows the hidden channels and haunts. - -The shadows grow dimmer and dimmer and we look up to see the stars -lift the lids of their twinkling eyes to smile down upon the -sleeping pappooses; the braves and the squaws, with the faith of -little children, keep afresh the mystic religion of their ancestors, -while they worship before the Great Spirit, who has given this -Pay-hay-o-kee country to his red children. The smoke-wreathed film -blots this aboriginal picture from our view, but as we listen, we -hear the monotonous chant of the Indians echoing through the solemn -stillness of the night. - -In this wooded silence the wild animals find a refuge; the gentle -doe, with her fawn, slips through the shadows; the red fox cautiously -watches for her prey; the black bear, with her chubby cub, scents the -custard apple and the palmetto bud; the raccoon skulks through the -tangled underbrush and the cunning otter darts through the fish-laden -stream in quest of his midnight meal; the snowy egret, the heron, -the eagle and the bittern, with countless migratory birds from the -North American continent, find in this wild solitude a winter refuge. -Gorgeously colored butterflies infest the flowers of the Everglade -prairies and in their flights, ascending and descending over their -island homes, form clouds shimmering with color and animation. - -Today this Big Cypress is an empire of pristine wonder, prehistoric -in its dramatic and weird jungle setting. Epitomized into the terse -verbiage of Perley Poore-Sheehan, one of America’s rising young -authors and a sympathetic friend of the Florida Seminoles, “To -cut the Big Cypress up into lots and acres would be like turning -the Yosemite into an onion garden; it would be like turning the -Yellowstone Park into a factory town.” - -As we close our eyes to this picture of primeval life in the “Land of -the Seminole,” with the thought of war and famine and killing, which -has so recently touched the heartstrings of every American, these -questions confront one: “Who are the barbarians of the twentieth -century, the Caucasian or the red man of the primeval forests?” You -ask, “How long did it take to educate and civilize the Anglo-Saxon -race?” According to authentic history, the work of civilizing Europe -and bringing the mass of the barbarians under the subjection of the -law was the work of fully one thousand years. - -_Is Europe civilized today?_ - - - - - VISITORS FROM THE EVERGLADES. - - -This is a day of “ether wave thoughts.” The “inalienable rights of -life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” are the searchlights -piercing the dark corners of every cranny in the universe. Like -sun motes, human sympathy has entered the Indian’s domain and is -vibrating in harmony for the American red man--acting as a torch -of liberty, showing the pale-face his belated duty to the original -American. - -If the American Indian were not worthy a place in the world’s -history, would his memory be perpetuated by his white conquerors? -As an idealistic type this twentieth century is rushing to pay him -a tribute. Is there a white American who would dare to place before -a Congressional body a bill for the erection of a colossal statue -of the African to stand beside the Goddess of Liberty in New York -harbor? - -The American Indian, in bronze, is to have this honor, and to -ex-President Taft was assigned the honor of lifting the first -spadeful of soil at the dedication services, where Indian and white -man stood as equals in this official function. - -In the Nation’s Hall of Fame in the Capitol at Washington, the -inventor of the Cherokee alphabet, Sequoyah, an Indian, is honored -with a place. - -An Indian head is on the five-dollar bill, as well as on the -five-cent piece. To the practical mind, let us not forget that -Teehee, the American Indian, must sign our currency before it is -passed by the Treasury Department. - -In military tactics the name of no greater genius adorns the pages of -history than that of Florida’s patriot--Osceola, the Seminole. - -With all due respect to the immortal Washington, who remembers that -he was safely guided by a nameless red man through the pathless -wilderness to Fortress Duquesne? - -Without the Delaware Indians, General Washington’s advance upon the -British on that eventful Christmas eve of 1777 would never have been -recorded in history. - -And, in the late European war, do you know that thousands of Indians -volunteered--not as drafted men, not for their homes, nor their -States, but for their native land of America? - -Cadet Long Lance, the American Indian of our own Southland, as First -Lieutenant of the Princess Pat Regiment, brought enduring fame to -the Cherokees, standing his ground at the terrific assault of Vimy -Ridge--bringing back the standardbearer, the only officer of his rank -left in the company. - -The instinctive eloquence of Coacoochee, the Seminole chieftain, in -his speech to our American General Worth, made him the peer of a Clay -or a Calhoun, while the great Seneca chieftain, Logan, delivered the -most eloquent oration ever compiled in American history. - -In poetry, in romance, in legends and folk-lore literature of -America, we must look to the American Indian. - -It was by the blue waters of Ontario that the great Onondaga -chieftain’s Hiawatha, formulated plans for the first Peace League. -Today, “Peace, peace,” is not only the wounded cry of the world, but -its solution is being echoed and re-echoed throughout every nation of -the globe. - -After looking through pages of history for a model, the youth of -America, the Boy Scouts and the Camp Fire Girls, have taken the -Indian for their hero. - -Can anyone doubt the superiority of the Indian character? - -To Pocahontas, the glorification of saving Virginia from utter -destruction is well known, and to this Lady Rebecca of the English -courts many Americans proudly trace direct descent, to this girl -princess. - -To Florida belongs the first romance of American history. In this -life story of U-lee-lah, the Princess of Hirrihigua, Florida’s -Pocahontas, is a setting for as dramatic a recital as ever adorned -the pages of literature. - -In Florida, particularly, do the descendants of the old, turbanned -Seminoles appeal to the people. So uniform is a kindly feeling to -these Indians that the man who would show any opposition to a charity -or friendliness to them would soon find himself in the minority, and -discredit would reflect, not on the Indian, but on the man himself. - -It is always a gala time when these brown-skinned people visit -Kissimmee. When a prepaid telegram, as a forerunner of his arrival, -was received from the Chieftain, a bystander remarked: “I would -rather see Billie Bowlegs than the President of the United States.” -When crowds gathered at the station and children lined the streets to -get a glimpse of these picturesque aborigines, it looked as if the -tourist’s wish voiced the thought of the community and illustrated -the point that sentiment does not change with the passing of a -century, for it was in 1820 that Count D., a young French nobleman, -after coming all the way from France to meet Chief Red Jacket, the -last of the Senecas, declared that he considered Chief Red Jacket a -greater wonder than the falls of Niagara. This remark was made while -standing in view of the great cataract. - -A visit from these silent dwellers of the Everglades always revives -interest in the race, for through living authors one may study the -life story of these people--a story dating back in its traditions for -more than three hundred years; brought to the doors of a sympathetic -civilization, the citadel of the hardest heart is touched, for it is -a narrative full of pathos. - -Here, in the rich Kissimmee Valley, are the camping grounds and -council seats of his ancestors. With wordless patience he looks out -upon the landscape and the glittering waters of To-hope-kee-li-ga and -for the time lives in spirit with the heroic deeds of his ancestors; -he sees in the long ago canoes laden with men and women and little -children, brown-skinned and picturesque, garbed in brilliant colors, -leaving the ancestral shores of their old hunting grounds, as they -escaped, terror-stricken, through the lakes and rivers to the mystic -land of O-kee-cho-bee. - -Today, naught remains of the Seminoles in this region save the -melodious names of rivers, lakes and towns--an enduring heritage -of beauty, which is one of Florida’s most cherished