Massasoit, Osamequin, Yellow Feather, son of Wasanegin, was a member, and leader, of the Pokanoket (People of the First Light). It was his humanity and acts that aided the newly-arrived pilgrims at Plymouth to survive winter and the plantation's hardships of the following years. He had many negotiations and dealings with Plymouth and colonial leaders, including William Bradford, John Carver, Stephen Hopkins, Edward Winslow, and Myles Standish. A peace treaty, made on March 22nd, 1621, created an alliance that guaranteed peace between the Wampanoag and Plymouth, under Massasoit's word.
This treaty also had the Wampanoag remaining as neutrals during the Pequot War. His word and dealings, with the Plymouth Colony, kept a sometimes unstable peace between the Colony and the Wampanoag for nearly half a century. It was a peace that also died along with Massasoit's death around the year 1661. Born: (circa) 1580 near Sowans, Mount Hope, Rhode Island Died: (circa) 1661 Sowans, Mount Hope, Bristol, Rhode Island Learn More at: http://mayflowerhistory.com/massasoit/ https://web.archive.org/web/20160410185739/http://mayflowerfamilies.com/?page_id=1818#P139
The Rollin T. Grant Gulf Wilderness Park is a rare jewel of nature in the northwest corner of the city of Lockport! Here is New York State's only full nature preserve on the Niagara Escarpment. The Niagara Frontier's premier destination for flora, fossils, wildlife, and rock study... In a true wilderness environment!
Features Indian Falls and numerous other natural sights.
The Rollin T. Grant Gulf Wilderness Park is a true, unspoiled wilderness. (Photo of sign at https://goo.gl/maps/4S67BVagrxP2) There are trails but little other accommodations of the modern life. The location is on the south side of West Jackson Street (near the 5900 block) where there is limited auto parking. Within the park is a millstone originally used in a 19th Century paper mill on the north side of the Erie Barge Canal in Lockport (at the present location of Upson Park). It was transported to this site in 1972 with a plaque attached to it to recognize the donation of seven acres at the park entry by the family of Josephine McCollum Carveth. The poem on the plaque reminds us to look here for English violets in early to mid April.
The Gulf Wilderness Park is a wooded ravine which was first cut out by a once raging river whose waters came from glacial melt during a warming cycle ten to fifteen thousand years ago. The glacier was formed during the latest of four glacial periods that covered much of North America and New York State two to three million years ago with ice sheets a mile or so thick.
The melting ice left vast bodies of water in the lowland. Glacial Lake Iroquois, the larger predecessor of Lake Ontario, was one. Its beaches are today represented by the plateau to the north of the escarpment here at Lockport. In fact, U.S. Route 104 is built on the old beach ridge.
Glacial Lake Tonawanda lay to the south of Lockport between the Niagara Escarpment (goes through and divides Lockport) and the Onondaga Escarpment (which lies generally along Route 5 from the Buffalo city line through Amherst and Clarence--most dramatically noticed on Transit Road, heading north just past today's Eastern Hills Mall). The level plain between Lockport and Buffalo represents the bottom of Lake Tonawanda, with Tonawanda Creek being the remnant of the deepest part. Bear Ridge and Beach Ridge Roads were built along northerly dunes of the old lake.
Lake Tonawanda drained north into Lake Iroquois through outlet streams whose spillways eroded gorges through dolostone, shale, limestone, and sandstone strata. The largest spillway was at Lewiston on the Niagara River (which eventually migrated south, developing into Niagara Falls). The second-largest spillway was here at Lockport and the Gulf Ravine is the exact location of this spillway. The third largest spillway out of the lake was near the present Cold Springs Road and the Lockport Town & Country Club golf course. There were lesser spillways to the east, including Gasport's Royalton Ravine and yet another just east of Medina. There was a slight west tilt to which favored more lake water going to the west.
As the level of Glacial Lake Tonawanda fell, flow of the outlets ceased except for local drainage and the Niagara River at Niagara Falls. With a greater initial flow the spillway at Lewiston-Niagara Falls cut more rapidly down the cap rock than falls at Lockport and points east. Finally when Lake Tonawanda fell below the level of the spillways at Lockport and points east, the falls here just dried up. Niagara Falls became the only outlet for the remains of Lake Tonawanda and for the output of the other Great Lakes.
The Alabama and Oak Orchard Swamps to the east and south of Lockport, and the overflowing ditches and creeks along roads in Amherst and Tonawanda during spring thaws are evidence that "old Lake Tonawanda" may not be completely drained yet. The West Branch of 18-Mile Creek, flowing through our Gulf Park, is all that remains of an ancient torrential stream.
Rocks and Fossils
Gulf Wilderness Park is an excellent location to study rock and formations and search for fossils.
Proof of the age of rock strata in Gulf Wilderness Park is found in the red sandstone surfaces of the Grimsby sandstone, where structures like intertwined ropes ("Arthrophycus") represent the fossil remains of worm burrows from the Silurian Period of about 430 million years ago. Fossils are also found in other rock layers in this park. One can look for crinoids, brachiopods, and corals.
Just east of the park property, along West Jackson Street, you can encounter an excellent display or two major rock formations being cut through in this area and notice the different weathering effect on each. The top layer is the "Medina group" of sandstone, while layers of (red) shale below it are of the Queenston group. As the shale begins to crumble it takes a course of turning into stone debris and eventually clay. The results can be easily seen at this location.
This stone display is equivalent to what you'd find through the Gulf ravine. At the bottom of the ravine, where most of the nature trails are routed, you'll find Grimsby sandstone formations and limestone.
John Keryk, who has explored this area intensively over the years advises fossil hunters, "Park near or at where the nature park is off West Jackson Street and head up-stream. The outcrops best are near stream level. Can also park by RR tracks. That used to be a good area for weathered fossils from the Clinton formation (at least until they re-graded the RR right of way). Still, west side of tracks one can find good examples of Clinton formation lying on the ground." See the map at the bottom of this page.
Wildflowers
The display of wildflowers and plants found in the park is unsurpassed in the area. Spring, of course, is the best time to be looking for flowers. First come beautiful English violets. Also early are bloodroot, hepatica, and trillium. Later comes wild mint, leeks; then wild roses, jewelweed and doll's-eyes. Ferns are evident most of the year. In addition to the flowers, a wide variety of trees are found here.
Trees, Shrubs, & Vines
A wide variety of trees typical of the northeastern hardwood forest is found in Gulf Wilderness Park. Essential to the Gulf's life cycle are the many dead and dying trees. Birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles are dependent in various ways on "snags" or standing dead trees. They are used for nesting, courting, mating, hibernating and as rich sources for foraging insects. Equally important are fallen logs that are essential for feeding, reproduction and protection. Fungi, algae and mosses thrive on the decaying wood.
Map Of Gulf Wilderness Park
Although you may enter Wilderness Park off of Niagara Street, near the railroad where the "parking" area is indicated on the map, the preferred entry for most will be off West Jackson Street. There are four separate nature trails through the park which are color-coded on a map at the entry points. The trails have no special individual significance except as reference points.
Clark’s Gully Phoenix Rising Hi Tor (Naples), NY - Hi Tor Wildlife Management Area
This article was originally written by Madis Senner and speaks of Clark's Gully as being a sacred site going back to ancient times before Europeans set foot here. A place that's being 'brought back to life' with renewed interest in spirituality and "pre-colonial" history. The article is shared here for archival purposes. One of the many places of Prayer in Upstate NY.
Clark's Gully, in Naples, NY and 15 miles south of Canandaigua, at the southern end of Canandaigua Lake, has been a sacred site for a very long time. At the base of the gully one can find the visible remains (stones and rock formations) and the still glowing spiritual embers of several ancient civilizations. Clark's Gully provides the pilgrim with a unique opportunity to experience and add to the spirit of a variety of peoples that have prayed there before. It is also a testament to my belief that people are drawn to pray at the same place over and over again and that in doing so we add to the foundation of love and spirit placed there before.
Where the Seneca People Were Born
Clark's Gully lies at the base of South Hill, or Nundawao, where the Seneca people were born. According to legend it is at Nundawao that the earth divided and the Seneca people emerged. The Seneca’s refer to themselves as "Onodowaga," or "People of the Great Hill." The Senecas say that they were born at "Kanandague," or the chosen spot. This is from where Canandaigua Lake gets its name.
Clark's Gully is part of the NY DEC’s Hi Tor Fish and Wildlife Management Area. There are some other trails away from the gully. The gully itself is a very challenging climb with steep rock (shale) faces and covered with fallen trees. While the climb up South Hill along the ridge of the gully is challenging it is doable.
Spirit Keepers—Following the herd path along the creek, about a 100 yards up you will come upon several flat stones circled with round stones on your right--before the campfire area. I placed the stones to mark the sacred site. It sits on a stacked field of consciousness. As I have consistently stated the Spirit Keepers had an incredible knowledge of the earth, fields of consciousness and other earth phenomena and knew how to work with it all. They were extremely accurate in placing prayer/ceremonial sites on the most auspicious places, often on places of consciousness. This is also the case at Clark's Gully. The large manitou stone (East/right of the flat stones) was situated by them on a place of consciousness. Between the flat stones and large manitou stone there is a sacred circle surrounded by many of the original stones whose center is sunken.
Spend some time in meditation on the manitou stone, or other any other place in this field. This would be a great place to go if you are trying to sense consciousness.
Haudenosaunee—Right next to the spirit keepers site you will find two distinct wide and elongated piles of stones and a third one a little above the other two. They look like an extremely wide stone wall that has fallen down, they are not more than 6-12 inches high but are over 10 feet wide plus. They are in fact the remains of three long houses.
I have spoken to a few experts about this and they tell me that it is very rare and unusual to find a long house with a large stone component. This could have to do with the age and the special significance of Clark's Gully to the Seneca people. My dowsing rods traced out the spiritual embers (energy lines--prayer can attract energy and leave dowse able energy lines) of the long houses. You can find the remains of another long house just to the east at the top of the ridge, about 50 feet up.
Within the lodges there are the spiritual embers of several altars and sacred fires. Look for the larger stones. The greater part of both lodges are contained within the field of consciousness. If you don’t have dowsing rods look for larger flat stones to be possible altars. They would be a good place to do ceremony or meditate.
The large stone next to the spirit keepers site appears to have been a spirit keepers place and also located in the long house. Spend some time there or on one of the other larger stones.
Stone Circles—Just east of the long houses before the foot of the ridge you will see several groups of large (1-3 feet in height) stones. If you look closely you will notice that some of the stones appear to be grouped together in circles.
A dowsing of the stones, tracing out the energy lines, showed that they were in fact aligned in circles. There appears to be a total of 10 small circles there.
I could not determine the significance of why the stones were located there and not some place else other than the proximity to the Spirit Keepers Site and the stacked field of consciousness. I believe that the civilization that aligned the stones was pre-Haudenosaunee and post Spirit Keepers.
Stone Circles--There are several other sacred circles we have re-constructed using flat stones to replicate what was there previously. Do not be swayed by the campfires that can look like circles. Since we first posted Clark's Gully someone has created a small monument--no doubt influenced by the air of the place.
East of the recently constructed stone monument you will find the stone remains of a third long house. At the southern tip of the remains you will find an intact ceremonial circle.
Continuing up the mini ravine east of the third long house you will see a 2 ½ ft. high by 3 ft. in diameter stone that is part of a ceremonial circle. Continue walking up, you will shortly cross a herd path and you will see a large 2 ft. X 2 ft. stone that is 1 ft. high. It sits on a single field of consciousness.
