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| Chief Billy Bowlegs |
BRADENTON – After the Armed Occupation Act was passed in 1842, an influx of settlers migrated to Manatee County. The first stake of claim was on native lands near a frequently utilized medicine spring that was well known within the native community. Josiah Gates, Manatee County’s first settler, claimed this land (present-day 15th Street in Bradenton), as his own despite obvious evidence (a hard packed path, Indian trinkets and a cultivated garden) that only a short time had passed since the Seminoles had inhabited the area.
The U.S. had guarded the area after the close of hostilities in 1842 with two companies located at St. Augustine and Tampa, but when these outfits withdrew for the Mexican War in 1848, there was no military force except a group of Florida Volunteers in Tampa Bay.
A small remnant of the once powerful Seminole Nation remained in Florida after the majority was deported west. A few hunred men, women and children retired to their restricted border where the majority never emerged. The Seminoles were free to trade at will, despite efforts to restrict them to a trading station at Caloosahatchee. The legendary Billy Bowlegs, or Assinna Othulkeethloko, became their established chief. Bowlegs was well known through the rural community and possessed a respectful reputation according to white settlers. On several occasions he made friendly visits to community pioneers and was usually accompanied by his brother in law No-Kush-Adjo. Families welcomed the duo as guests who excited ordinary evenings with their captivating stories. Bowlegs was particularly entertained by his victim’s reaction when he snuck up on them unannounced. Bowlegs always wore two silver dollars around his neck.
While Bowlegs was a regular guest at Josiah Gates’ home, other residents weren’t as familiar with his friendly nature. The Wyatts lived on a river ranch in East County. One day while the men of the family were out herding cattle, Mary Wyatt and her mother heard voices from across the river. Thinking it must be some friends, Mary courteously hurried to the shoreline and readied the rowboat for their pick up. She looked in every direction and called out, but no one answered. Then she saw the underbrush part across the river and the faces of five Seminoles came into view. The leader beckoned her across. Being at the mercy of the natives she was terrified, but bravely did as she was told. Bowlegs introduced himself and alerted her that they would be camping nearby for a sort spell. The band was recuperating from a sickness and practiced bleeding themselves by cutting gashes down their legs with thorns. They used various herbs and barks as medicine. They formed a friendship with the Wyatt family. Then while sharing supper one member of the family asked Bowlegs, ”If there was ever another uprising, would you kill our family?“
”Yes,“ he said, ”but we would kill you easy.“ The comment was meant to be a compliment, meaning he would not allow torture.
Then in 1849, a band of outlaw Seminoles committed a string of murders and robberies at various trading posts directly east of Tampa Bay in present-day Polk County and in Charlotte Harbor. This prompted Governor Mosley to assemble companies of infantry for further defense and security. All four companies were to report to their posts, either St. Augustine or Fort Brook (Tampa), immediately. The volunteers marched at two days notice from as far as 300 miles away, but their efforts couldn’t stifle a new fear among settlers.
Homes became fortified compounds. Forts went up all over the state. Following the death of Capt. William Bunce, a fort was erected at the mouth of the Manatee River, Fort Stark, where his original ranchero had subsisted. Josiah Gates built a stockade around his home, and Joseph Braden built his ”castle“ strong enough to evade an attempted attack. Joseph Addison and Dr. Franklin Branch also built forts during the interim between wars. People temporarily resided in these locations for protection as more natives rebelled and raided surrounding communities.
In northern Florida near the Panhandle Jehu and Marthy Richards were traveling in wagon with their children when some natives spotted them and redirected their route toward the family. Jehu realized the danger, as the wagon was approaching a clearing. He backed the wagon to the edge of the woods and told the children to hide. Jehu and Marthy were slain, but the children escaped hiding in the brush and then surviving on grass and berries until rescued. One of the children, Daniel Uriah Richards, eventually became a great cattleman in Manatee County and married into the Lamb family of Palmetto.
During a raid along the Manatee River a group of natives stole six or seven slaves and fled south. Troops from Tampa tracked them to a river -- across it were a hundred warriors painted and armed. They challenged the outfit to cross the river, but being outnumbered they retreated and returned to Tampa.
Billy Bowlegs traveled to Tampa to deny allegations that his band had anything to do with the attacks. He and other Nation leaders claimed five young Seminoles who live along the Kissimmee River committed the recent murders; one was an outlaw on the run to avoid persecution from the Seminole Nation.
General D. Twiggs arrived with 11 companies of artillery and 10 companies of infantry – totaling 2,000 men. After negotiations with principal chiefs, a truce was reached, although leaders did not agree with Twiggs’ efforts to relocate their people to Arkansas territory. It was during this time that Julia Atzeroth of Terra Ceia served Bowlegs dinner while she worked off her debt to Colonel W.W. Belknap at Fort Brook.
After negotiations, General Twiggs ordered the construction of 18 forts stretching over the southern frontier of the state as a determent for natives to venture our of their territory and protection for settlers residing west of the line. Fort Hamer was part of this string. A train kept the forts stocked. The fact that government forts were encircled Seminole Territory did not sit well with chiefs.