and priceless -possessions. - -To study the history of a secretive people, whose story is so closely -woven into our own American history, is a research work full of -difficulties, but full of happy surprises. - -Away from the jungle home, in the white man’s town, the Seminole is -silent and stoical, answering to the questions put to him by the -curious “Me don’t know.” - -The Seminole discerns character quickly, and while seemingly -indifferent, if he is with you but a few minutes, his keen powers of -observation will pierce you through and through, and he has, with a -keenness born of centuries of “watchful waiting,” made an understudy -of your honesty or your inner self. - -It is around the wigwam camp fire and the Sofka kettle that the -Indian relaxes; there he is a big-souled host, extending the same -hospitality that welcomed the European four hundred years ago. -Laughter and jokes abound; news of the outside world is recounted; -the squaws bring the prize pumpkin to be admired, and the rippling -laughter of the children, as they gather firewood for the white -friend, is beautiful in its soft cadenced melody. - -In the friendly white man’s home, when the shyness of many moons -of separation has worn off, the Indians give many unique accounts -of life in the wigwam dwellings; they tell of the canals being cut -through their Everglade country and the “big smoke” from the engines, -and the great influx of white settlers that have come into this swamp -country. - -Facetiously adding: “White man, money want to make ’em too fast, -rain come, water too much, money lose ’em ojus (much). Go back, say -Everglades ho-lo wagus (no good). No come again.” - -The Seminoles acknowledge that their hunting grounds are gone and -that the pale-face has slaughtered the game, admitting, after much -pressure, that the Indians sometimes go hungry. _Hungry in a land -like Florida!_ - -A visit from these people of the darksome Glade forests is always -fraught with kindly attention. Nothing but a heartfelt kindness is -shown them, and a tribute paid to them, not because of any other -interest in the Indian, but because they are the representatives of a -proud and noble race and the American people are hero worshippers. - -It is a question if any celebrity could have been treated with -greater courtesy. Crowds sought to extend a greeting; parents brought -their young children to shake the hands of these ambassadors of -a race that is vanishing so fast. It was not an interest of idle -curiosity, but a genuine, tender solicitude. This need not surprise, -for an inborn and instinctive admiration must be felt for a people -through whose veins flow the purest blood of any of the American -Indians today, and who live and practice the same ceremonies of their -ancient ancestors. - -_Not a drop of the white man’s blood courses through the veins of an -Everglade Seminole!_ - -Many small gifts were bestowed upon these silent visitors; men of -capital from far-away States, tourists and old friends, took the time -to go to the stores to purchase such presents as they thought would -please the Indians. - -Kodaks and camera men kept busy. The guests of the hotel, retired -business men, as well as the women and children, vied with each -other in having a souvenir picture, showing themselves in friendly -relation with these red people of the forest. - -With the exhilaration of boys, the men took turns with each other as -they posed with the instruction, “Now you snap while I stand beside -Billy.” The Seminole chieftain was the only calm one; he was as -passive and immobile as a bronze statue. - -The cornet band divided honors with the newly elected mayor and -volunteered a serenade. - -Whether it was the courtesy of an automobile ride, or being addressed -by guests, both Billy and his sister received the attentions with -such a quiet grace and refinement as if to the manner born, causing -an admiring tourist to give Stem-o-la-kee, the title “A Princess of -the Everglades” and calling Billy the “Red Knight of Okee-cho-bee,” -titles as much in order today as those bestowed three centuries ago -on the Lady Rebecca, the far-famed Pocahontas. - - - - - STEM-O-LA-KEE. - - -Seldom, if ever, has a Seminole squaw stepped beyond the boundaries -of her trackless Everglade home to visit the home of the white man; -to study a Seminole woman at close range and yet far from her forest -refuge, is a privilege seldom experienced. An incident is recalled -when a young squaw, in company with her brother, was making her first -visit to civilization. - -The couple had traveled three hundred miles by ox cart, canoe and -railroad. Reaching their destination, they were escorted to a -waiting automobile, when they were whirled away to the home of the -pale-face and enjoyed this first ride in the “fire wagon,” with the -same dignity and calmness that they would do in their cypress dugout -canoes along the water courses of their saw-grass homes. - -Stem-o-la-kee, with the natural feminine instinct, soon showed -her domestic sense, her native frontier nature for the time being -relegated to memories. The easy couch and cushioned rocker appealed -to her sense of luxury. The delight of pouring tea from the silver -pot was an unending pleasure. She admired the furnishings and -belongings of the white home, but when asked if she would like -to live in such an abode her answer came, quick and decisive: -“Munks-chay (no), white man’s home like littly bit, one week me -think _my_ home, Okee-cho-bee.” Significant was her summary of -civilization--humble though her wigwam, she loved it with all the -ardor of her savage heart. This young woman, three hundred miles from -her forest home, showed inborn grace and dignity in her demeanor. -Particularly was she interested in the pictures on the wall, but, -on recognizing the portrait of Osceola, all her frontier nature was -aroused and, with vindictive spirit and trembling with suppressed -emotion, she exclaimed: - -“Indian’s big Chief, long time ago! White man kill ’im!” - -She knew the perfidy of Osceola’s capture under the white flag of -truce as well as any American student. - -This untutored and innocent child of the forest became a most -interesting personal study. Friendly and courteous, there yet shone -out from her wonderful eyes an unapproachableness that made a gulf -between the white woman and the red woman. - -Stem-o-la-kee wore many strands of glittering beads, which to the -Seminole woman mean everything--usefulness, caste and the wealth of -her husband or father. She never appears without this insignia of her -position, and in the particular instance of this Glade visitor, when -the doctor whom she had come to consult ordered the removal of the -necklace on account of its great weight, medical authority and savage -superstition clashed. Stem-o-la-kee reluctantly obeyed the doctor’s -order, in part, by removing a few strands. She had not brought all -her beads, nor her beaten silver ornaments, with her, which are -used for full dress and ceremonial occasions, and seemed to feel an -embarrassment over this, explaining: “Plenty beads means good squaw. -My home Okee-cho-bee, me got a plenty; sick too much,” meaning she -had come on an errand for health and not for a social visit. To these -suntanned women of the Everglades, the beads play an important part -all through life. - -When the little pappoose is a year old, she is given her first -string, with its “first year bead.” This bead is always larger and of -different color. - -A string of beads is allowed for each year until she marries. At her -marriage, her mother gives her many new strands, and, if she is a -chief’s daughter, she receives many gifts of beads at her wedding. -The beads play such an important part in the career of a Seminole -woman that they are always given as a reward for any prowess and a -mother is allowed two strings for each child born. In full dress -many of the squaws wear from twenty to thirty pounds of glass beads, -varying in size and color--the colors blending in perfect harmony. - -When the squaw reaches middle life, she begins to take off her beads, -one string at a time, as so many moons go by, until but one string is -left. - -She is now an old woman, too old to work, and the single strand she -wears is made up of the “life beads” and buried with her. - -During Stem-o-la-kee’s stay, though tired and weak from illness, and -with a constant knocking at the door by wee tots, as well as older -visitors, who came to “shake