Upper Clark's Gully--South Hill
There is a ridge above the creek bed that contains numerous sacred sites. You can either walk up the steep ridge next to stone circles or take the old dirt road that begins by intersection of Sunnyside and West Roads near the bridge. To read about those sites go to: Upper Clark's Gully-South Hill
More To Be Revealed
It is apparent that there is a lot more to Clark's Gully. My experience is that it takes time to know a place and that bits and pieces are revealed over time.
We found no distinct identity to the place. This may have to do with the smorgasboard of civilizations that have prayed at Clark's Gully and the spiritual neglect of several hundred years. The very strongly positive geographic samskara surrounding the stones is a testament to what went on there before. There is a very strong foundation of spirituality that we can build upon.
Finding Clark's Gully
To get to Clark's Gully take Route 364 south from Canandaigua. At Middlesex, you will turn right onto Route 245 going south, take a right on to Sunnyside, about 4.5 miles down 245. Just before you cross West End Avenue you will see a Hi Tor parking area—park there. You can continue for another 100 yards and cross West Avenue and park at the three un-marked parking areas just after West Avenue. You should be aware that the driveway-like parking areas are on private property. Clark's Gully is accessed near the intersection of Sunnyside Rd and West Ave in the town of Naples.
When we surveyed Clark's Gully on Labor Day weekend in 2007 it was bone dry.
The first time Bruce Springsteen's Dancing in the Dark had an impact on me was around the age of nineteen. Of course, i'd heard the song prior but the lyrics only hit me when i was watching the 1997 film Lawn Dogs on IFC. Which is an incredible film, by the way. The film pulled me in and the effect of the song, paired with the film's environment, had me paying attention to the lyrics for the first time. Looking back, 2000 was like a whole different era and time. Both the song and film still have an impact on me and bring me back to summer of 2000, if only in momentary glimpses.
The rapid changes in LED lighting technology have given rise to an LED retrofit revolution. Across the globe, municipalities are opting to switch out their older street lighting to new, more energy-efficient LEDs. Unfortunately, these changes have also given rise to misinformation about LEDs, dark skies, safety and the environment.
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The fact is that LED lighting does not reduce light pollution. Not at all. Energy efficiency does not translate to smarter usage either. Their energy efficiency actually leads to the usage of more LED lighting on streets and in public areas, increasing light pollution to levels higher than previous times, using older 'lighting technology'.
LED street lighting also tends to increase glare and can make it more dangerous for drivers and pedestrians alike at night. On top of that, the wavelength of white LED lighting is in the blue wavelength, making skyglow worse. This is true even when the lighting is shielded. Two other myths about LED lighting is that it discourages crime and increases traffic safety by lighting the streets more thoroughly.
The final myth is that they're better for the environment. Sure, the can be if they're used in a limited manner and cities don't go overboard in their usage. Facts show that the lower the costs of lighting in public places, per "fixture", the more of said lighting is put up. Which negates the purpose of cost savings and environmental friendliness in the first place. Also, while not as toxic as CFLs, LEDs still contain heavy metals and that could become a future problem.
All in all, the overuse of LED lighting is quickly becoming an issue and its beginning to affect nature in a negative way. It is a form of 'visible/invisible' pollution that's out of mind, while not being out of sight.
Yes, the "default" blue spectrum of LED lighting is having a negative affect on wildlife, plant life, and even on humans. To have lighting be "better for the environment", light pollution has to be taken into consideration, becoming a concern, and more has to be done to address it.
The village of Akron, in Erie County, Western New York, has a rich history. Though a larger part of that history surrounds Murder Creek. One event in Murder Creek's history is about the murder of Nellie May Connors by 17-Year-Old Sadie McMullen on October 31st of 1890, when she threw the girl off a bridge across Murder Creek. McMullen also attempted to kill Delia Brown, but Brown survived the fall. It's also said that Sadie McMullen looked to commit suicide and wanted to take others with her. Sources: chroniclingamerica.loc.gov and Sadie McMullen. Another legend involving Murder Creek is fiction, an online-only story written by jxmartin
In the spring of the early '20 's a white man named John Dolph came from the Mohawk country and built his cabin a stone's throw from the Wai-ont-hah. Here Dolph with Peter Van Deventer intended to build a saw-mill.
On a certain October evening, Mr. Dolph spread his mill plans on his kitchen table in order to discuss them with his good wife, who was rocking the baby boy in a cradle near the fire. Suddenly a piercing shriek was heard in the woods outside. The agonizing cry was repeated again and sounded nearer. Flinging open the door Dolph saw the figure of an Indian girl rushing toward his cabin. Dashing in, she fell to the floor moaning breathlessly, "Oh, save me, save me!"
Dolph closed and barred the door and had no sooner done so than the burly voice of a man was heard and then the clamor of his fists on the door. "Let me in! Let me in!" he cried as he threw his weight against it.
"You can't come in by trying in any such way," called out Dolph, at the same time motioning his wife to conceal the Indian girl.
Mrs. Dolph lifted up a trap door and led the trembling girl into the mouth of a cavern. Dolph, with musket in hand, then advanced to the door and asked the intruder what business he had.
"My name is Sanders," said the man, "and that girl is a prisoner, whom I am to deliver to the authorities at Grand river, Canada. Her father, a chief placed her in my hands, because she is wayward and wishes to marry a bad Indian. Now let me in, gentleman, please."
Mr. Dolph unbarred the door and the stranger entered, looked around but saw no sign of his prey. Glancing upward he saw an attic opening and a ladder leading to it. Dolph handed him a lighted candle and somewhat nervously Sanders went up but soon came down, angry and excited.
"Give up that girl, she's here, I saw her come in," he snarled. "Where is your cellar?" he asked, glancing down at the floor.
Dolph removed a bit of carpet, handed the stranger a candle and bade him descend, but he found no trace of the girl and no visible outlet of escape, save to the room above. He flew into a rage and muttering threats as he came up the ladder, "she shall not escape me; I shall find her yet," he exclaimed as he walked out into the darkness, to watch if he could any suspicious actions at the house.
It was not long before he saw Mr. and Mrs. Dolph creep down the side of the gorge and enter a clump of bushes.
Sanders had said that he was going to Canfield Tavern on the Buffalo road, and thus Dolph did not believe he was watched. He scanned the path, the woods and stream, but saw no one. A dark figure in the shadow of a great pine escaped his eye. So together the Dolphs went out and crept into the outside entrance of the cavern, which lay a few rods north of the falls, part way down on the right bank. Looking around again in the darkness they satisfied themselves that they were unobserved. The October moon, though bright, could not pierce the depths beneath the autumn foliage. They entered the chamber, stooped low and crept on until they came to a high-arched cavern. There they saw the Indian girl, asleep from pure exhaustion. At the sound of a foot-fall she awakened and in wild-eyed alarm exclaimed, "Where is he?" Mrs. Dolph allayed the girl's fears and drew from her the story of her unhappy adventure. Mr. Uriah Cummings, long the local historian of Akron, relates this strange tale as he found it in Mr. Dolph 's own records. We draw upon his version for the girl's story.
"My name," said the girl, "is Ah-weh-hah, which in the language of the pale-face is Wild-rose. My home is near Spirit Lake, under the cliff about a mile below the Tonawanda Falls. I live there with my aged father, who is a chief of the Senecas and his name is Go-wah-na, meaning 'The Great Fire.'
"My mother has been dead several years, and my poor old father has just been murdered by that dreadful man Sanborn, from whom I had escaped when you opened your door and allowed me to enter.
"For more than a year this dreadful man has been hovering around Spirit Lake trying to get a chance to talk with me. He has urged me to marry him, but my Gray Wolf, my Tah-yoh-ne, is very dear to me and I was to become his wife very soon. But this man Sanders declared to me, that sooner than see me the wife of the Seneca brave, he would murder me and all who stood in his way.
"My father, thinking to avoid trouble, said he would take me to the Cattaraugus Nation where I would be among friends and Tah-yoh-ne could join me there, and thus could we be free from the annoyance of Sanders' threats and entreaties.
"I have had much to do to restrain Tah-yoh-ne from meeting this vile man Sanders. By much entreaty I have induced Tah-yoh-ne to do no harm to the wicked monster, for should they meet and should the pale-face fall, the authorities would not listen to anything we might say in defense of my brave Tah-yoh-ne. They would say he was guilty of murder and must be punished.
"It was this morning that my dear father came to me and told me to prepare for a journey to Cattaraugus.
"Soon all was ready and we started on foot, taking the old trail, the Wah-ah-gwen-ne, leading on to Te-os-ah-wah, a place called 'Buffalo' by your people.
"We had reached the De-on-go-te Gah-hun-da and had sat down to rest and listen to the wondrous Gah-sko- sah-dah, when suddenly we saw the man Sanders close upon the trail behind us.
"My poor aged father trembled with fear and apprehension, for he saw the look of wicked triumph in the hard face; and the offensive manner of the cruel intruder boded nothing but evil for us."
After a brief interval in which the young Indian girl had indulged in paroxysms of grief and anguish, Mrs. Dolph had taken her hand and endeavored to soothe and quiet her, she at last continued her painful story.
"Suddenly the entire manner of the man was changed. He seemed to have relented, and was sorry for his past conduct.
"He smilingly came forward and extending one hand to my poor old father and his other hand to me, he said he wished us to banish from our minds entirely all thoughts of evil intent on his part; that he had made up his mind to cease trying to persuade me to marry him; that he hoped I would be happy with the brave Tah-yoh-ne; that he had decided to leave all behind him, and seek a home in the far West and there try to forget his great love for me; that he hoped all would be forgiven and forgotten; and that even now he was on his way to the great unknown West; he had not thought of seeing us again, but now that we were going in the same direction, he would do all he could to make us remember this journey with pleasure.
"The man spoke so pleasantly that we were deceived as you shall soon learn.
"My father was so pleased at the turn of affairs that he invited Sanders to journey as far as On-tar-o-ga, today; he said that as soon as we reached that 'place of hills and rocks' we would build our campfire, prepare our evening meal and there rest until morning. To all this Sanders readily assented.
"And now as the details were settled, we lingered long at the De-on-go-te Ga-hun-da.
"The moon came up bright and clear; the thunder of the Gah-sko-sah-dah came rolling down the valley and the time passed pleasantly, as Mr. Sanders can be very entertaining whenever he chooses to be.
"Finally we resumed our journey. We followed the Wah-ah-gwen-ne westward and came on up through the valley of the Wun-ne-pa-tuc and on up the trail leading westerly out of the valley, and on to the hills of On-tar-o-ga. Presently we came to the accustomed camping-place and soon we had a fire started and our evening meal disposed of, and my dear father sat before the fire contented and happy.
I had arisen and was looking eastward when I thought I saw a light across the head of the valley and not far away. At that instant I heard a blow struck, followed by a groan, and quickly turning I saw my poor father lying prostrate on the ground, face downward, with that fiend Sanborn standing over him with an uplifted club in his hands.
"With the look of a demon the brute sprang toward me intent upon murdering me also. With a shriek of despair and desperation I tied into the forest with the mad man close behind me, brandishing his club and vowing he would brain me. As I ran, it came to me about seeing the light through the trees, and as well as I could I fled in the direction of the light. I ran until I came upon the bridge over the Wun-ne-pa-tuc and there your light was in plain view, and I gathered up all my remaining strength and as I ran I cried, 'Save me,' when your door was suddenly opened for me with the fiend not ten steps behind me. You know the rest."
