Billy Bowlegs
1810-1859?
Also
Known As:
Halpatter Micco; Halpuda Mikko; "The Alligator Chief"
Billy Bowlegs was one of the most influential Seminole Indian chiefs during the Third Seminole Indian War, also called the "Billy Bowlegs War." His father, Secoffee, and his mother were both full-blooded Mikasuki Seminole. The name Bowlegs has nothing to do with the shape of his legs. His English name was believed to be Billy Bolek, and black slaves that escaped from southern plantations translated his name to the white settlers as Bowlegs. He was one of the last chiefs to be removed from the Florida Territory to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) reservations so that white settlers could have access to south Florida lands. Bowlegs was an accomplished politician as well as a warrior, capable of negotiating peace when conflicts occurred. His people received adequate recognition at the end of the Third Seminole War because of his compassion for their well-being.
During his years as chief, Bowlegs made contact with Cuban fishermen and Spanish traders along the Gulf of Mexico coast. He could speak both Spanish and English. He was intelligent and wise when dealing with his people and their difficulties. He cared for them and continually tried to limit the loss of Indian life in his wars with the military. Billy Bowlegs was never captured in all the U.S. government's efforts to open Florida for settlement. His contributions to the Seminole Indian heritage is remembered with pride.
BOWLEGS
LEARNS ABOUT WAR AT A YOUNG AGE
The Seminole Wars grew out of border conflicts between the expanding United States and Spanish Florida. As white English-speaking settlers moved into Georgia, North Carolina, and Alabama during the middle of the eighteenth century, they came into contact with the Seminoles and began to push them out of their traditional lands. The Indians escaped by occupying land in northern Florida, then owned by Spain. As the United States continued to grow, however, pressure on the Seminoles increased. In addition, the tribes served as havens for escaped slaves and criminals.
These runaways found life to be better in the swamps than on the plantations. They had more freedom and benifitted the Seminoles by teaching them farming and ranching and serving as interpreters between the Indians and the white settlers and military.
In the spring of 1818 Major General Andrew Jackson, an experienced Indian fighter, led 3,000 troops into Spanish Florida to coerce the Seminoles out of areas that whites wanted to settle and to recover the runaway slaves for their owners. This action began the First Seminole Indian War. A treaty was reached in 1818, and some of the Seminoles began to be moved westward to reservations. Many of the bands, however, did not want to be moved. They wanted to stay in Florida, where they had established themselves as excellent hunters and farmers, and fled south into central Florida between Fort Myers and Fort Lauderdale. As long as Florida remained Spanish territory, the Seminoles stood a chance of staying in their chosen land. In 1819, however, Spain decided to cede the Florida territory to the United States.
Bowlegs was only a child at this time, but he learned first-hand the ways that the U.S. military and the Washington government could manipulate the Indians. He saw the treaty lands shrink to allow farmers access to reservation lands. Laws were passed that discriminated against Indians. To avoid prison or death sentences, the Indians were forced to move to reservations west of the Mississippi River. Bowlegs concluded the military and Washington government could not be trusted.
BOWLEGS BECOMES CHIEF DURING SECOND SEMINOLE WAR
The bands of Seminoles in Florida from 1818 to 1835 were spread over central and southern Florida. They ranged from Tampa Bay and Fort Myers south along the Gulf of Mexico and then east through the Big Cypress Swamp and Everglades to the Atlantic coast. During this period the government in Washington encouraged expansion and settlement in Florida, displacing some of the Seminoles again. The treaty of Payne's Landing, signed in 1832, called for the removal of all the Seminole to lands in the west. Small bands of warriors, refusing to recognize these terms, tried to keep the newcomers from taking the lands set aside by the treaty that ended the first war. Fearful of these reprisals, the settlers appealed to Washington for men, supplies, and money to raise a civilian militia. The Seminoles in turn prepared for more military campaigns that would attempt to remove their people to western reservations.
From 1835 to 1842 the battles and attacks continued. Bowlegs fought beside many of the tribe's most skilled warriors and leaders, including Osceola, Micanopy, Jumper, Alligator, Wildcat, Arpeika (Sam Jones), Prophet (Otalke Thlocco), and Tigertail. He followed his father into a hereditary leadership position and became a chief around the age of 20. Bowlegs learned to negotiate with military officers. When negotiations broke down, he raided white settlements during the night and hid in the Big Cypress Swamp during the day. He camped in the hammocks, areas of land above the surrounding lowland swamp and waterways, of the Everglades, Big Cypress Swamp, and areas near Lake Okeechobee. Some of these areas were large enough to farm and establish a village, and had the additional advantage that the Seminoles could see any approaching soldiers.