hands with the Indian woman,” the young -squaw showed nothing but grace and good feeling to the visitors. On -all such occasions she would, in a twinkling, don her new and gayly -colored dress, add the discarded ropes of beads, give a twist to her -raven hair, and would appear at the parlor door, shy, but with eyes -shining and with a pleasing smile, stand ready to give the usual -gracious hand grasp and then as quickly and noiselessly glide away, -like a timid deer, to the improvised couch which had been made for -her. - -As Stem-o-la-kee, in her broken English, told of the forest home, -a picture of her wigwam dwelling became very vivid; such a picture -inspires courage and touches chords of sympathy in one’s make-up. - -In a solitude, which only nature reveals, this brown-skinned -people live amid the shadows of the great live oaks, seeing God -in the clouds and hearing him in the winds. One sees the happy, -turban-crowned braves move about and dusky squaws glide in and out, -watching with careful eyes the toddling pappooses, as they play on -the grassy sward; the laughing of the huntsman is heard and the songs -of the Seminole Minnehaha make the night beautiful. - -During the visit of these Seminoles, a protracted meeting was in -session with a noted divine in charge. With no disrespect intended to -the ministerial work, it was amusing to hear the question many times -asked: “Are the Seminoles going to church to-night?” Sufficient to -induce a crowd. - -Another visit of a Seminole family is still fresh in memory. The -visit had been planned for many, many moons. With the exception of -one Indian, who acted as escort and friendly interpreter, none of -these Seminoles had ever been in the white man’s home, yet they -accepted the change from the weird morasses with the simplest -dignity. The party of six were all in neat, yet brilliant attire--all -save little eight-year-old Mop-o-hatch-ee, whose travel-stained dress -worried the mistress of the home, for they were all expected to -attend the church Christmas tree that evening. - -Asking Cho-fee-hatch-ee if the little one had another dress, he -replied: “She no got ’em; she wash her dress.” Feeling this an -impossible task we replied, “No, she is too little,” but being -assured that this little red-skinned tot was equal to the emergency, -she was permitted to proceed with the order from Cho-fee-hatch-ee. -A cunning picture she made, as her long, black hair fell around her -shoulders and she, with nature’s washboard (her tiny hands), rubbed -the quaintly made dress until it was clean and ready to be dried. -To expedite the work, a negro was called in to take the dress to be -ironed; a glance at Mop-o-hatch-ee revealed a forest child convulsed -with sobs. Not understanding a word of English, she thought her only -dress was being taken from her. - -Only once during the visit of these Everglade people was there any -apparent curiosity evinced, and this was within an hour after their -arrival, when the hostess had been called to the telephone. - -Looking back, she saw the two children peering into the room -through the French window, wondering, no doubt, what foolish thing -the mistress of the house could be doing. At another time, old -Martha Tiger, the aged grandmother, came close to the ’phone with a -quizzical look, when it was vaguely explained we were “talking to -the store man down town.” In American history, old Martha and her -contemporaries antedate the telephone, for with smoke signals and -“listening posts” their warriors’ quickness in getting news of the -enemy puzzled many an American officer. - -Pictures from the _Geographical Magazine_ and letters from the old -“blue back” spelling book interested all these Everglade people, -except old Martha Tiger who said “She old too much.” - -Who shall say there is no hope for these forest people? - -As this visit drew to a close and that feeling of homiletic -friendliness was apparent when some humor might be indulged in, -it was suggested that Show-lod-ka, the good-looking ten-year-old -boy, should remain and learn to drive the automobile, and that -Mop-o-hatch-ee stay with him. These two motherless children are the -direct descendants of the old Chieftain Tallahassee, whose grim and -determined patriotism eighty years ago wrenched his tribe from the -white man’s bullets and Uncle Sam’s bloodhounds. These children were -devoted to each other. - -A few minutes later, little Mop-o-hatch-ee sat on a chair, her feet -swinging, and rubbing her eyes to stay the tears. “She ’fraid you -keep her,” the older Indian explained, and the boy with the same fear -had slipped off to his sleeping quarters. - -Love for their Everglade home is instilled into every Seminole. They -love the country bequeathed by their ancestors--the gift of the Great -Spirit to his red children of Florida, with a love that is, at times, -frenzied in its demonstration. - -To see to it, that these native people have protection, education and -Christianity, must be the duty of this America of ours, this America -which stands ready to protect the weak and the oppressed of all -nations. - -When the citizenship of this liberty loving country awakens to the -needs of the stranded red race of 600 souls in the heart of the Big -Cypress, then, and not till then will these original owners be led -out of the darkness of a conquered people into the light of progress -and civilization. - -It is not surprising that thousands of our Florida tourists make -efforts to see the descendants of America’s primeval people. -Many times attempts are made by the adventurous tourist to visit -a Seminole village in the secluded cypress region of the Glade -Wilderness; but alas! after dragging themselves over the marshy, -cutting saw-grass prairies, they find what? A deserted camp, possibly -the coals still burning in the camp fire, but the Indians, hie-pus -(all gone) hiding in some secret haunt. - -Still, it is a common sight, particularly at Miami to see a Seminole -family as they pole the rude craft, a dugout cypress canoe, along the -river. - -Dressed in a way, bizarre and ludicrous, to our white man’s way of -thinking, still strikingly dignified. - -The brave poles the boat while the squaws watch the family -belongings. At the other end of the boat, a group of round faced and -exceedingly quiet little Seminoles brightly garbed in red and blue -calico, sit, much more interested in the shadows in the water, than -in the people on shore. - -It is but natural that Americans, who know the Seminole, should -feel an innate respect for them, especially if we reflect that the -strain of the old Aztec runs through their veins and produces the -same heroic fortitude that made Guatemotziu, the last of the Aztec -Emperors, under the torture of fire by Cortez, reply with ironical -stoicism to his persecutors, “Am I on a bed of roses?” - -Today the Seminole suffers and endures without complaint and retains -his old-time pride. As is known, the Seminole in polite but in -positive terms, refuses presents of any magnitude from white friends. -“Littly presents me take, big presents, money cost ’im too much, -Indian no take.” - -When it was learned that a chieftain had not only lost his camp and -all his belongings by fire, amounting to about three hundred dollars, -and that he had had the expense of a trip to see a physician, that -would appall the average wage earner, some members of the Society -of the “Friends of the Florida Seminoles” suggested that a purse -be made up for his benefit. Then came the delicate point of making -such a suggestion. Cho-fee-halch-o, with the old-time pride of his -ancestors, in answer to the question whether he would take money for -his expenses, replied: “Me no think so; my money me make. My own -money me spend. Me no take it.” - -Where is the Anglo-Saxon who could refuse good American dollars when -free for the acceptance? - -With a race so proud, too honorable to beg, yet clinging with -a desperate effort to their beloved Florida, what must we, as -Americans, do but protect them? - - - - - HOME AND RELIGION. - - -It is a long way from the savagery of the jungle to the doors of -civilization, where, when the confidence and faith of the Seminole -has been won, he becomes as trusting and confiding as a little child. -The endeavor to show the Seminole what Christianity stands for has -been one of the most complex problems encountered. - -“Not to lie, not to steal, not to cheat and to think with God,” is -practiced with precision. - -The Seminole, with most reverend attitude, listens to the returning -of thanks, at the white man’s table and with the question put, -“Billy, do Seminoles talk to God and ask Him to give them food and -homes?” “Munks-chay” (No), replied the Indian, “no ask Him.” - -Then, as if a light dawned, as to the nature of our study, he told -of a hunting experience of a few weeks before, when he had acted as -guide for a northern tourist. For three days the red huntsman had -sought all the bayous for deer, but “deer hie-pus (all gone). Man -feel sorry ojus (plenty). Night come, we wake two o’clock, moon shine -bright, me hear water laugh. Me see big e-cho (deer) swim across the -river. My gun me take. Kill big deer. Me tell Great Spirit ‘Me thank -you.’ White man glad ojus; he go back to New York, take big buck -antlers--he say he kill big deer in Everglades.” - -The Seminole, like his ancient ancestors, thanks the Great Spirit -for blessings received, but does not beseech favors. - -Can you not imagine the startled emotion experienced when, after -trying to tell a stalwart, honest Seminole something of civilization -and Christianity, he with all deference of a Chieftain answered: “Me -no think me want to be civilized. Me think me get civilized, me lie, -steal, cheat. Some day big sleep come. Me want to go to Happy Hunting -Grounds. Me want to see Great Spirit; me want to see my grandfather. -Me no think white man go to Heaven.” - -How would _you_ answer such philosophy? - -The Seminole believes that when Eschock-ee-tom-e-see (the Supreme -Being) calls him hence, that his spirit will make its last journey -to the Happy Hunting Grounds of his fathers, winging its way over -the seven colored rainbow of the heavens--the “Highway of the Great -Spirit.” - - - - - SEMINOLE INCIDENTS. - - -An incident, linking past Seminole history with the present, is full -of interest, because so old, and yet so new. - -Just eighty years ago, at the time the great Chieftain Osceola was -betrayed near St. Augustine, with him was another Chieftain, by name -of John Jumper. - -History has not failed to record the life and death of Osceola, but -of John Jumper little has been written outside of Government records. - -Jumper was taken prisoner to the Indian territory. Many years after -he was converted by a missionary and being a musical leader among his -tribe, naturally grasped the white man’s melodies. - -Later he composed a religious hymn. During the last visit of the -Everglade Seminoles to Kissimmee, as is the custom, they attended -the church service. At the close of the sermon, the minister gave a -little talk to the Indians and sang a song in the Seminole tongue, -which was very beautiful and so rhythmical that when once lodged in -the brain, the tune refused to be dislodged. The minister, Dr. A. -J. Holt, explained to the congregation that he had learned the hymn -more than forty years ago from Colonel John Jumper in the Indian -territory. This Chieftain had enlisted in the Civil War, where he was -promoted to the rank of Colonel under the Confederate colors. - -Returning from the church services, we were eager to know from the -Indians if they had understood the Seminole song. One Indian, very -musical, said: “Yes, me sing it good,” which he did to perfection, -not omitting a single note or word. How did the young Seminole -learn the words and tune so quickly? He explained, “me learn it in -Everglades.” Certainly a remarkable incident. The solution was easy. -An educated Oklahoma Indian Missionary, visiting the Everglades the -year previous, had taught the song to these Seminoles. - -Another incident, showing mechanical genius as well as love of music -is here appended. - -A few years ago when the Coast towns of Florida were still primitive, -a store keeper had purchased in New York an old-fashioned organette, -that played five tunes. The Seminoles at that time frequently came on -purchasing expeditions to these trading villages. Cho-fee-hatch-o, -progressive and musical, listened to the “box of music” as it played -in the little store, and was entranced with the melodies. - -Soon after, the organette refused to “go” and the trader told his -friends, that unless he could “stick it on the Indians, he would be -out thirty-five dollars.” A few days later, the Chief with another -Indian, came back to the store bringing produce to sell. The white -trader wanted the Indian’s goods and suggested to the Chief that he -exchange for the music box, telling the innocent Seminole that “music -box no more play, wake up by and by and play good, him tired now.” -The Seminole with his mechanical knowledge, looked the organette -over, and making the trade, proudly left with the “tired out” music -box under his arm. - -The next day, the two Indians returned, bringing with them the music -box to show to the storekeeper. “That box, him no more tired,” and -winding up the machine, which the ingenious Seminole had put into -working order, played the whole five tunes, to the astonishment and -chagrin of the trader. “Him play good at Green Corn Dance, down -Okee-cho-bee.” - -Several years after the organette was still doing service in the -Seminole camps, where, with its aboriginal settings it seemed to fill -a niche that harmonized with the forests, with the timid stars that -hung overhead, with the wigwams and the shadowy flicker of the camp -fire. - -The ancestral music of the Seminole is full of a wild, weird melody, -where men and women and little children join voices. As the Indians -sing, you may hear the melancholy waters whisper a pensive good-night -and the drowsy birds flutter in their boughs. You hear the camp songs -and the lullabies like voices trained in the woodland with a strain -of heartbreak, where life and love steal forth in fanciful ecstasy -and the vanished souls seem to call back in tenuous fragments of -mystery, only to die away into a symphony of sorrow, as the melodies -echo across the dark wilderness. - - - - - MESSAGES FROM THE EVERGLADES. - - -Requests come so often for more details regarding these silent -children of the forests, and interesting as well as unique are the -letters and messages that come from the Everglades. - -With the ox team and fleet footed Indian messengers, together with -Uncle Sam’s quick mail service, communications reach the white man’s -town, as per the will of the Seminole. With the Indians’ promise to -keep us informed of their needs, births, marriages and ambitions (for -the Seminole never breaks his word), a recent letter from the wigwam -reads: “Me want to tell you we have not forgotten you.” Then comes -the interesting part, “My sister She-y-o-hee got little pappoose, -six days old; it is a girl.” Added to this is another birth record: -“Shon-o-la-kee got one too, ten days old; it is a boy.” Certainly -in the Everglades among the first families of America, the birth -register is kept intact. The letter continues: “Me send you pumpkins -seed.” (These are the Indian pumpkin, a tree climbing variety known -to the American soldiers eighty years ago.) - -In this day of food conservation and scientific economy, it may be -well to make a comparison. The seeds were distributed among friends -and neighbors, some delicious pumpkins were raised and enjoyed, but -alas! for a future crop! Not a seed was saved and to the wigwam seed -bag must we go if more pumpkins are planted. - -It can hardly be disputed, that the Seminoles, in their migrations -from Mexico brought the seeds with them. - -To Dr. Howard A. Kelly, widely known surgeon, traveller, lecturer and -philanthropist, are we indebted for the intensely interesting bit of -Aztec history, blending so well with Seminole traditions. - -In Dr. Kelly’s travels in Mexico, among the carved relics of Aztec -origin observed in museums was the pumpkin of Aztec days--centuries -old. - -When a Seminole pumpkin was sent to the doctor, he wrote back: -“The very thing I tried to buy in Mexico, carved in wood. I shall -treasure this and preserve it in alcohol to be handed down as a link -connecting the land of Montezuma with the present day Everglade -history.” - -For three hundred years the Seminoles have never failed to have their -crop of this edible vegetable and to save seed for the next planting. - -Could not the Seminole teach us all conservation? - - - - - SEMINOLES FIRST SUFFRAGISTS. - - -During these latter years, when “equal rights” has crowded into State -and national politics, it may be interesting to the suffrage movement -in America