Ah-weh-hah was a beautiful maiden, so the Dolphs thought, so during her story, they resolved to keep and protect her. She was tall, and her perfect teeth, her soft reddish brown complexion, her expressive black eyes and her long black hair betokened an Indian maiden of the finest type. Her refined manner and soft voice indicated that she had been carefully trained as a woman of the ho-ya-neh class.
Mr. Cummings, who gives her conversation from the Dolph records, says it may seem incredible that this young Indian girl should have a command of English but he believes that Mr. Dolph 's records must be correct. The real answer is that Ah-weh-hah was a student in the mission school at Tonawanda. where the Seneca youth obtained the rudiments of an English education.
The old chief, whose name no previous historian has given, was Big Fire, a veteran of the War of 1812. His body was found by Mr. Dolph in exactly the same spot as described by the girl. There too, he found the smouldering remains of the campfire. Ever since the day of his murder the cross-trail there has been known as the Haunted Corners. The spot is at the east side of Cummings Park.
Dolph after his horrible discovery took the trail for his partner's tavern. When morning came Van Deventer and Dolph buried the remains of the victim of Sander's treachery. The murderer had taken the Buffalo stage at midnight.
When Dolph returned home he found the Indian girl delirious. The news of the tragedy and of Ah-weh-hah's escape had reached the ears of the Indians and Tah-yoh-ne hastened to the refuge of his unhappy sweetheart. Ah-weh-hah was overjoyed at seeing Gray Wolf and begged that he go with her to the grave of her father. So together they journeyed over the trail until they stood by the newly made mound. Here, together they chanted the death song, as a last token of their affection. A grave fire was lighted and the sacred tobacco incense rose to lift the burden of their prayer to the Maker-of-All.
While thus absorbed in their funeral devotions, a sudden step was heard and Sanders jumped from the underbrush, ax in hand. Wolf grabbed his tomahawk and then began a terrible struggle. Losing their weapons in the fray each grabbed their hunting-knives and tore each other's flesh until the blood ran down in gushing streams. Then came a pause and the white man fell backward, dead.
Prostrate, and sickened by the awful sight, lay the girl. Wolf tried to speak but his lips were sealed. He was too weak to comfort his horrified sweetheart, and she too weak from the shock to rise to go to him. He staggered forward and fell. He too had perished at the graveside of her father. With an agonized cry that pierced the forests depths she gave vent to her horror and grief. Mr. Dolph heard the cry and ran the quarter mile to find what new tragedy had occurred. There he found the unhappy Wild Rose, on her knees, swaying back and forth as she moaned between her sobs the death chant. As she looked upward at Dolph her grief-stricken expression revealed such a depth of sorrow that he records that he felt her mind must soon give way.
As she followed him back to his cabin his fears he found were realized. She was incoherent and dazed. Dolph, with the help of a neighbor, buried the two bodies, the Wolf near the Chief and the white man's a little to one side.
Often the Wild Rose would visit the graves of her father and lover to weep and to chant her grief. Mr. Dolph recorded her song as he heard it :
"Oh, my Gray Wolf, my Tah-yoh-ne,
Do you hear the Wild Rose calling,
Hear the song of your Ah-weh-hah,
Hear her tell you how her heart aches?
Why did not the brave Tah-yoh-ne
Take his lonely Wild Rose with him.
O, come back, my own Tah-yoh-ne,
For my heart is breaking, breaking.
You will wait for me, my Gray Wolf.
For I soon shall come to join you.
O, my Gray Wolf, my Tah-yoh-ne,
Hear the voice of your Ah-weh-hah,
Only wait a few days longer
And I then will walk beside you."
When one day the Dolphs missed the Wild Rose they went out to the graveyard so tragically called into existence and there they found her, lying upon the grave of Gray Wolf, lying cold and lifeless. And so beside his grave they buried her. Many were the sincere tears they shed as their tender sympathies reached out in grief for the unhappy Ah-weh-hah.
Now as in former days the lover of midnight strolls may hear the voices of the two lovers as they wander over the modern dust of the ancient trail. The ghosts of the father and the murderers never come back to earth--they who come are only the spirits of the lovers whom destiny forbade a marriage in the earth life, but whom death united in a bond that the years have not broken.
Excerpt from The Haunted Corners by Uriah Cummings
For many years the story of Big Fire's murder was told at the Parker fireside and the tale of the unhappy Ah-weh-hah never failed to bring tears to the eyes of those who heard it. It had one moral to the Indians; it was: "Look out for white man." But as ever, the warning was in vain^ for as the traditions run, "White man very cunning, he get you pretty soon."
The tragedy of Ah-weh-hah was the tragedy of the people. The white man was on their trail. The "land sharks" had found them, and a life and death struggle for their homes was in progress. The child Ely passed quickly from the old stories, the ancient traditions of his people, to these new stories of wrong. As a child the need of a decisive action had often to be met, and it seemed to have found him ready.
Because of the unhappy conditions among his people Ely, when ten years old, decided to run away. The whole nation was in the utmost confusion. By a system of high-handed fraud every foot of land the Seneca s had was signed away and the order came, "March West." The stoutest heart felt the clutching of emotions that could not "be concealed. There were bickerings and quarrelings and the people were in a pitiful situation. Ely did not wish to stay in a country where confusion, deceit and trickery existed. He resolved to go to Canada where the followers of Brant lived, and to join the Six Nations band on the Grand river. His father consented and he went, accompanied by an older man, a friend of his father.
Translated Meanings and/or Definitions:
De-on-go-te - Place of Hearing
Gah-sko-sah-dah - Name for the Akron Falls, previously called Falkirk Falls when the 'town' of Falkirk existed.
De-on-go-te Gah-hun-da /Murder Creek - Previous names: Sulphur Creek and See-Un-Gut (Roar of Distant Waters)
Wah-ah-gwen-ne - An old trail used by the Iroquois used to reach Buffalo (Te-os-ah-wah)
Wai-ont-hah - Beautiful Falls, Seneca name for Akron Falls
Wun-ne-pa-tuc - Mohegan-Algonkin name for Akron Falls, meaning "Beautiful Waterfall"
The film Equals, starring Kristen Stewart and Nicholas Hoult, is set in a world where most of humanity has been wiped away by massive war. The 'utopia' that the citizens live in has deep shades of a scientific dictatorship and emotion is thought of as a disease that's needs to be managed until a "cure" can be found. Citizens who need it are prescribed inhibitors to keep their emotions dulled down. Much like how millions of Americans today volunteer to be kept complacent by 'big pharma's' drugs.
The disease of emotion, called "Switched-on Syndrome", in Equals is also ranked in stages of severity, much like cancer is. If an individual develops symptoms of the disease then they're usually pushed away by the other members of The Collective. Even though the "disease" isn't thought to be contagious in the film. Which is very much representative of American leftism. Wherein, if an individual or individuals don't represent the right way of behaving, feeling, thinking, and acting (usually standards developed by their 'collective', their peers) then they are pushed away from the group.
The treatment for Switched-on Syndrome in Equals comes in stages too. You face medicating for the disease or, if you're sent to The Den, you're treated to electro-restraint, emotional suppression, and a "pain-free death scenario". The pain-free death scenario is phased out by a true "cure" being discovered later in the film.
To find the closest example of this sort of leftist Utopian ideal, one only has to look at Jim Jones. A deluded cultural Marxist that saw socialism, communism as enlightenment. Jim Jones was very much a social justice warrior from the 1950s until the days of his final crimes against humanity. The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project was his own version of The Collective. Members of the agricultural project went to great lengths, for the "collective", to suppress any dissent. The ultimate act, at the end, was Jones trying to suppress dissent and stop people from leaving by the Kool-Aid drinking, mass poisoning. As people were dying, he was even telling them to suppress their emotions and not cry. Saying their deaths were a revolutionary act.
You see, leftism always uses emotional control as their main tool. No amount of unacceptable acts are allowed as the collective, of which you belong, will turn you in for such things. Much like in Equals and with The Collective. True emotion, not seen as contributing to the greater of the collective, is made out as an 'evil' to be avoided.
Far-leftism's perfect world is an existence without emotion. A world representative of Hell on Earth.
General Wiley Thompson, as an Indian agent, oversaw and helped coordinate the removal of the Seminole tribe from Florida. In written history, he's been sold as a friend of Osceola and the Seminole tribe, but he was nothing of the sort. Sure, it's sold that Wiley Thompson's "gift" to Osceola, a gun, was a peace offering. Given his reason to be there though, Thompson business there wasn't for peace, but for having the Seminoles put their guard down and willingly surrender to forced relocation.
Osceola had no such trust in Wiley Thompson and his military force's intent was. On December, 28th 1835, Osceola organized a party of Seminole and they attacked Wiley Thompson and his men, near Fort King, at this opportune time. Osceola and his men shot through the front door as Thompson and other military men were having a dinner party. Some of Thompson's men escaped but Wiley Thompson was hit numerous times and died. Osceola attacked out of retribution over being previously detained by Wiley Thompson.
What was Chief Osceola famous for?
In April of 1836, Osceola and some of his men attacked Fort Cooper. Later, in August, Major Benjamin Kendrick Pierce finds that Osceola has control of Fort Drane. Over these developments, General Jesup made the decision to make a plan to capture Osceola and his forces. This plan was created in December of 1836.
January 10th, 1837 General Jesup carried out a raid on a Seminole village where it was thought that Osceola was at. Numerous Seminoles were captured and a great number fled the area, possibly including Osceola himself. At the time, Osceola may have also been ill.
By Spring of 1837, General Jesup was making more gains. Gains which led to many clans to surrender themselves. Including some from Tuskinia, King Philip, Coa Hadjo, Sam Jones, Coacoochee, and even some of Osceola's people. This surrender causes General Jesup to incorrectly believe that the Second Seminole War was soon to end.
In June, Osceola and Sam Jones and around 700 of their warriors attack a detention camp near Fort Brooke. The attack is successful, all of the supplies there are taken, and all detainees are released. The area is declared, by the military, to be a hostile area, yet again. Though this caused the Army to up its activities throughout the area.
What happened to Osceola?
By October, the 27th of 1837, Osceola and Coa Hadjo arrive with many of their people to Fort Mellon, with a flag of truce, for a pre-planned meeting. Instead of a meeting, they find out they were misled and are captured instead. Both leaders are sent to Fort Marion, at St. Augustine. In December, Osceola is sent to Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, along with other Seminoles. A move that was meant to break their spirit and that of Seminoles still in Florida trying to free Osceola and others.
By the end of January, Osceola is ill, from either quinsy or malaria, and succumbs to his illness on January 31st, 1838. Which was a little over three months after his capture. His last days were spent in detention at Fort Moultrie. The care he received, from Frederick Weedon, probably would've been little, given the medical knowledge of the day.
Where is Chief Osceola buried?
After his death, Osceola was buried with full military honors at Fort Moultrie.
--
The war still continued after Osceola's death and ended in 1858 with the Third Seminole War.
In the time since, Florida, of course, has become far more developed and damaged. It's said that the draining of the Everglades has caused increased wildfires in them. Development has also increased and turned parts of the Everglades into specialized farming regions. To protect interests, we're sold half-truths and lies that the increased wildfires are completely natural and that the draining of the Everglades hasn't caused an increase of fires.
That's where the title of the post comes in. Some of you have probably already recognized it, a reference to the John Anderson song, Seminole Wind. The song does a good job of explaining these things, from a cultural perspective. Much like in other states, a lot of environmental damage has been done throughout Florida. Development that stems from the elitist view of 'taming' the land for the comforts of modernity. Something that has gone too far and has destroyed much of what's natural in Florida.