The
army quickly became tired and frustrated chasing Bowlegs and his band of warriors
through the Florida swamps. The soldiers found travelling and fighting in the
southern swamps difficult and lost battles due to weather conditions, sickness,
and lack of adequate supplies. So they changed their tactics; they began to
a policy of kidnapping chiefs under a flag of truce and sending them to the
Indian Territory. Without leadership, the remaining Indians soon surrendered
and were moved west. By 1842, most of the chiefs and their bands of warriors,
women, and children had been captured or killed. Many of the Seminoles abandoned
their traditional ways after relocation, accepting white culture and becoming
one of the so-called Five Civilized Tribes.
The Second Seminole War officially ended when the federal government passed the Armed Occupation Act on August 4, 1842, opening land for settlement that was previously occupied by Indians. In James Covington's book, The Billy Bowlegs War, he states this law really meant that a huge "grab bag of land" extending from present-day Gainesville and St. Augustine south to the Peace River was open to settlement by any adventurers willing to risk the wrath of the remaining Seminoles.
THIRD SEMINOLE INDIAN WAR
After the Second Seminole War ended in 1842, some additional lands were set aside in Florida for the two small remaining bands of Indians. It had become too costly in both money and human lives to continue their deportation. The Seminoles were difficult to find in the Big Cypress Swamp and areas east to the Everglades. In addition, they were able to sustain themselves by hunting and by planting crops such as corn, rice, beans, pumpkins, and squash, which could be stored and used when they returned to that area. These hammocks could support bands of 50 to 200 Seminoles for short periods.
In
the years between the second and third wars, conferences were held between the
military and Bowlegs to find solutions to the problems of relocating the Indians
to western reservations. The Seminoles wanted to remain in Florida on the lands
set aside by treaty after the first and second wars. However, settlers continued
to complain about raids conducted on their farms and ranches. Livestock and
crops were being stolen and resistance by the white settlers often ended in
death on both sides. On the other hand, settlers and ranchers continually encroached
on Indian land.
The Seminoles were aware of the superior strength of the military. Bowlegs used any tactic to stall the confrontation he knew would eventually occur if the Indians refused to negotiate. When the government offered something to the Indians in payment for them to give up their land, Bowlegs took long periods of time before giving counteroffers. He also occasionally made unreasonable claims to draw out the negotiations. In 1849, however, trouble broke out again in central and western Florida. The authorities sent for Bowlegs to explain the Indian raids on the settlers and exerted pressure on him and the remaining Seminoles to relocate. Bowlegs made a counter offer: to find the responsible raiders and bring them in for punishment. The authorities tried this method several times. The responsible Indian raiders were hanged and peace prevailed for a short time.
More settlers were now coming to Florida as lands were opened in the northern and central regions. When the military began surveying the Seminole lands in central and south Florida, hostilities broke out again. These survey crews were seen by the Indians as a direct threat to their existence. Bowlegs in particular recognized the methods that brought about the First Seminole War in north Florida. After the surveying was completed, the military came to talk about the treaty and, as a result, the Indians were forced from lands already set aside for them.
In July, 1852, the commanding general in the region, General Luther Blake, took Bowlegs to Washington to meet with President Millard Fillmore and other government officials. General Blake also tried to impress Bowlegs with the strength of the Washington leadership and to show him how impossible it was to continue to resist the move to the western Indian reservations. Bowlegs and other Seminole leaders, including Chocote, Tustenuggee, Toslatchee, Emathla, and Nokose received gifts and agreed to leave Florida. Under the terms of the agreement, they were to persuade other Seminoles to follow them to the reservation. Money and small tracts of farmland were offered to the bands if the Indians agreed to move to the reservation lands. When Bowlegs returned to Florida, however, he recanted, refusing to relocate. Another trip to Washington in 1855, was also a failure; he returned to Florida saying he would never leave his homelands.
In December 1855, First Lieutenant George L. Hartsuff and his detachment of 12 soldiers left Fort Myers. Their assignment was simply to locate villages and not to provoke any action. When they came across a large planted field, however, Hartsuff and his men took some of the bananas and crops and carelessly trampled the fields with their horses. When Bowlegs discovered the theft several days later, he went looking for the group. Forty Seminoles under Bowlegs killed four soldiers and wounded four others, including Hartsuff. This began the Third Seminole War, in which Bowlegs was the primary Seminole leader.
The Seminoles under Bowlegs waged a guerilla war, attacking the military's weak points to limit the loss of Indian life and property. Their raids were not well-organized but occurred whenever the opportunity presented itself. The Seminoles attacked the government survey crews and soldiers as they moved into Indian areas. The Indians then retreated into the swamp to hide in the remote hammocks. The soldiers had problems locating the Indians and moving their equipment over the water-logged ground. Many troopers fell ill from the heat. In addition, supplies arrived haphazardly, and Washington resisted requests for additional aid because of the money and lives already expended in trying to move the Seminoles.