to know that the Seminole squaws are entitled to first -claim as American suffragists. - -Not that they are cognizant of it, but they have gained this -authority through their entire fitness for it. The women work equally -with the men, bearing burdens, tanning skins and having absolute -control over the children, who are instilled with the dignity of -obedience from the moment their little eyes open to the world. They -are capable, careful, loving mothers, good counsellors in the camp -life. The Council in passing upon a vital subject, must consult the -women of the camp before giving a final decision. If a squaw wishes -to divorce her husband, and she can prove she has a just cause to do -so, she cannot only divorce him, but she can name his punishment. - -The money she makes is hers to do as she likes with. She is supreme -in the home and in the management of the camp. - -As is known, Sofka is the tribal dish of the Seminoles; it is a stew -containing the nutriment of many foods. - -The Sofka spoon or ladle, made of wood, thus becomes the much valued -household article and the squaws show their authority again here, -for a spoon cannot be taken from the camp without the consent of the -women of the family. This ladle is frequently carved, the different -households having differently shaped spoons. - -The Tusteenuggees are made with full large bowls--the Osceolas have a -long slim bowl, each bowl having its own particular style of Seminole -“Coat of Arms.” - - - - - OSCEOLA, THE GARIBALDI OF THE SEMINOLES - - -Do we feel surprised that thousands of our Florida tourists make -efforts to see the descendants of Osceola, the Garibaldi of the -Seminoles? - -That Osceola should be named Florida’s most distinguished historical -character is not to be disputed. This statement, in its boldness, -regarding an untutored Indian of the wilderness, at first startles, -but in looking over the pages of history, the question naturally -follows: “Is there another character in Florida, or even in American -history, who is known from ocean to ocean and whose generalship in -warfare, has the admiration of the civilized world, whose heroism is -the ideal of every school boy; the story of Osceola, recounting his -valor and patriotism, may be found in the classic histories of the -libraries of the world.” - -History has never given to the world a more regal soldier, with his -magnetic personality, royal in its wild, uncivilized way. - -With such reverence is Osceola regarded by the remnants of the -Seminole tribe today, that the name given to him when he was accepted -as a chieftain by the nation, is guarded so jealously that they -refuse to reveal it to any white man who might disclose it--treating -it much as the Israelites did the name of Jehovah--too sacred to -pass the lips of an alien race. - -Osceola’s pride was always uppermost in his negotiations and when the -Seminoles were denied the right to buy ammunition, Osceola was made -the object of the insult. - -To this he replied with all the defiance of his proud blood: “Am I -a negro? A slave who will not be allowed to handle a rifle? My skin -is dark, not black. I am a Red Stick of the Muscokees. The white man -shall know I am a pure blood.” - -At this point, it is with much pleasure, the author desires to -correct the erroneous and too often quoted statement as given in the -pages of literature, viz.: that “Osceola was a half-breed, the son of -an English trader.” - -After much research among records, and from the learned leaders of -the Western Seminoles, as well as from the old Seminoles of the -Everglades, it is learned that Osceola disdained the idea of mixed -blood, declaring that “not a drop of foreign blood flowed through his -veins.” - -His mother was a Creek of the pure blood, a daughter of a chief, -whose second marriage to an Englishman (Powell, by name), occurred -when Osceola was a small boy. - -Osceola was magnanimous in character and honorable in war and no -other crime can be charged to this chivalrous Seminole than a -positive opposition to the removal of his people from their sunny, -native land to the blizzard-stricken territory of the West. - -Picture, if you will, a Florida war scene that in dramatic climax is -matchless in the world’s history. - -In the Government’s headquarters, Seminole Chieftains and American -army officers wait; each are in the insignia of their respective -ranks. The American flag adds dignity to the scene. Through the open -windows come the fragrant perfume of the orange and the magnolia -blossoms and the song of the mocking-birds adds a flute-like melody -to the tropical setting. - -The very air is tense with the mental questions. Will Osceola -come--will Osceola sign? - -Promptly at the hour appointed, the savage chieftain, royal in his -warrior regalia, self-possessed and with noiseless step, enters the -room. With a swift glance at the stacked arms of his warriors, he -approached the council table and with defiance in his face and high -uplifted head, exclaimed: “Rather than act the coward, by signing -away the Seminole’s inheritance and taking my people into a strange -land, I will fight till the last drop of blood moistens the dust of -the Seminole’s hunting grounds,” and drawing his long sheath knife -drove the blade through the treaty pinning it to the table. “The land -is ours. This is the way I will sign all such treaties.” - - - - - SHALL OSCEOLA’S BONES BE REMOVED? - - -As a keynote to the wave of sympathy which is being felt from the -Atlantic to the Pacific in the interest of the fast vanishing -Seminoles, is the growing sentiment to do honor to the memory of -their famous war chieftain, Osceola, the hero of the “Seven Years’ -War.” - -The body of Osceola is now buried under the guns of Fort Moultrie, -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 - - - E-caw Head. - E-caw-e-see Hair. - E-caw-hos-pee Crown of head. - To-so-faw Face. - Ka-ho-waw Forehead. - E-tox-lo-waw Eye. - Tose-lis-kee Eye lash. - To-do-no-lup-pa-is-see Eye brow. - Tode-le-wa-hos-pee Upper eyelid. - Tode-le-list-la-hos-pee Lower eyelid. - Hots-cote-es-caw Ear lobe. - E-hots-ko Ear. - Hots-caw-pof-ef-caw Perforation in ear. - Hots-caw-ko-kee Opening of ear. - E-ho-po Nose. - E-po-fo-nee Ridge of nose. - E-po-haw-kee Nostril. - E-yan-i-waw Cheek. - No-ti-ka-is-see Beard. - E-choke-o-waw Mouth. - Choke-hos pon-a-paw Upper lip. - Choke-hos-pee Lower lip. - E-no-tee-ho-maw Front teeth. - E-no-tee-lock-ko Back teeth. - To-los-waw Tongue. - E-to-ka-lo-swaw Saliva. - Sin-no-ka-nil-caw Throat. - No-ti-caw Chin. - No-ka-pee Neck. - No-quif-pa-tock-ock-naw Adam’s apple. - E-naw-chee Body. - E-faw-chaw Shoulder. - Fo-lo-taw-pix-taw Shoulder blade. - E-claw Back. - E-claw-fo-nee Back bone. - E-hoke-pee Breast of man. - E-pee-see Breast of woman. - Im-po-loke-cho Hip. - E-ho-cho-waw Navel. - E-shock-paw Arm. - In-clop-pe-claw Right arm. - Aw-clos-clin-aw Left arm. - Ho-lo-wa-to-tee-ta-gaw Arm pits. - Sock-pof-o-nee Right arm above elbow. - Aw-kos-ko-nof-o-nee Left arm above elbow. - E-ko-chee Elbow. - In-tee-ti-pix-tee-e-toke-kee-tay-gaw Wrist. - In-tee-ti-pix-tee Hand. - In-ko-faw Palm of hand. - In-tee-ta-pix-tee-e-naw-pa Back of hand. - In-ka-we-sa-kaw Fingers. - Som-kit-kee Thumb. - Som-kil-smil-kaw First finger. - In-ka-nock-klo-pa-ho-e-claw Second finger. - In-ka-ho-klif-claw-such-lo Third finger. - In-ka-its-ho-chee-wa-chee Small finger. - In-hits-kee-in-kose-es-waw Finger nail. - In-ka-we-sock-ka-e-to-pee Knuckle. - In-ka-yock-pee Space between knuckles. - E-tol-kay Rump. - Chee-hof-ee Leg above knee. - E-tolk-wa-po-la-ko Knee. - Tose-to-po-la-ko Knee pan. - Chee-host-go-waw Leg below knee. - E-lim-pock-ko Calf of leg. - E-lay-toke-to-swaw Ankle. - E-lit-ta-pix-tee-e-fo-cho-to-kee-not-ee Instep. - Es-tel-e-po Foot. - Es-tel-e-ho-faw Sole of foot. - E-lich-es-caw Heel. - Es-tel-e-e-sa-caw Toe. - Es-tel-e-eeds-kee Large toe. - Es-tel-e-nock-clay-ho-e-claw Second toe. - E-la-ni-ka-so-swaw Toe nail. - Chaw-taw Blood. - Chaw-tee-fo-kaw Vein or artery. - Istee-e-kol-pee Brain (man). - E-kol-pee Brain. - E-ho-sil-waw Bladder. - E-fee-caw Heart. - E-pof-caw Around the heart. - E-to-chee Kidney. - In-hee-shook-e-taw Lung. - E-lo-pee Liver. - Im-pa-shaw Stomach. - In-ta-law Rib. - In-ka-shock-a-tee Pulse. - Es-tel-e-hop-o Foot print. - Shon-aw-haft-bee Skin. - Shon-aw-fon-ee Bone. - Fix-chee-e-la-pots-kee Intestines. - Cho-pock-e-taw Scalp. - - - - - DRESS AND ORNAMENTS - - - Cot-to-po-kaw Cap. - E-kof-kaw Breech cloth. - She-won-nock-e-taw