The exact date nor location of Wild Cat's birth is unknown. Although challenged, it's believed that he was born in 1807 on an island in modern-day Osceola County's Lake Tohopekaliga. There's also information about Wild Cat having a twin sister that died at birth. Wild Cat became a prominent figure during the Second Seminole War at only around nineteen years old. His father was captured by military forces in 1837 and was imprisoned at Fort Marion. His father died some time in 1839 while being sent to Indian Territory alongside a mass amount of Seminoles and other tribes.

By Joshua R. Giddings [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Later in 1837, in October, Wild Cat met up with American military forces in a peace headdress and said he was a representative of Osceola and he began talks and negotiations with Thomas S. Jesup. The military forces agreed to the peace talks but, once the Seminole arrived at the meeting, they were arrested and imprisoned by Jesup. The story goes that Wild Cat and nineteen other Seminoles escaped after fasting for six days. This was done so they could lose weight and slide between the bars of their cells, to escape.

In the aftermath of the escape, Wild Cat became a major commander of Seminole forces. He worked alongside Alligator (Billy Bowlegs) and Ar-pi-uck-i (Sam Jones) against Colonel Zachary Taylor in the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. This battle is thought of being a 'stalemate' but the Seminole forces successfully stopped Taylor's forces from a win that would've allowed them to advance southward.

In 1841, Wild Cat met with US authorities for another attempt at peace negotiations. After the "negotiations" were over, Wild Cat agreed (more likely pressured into) to be transported to Fort Gibson in Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Along with him would be two-hundred of his people.

Two years later, in 1843, he was a part of Seminole delegation that traveled to Washington DC. He traveled there to secure money for Seminoles after sever floods and raids by Creeks on their settlements. Raids which led to the capture of Seminoles and freemen. Which the Creeks went on to sell to slavers. The situation became even worse for the Seminoles, including black Seminoles, over the years. So, Wild Cat left the reservation, along with around one hundred followers, and they moved on to Texas in 1849. They joined up with around one thousands members of the Kickapoo tribe along the way. It was from Texas where they moved on to Mexico and started a settlement. They were awarded in Mexico, by being given land, for their service against resisting Comanche and Apache raiders. Wild Cat earned a commission of Colonel in the Mexican Army. He would spend the rest of his life in Alto, Mexico, with his people, until his death from smallpox in 1857. After his death, he was succeeded by his by son Young Wild Cat.

Skeleton Canyon By BAlvarius (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Skeleton Canyon is located in the far southeast corner of Arizona with side canyons leading into New Mexico.  It is located just a handful of miles from the Mexican border.  In the 1800's, it was used by Mexican smugglers and bandits to smuggle goods and riches into the U.S. for sale on the black market.  It was well known by American bandits as well.
 
     Hughes went back to Arizona to tell his gang about the potential big score.  If they could ambush these Mexican bandits, they could steal all of their riches.  He first talked to William "Curly Bill" Brocius. Then he rode into Tombstone to meet up with Billy Clanton, whom he had met the previous year.  Billy Clanton was a member of the famous Clanton gang, involved in the shootout at the O.K. Coral in Tombstone three months later on October 26, 1881.   Newton Hayes Clanton, also known as "Old Man" Clanton, was impressed with the potential riches they could score.

William "Curly Bill" Brocius By SeanMD80 - Own work by the original uploader, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link

     The gang was planning their ambush when some of their spies told them the gang was planning to smuggle their goods through the canyon sooner than expected.  Curly Bill was out of town, so Jim Hughes decided to take over the plans.  He recruited a couple of friends to help in the plot.  Their names were Zwing Hunt and Billy Grounds, real name William Boucher.
     The Estrada Gang was spotted about a mile or two into Arizona close to an area known as Devil's Kitchen.  The Mexican Gang stopped here to rest themselves, their mules,  have a meal and a afternoon siesta.  The American gang was in awe of the thirty heavily packed mules with the Estrada Gang.  The American Gang waited for them to all fall asleep, then gunfire interrupted the silence.  The narrow canyon didn't give the Mexican bandits a chance.  The ambush scared the mules and they started to scatter.  The mules had to be shot to keep the loot from getting away.