Sure, there's a lot of nature still left in Florida. But for how long? For how many more decades? All to appease the selfishness of upper middle class and the rich. Which, yes, are mainly well-off, white and modernly liberal. You can choose not to like the conservative, but at least the majority of them have no trouble with coexisting with nature and the natural world. As opposed to those that need their "safe spaces" in every aspect of their life. Having fear of the smallest things, even the smallest creatures out in the wild.
This is the type of thinking that needs to pushed out, the subcultural 'thought' that nature has to be diminished for the benefit of those with the $$ to push it away. Not realizing that the more they separate themselves away from nature, domesticating themselves, the more unnatural they become. It's time to tear this down, these limits, that keep us from nature. We need an increase of all of our freedoms. Nature comes first, including our own nature and spirit. Stay silent, quiet your minds, listen to these ghosts of days' past. Listen to their words in the winds.
They do speak; winds of change. Does the war still continue?
Following the mapping of Genesee County by the Holland Land Company, an area south of what was called the "Great Swamp" back then, around 1800, would become the future site of part of the Town of Elba. This square mile of land was bordered by early roads. The northern road of this square-mile area was Ridge Road. It was also known as Bulgaria Ridge and Bulgary Ridge at various times throughout Elba's history. Bulgary Ridge is still seen labeled on USGS maps from the 1970s. I still have one such map that we've had since the 1980s.
The description of Ridge Road has changed little since the time it was originally created. The older road heads westward and uphill, flattens out for a short while, and then there's a gradual downward sloping hill, still heading west, until you reach a dead end. Early on, those who lived on the Ridge were English families from the New England region but, in time, German families moved in and began to own the homes and farms on the road. They made great success and were comfortable in the community. Some of the homes of these German families still stand on Ridge Road, though the acres of farmland that used to accompany many of them have long been sold to other farms and farmers.
During the times of widespread farming though, farmers grew all sorts of crops. Which included corn, apples, potatoes, buckwheat, beans, wheat, barley, and oats, among other crops. Some even raised chickens and two families ran small dairy farms. When the mucks were drained in 1915, it provided even more land, and rich soil, for other crops. Including one that Elba is best known for, onions. When the 1920s came around, Polish families began to buy up a few of the farms on Ridge Road and they too became a part of the community. Italians also moved into the town in the 1920s and although most of them enjoyed living in the village, a small number of the families also bought farms.
Even today, families move to Elba and some of their family members work on the farms and add to the richness of the town's culture and history.
The beginning of the hostilities of the Second Seminole War, with all three wars known as the Florida War, had their roots in the Treaty of Camp Moultrie. Signed in September of 1823, the treaty was an agreement that said the Seminole tribe would be reimbursed for costs of cattle, pigs, and farming equipment of the day. They'd also be provided rations for a year and have their way paid as they relocated to a reservation in Central Florida. The agreement also said that the government would pay the relocated Seminole around $5,000 a year, for twenty years and provide other resources for that same length of time. Under this treaty, all slaves captured by the Seminole, on their reservation land, were supposed to be turned over to the authorities. The Seminoles believed they would stay on this land for twenty years.
May 9th, 1832 the Treaty of Payne's Landing was signed by fifteen chiefs of Seminole clans of Southern Florida. Many of the terms of the treaty were similar to the Treaty of Camp Moultrie. Only now, the Seminole would be ordered to locate to Indian Territory. At this time, the expanse of the Indian Territory stretched across all of Arkansas and Oklahoma. In 1835, some Seminole clans resisted leaving, or chose not to leave, as ordered by the treaties. They felt they were pressured by the U.S. government to sign the treaties. Freed blacks living amongst the Seminoles also feared for their future, their freedom, once the relocation commenced.
Clashes and incidents increased during the mid and latter part of 1835. This caused the rapid increase of hostility between federal forces and the Seminole. The first clash was at Hogtown in June, near present-day Gainesville, after seven Seminoles had gone beyond the reservation boundary to hunt.
On June 19th, five of the seven Seminoles we're waiting for the rest of their group to show up. The five were then seen by a group of whites. Soon enough, a disagreement began as the whites accused the Seminoles of killing a cow. The Seminoles were attacked by the men and hit by their bull whips. Around that time, the two other Seminoles from the group arrived and saw what was going on. They fired shots at the settlers and a small shootout began. One Seminole was killed and another was wounded. While the white settlers had three injured.
By The original uploader was Dalbury
at English Wikipedia (Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The next incident occurred on August 6th of 1835 when a mail carrier, Private Dalton, was confronted by six Miccosukee along his route from Tampa Bay, on to Fort King, and then on to Ocala. Private Dalton wasn't expecting any violence to occur so he approached the group and ended up being attacked by them. One of the Miccosukee grabbed his mule and another shot Dalton. The Miccosukee men then preceded to strip the clothes off his body and mutilated him. They then took the mule's saddle and bridle, the mail, and shot the mule. It's thought that the Miccosukee men attacked Dalton as revenge for what happened in Hogtown. Some of them may have also been present at Hogtown.
On December 18th, 1835, Colonel John Warren and his men, all a part of the Florida Militia, were on their way to Micanopy. Warren then told Captain Richards to take a detachment of his militiamen and help escort three wagons and a cart with supplies. They split near Hogtown at Kanapaha Prairie. The wagons they were escorting were guarded at the front and rear by soldiers, about 100 paces ahead and behind the wagons. Washington Ives headed the forward force while J. Sumeral headed the rear forces. Thirteen men also walked alongside the wagons.
At Black Point, a force of around 80 Seminole warriors, led by Osceola, attacked them in an ambush. Some of the Florida militiamen reinforced their defense of the wagons while others ran off after the first shots were fired by the Seminole. After some of the men were shot and killed, Sumeral, Ives, and a man named Sparkman tried to retreat with a wounded man, Tillis, that they'd placed on the supply cart. They were unable to retreat but held defense until the cart horse was shot and killed. At that time, the Seminole switched attention and began taking ammunition from the supplies and setting the wagons on fire. Due to this, the men ended up surviving the attack. Around this time, 30 reinforcements, led by Major John McLemore and accompanied by Sergeant Hurst, took chase after the Seminole forces. Hurst was shot while McLemore lost a horse, then another, and had to charge the forces on foot with around 15 of his men. Though they were unable to pinpoint where the Seminole were at, as the Seminole were attacking from behind the bushes and trees. Major McLemore and his men then retreated to Fort Crum.
Days later, scouts were sent out and they spotted a small force of Seminole nearby an area where a house was on fire. With this news, Colonel Warren sent out some of his forces to charge the Seminole and push them out. After this attack, the Seminoles scattered and some of the remaining wagon supplies were found in the Seminole camp.
On December 28th of 1835, another incident (on the same day as the Dade Massacre) occurred when the Seminole, under Osceola, attacked a dinner party attended by General Wiley Thompson. The party was being held at a home just outside of Fort King. Troops at Fort King had just left, to get more supplies from a nearby plantation, and Osceola took advantage of this. He readied his warriors before the troops from Fort Brooke arrived to relieve the garrison soldiers who'd left. Once the Fort King soldiers were far off, Osceola and his men attacked the home, firing shots at the front door. They proceeded to break open the door and began attacking those attending the dinner party. A few men made it out of the house, through the windows, but were killed as they ran into the woods. Five members of the dinner party did manage to survive the attack though. General Wiley Thompson was not as lucky and had been hit by numerous musket balls. Some of the shots came from a musket Thompson had given Osceola as a gift to keep the peace. It is said this event was retribution for Thompson having Osceola arrested after Osceola was angered by an event involving Thompson denying the sale of liquor, among other grievances.
One of the first major events, beginning the Second Seminole war, was the Dade Massacre. The battle was a defeat for the U.S. Army. Wherein two companies of troops, commanded by Brevet Major Francis Langhorne Dade. teamsters, a surgeon, a guide, and officers made up a force of around 114 men. All these men left Fort Brooke (modern-day Tampa) and were headed to Fort King. Francis Langhorne Dade was told to be ready for any confrontations and hostilities along the way. This was due to an uprising in the area north of the reservation and because they were headed through land held by the Seminole. The were headed off to Fort King as Brevet Brigadier General Duncan Lamont Clinch had requested more soldiers by a message. Though a reason, nor many details, were given on why they were needed and it was understood that Fort King was under heavy attack and that they needed immediate help and reinforcements.
The actual reason they needed troops though was because General Clinch moved his forces to a sugar plantation near Micanopy, known as "Auld Lang Syne", due to a lack of provisions. He'd sent the message to Fort Brooke to provide forces for the defense of Fort King. Once Dade and his forces made it to the pine barrens, they believe they'd have no problem making it to Fort King without incident. As it seemed the pine barrens would be an unlikely place to be attacked by the Seminoles that were shadowing their movements and following them.
On December 28th of 1835, five days into the march and in the area of Wahoo Swamp, Chief Micanopy, Jumper, and Alligator were waiting to ambush the troops. A force of around 180-250 Seminoles were hidden by the cover of palmettos and pines. Micanopy decided to attack here and gave up waiting for Osceola to arrive. With swamps making it difficult for Dade and his men to escape they had no choice but to fight back. Unfortunately, Dade's men had their guard down and the Seminole knew this. Many of the troops had their weapons inside their coats or on the wagons to keep them from the moisture. Once the attack by the Seminole commenced, the gunfire from Micanopy and other Seminole guns killed or injured nearly half of the command. It was Micanopy's shot that killed Dade, making Dade the first casualty. A captain, Upton S. Fraser, was killed at nearly the same moment. Three of the six officers were wounded and only Captain George W. Gardiner was without injury. He commanded the remaining forces to return fire with their cannon.
This and a bit of confusion caused the Seminoles to pull their forces back a short distance. The Seminole forces believed all of Dade's men to be dead or injured. One of the Seminole went to Alligator and told them that Dade's men were building small defenses out of logs. Alligator and Jumper headed back to the area, with a few warriors, and started another attack on the army forces. This battle lasted from early morning, around 8 a.m. and lasted until approximately 2 p.m., according to army survivors of the battle.
The army forces were decimated and Ransom Clark, Edwin De Courcey, and Joseph Sprague (who left separate from the other men) made their escape and headed off towards Fort Brooke, despite being injured. They ran as the Seminoles overran the remaining men, killing off some of them, stripping off the troops' clothes and taking items from them. Following the Seminole were a force of escaped slaves, allied with the Seminole, that proceeded to strip and/or kill the remaining army forces. Dade's interpreter, a black man named Louis Pacheco, was taken as a captive. The Seminoles, suffering low casualties, went back to Wahoo Swamp to celebrate and rest. Clark and De Courcey split to avoid being caught after they were chased by Seminole a day after escaping the battle. De Courcey ended up being killed. While Clark made it back to the Fort Brooke after being helped by a Seminole woman, on horseback, about a mile from Fort Brooke. It was this unknown Seminole woman who took him closer to Fort Brooke and dropped him off near the fort. Sprague also arrived at the fort probably sometime after Clark.
