Micanopy
Encyclopedia
Leading chief of the Seminoles
There were four leading chiefs of the Seminoles between the time the tribe organized in the mid-18th century until Micanopy was sent to Indian Territory following the Second Seminole War.*Cowkeeper, 1750-1783*King Payne, 1783-1812*Bolek, 1812-1819...
who led the tribe during the Second Seminole War
Second Seminole War
The Second Seminole War, also known as the Florida War, was a conflict from 1835 to 1842 in Florida between various groups of Native Americans collectively known as Seminoles and the United States, part of a series of conflicts called the Seminole Wars...
. His name was derived from the Hitchiti
Hitchiti
The Hitchiti were a Muskogean-speaking tribe formerly residing chiefly in a town of the same name on the east bank of the Chattahoochee River, 4 miles below Chiaha, in west Georgia. They spoke the Hitchiti language, which was mutually intelligible with Mikasuki; both tribes were part of the loose...
"miko" (chief), and "naba" (above), and consequently meaning "high chief" or the like. Micanopy was also known as Hulbutta Hajo (or "Crazy Alligator").
Although little is known of his early life, Micanopy was born near present-day St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine, Florida
St. Augustine is a city in the northeast section of Florida and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Founded in 1565 by Spanish explorer and admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, it is the oldest continuously occupied European-established city and port in the continental United...
, sometime around 1780. Succeeding Bolek
Bolek
Bolek , also spelled as Boleck, and known as Bowlegs by European Americans, was a Seminole chief. He was the younger brother of King Payne, who succeeded their father Cowkeeper as leading chief in Florida...
as hereditary leader of the Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
s following Bolek's death in 1819, Micanopy soon began acquiring large amounts of land and cattle. As was common practice among elite Seminole, he hired more than 100 runaway slaves to work his estates during the early nineteenth century. He encouraged intermarriage between the Seminole and blacks, and some of their descendants gained influence within tribal councils (including several war chiefs).
Following the American purchase of Florida from Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in 1819 (and the subsequent appointment of Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
as territorial governor in 1821), large numbers of emigrating American settlers began colonizing northern Florida during the next decade. Micanopy opposed further American settlement of the region. As conflicts arose more frequently between the Seminole and settlers, the Seminole were driven away from the Florida coast and into the extensive wetlands of the interior.
Slaveholders from Florida and neighboring states demanded that the Seminole capture and return slaves who had taken refuge with them. American development of large plantations in Florida led to their buying more slaves, only to see some escape. With pressure continuing against the tribe and Americans calling for removal following passage of the Indian Removal Act
Indian Removal Act
The Indian Removal Act was signed into law by President Andrew Jackson on May 28, 1830.The Removal Act was strongly supported in the South, where states were eager to gain access to lands inhabited by the Five Civilized Tribes. In particular, Georgia, the largest state at that time, was involved in...
, a group of Seminole chiefs eventually agreed to the Treaty of Payne's Landing
Treaty of Payne's Landing
The Treaty of Payne's Landing was an agreement signed on 9 May 1832 between the government of the United States and several chiefs of the Seminole Indians in the present-day state of Florida.- Background :...
; they ceded Seminole lands in exchange for reservations in the Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
( present-day Oklahoma) on May 9, 1832.
Negotiating a peaceful resolution between the Seminole and local authorities, Micanopy refused to sign the treaty. He joined younger chiefs, such as Osceola
Osceola
Osceola, also known as Billy Powell , became an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. He was of Creek, Scots-Irish and English parentage, and had migrated to Florida with his mother after the defeat of the Creek in 1814.Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance...
, Alligator and Wild Cat
Wild Cat (Seminole)
Wild Cat, born Coacoochee or Cowacoochee , was a leading Seminole chieftain during the later stages of the Second Seminole War as well as the nephew of Micanopy....
(a nephew of Micanopy) in opposing the treaty, and began to organize resistance among the Seminole warriors. Following Osceola's murder of the US Indian agent General Wiley Thompson
Wiley Thompson
Wiley Thompson was a United States Representative from Georgia.Born in Amelia County, Virginia, Thompson moved to Elberton, Georgia, and served as a commissioner of the Elbert County Academy in 1808...
a, Micanopy (in cooperation with Osceala) attacked forces under Major Francis Langhorne Dade (whose forces were decimated save three survivors in the resulting ) and General Duncan Lamont Clinch
Duncan Lamont Clinch
Duncan Lamont Clinch was an American army officer and served as a commander during the First and Second Seminole Wars. He also served in the United States House of Representatives, representing Georgia....
in December 1835. Only three survived what the Americans called Dade's Massacre, contributing to calls for US military action and the beginning of the Second Seminole War.
The Seminole had early success, but the elderly Micanopy became convinced of the futility of war against the large numbers of American soldiers. He surrendered in June 1837 and began negotiating to move his tribe to the Indian Territory, but he was kidnapped by Osceola. In December 1838, he was captured by General Thomas S. Jesup's forces while under a flag of truce, when he had agreed to sign a peace treaty. This breach of honor by the US was considered an outrage by much of the public, increasing their sympathy toward the Seminole.
Imprisoned at Charlestown, South Carolina, Micanopy was eventually released and sent with around 200 other Seminole to Indian Territory, where they were put under Creek Nation authority, although the people had long been independent. Although he attempted to reestablish the Seminole as independent, Micanopy never regained his previous power. He was one of the signatories of a treaty with the US, which gave the Seminole of western Florida semi-independence from the Creek Nation in Indian Territory in 1845, with full Seminole independence to be granted in 1855. He died at Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson, now located in Oklahoma and designated Fort Gibson Historical Site, guarded the American frontier in Indian Territory from 1824 until 1890...
on January 2, 1849.