Devil's Kitchen By SeanMD80 - Own work by the original uploader, CC BY-SA 2.5, Link

     When the smoke cleared, nineteen Mexican bandits and 26 mules lay dead.  It was among the worst massacres in Arizona history.  Legend has it that the gang gathered up over $75,000 in coins, jewels and artifacts, but with no mules, they had no way to pack it out of the canyon.  Also, their horses couldn't carry such a heavy load. So they divided up a small amount that they could easily carry and buried the rest nearby.  They returned to their hangouts in their outlaw towns to spend the loot that they had brought back.  
     While the others were out enjoying a little bit of their new wealth, Jim Hughes had other ideas.  He met with Richard Zwing Hunt and Billy Grounds and hatched a plan to double-cross the others.  Hughes was to stay in Galeyville, as to not rouse any suspicions. The other two would ride back to Skeleton Canyon and dig up the treasure and bury it in another spot.  Then only the three of them would know where it was buried. Zwing and Billy finally found a Mexican teamster who was willing to take his wagon and horses into the canyon.  They then dug up the treasure at the end of the canyon and reburied it further in the canyon or somewhere close by. Then the Mexican and his horses were killed and buried at the site.  They then burned the wagon over the mound concealing their treasure.  Now, only Zwing and Billy knew where the loot was buried.
    Fearing retaliation from their ex-partners, Zwing and Billy went into hiding.  They found a desert cave to hide out in for almost four months.  At this time, Billy wrote some letters to his sister Maggie Clinger in San Antonio, Texas.  He told her where the treasure was buried in case they would not make out alive.  Once a week, he came out of the canyon and flagged down a stagecoach driver and gave his letters to him.
     They finally came out of hiding on March 19, 1882 (some of the old gang had recently been killed in the shootout at the O.K. Corral in Tombstone).  They rode into Charleston (near Tombstone) and on March 25, tried to rob the Tombstone Mining and Milling Company.  One man was killed, but the robbery didn't go as planned.  They fled the area, but not before being positively identified.  A sheriff's posse was out hunting down Zwing and Billy, who were hiding out at Jack Chandler's ranch near Tombstone.
     When the posse arrived at Jack Chandler's ranch, a shootout ensued.  Billy Grounds was killed and Zwing Hunt was wounded pretty bad. Zwing was taken to the hospital in Tombstone.  When Jim Hughes heard the news, he rushed to the hospital to find out where the treasure was.  When he had arrived, he discovered that Zwing was doing better than expected and had persuaded his doctor to let him take a buggy ride with a friend, which was presumed to be his brother Hugh Hunt in disguise.  Zwing was never seen  again.
    Later in Tombstone, Hugh claimed his brother was shot by Indians and killed after his escape from the hospital. Supposedly, a group of army scouts buried him in what is now called Hunt's Canyon.  The other story that had been heard was that Hugh and Zwing made their way back to their home in San Antonio, where Zwing later died of his wounds.  It is said that he gave his uncle a map to the treasure site before he died.  On this map, it is said that the treasure is at the base of Davis Mountain.  But the problem is that Zwing and Billy named Davis Mountain themselves after their friend Jim Davis, who they buried here.  It could be any number of peaks in the Peloncillo Mountains.  More clues provided by Zwing Hunt to his uncle were also of no help.  Zwing said that very close to the mountain, was a curving canyon with its east wall completely rocky and bare and the west wall covered in trees.  Through this canyon was supposed to be a small stream.  The stream had a ten foot drop where water cascaded down near two springs.  Twenty steps east of the treasure site was a square shaped rock about three feet high.  Over the burial spot there would be a burnt wagon.