The area of the ambush was left abandoned for almost two months before General Edmund Pendleton Gaines arrived. They arrived at the Dade Massacre site on February 20th, 1836. They proceeded to identify Dade's men and gave them proper military burials. The cannon, which the Seminoles had thrown into a nearby pond, was removed from the pond and became the headstone of the officers killed in the battle. It would only be after the cessation of the war, on August 14th, 1842, that the men buried there would be reinterred at the St. Augustine National Cemetery. The defeat at Wahoo Swamp was seen as one of the worst U.S. Army defeats by Native American forces. With only the Battle of the Little Bighorn and St. Clair's Defeat being thought of as being worse.
Events of 1836
By Unknown photographer
(http://www.floridamemory.com/items/show/28747)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
January 8th, 1836
The battle of Wetumka and another battle, the battle of Dunlawton, take place.
January 9th, 1836
The second battle of Micanopy. One soldier from the 2nd dragoons is killed in battle.
January 17th, 1836
Fighting breaks out in the area of St. Augustine with the biggest battle being at Anderson's Plantation. Around 120 Seminoles attack a militia, led by Benjamin A. Putnam, that are defending St. Augustine. The battle led to a loss of half of the militiamen before they retreated. Later on, Brigadier General Abraham Eustis and his forces head to St. Augustine.
On this same day, Captain Francis Belton is preparing his men to defend Fort King at all costs. His men are bolstered by the arrival of around fifty marines, commanded by First Lieutenant Nathaniel S. Waldron.
January 22nd, 1836
Brevet Major General Winfield Scott takes command of all war operations throughout the state of Florida.
February 13th, 1836
Major General Edmund P. Gaines arrived at Fort Brooke on February 9th. On this date, the 13th, he leaves Fort Brooke with 980 soldiers, mainly volunteers from Louisiana and Florida. Along with them is a detachment of a few men from Fort King. This is the first force, as written above, to arrive at the Dade Massacre site, on February 20th.
February 22nd to March 6th, 1836
General Gaines and his men arrive at Fort King. He then splits his men into three separate forces. He leaves with the forces and they head off to Withlacoochee. On February 27th, all three forces arrive at a planned location and begin to search for an area where they can safely cross the Withlacoochee River. As they searched, they were fired upon by an unknown number of Seminole from the opposite side of the river. The men drew back from the area of the river and camped out for the night. Another party went out on February 28th, commanded by Lieutenant James F. Izard, and they were fired upon again. Lieutenant Izard was killed. This set off a seven hour 'battle' between the forces, only separated by the Withlacoochee River. During this fight, General Gaines had his men build a log breastwork and named it Camp Izard. The attack against Camp Izard continued on through February 29th with one man killed and around 32 men wounded. He has a message sent out to General Clinch, who is at Fort Drane, to help attack the Seminole forces. General Clinch doesn't send his forces until March 4th. It is on this day that Gaines is hit by, although not seriously injured, a musket ball in the face, which knocks out his last tooth. Two days later, on the sixth, Gaines is approached by a small number of Seminoles displaying a flag of truce. General Gaines send out some of his own soldiers to meet and hold talks with them. As they are negotiating, General Clinch arrives with his forces and, unsure of what they're seeing, they begin shooting at the Seminoles, causing them to run to safety. On March 9th, General Gaines then turns over the commanding of Camp Izard to Clinch and leaves.
This is around the time that the major operations of the Second Seminole War began. Under the commanding of General Winfield Scott, military forces where had a plan of attack with three 'wings' of forces.
The right wing of these forces were commanded by General Duncan Clinch and they numbered at 1,968. This number includes 720 regulars and the rest of the force being comprised of Georgia and Louisiana volunteers. They were to march from Fort Drane to Camp Izard, crossing Withlacoochee River at a point near Camp Izard and then drive the Seminole in a southward direction towards the other two wings.
The center wing were commanded by Colonel William Lindsay and numbered at 1,250 men. Of this number, 260 were volunteers from Florida, 750 Alabama volunteers, and members of the 4th Infantry. They were to head from Fort Brooke and north to the Cove of the Withlacoochee and head off the Seminoles fleeing the right wing.
The left wing were commanded by General Abraham Eustis with 1,400 men. They were comprised of four companies of the First Regiment of Artillery, one regiment of South Carolina volunteer infantrymen, and a regiment of South Carolina mounted volunteers. They were to march from St Augustine to Mosquito Inlet (near present-day New Smyrna) then head off to Volusia. From Volusia, they were to cross St. John's river and head for an area near present-day Bushnell. From Bushnell, they were to head north and approach the Cove of the Withlacoochee by the way of Fort King.
Things didn't go as planned through due to the lack of roads and paths in the interior of Florida at the time. Also lacking were reliable maps of the region. So the only wing to make it to their objective was General Clinch's right wing. Eustis' left wing forces, in having to create their own roads, ran short on time and supplies. Instead of being able to reach Fort King, due to low supplies, they had to go to Fort Brooke instead. Lindsay's center wing also had a hard time. The relationship between the volunteers and the regulars were always strained and disagreements were becoming a regular occurrence. On the march to the Cove of Withlacoochee, Colonel Lindsay refused to allow the Alabama volunteers to carry or buy alcohol. Of course, this didn't help the already strained relations. When the forces reached the Hillsborough River, Colonel Lindsay made the decision to build a fort in this area to hold their supplies. They named it Fort Alabama to try and appease the Alabama volunteers. Though this fort is now known as Fort Foster. Here he posted a small force to garrison the fort and took the rest of the center wing north. For days, he tried to make contact with the other wings up until their rations were gone. Failing to make contact, they head back to Fort Alabama. When his men reach Fort Alabama they find that a group of Seminoles are inside the fort. His men fire upon the Seminoles and they scatter. When Lindsay's men enter the fort they discover that the garrison force has been killed and their food stolen. The center wing finally arrives at Fort Brooke on April 4th, completely out of rations.
As for the other wings, the left wing headed south from Fort Brooke to Pease Creek (modern-day Bradenton) and then back to Volusia. The right wing traveled, part of the way, along the Withlacoochee River and made their way back to Fort Drane. After all three wings made it to their destinations, the volunteers were released at the first opportunity since they'd fulfilled their commitment of service under the army. After this release, around 790 regular forces were left to defend against attacks from the Seminole. This would also mark the departure of General Winfield Scott from Florida, as he was recalled to Washington.
Fort Cooper, a fortified position assembled by General Clinch, was attacked by leader Osceola and Seminole warriors who were camped out on the other side of the lake. After several attacks, the fort was held and not captured by the Seminole. Fort Alabama (Foster), defended by Louisiana volunteers, also came under attack and they too held their fort. There was also a blockhouse, around twelve miles south of the mouth of the Withlacoochee River. Its defense was comprised of fifty men and came under attack by 500 Seminole. The blockhouse, being forgotten by other backup forces in the area, successfully sent out a messenger and tell these other forces about the attack (the attacks on the blockhouse continued until around May 22nd.)
April 20th, 1836
Soldiers on watch at Fort Drane are attacked in the middle of the night by Seminole forces who are attempting to capture the fort by surprise. This attack was one of the only attacks at night carried out by the Seminole. Their attacks are repelled and the fort is held.
Fort King is abandoned after a good portion of its men, more of half of them, are ill. The warmer months were usually hard on the forces and sickness was common at many of these forts.
July 9th, 1836
Fort Defiance, at Micanopy, comes under attack and is saved from capture due to a pincer movement against the Seminoles. They leave the fort and attack the Seminole forces on both flanks. Thus defeating their attempt to take the fort.
July 17th, 1836
Fort Drane, like Fort King, is abandoned due to sickness spread amongst its garrison. While the summer of 1836 was hard on many of these military forces, causing many deaths, disease and sickness didn't seem to affect the Seminole and their operations.
July 19th, 1836
The troops from now-abandoned Fort Drane are attacked as they were headed towards Fort Defiance. They are attacked in an area near Welika Pond and are aided by additional forces sent from Fort Defiance. The Seminole were repelled and the troops make their way to Fort Defiance.
July 23rd, 1836
A lighthouse keeper, John Thompson and an elderly black man, Aaron Carter, came under attack by Seminoles. Thompson and Carter ran to the lighthouse and locked the door just in time. The two of them made their way to an upper level of the lighthouse and Thompson began to shoot at the Seminole. This continued off and on throughout the day. The Seminole men set the door, and the boarded up window on the lower level of the lighthouse, on fire. Some of the earlier shots from the Seminole went through the lighthouse and allowed the flames to ignite leaking lamp oil tanks. Tanks which were on located on the bottom floor within the lighthouse. As the flames from below reached higher, Thompson and Carter retreated to the top level of the tower. Along with them, they took some gunpowder, a rifle, and some rifle balls. They also cut a part of the stairs below them away. As the fire reached higher they had to go outside of the lighthouse tower, and onto the top platform. It was said to have gotten bad enough that the glass panes of the lighthouse began to shatter. In fear of dying, and wanting to go quicker, Thompson threw the gunpowder barrel into the tower where it when down into the tower. The gunpowder exploded and though Thompson expected the gunpowder to collapse the tower when it exploded, it didn't. The fire was lessened by the explosion of the gunpowder though and the attacking Seminole got away from the lighthouse. Both men were wounded by shots and the fire and, unfortunately, Carter had succumbed to his gunshot wounds. Thompson had a wounded foot and a shattered ankle on his other leg and was trapped by the fire as he watched the Seminole burn another building and steal supplies. Soon after this, the Seminole left since they believed both Thompson and Carter were dead.
Lucky for Thompson, Marines had seen the flames and smoke from a distance and arrived later that day to investigate. They'd arrive on the schooner, “Motto”. While looking around, that's when they spotted Thompson. It took them a while but they rescued the injured and thirsty Thompson. They also brought Carter down, had a burial, and Thompson then took off with the Marines to Key West.
August 15th to 21st, 1836
Major Benjamin Kendrick Pierce is ordered to head with off to Fort Defiance with 125 men and 27 wagons. At Fort Defiance, he finds that 147 of its men are sick and was surprised to find the now abandoned Fort Drane under the control of Osceola. He gathered up around 110 men to retake the fort but when they arrived they surprised some of the Seminoles who were in a cleared area. Not being sure his forces could take on the Seminole force that had moved into the woods, they went back to Fort Defiance.
September 18th, 1836
Colonel John Warren, of the Florida Militia, has a force of 100 men and a cannon sent to San Felasco Hammock, near modern-day Gainesville. Along the way, they are ambushed by a large number of Seminole. They were charged by Seminole forces twice during the short battle and successfully fought them off, losing one soldier and a horse. Also on this day Governor Richard Call, after taking command of all forces in Florida on May 30th, begins his campaign.
Governor Call's forces had grown to around 1,350 men by the time they made it the Cove of the Withlacoochee. When they arrive, they spot 40 to 50 Seminoles on the edge of the river. Quickly, they fire on the forces and 14 of them are killed. The Seminole return fire as Call's forces try to cross the river. Though they find it impossible to do so since the river was too swollen, due to recent rains, and the gunfire from the Seminole is too intense. Call's men return to Fort Drane.
November 13th, 1836
With the Seminole out of the area, Call's force cross the Withlacoochee River and begin the search for the Seminole stronghold. While searching, they find three empty villages and proceed to burn all of the dwellings down. Trying to find the Seminole more quickly, Call makes the decision to split his force in two. He takes command of the northern wing and gives command of the southern wing to Colonel Benjamin Pierce. The forces are to meet up at Dade's Battlefield (site of the Dade Massacre) in a few days.
Call's northern wing stumbles upon an inhabited Seminole village during their search. He has the Tennessee volunteers ride into the camp, dismount, and attack the village. This causes the Seminoles to scatter into the hammock. After a half-hour battle, the villages, its supplies, and horses are captured. Twenty Seminoles are killed along with one of Call's men killed and ten wounded.