In June of 1850, delegates from different precincts in Hillsborough County (which Manatee was part of) convened in Tampa. Among them Josiah Gates and Franklin Branch from the Manatee section. Branch was elected president.
Two months later a boy named D. Hubbard was seized and held captive by natives before being brutally murdered. Chief Sam Jones held three natives, a father and son and another young man, accountable and put them in a Marion County jail. Before they could be tried, the three fashioned nooses out of blankets and strangled themselves. Many Manatee residents believed they were innocent and Jones had wanted them dead because of personal reasons.
The delegates came to a peaceful agreement offering Seminoles who surrendered themselves $850 a head. A total of 70 surrendered, mostly women and children. Nation Leaders, including Bowlegs, traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with President Millard Fillmore but aside from being wined and dined, not much was accomplished.
The Florida Legislature decreed it unlawful for Seminoles to be in the state, the brigades were instructed to enforce the law by capture or eviction.
The Seminoles had little choice but to retire south below Okeechobee were they were forgotten by most. Trade was prohibited so there was little reason for them to leave their post.
Then, while surveying for a line of posts that would confine the natives to the Everglades, the U.S. War Department did something unthinkable. They trespassed on Bowlegs’ property in Big Cyprus and burned and destroyed his treasured garden, which included some magnificent 15-feet-tall banana trees. The soldiers admitted their guilt but refused to apologize or provide compensation. Then on Dec. 24, 1855 Bowlegs attacked the men – starting the Third Seminole War.
The news spread like rapid fire. Rewards up to $500 were offered for the capture of Seminole leaders.
On the night of March 31, 1856 a band of 12 natives, although only four were seen, attacked Braden Castle, but the thick walls prevented them from injuring any of the residents. They stole approximately 10 slaves and three mules. Prince was a slave of the Gates. He hid two of his children in a trashcan but when one of the Seminole warriors passed closeby a frightened girl jumped up and screamed – the two small children were also captured.
A few days later, Addison and others snuck up on the Seminoles at Joshua Creek (Arcadia). One of the hostages, Peter Shawl, screamed ”cowboys!“ and alerted the outfit of their arrival. The natives left all their stolen goods in an effort to escape. Two Seminoles were killed and scalped and another wounded by the pioneers, the rest were captured and returned to military detachment at Peace Creek.
The entire community panicked and flocked to Dr. Branch’s fortified home and Braden Castle --all except for Capt. Fred Tresca and a hired hand named Owen. Tresca had no fear of native attack. His fairness in Seminole dealings had earned him their respect. He also spoke their language.
Simon Snell visited Tresca on his way back from getting supplies. The two visited for about an hour. When Snell left, he noticed faint streaks of smoke above his home. Suspecting another raid, he went to get backup. Snell’s meeting with Tresca saved him from the brutal fate of his hired hand, Owen, an Irishman who refused to leave the Whittaker/Snell premises on Sarasota Bay. A few burnt bones and the muscles of a heart were the only remains of Owen that were found among the charred homestead.
Seasons passed and babies were born during the months that residents occupied the forts. While the extent of the housing arrangement is not known for certain, historians estimate it was around nine months. The squatters received news that entire families had been wiped out; the Seminoles often setting fire to a house and then shooting residents as they tried to escape their fiery fate.
They say the last American Indian killed in this area died at Pope Gully on a sandy embankment. He was camouflaged, hiding in an oak tree. The oak tree was left there as a kind of corner stone – wherever the war was being fought, that oak marked the end of an era of trepidation that had lasted over forty years. The old oak rotted down then sprouted up again, where it stayed and stayed.
Under the direction of Capt. John T. Lesley, of Tampa, three companies were organized, armed and equipped with rations to fight the hostile Seminoles. Lesley had joined the Florida militia as a private but quickly was promoted to lieutenant. He hand-selected thirty-one men were from Manatee, Hillsborough and Benton (now Hernando) counties based on their familiarity with native customs. Among them Manatee residents Joe Atzeroth, Joseph Braden, John Craig, Daniel Hawkins and Simon Snell were employed as boatmen to track wanted refugees through the swamps of the Everglades – where no horseman could go. A female Seminole guide named Polly aided them in their pursuit. Lesley’s outfit shipped 139 captives Seminoles, including the infamous Bowlegs (who had given himself up in February of 1858), to Egmont Key. From there the Seminoles were forced to embark on a solemn sail to New Orleans and join other native Americans on the Trail of Tears – the harsh forced march for their relocation in Oklahoma Indian territory.
Capt. Tresca was manning the lighthouse on Egmont while the Seminoles were waiting deportation. Having never shared animosity toward the natives like other white settlers, a wave of pity consumed him as he witnessed them boarding the steamer Grey Cloud. The 38 warriors, 85 women and children and a few inmates, who were herded like cattle onto the boat, would never again see their fair-weathered homeland and few would survive the harsh journey to theri new territory.
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