Breech cloth belt. - Aw-fa-tee-kaw Leggings. - Stil-i-pi-kaw Moccasins. - Som-po-chee Basket. - Ech-e-taw Blanket. - Lo-cus-haft-ee-pa-ta-kaw Bear skin (robe). - E-cho-haft-ee-pa-ta-kaw Deer skin (robe). - Cho-see Buck skin or snake skin. - Cho-fee-haft-bee Rabbit skin. - O-sho-aw-haft-bee Beaver skin. - O-shon-aw-haft-bee Otter skin. - Co-lo-waw Paint. - Co-lo-waw-la-nee Paint (yellow). - Co-lo-wa-lus-tee Paint (black). - Co-lo-wa-chaw-tee Paint (red). - Shoke-shot-ta-pix-chee Pouch. - Stink-ko-shot-ti-tee-caw A ring. - Cop-a-to-ca-och-aco Bare head. - Es-tel-e-pi-e-ca-och-a-co Bare foot. - E-ca-e-pee Naked. - She-won-nock-e-ta-sa-lof-kaw Knife belt. - Co-na-waw Beads. - Hi-ef-cof-ka-taw Shirt. - Stil-a-pa-won-hee Shoes. - Note-tes-chee Handkerchief. - Es-ti-ha-kee Picture. - Osh-aw-kil-caw-e-fa-caw Watch chain. - Osh-aw-kil-caw Watch. - She-ma-caw Fan. - Shit-ta-kee-caw Walking cane. - - - - - DWELLINGS, IMPLEMENTS, UTENSILS, ETC. - - - Cho-co-ta-ti-yee Village. - Cho-co-hum-co-see Wigwam. - E-how-kee Door way. - We-chow-hi-lit Spark. - No-clit Burn. - Tode-caw Fire. - Tock-hot-chee Fire wood (burning) - Lip-la-it Blaze. - Toke-la-waw Living coals. - Tock-ees-so Ashes. - Eh-cho-chee Smoke. - Aw-lock-a-taw-chaw-ho-tee My home. - Aw-ho-gee Door way. - Pa-ta-caw Bed. - Shot-hote-caw Door. - Cho-ko House. - Ko-lo-kee Lamp. - Osh-aw-kil-caw-lock-o Clock. - To-paw Floor. - Cho-ko-no-paw Ceiling. - Cho-ko-shaw-hose-paw-caw Wall. - Ot-so-caw Stairway. - We-wa-ese-pay-lot-caw Spring. - We-wa Water. - E-pee-lo-faw Hommock (woods). - E-con-aw-aw-ho-pa-caw Map. - See-la-hot-tit-taw Railing. - Tode-ca-e-ho-tee Stove. - We-wa-ho-tee Water tank. - Ho-e-so-clope-pa-lock-a-naw Wash bowl. - In-ka-e-to-shi-eets-caw Towel. - To-how-how-waw Trunk. - So-cose-caw Soap. - Sin-ti-ne-ta-pi-ee-to-caw Whisk broom. - Ees-cos-caw Comb. - E-fa-ko-lock-o Rope (cable). - Shot-hit-go-chee Glass tumbler. - Tose-to-lese-taw Wagon. - Tose-to-lese-ta-pof-na-chee Buggy. - Aw-ta-lit-taw Clothes hooks. - E-shaw-ho-tee Gun cover. - Chot-a-dox-cha-in-che Arrow. - Bith-low Canoe. - Sar-sho-e-fa-caw Fish line. - Whe-ah Fish net. - Hi-eets-caw Accordion. - Tock-kee-so Ashes. - Buch-es-waw Ax. - Polk-ko Pottery. - Le-ho-chaw Pot of pottery. - Chat-o-lon-ee Brass. - Che-to-ko-lope-lon-ee Gold. - Sha-teek-e-naw-yaw Silver. - Shot-to Iron. - Hi-lo-chee Cup. - We-wa-sis-ca-taw Dipper. - Sto-caw Bucket. - E-slof-ka-pee Knife handle. - E-slof-ka-e-ock-shaw Knife point. - E-slof-ka-e-in-fos-kee Knife edge. - Sa-lof-ka Knife. - Chum-chaw-cha-lock-ko Bell. - Chum-chaw-ko Small bell. - Shif-fon-waw Awl. - To-shay-sil-caw Whang (for sewing - moccasins). - We-hop-caw Pillow. - To-hi-o-waw Valise. - To-ho-to-waw Powder. - Ho-tee Powder can. - Shaw-toke-e-naw-waw Money. - To-ko-naw-shaw-tee One cent. - Na-kop-po-chee Ten cents. - Con-shot-go-ho-ko-lin Fifty cents. - Chalk Twenty-five cents. - To-ko-naw-wa-hum-kin One dollar. - To-ko-naw-wa-cha-kee-bin Five dollars. - E-sho-gaw File. - Ees-how-ees-caw Key. - Ees-pas-caw Broom. - Chot-to-go-chee Mallet. - Op-pee Broomstick. - Tock-o-take-go-chee Common stick. - Im-mi-lay-sha-taw Court plaster. - Tose-ka-lof-caw Plane. - E-to Wood. - Tock-kin-o-shaw Brick. - Ok-e-fots-chay Sea shell. - To-hop-kee Fence. - Ho-lo-paw Walk (pavement). - Chat-o-ko-cho Cartridge. - Hi-eets-e-fa-caw Guitar string. - O-like-a-taw Chair. - To-paw Floor. - Es-ti-ha-kee Picture. - Tol-lo-faw Town. - Ist-fon-o-kee-taw Rocking chair. - E-skil-caw Compass. - Shock-shaw-e-taw Dip net. - Ti-sos-so-chee Pin. - Ees-la-pode-caw Needle. - Ees-ti-no-tee-some-fo-tee-taw Tooth pick. - Shoke-chaw Sack. - It-to-tee-ish-fo-gaw Ice saw. - It-to-tee-butch-es-waw Ice hatchet. - It-to-tee-in-so-go Ice house. - It-to-tee-saw-gaw Ice machine. - It-to-tee-ock-les-waw Ice moulds. - It-to-tee-she-lot-caw Ice tongs. - It-to-tee-we-waw Ice water. - To-fo-ga-leg-a-mee Saw dust. - To-fo-la-hi-lee Cord wood. - To-to-lese-pof-a-naw-o-cho-go Railroad car. - Phon-e-o-hop-ee Fishing pole. - Sho-a-los-ga-taw Hammock (to swing). - Ko-lo-kee-e-ho-tee Lantern. - Tol-lot-to-chee Brush. - O-pa-tock-o Saddle. - E-ho-e-lit-taw Stirrup. - She-lop-ko-chif-ko-taw Spur. - Ach-aw-kil-caw-lock-o Clock. - E-sho-e-caw Hoe. - Hot-cus-waw Iron kettle. - Ta-pate-go-chee Pistol. - Ich-chaw Gun. - E-chaw Rifle. - To-lo-to-lon-e Cap (percussion). - To-hote-to-waw Powder. - Wee-aw Seine. - Sa-lof-ka-chop-ka Sword. - Sa-lof-ka-chee Knife (small). - Sa-lof-ka-fots-kee Knife (sharp). - Sa-lof-ka-tof-nee Knife (dull). - - - - - FOOD - - - To-lee-ko Oatmeal. - O-chee-tot-o-la-go-chee Corn bread. - Tot-o-lo-som-po-chee Cake. - Pish-waw Meat. - O-po-swaw Soup. - Tock-a-la-kee Bread (flour). - Och-chee-lo-wat-kee Corn (green). - Wa-ka-pish-aw Milk. - Chum-pee Honey. - Yel-la-haw Lemonade. - Fo-chum-pee Bees and honey. - Ist-sa-tock-ko Cauliflower. - O-ko-to Radish. - Oke-chon-tel-o-ko-nee Salt. - Il-la-haw Orange. - Itch-on-e-haw Tallow. - Ho-waw Pepper sauce. - E-cho-pish-waw Deer meat. - Chil-i-hos-waw Pineapple. - Wa-ka-pish-aw-tock-o-la-kee Cheese. - Tol-o-so-caw Cocoanut. - Chos-chee-lock-o Pumpkin (whiteman’s). - Chos-chee Pumpkin (Indian). - E-po-see-waw Gravy. - Fit-chee Sausage. - We-len-tel-lo Banana. - Hil-o-cho-waw Chewing gum. - Wa-ka-pish-a-ne-haw Butter. - Wa-ka-pish-e-e-tok-chee Sour milk. - Wa-ka-fit-chee Sausage (beef). - Suck-a-fit-chee Sausage (pork). - Ho-tes-kot-tee-hot-kee Flour. - Whit-lo-ko Oysters. - Aw-haw Potato (sweet). - Tol-o-la-go-chee Biscuit. - Aw-hot-to-pox-to-chee Potato (Irish). - Cot-lo-chee Sardines. - Aw-pis-ta-lake-a-to-me Potted ham. - Tock-a-la-kee-chom-paw Ginger cake (large). - Ho-maw Pickles. - Pe-kon-o-soch-o-chee Cherries. - Tock-a-fon-waw Filbert. - Shot-o-lock-o Apple. - Chil-loos-wa Grapes. - Tock-a-la-kee-chum-po-chee Cake (small). - - - - - COLORS - - - Lus-tee Black. - Ho-lot-tee Blue. - Ho-ko-lon-i-tee Brown. - Sho-po-ka-hot-ka-chee Grey. - Pi-e-lon-o-maw Green. - Chat-tee Red. - Hot-ka-tee White. - - - - - NUMERALS - - - Hum-kin One. - Ho-ko-lin Two. - Too-chin Three. - Os-tin Four. - Chaw-kee-bin Five. - A-pa-kin Six. - Ko-lo-pa-kin Seven. - Chin-na-pa-kin Eight. - Os-ta-pa-kin Nine. - Pa-lin Ten. - Pa-lin-hum-kin-hum-kin Eleven. - Pa-lin-hum-kin-ho-ko-lin Twelve. - Pa-lin-hum-kin-too-chin Thirteen. - Pa-lin-hum-kin-os-tin Fourteen. - Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin Twenty. - Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin-hum-kin Twenty-one. - Pa-lin-ho-ko-lin-too-chin Twenty-three. - Pa-lin-too-chin Thirty. - Pa-lin-os-tin Forty. - Pa-lin-chaw-kee-bin Fifty. - Pa-lin-a-pa-kin Sixty. - Pa-lin-ko-la-pa-kin Seventy. - Pa-lin-chin-na-pa-kin Eighty. - Pa-lin-os-ta-pa-kin Ninety. - Chope-kee-hum-kin One hundred. - Chope-kee-ho-ko-lin Two hundred. - Chope-kee-too-chin-ee Three hundred. - - - - - DIVISIONS OF TIME - - - Ti-ose-go-chee First moon (August). - Ti-ose-go-lock-o Second moon (September). - E-ho-lee Third moon (October). - Si-lof-slop-ko Fourth moon (November). - Si-lof-so-kee Fifth moon (December). - Ho-ti-lee-has-ee Sixth moon (January). - Ti-sot-to-chee Seventh moon (February). - Ti-sot-to-lock-o Eighth moon (March). - Kee-hos-ee Ninth moon (April). - Got-so-hos-ee Tenth moon (May). - Hi-yote-chee Eleventh moon (June). - Hi-yote-lock-o Twelfth moon (July). - Mis-kee-hum-kin One year. - Ha-lits-chey Moon. - Nit-taw Day. - Nist-lee Night. - U-mus-ka-taw Dark. - Pox-son-gay Yesterday. - Pox-son-gay-lim-pix-son-gay Day before yesterday. - A-pox-see-lim-pox-say-nist-lee Day after to-morrow night. - Mo-shon-nit-taw Today. - A-pox-see To-morrow. - A-pox-see-lim-pox-say Day after to-morrow. - Mis-kee-hum-kee Next year. - Mo-shon-mis-kee This year. - Mis-kee-ho-ko-lin Two years. - Mis-kee-too-chin-aw Three years. - Nit-ti-chow-go-hum-kin One week. - Nit-ti-chow-go-ho-ko-lin Two weeks. - Nit-ti-chow-go-too-chin-aw Three weeks. - Nit-ta-hum-kin One day. - Nit-ta-ho-ko-lin Two days. - Nit-ta-too-chin-aw Three days. - Nit-ta-os-tin Four days. - Mo-shon-nist-lee To-night. - A-pox-see-nist-lee To-morrow night. - Mo-cho-hos-see This moon. - Hos-see-hum-kee Next moon. - Osh-aw-kil-hum-kin One o’clock. - Osh-aw-kil-ho-ko-lin Two o’clock. - - - - - ANIMALS, PARTS OF BODY, ETC. - - - Lo-ko-see Bear (black). - Ko-wat-go-chee Cat (wild). - E-faw Dog. - E-cho Deer. - Chil-la Fox. - E-cho-wa-a-taw Goat (mountain). - Su-caw-pin-si-law Hog (wild). - E-chos-waw Manatee or sea cow. - Tock-o Mole. - O-shen-aw Otter. - Su-caw-hot-caw Opossum. - Ches-she Rat. - Cho-fee Rabbit. - Cho-fee-chaw-hot-ee Rabbit (grey). - Wood-ko Raccoon. - Klo-hi-lee Squirrel. - Klo-hot-go-chee Squirrel (grey). - Klo-hi-lee-chaw-tee Squirrel (red). - Yee-haw Wolf. - Kon-kla-po-chee Chameleon. - E-cho-yi-pee Antlers. - Wa-ka-e-fo-nee Bone (cow). - Fit-chee-law-pots-kee Entrails. - Nee-haw Fat. - Wa-ka-haft-bee Hide (cow). - Yi-pee Horn. - Fit-chee-lock-o Stomach. - E-hot-chee Tail. - E-no-tee Teeth. - E-po-lo-wa-kee Elephant. - Chil-lock-o Horse. - Chil-lock-o-chee Colt. - Chil-lock-o-pi-e-caw Mule. - Wal-ka-ho-non-waw Ox. - Wal-ka-chee Calf. - Suck-aw Hog. - Po-sha-chee Cat. - Yep-e-fa-e-caw Sheep. - E-fa-chee Puppy. - Cho-wa-taw Goat. - Wal-ka Cow. - - - - - BIRDS - - - O-so-waw Bird. - O-chot-aw Black bird. - Shock-kil-law Black bird (red wing). - Wa-to-law Whooping crane. - O-shaw-o-waw Crow. - Hi-lo-lo Curlew. - Hi-lo-lo-chaw-tee Curlew (pink). - Posh-e-ho-we Dove. - Fo-cho Duck. - Hat-tit-e-fon-caw Eagle. - Sho-caw Hawk. - Sho-ko-chee Sparrow hawk. - Hos-cho-kee-waw Fish hawk. - Wak-ko-lot-ko Heron (great blue). - Wak-ko-lot-ko-o-hi-lot-tee Heron (little blue). - Fost-chi-taw Red bird. - Hi-lo-lo Ibis (white). - Tos-chee Jay (blue). - Pen-na-waw Turkey. - We-hot-ko-fo-sho-wo-chee Snipe. - Eash-pock-a-waw Robin. - Fost-chi-taw Red bird. - Sho-lee Vulture. - Sho-lee-pee-los-pes-ko Vulture (black). - Chip-ee-lop-law Whippoorwill. - Fo-a-kee Quail. - Pen-nit-kee Turkey hen. - Pen-na-waw-en-to-wee Turkey beard. - Pen-cha-ho-gaw Turkey cry. - Pen-ni-chaw Turkey gobbler. - Fo-shon-nits-kaw Rookery. - Shee Feathers. - Lo-cha-e-stow-cha-kee Egg. - O-cho-ko King fisher. - Ho-shock-e-a-caw Limpkin. - O-shi-hi-yi Mocking bird. - E-fo-law Owl (screech). - Pot-see-lon-ee Paroquet. - To-to-lo-chee Chicken. - O-shot-caw Heron (great white). - O-shot-co-chee Heron (little white). - O-pal Owl (eared). - E-chee-pa-hot-tee Mother Cary’s chicken - (Petrel). - - - - - FISH AND REPTILES - - - Sar-sho Fish. - Sar-sho-o-kee-lon-waw Cat fish. - Whit-lo-ko Oyster. - Shar-lo Trout. - To-how-how-waw Trunk. - Sar-sho-chee Minnow. - Shup-sho-chee Pickerel. - Al-la-pa-taw Alligator. - Aw-pa-to-naw Frog. - Chit-ta-mic-co Chief of snakes. - Chit-ko-la-la-go-chee Rattle snake. - Ko-tee Toad. - Chit-ta-lus-tee Black snake. - Aw-shock-o-law Snail. - Ho-lock-waw Turtle (soft shell). - Lo-chaw Turtle (land). - Chit-ta-lock-a-chee Snake (spotted). - O-co-la-chit-ta Snake (green). - Skin-cho-caw Frog (tree). - Gotch-es-waw Turtle. - - - - - INSECTS - - - Tock-o-cha-cha-tee Ant (red). - Tock-o-cha-lus-tee Ant (black). - Fo-a Bee. - Chil-lock-o-fo-a Bee (drone). - Cuff-ko Flea. - Cho-naw Fly. - Scop-o-swaw Gnat. - A-caw-ko-taw Grasshopper. - Chil-lock-o-do-no Horse fly. - Taw-fo Katy-did. - O-he-aw Mosquito. - Och-klo-klon Spider. - U-e-cot-taw Worm. - Och-o-klon-we-ahr Spider web. - To-ka-tes-kee-at-tee-lo-e-waw Silk worm. - Soke-so Beetle (black). - - - - - PLANTS - - - Lock-e-tum-ba-e-cee Oak leaf. - Ech-to-fa-la-ha-lee Chip. - E-to Wood (to burn). - Cho-lee-saw Pine leaf. - Im-pock-pock-ee Flower. - Pi-hee Grass. - Gatch-ho-ho-e-claw Blackberry. - Aw-won-aw Willow tree. - Chit-ta-hum-pe-ta Snake plant. - Til-e-ko Oats. - Shot-i-pee Persimmon tree. - Shot-taw Persimmon. - Shot-o-nin-kla Persimmon seed. - Gotch-o Poison vine. - Aw-shen-lock-o Air plant. - Aw-shen-waw Moss. - Shil-o-fo-haw Water lily. - We-sho Sassafras. - Tol-o-lock-o Palmetto (cabbage tree). - Tol-o-chee Palmetto (young - cabbage-tree). - Tol-o-neck-la Palmetto seed. - She-hop-paw Saw palmetto. - Aw-shit-ta-taw Gall berries. - Aw-tock-claw Weed. - Chaw-fo-ka-naw Huckleberries. - Hi-lis-hot-kee Ginseng. - He-swan-i-hit-caw Quinine. - Gout-lock-o Cactus. - Com-to-lock-o Peanut. - Ti-fum-bee Onion. - Hee-chee Tobacco. - O-chee-o-pee Hickory tree. - Kee Mulberry tree. - Hatch-in-e-haw Cypress tree. - E-la-hock-o Shaddock (grapefruit). - - - - - THE FIRMAMENT--PHYSICAL PHENOMENA, ETC. - - - Go-chee-som-po-lock-o Large star. - Go-chee-som-pol-e-poch-go-chee Small star. - Cho-go-lof-caw Seven stars. - Ho-nit-claw North star. - Wa-hit-law South star. - Ho-so-shaw East star. - Aw-hil-lot-caw West star. - Ha-shay Sun. - Hit-to-tee Frost. - It-to-tee Ice. - We-wa Water. - Os-e-caw Rain. - Ti-nit-kee Thunder. - Ot-to-e-hot-tit Lightning. - Go-ti-lee Wind. - Ha-notch-e-fo-law Whirlwind. - E-ho-tee Ground. - O-ti-lee-lock-o Storm. - Ha-shay-shay-pock-taw-lo-gaw Eclipse of the sun. - Ho-nit-chaw North. - Ha-so-saw East. - Wa-ha-law South. - Op-a-lock-aw West. - Ha-lits-cha-shay-pock-ta-lo-gaw Eclipse of the moon. - Hi-yi-tee-e-chaw Morning star. - E-pof-kee Evening. - Hi-e-ta-ma-es-chee Heat. - Chit-cho Dew. - Ho-lo-chee A cloud. - - - - - KINSHIP - - - Sop-po-chee My son. - Chat-hos-tee My daughter. - Solk-go-chee My father. - Sots-kee My mother. - E-chock-o-tee Brother. - E-cho-see Brother (younger). - E-la-ha Brother (older). - Cho-wen-waw Sister. - Cha-hi-e-waw My wife. - Squaw Wife. - Picc-a-nin-ny Child. - - - - - VERBS, PHRASES, SENTENCES - - - Ah-ho-chee To plant. - Tote-ca-taw To whistle. - E-lo-chaw To date. - Lop-ko Make haste. - Ah-mos-chay To give. - Chim-moc-co-dos-chay Not to give. - Hum-bi-da-lon-es-chay To feed. - Yi-es-chay To sell. - Neich-hi-es-chee Not to buy. - Hock-ka-eet-kit To cry. - Op-peel-it To laugh. - E-hi-e-kit To sing. - Fi-i-it-lot-es-chee To hunt. - Oh-in-i-it To smell. - Clot-la-klip-chay To break. - Sop-pa-lon-es-chay To sleep. - He-ches-chee To see. - Im-po-hos-chee To hear. - Ah-es-chay Go. - Hi-e-pus To go. - Chi-yot-chit To like. - Aw-lock-chay To come. - Cha-ho-sit Forgot. - O-ko-sit Wash. - He-chus-chee Saw. - Fit-kon-nit Wait. - Hal-wuk It is bad. - Hink-las It is good. - Hi-o-e-pus-chay Two go. - Hi-op-pee-pox-es-chay Three or more go. - I-wox-chee Many come. - Aw-mul-cay All come. - No-chip-os-chay Go sleep (you). - Clot-la-klip-chay Broken (to break). - Sup-pa-lon-es-chay I take. - Chi-ho-ches-chee I am lost. - Che-ho-shar You are lost. - E-wa-kee-pa-lon-es-chay Lie down, but not to sleep. - Hum-kin-mi-si-e-pit Take one. - Ye-hi-e-pa-taw To sing. - So-toke-kee-na-aw-aw-mun-chee Give me money. - Hi-e-pus-chay I go. - Ot-som-ka-taw To go up steps. - Hi-top-ka-taw To go down steps. - Hock-it To whistle. - Cho-ho-sit Forgot. - Chi-yot-chee I want. - E-see-op-cop-e-taw To ride. - Chee-yi-chee Do you want? - Mot-to Thank you. - Es-tel-e-pi-e-ka-u-cha-ko-ot-e-he To put moccasins on. - Kit-lix-chay Don’t know. - Kit-li-es-chay I know. - Aw-kay-lot-kit Go in. - Lop-ko-sin-ot-tos-chay Come quick. - Chee-to-gaw To pole a boat. - Scof-gaw To row a boat. - Hum-pux-chay-hum-pee-taw You eat plenty. - No-chee-pa-lon-es-chay I am going to sleep. - Sa-lof-ka-chop-kaw My knife is large (sword). - Sa-lof-ka-chee My knife is small. - A-pok-es-chay All sit down. - No-chip-os-chay Go sleep (you). - Che-mo-on-ot-es-chay Are you sleepy? - I-hoo-es-chay Let us go. - Ho Yes. - Li-kus-chay Sit down. - Hi-top-cay-ta-li-kus-chay Sit down on steps. - No-chit-pay-lon-es-chay Lie down and sleep. - Its-kee-e-i-chee-tok-naw Mother wants to keep him. - In-ka-o-ko-sit Wash hands. - Mi-e-taw Tall (tree). - Che-mi-hee Grow (you or me). - Che-mi-hee-ta-mi-hee-cha-mi-he-taw Grow very tall. - Aw-ne-chee-mi-he-taw I grow. - I-ti-it-tot-chi-mi-he-taw-mi-he-taw- I will grow tall. - te-hee - Ha-tee-e-tew-chee-hick-chay-hit-es-chay Glad to see you. - E-cho-lid-kit-he-chus-chee I saw deer run. - E-cho-ti-een-lid-kit-he-chus-chee I saw deer run fast. - E-cho-lid-kit-smi-hi-ko-in-in-he- I saw deer run slow. - chus-chee - E-cho-yak-op-po-sit Deer walk. - E-cho-yak-op-po-sit-hi-chus-chee I saw the deer walk. - E-cho-mo-chon-it-ta-we-wa-ah-kay- To-day I saw a deer go - lot-kit-o-mi-e-it-i-in-he-chus-chee in the water and swim. - Il-lich-is-caw Did you kill it? - Lop-fi-eets-chay Let us hunt. - Im-po-hitch-caw Do you hear? - He-chos-kos-chay I can’t find it. - To-pa-li-kus-chay Sit on floor (you). - Pish-wa-chi-us-chee I want some meat. - Aw-som-es-chee-aw-pish-waw Pass me the meat. - Lox-a-dox-chay You lie. - Is-chay-to-ma-es-chee Wind blew hard. - He-a-maw Come here. - Suck-chay All gone. - Aw-pok-es-chay All sit down. - Ha-sha-col-lock-tit Sun gone down. - Ha-sha-i-sit Sun come up. - To-ko-naw-yo-ko-dos-chay Money, no sell ’em. - On-e-way Me too. - Un-gaw All right. - Nock-a-tee What is it? - Stom-a-taw Which way? - Aw-lip-ka-shaw Good-by. - Aw-tee-tus-chee By-and-by. - Ho-lo-wa-gus No good. - Hi-lip-pit-ka-shaw How are you? - Som-mus-ka-lar-nee-shaw Good luck. - Ya-maw This way. - Hock-es-chee Bird cry. - Chi-yot-chit Like them. - Chee Young or small. - O-fun-net-taw Long time. - En-cha-mun-chay Well