November 18th, 1836
Call's northern wing finds another village during their march. Only this one is far larger with nearly 700 people. Call orders his men into a single line with infantrymen in the middle and the mounted Tennessee volunteers on the flanks. The infantry is then ordered to charge as the volunteers move to prevent their envelopment. This engagement also lasts around a half-an-hour, with 25 Seminoles killed and Call's forces losing 3 men and 12 men being wounded.
November 19th, 1836
The northern and southern wings meet up at Dade's Battlefield.
November 21st, 1836
With both of the wings now together, Governor Call begins to carry out the plans to take a village in the area of Wahoo Swamp. Again, he has his troops march in a single line, with this line being about a mile long. Orders were to not fire until they were around fifty yards from the enemy. Then they would fire a volley and proceed to charge with their bayonets. Things became chaotic as Call's men had trouble getting through the thick underbrush as they chased the fleeing Seminole. They reached a dark water stream and stopped since they believed it was too deep to cross. Major David Moniac got closer to stream and began looking for somewhere to cross. He then stepped into the water to check its depth, only to be killed by a shot from the Seminole. Call's forces fell back to a resupply area since they couldn't cross the stream. Later on, from intelligence sources, they found out the force on the other side was comprised of 420 Seminoles and 200 blacks. Those forces were led by Yaholoochee and Osuchee.
On November 22nd, Call's force marched to Fort Barnell, in Volusia, which was about 60 miles from the area of Wahoo Swamp and they arrive at Fort Barnell around November 27th.
December 9th, 1836
Governor Call receives orders to turn command of all of Florida's forces over to General Thomas Sidney Jesup.
December 12th, 1836
Violating truces, General Jesup decides to try to locate and capture Micanopy and his forces. That or Osceola and his forces, who he knew were in the area of Tampa Bay. Around this time, he also had a fort built upon the site of Dade's Battlefield and named it Fort Armstrong. The fort was named after the man who designed it, Major Robert Armstrong, commander of the Tennessee volunteers.
He also makes the decision to reduce the number of necessary forts during the Withlacoochee River campaigns. These forts were kept garrisoned as supply stops:
Fort Armstrong - Their 'home fort', on the site of Dade's Battlefield Fort Barnwell - At Volusia and twelves miles south of Lake George Fort Clinch - Located at the mouth of the Withlacoochee River Fort Dade - Along the Withlacoochee River and 29 miles from Fort Foster Fort Drane – Southwest of modern-day Micanopy Fort Foster - Along the Hillsborough River and 25 miles from modern-day Thonotosassa
By Charles Fenderich (1805-1887)
(Transferred from [1]) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
General Jesup and his men come across a village and capture 52 blacks and causes an unknown number of Seminole, possibly led by Osceola, to flee. As does an unknown number of blacks. It is said that Osceola was ill at this time. January 17th, 1837
Black Seminole John Caesar and a force of 14 blacks and Seminoles, had attempted to capture Hanson's plantation, in St. Augustine, earlier in the day. Failing, they retreated and went to their hideaway about 30 miles from the plantation. At night, Caesar and his men were attacked by the St. Augustine Militia. During this confrontation, John Caesar was killed. As were two of his men. This loss, along with the loss of Caesar, was a huge blow to the Seminole.
January 22nd, 1837
General Jesup and his men, made of a mix of Alabama volunteers, regulars, Creeks, Georgia mounted volunteers and Marines depart for Fort Armstrong.
General Jesup has his force divide into multiple groups. One of the groups comes across a village in the area of Lake Apopka. During the battle, 8 Seminole are killed and 8 blacks are captured.
January 27th, 1837
A different group of Jesup's men find a village near Lake Tohopekaliga. After they battle, they capture 100 horses, 25 blacks, and 5 Seminole.
It was after this confrontation that General Jesup made a decision to change up his tactics and more routinely divide up his army into smaller groups. This was out of only encountering small forces of Seminoles and having multiple groups made it easier to find them.
Jesup's men were divided as such:
Cover of the Withlacoochee - Lt. Col. Foster and 500 men are commanded to hunt the Tallahassee clans in this area.
Newnansville – A force of Dragoons were stationed here to defend the area.
Northern St. Johns River region – Lieutenant Colonel Alexander C.W. Fanning would send his forces south from the headwaters of the river and search for King Philip's (Emathla's) forces.
Orange Lake area – Another force of Dragoons patrolled this region for any hostile forces.
By Zachary_Taylor_half_plate_daguerreotype_c1843-45.png:
unknown, possibly Maguire of New Orleans
derivative work: Beao [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Southern St. Johns River region – General Joseph Marion Hernández was to go with his forces northward and search for enemy forces in the area of east of St. Johns River.
February 3rd, 1837
Alligator, Jumper, and Micanopy arrive at Fort Dade to make an agreement on a ceasefire. It was decided that the negotiations would continue on February 8th.
February 8th, 1837
Alligator, Jumper, and Micanopy do not show up at Fort Dade.
While encamped at Lake Monroe, Colonel Fanning and his forces were attacked at sunrise by combined forces of King Philip's and his son Coacoochee. A steamboat patrolling on the lake was able to aid Fanning's forces with artillery fire. After the battle, a fort was built and named after the first man killed in this battle, Captain Charles Mellon.
Colonel Foster comes across a village near Crystal River and takes the village.
March 6th, 1837
Some Seminole, and allied forces, agree to surrender at Fort Brooke. From there, they'll await relocation from the area. Also, in this agreement was that the blacks with them would be allowed to be relocated too. Which was central to this agreement, as it had not been included with the earlier Treaty of Payne's Landing.
April 5th, 1837
As per the agreement, a boundary is established from the Hillsborough River and eastward. No whites are allowed to cross into this region.
April 8th, 1837
An agreement made between General Jesup and several influential chiefs, made in secret, wherein all (former) slaves taken in the war would be turned over. Though, this would cause many problems as the Seminole and other tribes, clans didn't keep track of the numbers of ex-slaves taken.
April 18th, 1837
Arriving at Fort Brooke, Yaholoochee and his band turn themselves in. At Fort Mellon, numerous clans arrive. Including the clans of King Philip, Tuskinia, Coacoochee, Coa Hadjo, Sam Jones, and even Osceola's.
April 29th, 1837
General Jesup writes, in a letter, that he believes the Second Seminole War is soon to wind down and end.
May 1st, 1837
Whites are granted permission to cross the Hillsborough boundary to retrieve cattle that have strayed onto that land.
June 2nd, 1837
Osceola and Sam Jones launch a raid on the detention camp near Fort Brooke with nearly 700 warriors. All the supplies are taken and those detained there scatter. The territory reverts back to a hostile area.
June 11th, 1837
The U.S. Army attempts to increase recruits from the Creek Nation by allowing all property taken by their forces to be kept by them. Though this also applies to any forces that capture property in Florida.
June 22nd, 1837
General Alexander Macomb offers to have General Jesup relieved from commanding Florida's forces but his offer is refused.
July 1837
The Army of Florida is now called the Army of the South.
August 1837
General Gaines looks to take over command of the Army of the South but fails.
September 1837
The alliance of the Seminoles and the blacks in Florida Territory begins to fall apart. Some blacks begin to move into the settlements and tell stories about the hardships they had living amongst the Seminole in the wilds.
September 6th, 1837
As per the agreement in April, all ex-slaves that were captured are to be turned over to the army. From there, the Secretary of War is to make a decision on what is to be done with them.
September 8th, 1837
An ex-slave, along with his wife, arrive at St. Augustine and agree to lead the army forces to where King Philip, his people, and his forces are, near Dunlawton Plantation. After this engagement, King Philip and the rest of the band are captured.
September 9th, 1837
After the capture of King Philip's band, the army heads towards a village where chief Uchee Billy and more Seminole are at. Uchee Billy is captured, by General Hernández and his men, along with his brother Uchee Jack and many other Seminole. The army loses one man, killed by Uchee Billy during his capture. The Seminole had one killed and several wounded. The area around St. Augustine is far less hostile after these captures.
October 1837
General Winfield Scott attempts to regain control of the Army of the South but fails. October 27th, 1837
Osceola and his people arrive at Fort Mellon with a flag of truce. They are then captured. Osceola and Coa Hadjo are later sent to Fort Marion, in St. Augustine, and held.
Around this time, the Army of the South was split into four groups.
Colonel Zachary Taylor had command over the First Infantry Regiment and was to build a supply fort somewhere between the Kissimmee River and Pease Creek. They were also to engage the enemy whenever spotted.
Colonel Persifor Frazer Smith, commanding a regiment of Louisiana volunteers, was to patrol and defend an area south of Taylor, near the Caloosahatchee River.
Lieutenant Levin M. Powell, of the U.S. Navy, with sailors, artillery, and volunteer infantrymen patrolled the Everglades.
The main column of the army was split into four parts, as such:
Column One - General Hernández and his men were to move from Mosquito Inlet, head north, and then search the area east of St. Johns River.
Column Two – Colonel John Warren and his forces head south of the mouth of St. Johns River.
Column Three – General Abraham Eustis travel along the St. Johns River to destroy any villages they see.
Column Four – Operating from shortly-abandoned Fort King, they patrolled the areas of the St. Johns and Ocklawaha Rivers. December 1837
Osceola is relocated to Fort Moultrie in South Carolina, along with other Seminoles. December 5th, 1837
Cherokee leaders arrive in Florida, as a delegation, to try and end hostilities between the army and the Seminole. They took some of the local chiefs along with them. Like Osceola, they approached Fort Mellon with a flag of truce and were captured. Chiefs Micanopy, Nocose, Tuskegee, and Yaholoochee are sent to Fort Marion and held there.
December 19th, 1837
Colonel Taylor is permitted to find the enemy in the area of Lake Okeechobee. December 20th, 1837
Twenty-six Seminole, including Chief Jumper, turn themselves in and Colonel Taylor takes them into custody.
December 21st, 1837
Colonel Taylor has Fort Basinger built and it becomes a supply stop for campaigns in the area of Lake Okeechobee.
December 25th, 1837
The Battle of Lake Okeechobee begins and is a massive defeat for the Army of the South. They lose 26 men and suffer 112 wounded. This battle temporarily halted Taylor's forces' southern advancement.
December 30th, 1837
Fort Christmas is built and garrisoned by General Jesup and his men.
Numerous fortifications are built to create a boundary that begins at the inlet of the Indian River to present-day Bradenton. These forts were: Fort Bassinger Fort Floyd Fort Hamer Fort Myakka Fort Pierce
January 3rd, 1838
General Jesup departs from Fort Christmas with his army column and head south.
January 15th, 1838
Lieutenant Powell's forces battle a band of Tuskegee near the headwaters of the Jupiter River.
General Jesup's forces meet up with Colonel Taylor's forces in the area of the Indian River inlet.
January 24th, 1838
General Jesup, and his force of 1500 soldiers, clash with 300 Seminole and the Battle of the Loxahatchee River begins. This is the last battle that General Jesup commands.
January 31st, 1838
Osceola is said to have died of quinsy while imprisoned at Fort Moultrie in South Carolina. His death occurs around three months after he was 'captured' in Florida. He was buried at Fort Moultrie with military honors.
February 8th, 1838
Hallec-Hajo and Toskegee meet up with General Jesup. They are told to set up an encampment near Jesup's forces. General Jesup then sends out a letter about the Seminoles requesting a reservation for them in Southern Florida.