In August of 1856, the western Seminoles finally reached an agreement on territory, land, and compensation. The U.S. government relocated Creek Indians from Georgia to share the land with the Seminoles. Bowlegs remained in Florida and continued his resistance. For several years he successfully continued his pattern of raiding and ambushing the military. Eventually, however, the determination of the settlers put pressure on Washington to do something to bring a quick end to the conflict. Additional troops and money were sent to Florida. Military forts were established from west central Florida to the Atlantic east coast, and supply lines were reorganized. The Seminole camps and towns, although usually found abandoned, were destroyed, along with crops and stores of grain and meat.
By the end of 1857, Bowlegs and his followers were one of the last bands still fighting. The other groups, led by Sam Jones, Chipco, Tiger, and others, had surrendered and been moved out west. The military tried to open peace negotiations by bringing Seminole Indian Chief Jumper and other leaders back to Florida to talk to Billy Bowlegs, but he was not yet ready to surrender his land. In November of that year, a large detachment was sent to locate Bowlegs. They found a town of about 40 dwellings and a large cache of grain, pumpkins, and other foods. Some of Bowlegs' personal belongings were also found, including a tintype photograph of Bowlegs in Washington. Soldiers killed several Indian warriors and sent the women and children who were captured to Oklahoma. Bowlegs caught up with the detachment and ambushed them several times on their way back to Fort Myers.
Painted Portrait of Chief Billy Bowlegs, ca. 1858
Again
in February 1858, another group of Seminoles from Oklahoma returned to Florida
to try to persuade Bowlegs to surrender. By this time,Bowlegs and his band were
reduced to a few warriors with women and children left in several camps. He
knew his group could not hold out any longer. The Seminole Indian population
in Florida had now been reduced to several hundred people. War, disease, and
short supplies of meat and grain had further diminished the tattered natives.
On May 8, 1858, the Third Seminole Indian War officially ended. It was the last Indian war east of the Mississippi River. Billy Bowlegs and followers were sent to Fort Myers on the Gulf coast and then taken to Egmont Key, an island at the mouth of Tampa Bay. They were held there for a time while the military waited for any additional Indians who might surrender. They then sailed by boat to New Orleans, and from there traveled to the Seminole reservations. A small number of Seminoles avoided capture and remained hidden in the swamps. The military gave up its efforts to find them, and the settlers moved onto the lands that could be cultivated or ranched.
Several accounts exist of Billy Bowlegs' death. One story has him remaining on the reservation and helping the military during the Civil War until his death in 1861. Another story pictures him dying of smallpox in 1859. Bowlegs will be remembered for his heroic efforts in leading the battles with his people while trying to prevent the loss of their homelands. He caused years of frustration for the government in Washington and in Florida.
Other Information
Everglades
Biographies
Billy
Bowlegs
During
the 19th and 20th centuries, Seminole men from three different generations were
known as "Billy Bowlegs" by the white settlers living in Florida.
The Seminoles, of course, have their own Indian names which signify a family
or personal characteristic, and also contain the root word of the clan to which
they belong. But the "white man's" historical records rarely mention
the proper Indian name for any of the Florida Seminoles.
The
earliest "Billy Bowlegs" was O-lac-to-mi-co or "Holato Mico"
(circa 1810-circa 1864), a Seminole chief who was part of a ruling Seminole
family. Bowlegs met up with Andrew Jackson during the Indian uprisings of the
early 1800's. In the 1850's, when the few remaining Florida Seminoles were living
peacefully on their own lands in south Florida, 'the old Chieftain' was provoked
into war by Colonel Harney's surveying corps. One night Harney's men slipped
into Bowleg's thriving banana plantation and hacked the plants to bits. When
confronted by the outraged chieftain, the surveyors brazenly admitted to ruining
the plantation because they wanted "to see old Billy cut up". The
incident led to the Third Seminole War (1855-1858), bringing federal troops
and bloodhounds into South Florida. Chief Bowlegs and his war-weary band surrendered
on May 7, 1858. Thirty-eight warriors and eighty-five women and children, including
Billy's wife, boarded the steamer, Grey Cloud, at Egmont Key to begin their
journey to Oklahoma. Bowlegs died soon after his arrival, on April 27, 1859.
Following
the Third Seminole War, the U.S. government abandoned efforts to remove all
Seminoles. At that time, a few hundred Seminoles remained in Big Cypress and
other isolated parts of Florida. Among the descendant of this 'remnant' was
another Billy Bowlegs, a tall, soft-spoken man who was befriended by James and
Minnie Moore Willson, of Kissimmee. Writing in The
Seminoles of Florida, Minnie Moore
Willson recalls a visit from "Cho-fee-hat-cho (Billy Bowlegs), a warrior
of more than usual intelligence."
Knowing that the information we sought was 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. 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 to read and write, and followed a copy with remarkable exactness. With the desire to read and write, however, ended all ambition to be like the white man.
[Excerpted from Minnie Moore-Willson, 1896, The Seminoles of Florida, Philadelphia : American, p. 85-86]