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THE CAPTIVE OSCEOLA
42" X 60" Oil Painting
Video
Seminole War leader Osceola escorted to prison in St. Augustine, 1837.
After two years of widespread fighting across Florida that became
known as the Second Seminole War, desperate measures were initiated
to defeat the Seminole Tribe's resistance to the removal policy put
in place by the U.S. Government.
It was determined by the Federal Army and the Territorial Militia of
Florida, who were in combat with the Indians, that the war could be
ended and the spirit of the Seminoles broken if their
charismatic war leader Osceola was eliminated. A controversial plan
was initiated to meet with the leader and his followers under a flag
of truce and then apprehend them by force. The plot was successfully
executed at a place ten miles south of St. Augustine known as Moultrie
Creek. The trap was sprung and the entire
delegationn of Seminoles
were abducted in minutes. The captives were then herded back to St.
Augustine.
The procession wound through the narrow streets, creating a
spectacle that drew the citizens to line the narrow streets and verandas
along the way. They all wished to see the fabled Osceola, who was already
becoming a legend.
Of the over eighty captured Seminoles, some were able to escape. The
others were later removed to the Western Territory. Osceola fell ill and
was transported to Ft. Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina. His health
continued to decline and the legendary War Leader died there on January
31, 1838.
Osceola has become one of the greatest Native American leaders in our
history. His followers would fight on for four more years, never fully
capitulating to their enemy. They receded into the Everglades, where today
their descendants still live with honor.
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