or good. - Ho-nit-chay Wild. - Ni-hit-tus-chay Fat. - Wi-o-kee-tus-chay Poor. - Es-to-chee-hock-a-effee Baby cry. - E-yof-kee-hum-pee-taw Supper (before dark). - E-mots-kee-hum-pee-taw Supper (after dark). - Kan-yuk-sa-es-ta-chat-tee Florida red men. - Yo-ho-ee-hee War whoop. - Aw-pox-see-lim-pox-say-nist-lee Day after to-morrow night. - Stu-es-taw A great deal, or too much. - Ya-ti-ka-chic-co Great Speaker - (Commissioner). - Munks-chay No. - Hi-lit-la-ma-es-chay Too hot (fire water). - Im-e-lo-la-tee-ti-yee Water rough. - Ko-no-wa-hum-kin-mo-so-nit-ta-wi- I want a string of beads - yy-ches-chee to-day. - Shot-cay-taw Green Corn Dance. - In-like-e-taw Heaven. - E-shock-e-tom-e-see The Supreme Ruler or the - white man’s God. - E-shock-e-tom-e-see-e-po-chee God’s son, Christ. - His-a-kit-a-mis-i Great Spirit. - Po-ya-fits-a Indian’s heaven. - Il-lit Death. - Som-mus-ka-lar-nee-sha-maw-lin Good wishes to white man. - - - - - THE INDIAN NAMES OF SOME PRESENT - SEMINOLES - - - Tallahassee Mic-co. - So-fan-gee Mi-la-kee. - Fi-lan-e-hee Tal-la-has-so-wee. - Las-ches-chee Fo-ston-sto-noc-ee-la. - Ko-i-hat-cho Cal-lo-fo-nee. - Yee-ho-lo-chee Tol-lo-see. - O-mul-la-gee Shon-o-la-kee. - She-y-o-hee On-nit-chee. - Sla-shing-to-goth-la-gee I-o-chus-chee. - Che-e-ho-la Suck-kin-ho-chee. - Sten-o-la-kee Os-ce-o-la. - Cho-fee-hat-cho Mat-lo. - Os-shen-e-ho-la Nan-ces-o-wee. - Ho-puth-tee-na-gee Tal-lem-ee. - Tin-fai-yai-ki Kat-ca-la-ni. - Stem-e-o-la-ga Chots-kee. - Ko-nip-hatch-o Tus-tee-nug-gee. - She-lock-ee Suc-kin-ho-chee. - Ta-ses-chee Me-take-ee. - Fo-so-wa-tos-to-nock-ee Cat-sa-ma-tel-e-kee. - I-o-chus-chee Fol-lem-mee. - Hi-e-tee Na-haw. - Hi-ta-kee Ho-ti-yee. - Shon-tee Ful-le-he-le-chee. - Na-gof-tee I-o-la-chee. - Chick-e-o-hee Sten-e-wah-hee. - Cli-so-to-kee-ti-ga Chip-co. - - - - - RHYTHMICAL NAMES OF SOME FLORIDA - LAKES, RIVERS AND TOWNS - - Imprints of the Vanishing Race are indelibly stamped upon - the Geography of Florida - - - To-hope-ke-li-ga Noc-a-tee - Ko-mo-ka As-ta-tu-la - Wa-hoo A-lach-u-a - Chat-ta-hoo-chee We-ki-va - Chip-po-la Ca-loo-sa-hat-chee - Man-a-tee Ock-lo-wa-ha - Mi-am-ee Ock-lock-o-nee - Ok-a-lo-a-coo-chee Choc-ta-what-chee - Ta-lu-ga Hatch-in-a-ha - Ap-pa-lach-i-cola Is-to-po-ga - Pen-sa-co-la Pan-a-soff-kee - Al-li-ga-tor Chu-lu-o-ta - O-lus-tee Im-mo-ka-lee - Wac-cas-sas-see Mus-co-gee - Ap-pa-lach-ee Wa-cis-sa - O-kee-cho-bee O-kee-fe-no-kee - We-wa-hatch-ka Su-wan-nee - Oc-ta-hatch-ee Nar-coos-see - Pic-o-la-ta Kan-yuk-sa - Is-ta-chat-ta Stein-hatch-ee - In-dian-o-la Chu-muck-la - Tus-ca-wil-la Wee-took-ka - Al-la-pa-ha Wa-ku-la - Wa-bas-so La-coo-chee - Is-to-po-ga-yo-ree O-ka-hump-kin - Pin-co-la Wa-kee-na - Tho-not-os-sas-sa My-ak-ka - Hic-po-chee O-ka-lo-a-coo-chee - Cho-ko-los-kee O-ca-la - Mic-co-su-kee Ho-mo-sas-sa - Pa-lat-ka Os-ce-o-la - With-la-coo-chee Tal-la-hass-ee - O-co-ee Tus-ca-loo-sa - A-pop-ka Mic-an-o-pee - Kiss-imm-eé - - - THE END - - - - - EDITOR’S NOTE. - - -In this enlarged and illustrated edition of “The Seminoles of -Florida,” the demand for which seems to come insistently from every -hand, the author wishes to acknowledge the courtesy and great -kindness of Mr. C. B. Reynolds and Mr. E. W. Histed for their -assistance in its illustrations. - - - - - FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Catlin and others give “the black drink” as the signification of -Osceola, or Asseola, from the man’s capacity for that drink. Asseola -was doubtless the original and true name. But “Asse” or “hasse,” in -the present Seminole tongue, means “the sun.” This, with the affix -“ola,” or “he-ho-lar,” would mean “the rising sun” rather than “the -black drink.” - -[2] As a glimpse into Indian character, it is worth recalling that -Tecumseh, the Shawnee Chief, rose to the distinction of a Brigadier -General in the British Army under King George III, in the War of 1812. - -[3] Since the above writing, the Department of the Interior has -investigated the status of the swamp land and the Government has -guaranteed against purchase 23,000 acres of land to be held in trust -for the Indians. Only a small part of it is arable, but when all else -is wrested from these Indians, they may retire in safety to this land. - -[4] Since the above writing, word has been received from the Indian -camp as follows: “Hungry Land, Fla., Tallahassee, big sleep, one -Moon.” - -[5] For history of Coa-coo-chee (Wild-Cat) see page 33. - -[6] Vocabulary prepared by J. M. Willson Jr. - -[7] In this vocabulary the words are arranged according to their -subject or character, no attention being paid to alphabetical -succession. - - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - - The table of contents and chapter/section headings have been left - as they appeared in the original source without correction. Any - inconsistencies are as the author and publisher intended. - - Inconsistencies in spelling and hyphenation such as “Billy - Bowlegs”/“Billie Bowlegs” and “hommock”/“hammock” have been - maintained. - - Minor punctuation errors have been silently corrected and, except - for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and - inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. - - Foreword: “the decendants, ten years ago” changed to “the - descendants, ten years ago”. - - List of Illustrations: “Hi-a-tee, Captain Tom Tiger” changed to - “Hi-e-tee, Captain Tom Tiger”. - - Page 8: “the war with Great Britian” changed to “the war with Great - Britain”. - - Page 9: “the Indians on the Appalachicola” changed to “the Indians - on the Apalachicola”. - - Page 15: “OF DADES’ FORCES” changed to “OF DADE’S FORCES”. - - Page 16: “The affair of Dades’ Massacre” changed to “The affair of - Dade’s Massacre”. - - Page 21: (Illustration) “MICANOPEE—HE WAS THE KING” changed to - “MICANOPY—HE WAS THE KING”. - - Page 26: “a single Seminole chieftan” changed to “a single Seminole - chieftain”. - - Page 31: “on hands and kness” changed to “on hands and knees”. - - Page 35: “an interesting acount” changed to “an interesting - account”. - - Page 40: “After Govermental hunting” changed to “After Governmental - hunting”. - - Page 40: “went with sore unwillingless” changed to “went with sore - unwillingness”. - - Page 46: “pampared slave of the old aristocracy” changed to - “pampered slave of the old aristocracy”. - - Page 57: “some grevious wrong” changed to “some grievous wrong”. - - Page 60: “the adventursome warriors” changed to “the adventuresome - warriors”. - - Page 70: “the blessings of Chrisitanity” changed to “the blessings - of Christianity”. - - Page 70: “the Seminole as he rufuses” changed to “the Seminole as - he refuses”. - - Page 76: “improvement is scarcely noticable” changed to - “improvement is scarcely noticeable”. - - Page 79: “peace and safty” changed to “peace and safety”. - - Page 85: “According to date” changed to “According to data”. - - Page 88: “from shawls or collossal handkerchiefs” changed to “from - shawls or colossal handkerchiefs”. - - Page 92: “a teriffic coast storm” changed to “a terrific coast - storm”. - - Page 101: “out baggage was unloaded” changed to “our baggage was - unloaded”. - - Page 116: “to the birde’s house” changed to “to the bride’s house”. - - Page 116: “camp songs and the lullabys” changed to “camp songs and - the lullabies”. - - Page 124: “There tribal organization” changed to “Their tribal - organization”. - - Page 131: “sugar cane, sweet potates” changed to “sugar cane, sweet - potatoes”. - - Page 136: “covenient” changed to “convenient”. - - Page 139: “ride landed us at Bassenger” changed to “ride landed us - at Basinger”. - - Page 164: “Man appeared to the Indain” changed to “Man appeared to - the Indian”. - - Page 167: “forsaken, pitable appearance” changed to “forsaken, - pitiable appearance”. - - Page 198: “greater than her land possesions” changed to “greater - than her land possessions”. - - Page 240: “a history so litle” changed to “a history so little”. - - Page 244: “forth, and as Floridans” changed to “forth, and as - Floridians”. - - Page 261: (Vocabulary) “Accordeon” changed to “Accordion”. - - Page 270: (Vocabulary) “Limkin” changed to “Limpkin”. - - Page 270: (Vocabulary) “schreech” changed to “screech”. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SEMINOLES OF FLORIDA *** - -***** This file should be named 64191-0.txt or 64191-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/6/4/1/9/64191/ - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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