An aerial view of Antelope Pass in the Peloncillo Mountains of southern New Mexico from the west. By BAlvarius (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

     The Hunt family searched for years and never found the treasure.  They could never even find the two springs.  It is believed that the earthquake that shook the area in 1886 caused the springs and stream to dry up for good.  They may have only flowed after periodic heavy rainfall anyhow.  Remains of a burnt wagon were found in the canyon once, but no treasure was ever found under it.
     One of the letters that Billy wrote to his sister claimed, "the is a cave at the mouth of the canyon...from our lookout you can see the turf growing back over where we buried the treasure."  Numerous caves have been found that could be the one Billy talked about.  Even one cave had been found with remnants of old ropes in it, but no treasure ever found in the area.
     Through the years, many old Mexican coins have been found in the canyon.  And numerous human skulls and bones and bones of mules have been found in the canyon.  In 1891, a cowboy and a government official found a leather pouch with several thousands of dollars worth of Mexican coins in it.  It is believed that the treasure included a cigar box full of jewels, two figures of pure gold, $90,000 in Mexican silver dollars, 39 gold bars, and numerous bags of gold coins.  Enough evidence has surfaced to suggest that the treasure really does exist.

Related:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Jim+Hughes+Treasure+Map

While the First Seminole War officially began in 1816, conflicts began years earlier. These early years had a great influence on the outbreak of the Florida War. After Andrew Jackson's forces began to enter regions of Florida controlled by Spain, Spain had no choice but to begin to hand Florida over to the United States. Florida was officially handed over in 1819 and after the Adams-Onís Treaty. This handover was mostly due to the Spanish seeing Florida as hard to inhabit and the climate created unhealthy conditions for the Spanish. Furthermore, Napoleon was active in Europe and Spain saw him as being more worthy of their attention than Florida.

Andrew Jackson

Beginning around 1790, Spain, along with the British, helped to move Irish Catholics, English citizens, and citizens in the United States into Seminole territory. They gave land deeds to these "settlers" that agreed to stay on the land for a decade. After the decade, they'd be exempt from paying taxes and exempt from doing military service for Spain. Thomas Jefferson, at the time, made it known that he was in support of this plan and wanted U.S. citizens to take up Spain's offer.

In 1804, due to problems that U. S. citizens were causing the local authorities and Spanish citizens of the territory the invitation to settle was canceled (remind anyone of Texas prior to the Mexican War). In 1812, the Governor of Florida had encourage the Seminoles of the Alachua area to raid U.S. farms and settlements inside the territory. This date should sound familiar, yes thats right, same time frame as the War of 1812. Due to uprisings of the Seminoles and the war against England, the Governor of Georgia organized his state militia and decided he would take Florida before the British did and rid the territory of Georgia's troublesome neighbors to the south, the Seminole. The Seminoles were becoming extremely bothersome to Georgia. Since the war with Britain started, the British encouraged the Seminoles and Creeks to raid settlements along the Georgia-Florida frontier to draw forces from the Canadian border.

The Great Indian Wars: 1540-1890

In Fall of the year 1812, the so-called Patriot army had already established a provisional government under President John H. McIntosh, with Col. Ashley as his Minister of War, and had its capital at St. Mary's, Georgia, in March, 1812, before the Georgia forces arrived. General Geo. Matthews of Georgia had charged of the movement, and was promised help from the U. S. regulars should he need it. Col. Daniel Newnan, of the Georgia Militia, who was at Fort Picolata was attacked by a party of Seminoles at the fort. After a fierce battle the forces under Col. Newnan defeated the besieging force. He soon started making plans to hit the Seminoles were they lived. On September 24th, 1812 a force of 110 men he undertook to penetrate the enemy's country over one hundred miles, and attack two formidable chiefs surrounded by their warriors on Spanish territory while the U. S. and Spain were supposedly at peace. Upon reaching the area near what is today Gainesville, Fla., Col. Newnan engaged the Alachua Seminoles. Over a period of about 10 days, Col. Newnan's force was under constant danger from attack while it retreated back to Fort Picolata, out of the original force he left with all but 50 were effectively out of action, and he had completely exhausted all supplies. After reaching the safety of reinforcements they hailed this action as a victory and celebrated their supposed triumph. The Patriots would soon give up their crusade to acquire the territory of Florida, but the United States would soon be back to try again.

1815

Duncan Clinch

William McIntosh