February 20th, 1838
Colonel Taylor is found to not be at fault over the massive defeat at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. He then becomes a Brigadier General.
March 17th, 1838
General Jesup receives a reply to his letter, from Washington D.C. A reservation for the Seminole is denied.
March 21st, 1838
Colonel David Emanuel Twiggs is sent to the Seminole camp and disarms them. They then "capture” the Seminole, numbering around 500 with 151 warriors. Once news got out, this event causes unrest and violence to increase throughout the territory.
March 22nd, 1838
Lieutenant Colonel James Bankhead gets into a skirmish with warriors led by Holatoochee. Holatoochee is captured some days later.
First Week of April
Holatoochee, a black man named Abraham, and several chiefs are sent out to negotiate with Chief Alligator to surrender himself and his people.
April 24th, 1838
Lieutenant Colonel William S. Harney and his forces engage with a small band of Seminole.
May 15th, 1838
General Jesup gives command of Florida to Brigadier General Zachary Taylor.
Forty Florida militiamen get into a skirmish with hostiles. Two militiamen are wounded.
June 4th, 1838
Troops from Fort Brooke engage a band of Seminole near Camp Izard, in the area of the Withlacoochee River. The Seminole forces burn Fort Dade down and almost do the same with a bridge over the Withlacoochee.
Major Benjamin Lloyd Beall leads his forces into an engagement of Seminole at Kanapaha Prairie. This results in the death of Captain Walker and the wounding of six dragoons.
August 20th, 1838
Due to the unending hostilities in Central Florida, the Secretary of War approves 500 mounted Florida militiamen and they have the task of guarding the area.
October 1838
The remaining Apalachicola, the last remnants of their tribe that left Florida between 1833 and 1834, are removed to Indian Territory.
November 1838
Brigadier General Taylor begins his fall and winter campaigns.
Colonel William Davenport re-establishes Fort Clinch and his forces patrol the Cove of the Withlacoochee.
Colonel Fanning re-establishes Fort Mellon.
Lieutenant Colonel Green and his forces patrol the area of St. Marks River to the Suwannee.
Major Gustavus Loomis patrols the area of Okefenokee Swamp.
Colonel Twiggs and his men search the area east of St. Johns River, then head south to New Smyrna where they proceed to build a post.
These forces main purpose was to build fortifications and roads to more quickly relocate any bands of Seminole and send them south of the line between Tampa Bay and New Smyrna. By the end of November, it was clear that this campaign was a failure before it even really began.
Events of 1839
January 23rd, 1839
By AlexanderMacomb.jpg: Thomas Sully (1783-1872)
derivative work: Hohum (AlexanderMacomb.jpg)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
A plan is approved that will divide all of the Florida Territory. These sections were roughly 20 miles square throughout most of Florida. While the sections were approximately 18 miles square in the region of the Suwanee River. This was due to settlements already existing in this area. Within each section, these areas would have a fortification with twenty soldiers, around ten of them being mounted patrols.
February 2nd, 1839
Eighteen Seminole are captured near Fort Mellon.
Two army soldiers are wounded in an attack around the area of Micanopy.
February 15th, 1839
Under orders of General Taylor, the plan of dividing Florida into 'squared' sections is carried out.
Approximately 200 Seminole are relocated from Florida and into Indian Territory. Sixty-five of which are warriors.
March 18th, 1839
Commanding General Macomb takes up orders to get to Florida and help negotiate treaties to end the war. As the war is just starting to become unpopular in DC and amongst some of the country's population.
April 5th, 1839
General Macomb arrives in Florida, near Jacksonville.
May 18th, 1839
General Macomb waits for Seminole chiefs to arrive at Fort King to negotiate an agreement to end the hostilities.
May 20th, 1839
Chiefs Chito Tustenuggee and Halleck Tustenuggee arrive at Fort King, negotiate with General Macomb and then sign an agreement wherein all Seminole bands still in Florida are permitted to live in an area south of Pease Creek. This agreement comes into effect on July 15th, 1839.
June 5th, 1839
Thirty Seminole escape a camp that they were being held in, pending relocation to Indian Territory. On the next day, those Seminole that didn't escape were sent west to Indian Territory.
July 20th, 1839
In the final months of his command, Brigadier General Taylor oversaw the building of 848 new roads and trails and 3,600 feet of bridges and causeways. Also, 53 new posts and supply stops were constructed.
July 23rd, 1839
Colonel Harney, commanding dragoons protecting a new trading post being built near the mouth of the Caloosahatchee River, are attacked in the early morning by nearly 200 Seminole warriors. It is Chakaika who leads the Seminole in this attack. Eighteen men at the site of this trading post are killed or captured, some burned alive. Also, Colonel Harney barely escapes. The Seminole also kill a trader and get away with many guns and trade items.
December 1839
Governor Richard Call is replaced, due to disagreements with the federal government, and Robert Raymond Reid takes his place.
Governor Reid permits the use of bloodhounds in searching for the bands of Seminole still in the Florida Territory.
January 27th, 1840
Two bloodhounds are put into action, alongside the army, in searching for Seminole.
March 28th, 1840
Captain Gabriel J. Rains and the 7th Infantry leave Fort King to scout another area. They are ambushed by 98 warriors and allied blacks. Captain Rains then notices that his men are in danger in being encircled. He commanded the remainder of his force, twelve men, and they charged the rear towards Fort King. Seven of his men are killed during the ambush. Captain Rains was also nearly killed during this event and suffered major wounds. Due to this, he is carried by three of his men, while the rest of his force guard the rear, as they make their way to Fort King.
General Taylor ends his service in Florida and is given permission to leave.
May 6th, 1840
Brevet Brigadier-General Walker Keith Armistead relieves General Taylor and replaces him as commander of the forces in Florida. He sets up his headquarters in St. Augustine.
May 11th, 1840
General Taylor leaves the Florida Territory.
May 19th, 1840
Forces led by Lieutenant James S. Sanderson are attacked 8 miles from Fort King. The Seminole forces that attacked them numbered around 100 and were led by Coacoochee. Lieutenant Sanderson and seven of his troops are killed in this attack. Ten of his men survive the attack.
June 1840
Captain Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville and his men are searching in the area of Big Swamp, about 15 miles from Fort King, when they find a band of Seminole carrying out a ceremony. The Seminole quickly scatter into the hammock.
A main army depot moves from Garey's Ferry to Palatka. A hospital is also situated at Picolata at this time.
June 2nd, 1840
Lieutenant Colonel Bennet C. Riley, of the 2nd Infantry, leads a force against Chocachatti Prairie, the location of a Seminole village and stronghold, completely destroying it.
August 7th, 1840
Chief Chakaika, thought to be the last of the Calusa, leads his warriors to raid Indian Key. Which was the capital of Dade County at that time. 13 of the 70 settlers at Indian Key are killed. Chakaika also captures a large amount of ammunition and gunpowder. Some of the escaped settlers make their way to Tea Table Key, which was a navy post with a hospital and training areas, and tells them what happened. In response, Midshipman Francis Key Murray gathers up some volunteers (some still sick) from the hospital, along with five sailors, and they head for Indian Key by ship.
As soon as they arrive they are shot at by the Seminole. Which causes them not to be able to land on the island. So Murray has his men fire on the Seminole, with their four-pounder cannons, three times. After sailors reposition their cannons athwartship (instead of bow to stern) the cannons' recoil causes the cannons to go over the edge of their boat after the first shot. The Seminole answer these shots with a six-pounder they captured on the island. Being without their cannons, Murray makes the decision to return to Tea Table Key. Once they arrive, they prepare for a possible attack from the Seminole.
August through November 1840
Much of the hostilities are temporarily put on hold, a ceasefire of sorts, to give the remaining bands of Seminole a chance to meet with the army forces and agree to leave the Florida Territory.
November 10th, 1840
Seminole leaders Halleck Tustenuggee and Thlocklo Tustenuggee attend talks with General Armistead at Fort King. He offered each of the Seminole leaders around $5,000 to surrender themselves and their bands. The Seminole leaders said they would think about it, staying at the fort for nearly two weeks while being fed and given supplies by the army, only to silently take off. After this, a 'state of hostility' resumed throughout the Florida Territory.
December 4th, 1840
Lieutenant Colonel Harney (now healed from his injuries) sets out from Fort Dallas, at modern-day downtown Miami, with his men to search for Chakaika. Lieutenant Colonel Harney has his men paint themselves up like the Seminole and they head into the Everglades. They were guided to the area of Chakaika and his band by a black man, John, that had lived amongst them for a while. Chakaika and his band were caught by surprise and unable to escape. Chakaika gave a gesture of surrender and was instead shot to death, possibly by Harney, and the rest of his band are executed not long afterwards.
December 28th, 1840
2nd Lieutenant Walter Sherwood, of the 7th Infantry, Lieutenant N. Hopson, Sergeant-Major Francis Carroll, and ten privates from the 7th Infantry are escorting the wife of Lieutenant Montgomery from Fort Watkahoota to Micanopy. Which was a distance of eight miles. Nearly halfway there, they were confronted by 30 Seminole warriors, lead by Halleck Tustenuggee, near Martin's Point. Two privates were killed by gunfire. Lieutenant Sherwood has his men attempt to fight back against the larger force. Meanwhile, Mrs. Montgomery is told to hide in the wagon but is shot in the chest in the process and quickly dies from her wound. The Seminole forces, having the upper hand, begin to overrun Lieutenant Sherwood and the remaining men. In the chaos, Lieutenant Hopson is able to get on a horse and escape. He heads to Micanopy to get reinforcements. The rest of the party left behind, including Sherwood and others, make their last stand until the end. They are then killed and scalped by the Seminole.
270 Seminole are held in camps for their relocation to Indian Territory.
March 2nd-4th, 1841
Lieutenant William Alburtis, of the 2nd Infantry, ambushes a band of Seminole led by Halleck Tustenuggee. Although, it was Halleck Tustenuggee who looked to ambush Alburtis' forces stationed at Fort Brooks (Ocklawaha, Florida). Lieutenant Alburtis was successful in his counter-ambush and drove out Halleck's band. Two days later, Halleck and his band attack a supply train heading to Fort Brooks. This leads to Lieutenant Alburtis and his forces engaging them in a bayonet charge and close fighting. Halleck and his warriors were driven off again.
March 5th, 1841
Coacoochee shows up at Fort Cummings (modern-day Lake Alfred) after an invite from General Armistead. They were dressed in outfits that they had taken during an attack on a baggage train in May of 1840. Two actors were killed in that attack. Coacoochee was dressed as Hamlet while the two others with him were dressed as Richard III and Horatio. They were there to negotiate for supplies and for the well-treatment of his people. As they negotiated, Coacoochee's young daughter, who he thought had been killed (not knowing she had been captured), interrupted the meeting after hearing his voice. Coacoochee saw her and began to cry.
March 9th, 1841
By McKenney, Thomas Loraine,
1785-1859; Hall, James, 1793-1868
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Coacoochee, his daughter, and his men depart from Fort Cummings.
March 22nd, 1841
Coacoochee meets with General Armistead at Fort Brooke and agrees to relocate after the Green Corn Dance in June. In response to this, many of the activities of the army were suspended.
May 1st, 1841
Coacoochee makes one of many journeys to Fort Pierce in preparation for their relocation. He and his warriors make these visits to request and gather supplies.
May 31st, 1841
General Armistead requests to be relieved of command. It is granted and command of Florida was given over to Colonel William Jenkins Worth.
