The Cowkeeper Dynasty of the Seminole Nation

It is generally agreed that the sons - or possibly nephews, at any rate the immediate successors - of the Alachua chief, who it was suggested in a previous article was Cowkeeper rather than Secoffee, - that these sons were Payne and Bowlegs. Sprague is probably correct when he writes of the former, “Payne was of a different character from his father and not to be led astray and blinded by absurd revelations and traditions. Though a bold and intrepid warrior, he cared more for the happiness of his people than the indulgence of vicious passions, or the influences of superstitious feelings. By his example and counsels, he secured the confidence of the Spanish government, and died at an advanced age, honored and respected.“ 1 Sprague does not seem to have been familiar with the exact circumstances of the chief’s death, which was on the field of battle, at the hands of invaders from Georgia

Billy Bowlegs (Holata Micco) in the Civil War (Part II)

Elias Rector as an ardent partisan of the Confederacy, must have particularly wished in subsequent years that his report of Billy Bowleg’s death had been more than just a rumor, for Bowlegs was one of the principal chiefs of the Five Civilized Tribes who supported the Union in the Civil War. Although a number of Seminole chiefs, along with representatives of all the other Civilized Tribes, were bullied or cajoled into signing a treaty with the Confederacy, before the war was over it was estimated that two-thirds of the Seminole Indians and practically all their Negroes were within the Union lines. Reasons for the alignment of the Civilized Tribes in the Civil War are complicated. The Choctaw and Chickasaw, located farthest to the south and east and always more inclined than other southern tribes to be conciliatory toward their white neighbors, were nearly all thorough going Confederates, but the Creeks, Seminoles, and Cherokees were badly split. In general, the half-breed element also tended, along with such full-bloods as they could influence, to support the Confederacy. The majority of conservative full-bloods, with no interest in being “accepted” by the dominant element in the South, at first sought neutrality in the conflict, and then, when it became an impossibility, supported the Union cause. The Indian Negroes, who occupied a position of considerable influence among the Seminoles, and even among the Creeks and Cherokees were far more independent than white-owned slaves, knew immediately where their interests lay. Moreover, as badly as the Cherokees, Creeks, and Seminoles had been treated by the United States government and its armed forces, their treatment by southern territorial and state governments and volunteers had been far worse; such little protection and fair treatment as they had received had come from Washington and from regular army officers

Further Notes on Benjamin Clapp

"Since the publication in the Quarterly for April, 1934, of 'Benjamin Clapp: Notes on His Later Life,' information acquired during visits to the Missouri Historical Society and to the New York City office of the Astor Estate has confirmed certain assumptions in that article, corrected others, and added new details to the whole.

Osceola and the Negroes

Osceola, if not the most important Indian leader in the Seminole War (1835-1842), is certainly the best known. His fame is largely due to the circumstances of his capture and death, but the Abolitionist movement of his own day also contributed. That Osceola was driven into hostility to the United States by the seizure and reduction to slavery of one of his wives, the daughter of an Indian chief and a runaway Negro woman, is one of the best-known and most generally accepted “facts” of his career. Actually, the story, so far as it concerns Osceola, is unsupported by trustworthy contemporary evidence. Apparently it was either sheer fabrication by an Abolitionist propagandist or else was inspired by a kidnapping which involved a woman unconnected with Osceola. The kidnapping into slavery of a part-Negro Seminole woman was entirely possible. Runaway slaves and their descendants, who legally were still slaves, were an important element in the Seminole tribe; slavers frequently seized Negroes and part-Negroes living among the Seminole and spirited them away into servitude. Old Econchattemicco (Red Ground King), an important Seminole chief, lost a part-Negro granddaughter in this way; it is possible, indeed, that it was her kidnapping which gave rise to the story of Osceola’s wife

Benjamin Clapp: Notes on His Later Life

"My aim is merely to respond, if but partially, to the Macedonian call contained in the title of Mr. Barry's article by giving the interested reader some idea of where a complete answer can be obtained.

Chronicles of Oklahoma

Article discusses the commanders and chiefs of the group of Seminoles that traveled from Indian Territory and settled in Coahuila, Mexico in 1849 and 1850. Kenneth W. Porter discusses the American Indian and black Seminoles and their leaders individually, remarking on their family, upbringing, and participation in the new settlement

Further Notes on Benjamin Clapp

"Since the publication in the Quarterly for April, 1934, of 'Benjamin Clapp: Notes on His Later Life,' information acquired during visits to the Missouri Historical Society and to the New York City office of the Astor Estate has confirmed certain assumptions in that article, corrected others, and added new details to the whole.

Benjamin Clapp: Notes on His Later Life

"My aim is merely to respond, if but partially, to the Macedonian call contained in the title of Mr. Barry's article by giving the interested reader some idea of where a complete answer can be obtained.