The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1908-02-14
A SEMINOLE SENTENCE
An indian Brave Who Betrayed His
Trust Exiied From, While Yet
Among, His People

As Il rule. the Seminole Indians who
imake their home in the Everglades of
Florida are not very communicative
regarding their lives and customs, but
sometimes one Of their braves will de-
part from h)s usual rule Of silence
long enough to give one an idea of
how the red men conduct their tribal
iaffairs, says the Miami News Record.
\ party Of white men who were on
"a hunting trip through the Everglades
a few years ago. fell in with a num-
Der of Seminoles who were also out
! looking fer game. The white men were
very we'll supplied with all kinds of
things to eat and drink, and the In
dams accepted an invitation to take
lunch with their white brothers.
When the meal WAS prepared, the
! Indians settled down to eat in circle
around the campfire, with the eXcep-
| ton of one ola buck, who took his pOr-
! zion Of food and seated himself on a
rest of the party.
! The white hunters noticed the ac-
tons of the old fellow. and questioned
the others about it, but none of them
would offer an explanation, processing
to be. unable to understand what the
white man wanted to know.
Following the dinner, pipes were
i brought out, and everybody enjoyed a
smoke, after which the Indians began
to make preparations to leave. One of
the young white men was not salts
fled to let the mysterious actions of
the old Indian drop without finding
out the cause Of his eating by himself,
and with the aid of a bottle of good
liquor finally eaticed one of the In
dams off from the camp and after
many frequent applications of the rye
spirit elected this story from the erst-
while mute:
Many years ago, while the Semi
nOles were masters of the southern
part of the state, a band of them Wis
| tied the coast of Mosquito Inlet, and
one night while they were there a ter
rife storm arose and continued to
blow fiercely for several days. The In
dians We're visiting the beach in
search of turtle eggs, and, as the seas
ran so high, had become almost dis
couraged and were breaking camp to
return to their interior. when a large
ship came in sight running before the
wind and showing plain signs of dis
| tress.
| The Indians watched her closely
| from their hiding place behind the
, beach hills, and soon saw that the
big ship was trying to get in to safety
through the inlet But fate was
against her, however. and in short
space Of time she had begun to break
to pieces in the grasp of the tenacious
| beach sand.
There was no chance for any Of the
crew, and none Of them escaped. Two
or three small boats were put over
but were almost instantly dashed to
pieces against the sides of the ship
| BY shutdown that day the beach was
strewn with the wreckage and not a
sign of the ship remained where she
had first struck.
The Indians began to gather up all
articles of value which came ashore
and in their search among the wreck
age. found the galley Of the unfortu-
nate vessel This part Of the ship was
almost intact, and on the inside was
found all of the shining copper and
brass pots. which, to the Indians, We're
objects Of the greatest interest.
The Indians returned home. or, in
other words. back to the woods. car
rying their cooking utensils with them
Soon the news was spread over the
state among all the rest Of the tribe.
and wherever the chief pitched his
camp, there the brass and copper ket-
ties were kept
In the years that followed the uten-
sis We're handed down from chief to
ed
After the Florida Indian war, the
treasured pots and kettles We're kept
by those Indians who refused to ac-
cept the terms of the government. but
stole away into the Everglades where
they have since remained
Long after the war was over. a party
of white men who were on sur
veying tour for the government, came
upon an Indian camp, guarded by one
fires were those wonderful brass pots,
and at once the white men offered to
buy them from the Indian in charge