The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1909-12-05
SEM|NOLES MAY
QUIT EVERGLADES
TRIBE MAY ABANDON FLORIDA
AND COME TO OKLAHOMA
ARE A STRANGE PEOPLE.

Tampa. Dec. A report comes
that the last survivors OF the Sem.
mole tribe, headed by Chief Tiger Tail.
will soon remove TO Oklahoma, going
upon the Seminole reservation In
that state and abandoning the Ever.
glades, where they were born ana
where their fathers fought SO well.
While there may be some little truth
in the report, 1t is hard to figure
out whore the Florida Scminoles
would gain anything by making such
a transfer. For one thing, the Sem.
mole reservation In Oklahoma has
been allotted and subdiyided. the
lands not taken for members OF the
tribe have been bought by white men.
and there would he no place TO put
Tiger Tails people II they went.
Then. again. why should the free
and happy followers OF Tiger Tail
even think of gong to crowded
state. among the whites, with no
means OF making a livelihood. no
chance to do anything but struggle
along amid strange conditions ana
strange faces? The Flor da Semi.
noles would be hugely foolish to make
the shift. and their better sense will
probably keep them where they are.
Tiger Tails band OF Seminole
leads the most comfortable, carc.free
life ina. enable Right here In Flori.
da, close to the winter resorts and the
hum OF civilized existence. they carr,
on their hunting and their forest row
ings exactly as they did 100 years
ago They are wild Indians OF the
widest sort, and yet are wholly harm
less. The vast swamps OF the Ever.
glades house them well. they interior,
with nobody and should be left alone
to adorn the landscape and add color
to the picture.
ITO this day very little Is known
OF the Everglades. Swamp. hum.
mocks. jungles and waterways, the,
lie In silent splendor. a picture or
greens and blues. untrayeled by the
white man, and apparently impossible
OF penetration save TO the Seminole
Tiger 1aiI's men go and come In their
canoes. gliding up and down the wa
terways. finding their road am d the
sawgrass and the jungle lanes. never
getting lost and never doing injury
to other people, Without them many
an adventurous hunter and foolhardy
tourist would die an awful death amid
the solitudes II often keeps Tiger
Tails folks busy Ash ng tourists out
or the swamp. and there has never
been a case where the Seminole rUu
bed the lost traveller. mistreated him
or failed to bring him TO their camps
with royal hospitality.
The number OF Tiger Tail's people
has never been known, but govern.
ment agents est mate the number at
575. Floridians think about 400 Sem
lnolos live In the swamps, the num-
ber Increasing hut little, certainly
not diminishing. They are full.
bloods, clad in the cool and comforta-
ble Indian dress Of the southern
tribes, well armed. intelligent and
good looking.
When Oscoola stirred the Seminole
to war in 1885 they numbered about
5000. In seven years Of fighting
the government caught and sent west
1929 OF the tribe, while the death list
Of soldiers totaled l,iGG. Add to tn g
the inoffensiye citizens who were
slain, and 1t win be seen that the bal
ance was much In favor OF the red
men In 1912 It was supposed that
only 3is Seminoles were left, and
these were allowed to stay In the