Wild Cat (Seminole)
Encyclopedia
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...
chieftain during the later stages of 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...
as well as the nephew of Micanopy
Micanopy
Micanopy , also known as Micco-Nuppe, Michenopah, Miccanopa, Mico-an-opa and Sint-chakkee , was the leading chief of the Seminoles who led the tribe during the Second Seminole War...
.
Wild Cat's exact place year and place of birth is not agreed upon. Many local scholars believe he was born in 1807 on an island in big Lake Tohopekaliga
Lake Tohopekaliga
Lake Tohopekaliga Tohopeka ; Tohopekaliga [from tohopke /to-hó:pk-i/ fence, fort + likv /léyk-a/ site] Lake Toho, West Lake, or simply Toho for short, native name meaning "we will gather together here", is a lake in Osceola County, Florida, United States. It is the primary inflow of Shingle Creek,...
, south of Orlando.. Some scholars say Wild Cat was born to King Philip
Ee-mat-la
Ee-mat-la, also known as King Philip, was a Seminole chief during the Second Seminole War.He was captured while camped at Dunlawton plantation, and held at Fort Marion...
(or Ee-mat-la) in Yulaka, a Seminole village along the St. Johns River
St. Johns River
The St. Johns River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant for commercial and recreational use. At long, it winds through or borders twelve counties, three of which are the state's largest. The drop in elevation from the headwaters to the mouth is less than ;...
in northern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
around 1810. Still others suggest that he was born near present day Apopka, Florida
Apopka, Florida
Apopka is a city located in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 26,969 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2006, the city grew to 53,563. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area. Apopka is an Indian word for “Potato...
. Wild Cat may have had a twin sister who died at birth and, having been born a twin, he was regarded by the tribe as being particularly gifted. As tensions mounted between Seminoles and local settlers following the purchase of Florida by the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1821, Seminole tribes encouraged the escape of slaves in neighboring Georgia in reaction to encroaching settlers who began settling on the Florida coast previously occupied by Seminoles.
At the start of 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...
, the nineteen-year-old Wild Cat gained prominence leading a band of Seminoles and Black Seminoles until his father's capture and imprisonment in Fort Marion in 1837. Although some of the Black Seminoles had fled to Florida to escape slavery, most of the Black Seminoles were free descendants of Black Seminoles who had lived in Florida for more than a century.
In October 1837, Wild Cat appeared before American forces in a ceremonial peace headdress claiming to be an emissary of 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...
and, after negotiations with Colonel Thomas S. Jesup, American authorities agreed to peace talks. However, after the arrival of the Seminoles, Jesup ordered their arrest. While imprisoned at Fort Marion, Wild Cat would escape with nineteen other Seminoles, reportedly fasting for six days before they were able to slide through the bars of their jail cell and drop into the moat on the outside of the fort.
With the imprisonment of Osceola, Wild Cat emerged as the leading commander of the war fighting with Alligator and Arpeika against Colonel Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
at the inconclusive Battle of Lake Okeechobee
Battle of Lake Okeechobee
The Battle of Lake Okeechobee was one of the major battles of the Second Seminole War. It was fought between 800 troops of the 1st, 4th, and 6th Infantry Regiments and 132 Missouri Volunteers and between 380 and 480 Seminoles led by Billy Bowlegs, Abiaca and Alligator on December 25, 1837...
on December 25, 1837 before retreating to the Everglades
Everglades
The Everglades are subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee...
. In 1841, only two years after his father's death while being transported to Indian Territory, Wild Cat agreed to meet American authorities for peace negotiations. After negotiating with Lieutenant William T. Sherman at the Indian River
Indian River (Florida)
The Indian River is a waterway in Florida, a part of the Indian River Lagoon system which forms the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. It extends southward from the Ponce de Leon inlet in New Smyrna Beach, Florida [Volusia County] southward and across the "Haulover Canal" and along the western shore...
post of Fort Pierce, Wild Cat agreed to be transported to 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...
in Oklahoma's Indian Territory along with his remaining two hundred followers. Growing depressed over his forced surrender, he was said to have stated, "I was in hopes I would be killed in battle, but a bullet never reached me."'
Traveling to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
with Alligator as part of a Seminole delegation in 1843, Wild Cat failed to gain financial aid for the Seminoles as the tribe suffered a series of floods and raids by neighboring Creeks (capturing free blacks and Indians and selling them to southern slave holders). This devastated the black and Indian Seminoles. Conditions continued to worsen until 1849 when Wild Cat left the reservation with about one hundred followers, consisting of Seminoles and black Seminoles, which included some former slaves, and escaped to Texas. Joined by about one thousand Kickapoos, Wild Cat's band eventually were able to establish a new community in Mexico where the government awarded the tribe an area of land in recognition for their service against Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
and Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
raiders. Earning a commission of Colonel in the Mexican army, Wild Cat would live with the Seminoles until his death of smallpox in Alto, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
in 1857. He was succeeded by his son Gato Chiquito or Young Wild Cat.
Quotes
- "I speak for myself, for I am free. Each of the others also speak for themselves. We are a choir of voices that will drown out your lies."