June 4th, 1841
Major Childs, in believing that Coacoochee's supply trips were for stockpiling for a return to the hammocks, got permission to detain Coacoochee and those with him. Once they arrived at the fort, Coacoochee was seized, along with a brother of King Philip, Coacoochee's younger brother Otulke, and thirteen warriors. Guided by Coacoochee's interpreter, a black man named Joe, soldiers walked fifteen miles to Coacoochee's camp. When they arrived, the rest of Coacoochee's people had already left and so they headed back to the fort. Major Childs then prepares to send Coacoochee and his followers to New Orleans. But this plan is stopped by Colonel Worth, who looked to use Coacoochee to bring in the other Seminole bands still in the region.
August 8th, 1841
Members of Coacoochee's band bring in more of his followers. Though five men and fifteen women are still out in the hammock.
August 9th, 1841
Colonel Worth's resettlement plan, for white settlers in the Florida Territory, has its first success. Thirteen settlers and their eight slaves begin to resettle at Cedar Hammock, near Fort White.
Later in August 1841
Coacoochee helps bring in Chief Hospetarke for what Hospetarke believes would be a negotiation. Hospetarke is then captured along with some of his followers that were with him. Some of those followers and then sent out, with soldiers, to get the rest of Hospetarke's band to turn themselves in.
October 1841
Colonel Worth has a boundary created that includes Punta Rassa, stretching through Fort Denaud, onto Lake Okeechobee and across the territory to Fort Dallas or Fort Pierce.
October 12th, 1841
Colonel Worth has over 200 Seminoles relocated, including Hospetarke and Coacoochee, and they are sent out west. Some of them go on to also serve as guides and interpreters for the army.
October 19th, 1841
A delegation of Seminole chiefs, who had since relocated to Indian Territory, are sent back to Florida Territory, and to Fort Brooke, to try and talk other Seminole bands into turning themselves in and relocating. A chief and 160 followers turn themselves in at Fort Brooke.
December 20th, 1841
Halleck Tustenuggee and fifteen of his warriors attack Mandarin, near Dunn's lake, killing four settlers, burning down two buildings, and grabbing town supplies. This causes the army to renew their campaign in the northern area of the territory, as commanded by Colonel Worth. He commands that forces at Micanopy, those around the Ocklawaha River, and soldiers from the western region to keep a portion of their troops actively searching for hostiles.
Major William Goldsmith Belknap was left in charge during Colonel Worth's short absence. He leads some of his men to search for Thlocklo Tustenuggee and Billy Bowlegs in the Everglades. Though they captured a few Seminole, both Thlocklo Tustenuggee and Billy Bowlegs escaped.
1842 - End of the Second Seminole War
January 21st, 1842
By Civil War glass negative collection,
Library of Congress [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Thlocklo Tustenuggee, now being captured, is a part of a group that departs from Fort Brooke to speak with Seminole leaders, and their people, to try and encourage them to turn themselves in for relocation to Indian Territory. Thlocklo, during this mission, escapes from the soldiers and later meets Octiarche, a Creek chief, and tells him and his people to resist relocation to the last man.
January 25th, 1842
Major Joseph Plympton and 102 soldiers, of the 2nd Infantry, go out searching for and find Halleck Tustenuggee's band in the area of Dunn's Lake. A fight begins and, during the battle, the Seminole head further into the hammock. Due to this, a new plan is outlined to corner both Halleck's and Octriarche's bands. The army consisting of these columns:
Colonel John Garland - 4th Infantry operating out of Fort Fanning.
Colonel Gustavus Loomis – 6th, Infantry operating in the Wacasassa Hammock.
Lieutenant Colonel William Whistler - 7th Infantry operating in the areas between Micanopy and Wacahoota.
February 1842
Colonel Worth states that the southern portion of the Florida Territory is nearly empty of all hostile bands. All but two of his companies are moved North. Also, the 3rd Artillery is relieved of its duties in the territory and begin to depart from Florida.
February 5th, 1842
Colonel Worth, in a message to the federal government, makes a suggestion that the small bands remaining in Florida should be given a reservation. He saw it as not being worth the time to have them surrender and relocated. His idea is to have a reservation created on Florida's west coast, south of Pease Creek. His plan is rejected for the time being.
March 1842
Another resettlement plan by Colonel Worth is successful. Settlers consisting of 164 men, 137 women, and 192 children are settled in the territory. Also, 103 slaves and 56 slave children settle in the territory.
April 19th, 1842
The plan to capture Halleck Tustenuggee is carried out. He and his 40 warriors are cornered in the hammock in the area of the Peliklakaha settlement. Colonel Worth sends in 400 soldiers, made of men from the 2nd, 4th, and 8th Infantry Regiments, to try and cause the band to surrender. Once Colonel Worth and his forces arrive they find that the Seminoles' defensive positions were similar to those at the Battle of Lake Okeechobee. The army fired into the hammock and then charge the Seminole positions. This causes the Seminole to scatter and most of them end up escaping, find only supplies left behind. This would be the last formal battle of the Second Seminole War.
April 29th, 1842
Halleck Tustenuggee, along with his two wives and his children, arrive at Warm Springs to meet with Colonel Worth. They leave Warm Springs and head off to Fort King to attend a feast, as promised to the attending Seminole by the commander of Fort King. Nearly as soon as Colonel Worth and Halleck Tustenuggee arrived, a signal was sounded and all of the Seminole who had attended were taken into custody. Which included 43 warriors, 37 women, and 34 children. The feast was nothing more than a ploy to capture Seminoles.
May 10th, 1842
The Second Seminole War is being criticized by the public. Especially in its treatment of the Seminole and other Florida tribes. A new Secretary of War, John C. Spencer, sends a message to Colonel Worth telling him that he should put a complete end to the war as soon as possible.
July 14th, 1842
Halleck Tustenuggee and his people are relocated out of the Florida Territory and to Indian Territory.
August 3rd, 1842
Lieutenant McLaughlin, the commander of the naval detachment in the Everglades, dismisses his force from duty there and they return to their fleet.
August 5th, 1842
Colonel Worth send out messages to chiefs in the territory that he is at Cedar Key and is willing to meet with any and all chiefs to discuss agreements on ending hostilities. Billy Bowlegs and two of his fellow chiefs arrive at Cedar Key to meet with Colonel Worth. No decision is communicated to Colonel Worth.
August 9th, 1842
Thlocklo Tustenuggee and Octiarche arrive at Cedar Key to meet with Colonel Worth. They leave without telling what their decision on being relocated is.
Later in August 1842
The reservation plan, permitting some Seminole to live in an area of the west coast of Florida, is allowed to come into fruition.
The federal government passes the Armed Occupation Bill into law. Under this law, settlers would be given land grants in Florida, just as long that these stipulations were followed:
The settlers' land must be south of a boundary, running east to west, that exists three miles north of Palatka and ten miles south of Newnansville.
It must be occupied for a period of five years.
Settlers must build a house and have five acres set aside for agricultural use.
Settled land must not be within two miles of a military post.
Over 200,000 acres of land were given to settlers during the two years that this law was in effect.
August 14th, 1842
Colonel Worth declares that the Second Seminole War is over.
October 12th, 1842
At this point, the only regular forces left in the Florida Territory were men from the 3rd Infantry, six companies from the 4th Infantry, and the 8th Infantry. These forces were based at military posts throughout the Florida Territory.
November 1842
Colonel Worth returns to Florida and has become impatient in waiting for Thlocklo Tustenuggee and Octiarche to make up their minds. He orders his forces to bring the both of them in. They find Thlocklo Tustenuggee and end up having to carry him on a stretcher due to his terrible illness. Thlocklo ended up dying, in New Orleans, before he made it to Indian Territory. Around this time, Northern populations of Seminole were also sent to Indian Territory.
End of the War
The 'activity' of the Second Seminole War decreased and the remaining bands of Seminole in the Florida Territory were mostly left alone. Although attacks by Seminoles still occurred every now and then. Not long after, the people of the Seminole and other tribes still in Florida were no longer considered a danger to the settlers and the only forces left in Florida were the 8th Infantry.
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. A peace treaty, made on March 22nd, 1621, created an alliance that guaranteed peace between the Wampanoag and Plymouth, under Massasoit's word.
remaining as neutrals during the Pequot War. His word and dealings, with the Plymouth Colony, kept a sometimes unstable peace between the Colony and the Wampanoag for nearly half a century. It was a peace that also died along with Massasoit's death around the year 1661.
The Gulf Wilderness Park is a wooded ravine which was first cut out by a once raging river whose waters came from glacial melt during a warming cycle ten to fifteen thousand years ago. The glacier was formed during the latest of four glacial periods that covered much of North America and New York State two to three million years ago with ice sheets a mile or so thick.
, was one. Its beaches are today represented by the plateau to the north of the escarpment here at Lockport. In fact, U.S. Route 104 is built on the old beach ridge.
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. Later comes wild mint, leeks; then wild roses, jewelweed and doll's-eyes. Ferns are evident most of the year. In addition to the flowers, a wide variety of trees are found here.
, at the southern end of Canandaigua Lake, has been a sacred site for a very long time. At the base of the gully one can find the visible remains (stones and rock formations) and the still glowing spiritual embers of several ancient civilizations. Clark's Gully provides the pilgrim with a unique opportunity to experience and add to the spirit of a variety of peoples that have prayed there before. It is also a testament to my belief that people are drawn to pray at the same place over and over again and that in doing so we add to the foundation of love and spirit placed there before.
does not reduce light pollution. Not at all. Energy efficiency does not translate to smarter usage either. Their energy efficiency actually leads to the usage of more LED lighting on streets and in public areas, increasing light pollution to levels higher than previous times, using older 'lighting technology'.
, Western New York, has a rich history. Though a larger part of that history surrounds Murder Creek. One event in Murder Creek's history is about the murder of Nellie May Connors by 17-Year-Old Sadie McMullen on October 31st of 1890, when she threw the girl off a bridge across Murder Creek. McMullen also attempted to kill Delia Brown, but Brown survived the fall. It's also said that Sadie McMullen looked to commit suicide and wanted to take others with her. Sources: 
, when ten years old, decided to run away. The whole nation was in the utmost confusion. By a system of high-handed fraud every foot of land the Seneca s had was signed away and the order came, "March West." The stoutest heart felt the clutching of emotions that could not "be concealed. There were bickerings and quarrelings and the people were in a pitiful situation. Ely did not wish to stay in a country where confusion, deceit and trickery existed. He resolved to go to Canada where the followers of Brant lived, and to join the Six Nations band on the Grand river. His father consented and he went, accompanied by an older man, a friend of his father. 
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, is set in a world where most of humanity has been wiped away by massive war. The 'utopia' that the citizens live in has deep shades of a scientific dictatorship and emotion is thought of as a disease that's needs to be managed until a "cure" can be found. Citizens who need it are prescribed inhibitors to keep their emotions dulled down. Much like how millions of Americans today volunteer to be kept complacent by 'big pharma's' drugs._Florida_-_OSEOLA_(Osceola).jpg "Osceola")
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, an area south of what was called the "Great Swamp" back then, around 1800, would become the future site of part of the Town of Elba. This square mile of land was bordered by early roads. The northern road of this square-mile area was Ridge Road. It was also known as Bulgaria Ridge and Bulgary Ridge at various times throughout Elba's history. Bulgary Ridge is still seen labeled on USGS maps from the 1970s. I still have one such map that we've had since the 1980s.
_(14749864271).jpg "Osceola and General Wiley Thompson")
