The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-12-16

alAllNS
ALHERI .TeRifGNE
4biLLy 1IIotyWLEes.!"

Z t.frtNNhS 49, 40 'sAha y NCAy
long Indian name etouchsd behind a
grassy knoll In q Florida swamp one
dsSfiH 1s25, With 4 bow as tall as
himself he was, ssndlng a succession
otiAtrows Into graqps Of desperately
lighting United States soldiers. :,
/ I, IL iwaS The sbs;ile In which brave
Major Dade and his little body Of
troops were wiped out by osceola's
fierce Seminole warriors. osceola las
an earlier arttcle OF this series told
took actual command Of the Semi.
noles; but their sachem was Mlcanopy
hn old man.. The little boy with the
big bow was Mlcanopy's grandson.
From babyhood he was "a ferocious,
NARROWING. little chap. Most OF his
tint. was spent on horseback.
His efforts to sit astrlde the broad
backs OF the native horses and ponies
had bent his legs into odd shape. The
Indians often nicknamed each other
from some peculiarly of face, figure
or action. So the lads real name was
quickly forgotten and he was known
through life as BILLY Bowlegs." Such,
at least, was the way the Americans
translated his. longer Spanish title Of
i"Gulllermtto a las piernas cdrvas."
r. A Boy Warrior.
The Dade battle was the first OF
Billy's many fights. In 1t he slew sew.
'Sfal white men and, by reckless cour-
'dge AS well as BY Seminole cunning
he Won then a,fane that was soon to
spread throughout the United States.
3 oscsola had wrought terror, and
desolatlon from one end Of the Semi.
mole country to the other. When he
was treucherously seized while going
TO a conference under a flag OF truce.
the government thought 1t would be
easy to force his leaderless tribesmen
into submission. But the war.fres
Osceola had lighted were not to be
80 easily quenched. For years the
conflict dragged on before the author
tiles were able to ship the sullen
Seminoles west, to the reservation laid
out for them. AS Il was, about $50 OF
tile fiercest refused to go and managed
TO escape the governments agents by
hiding In the Everglades. These re-
bellious seminoles chose Billy Bow.
legs for their sachem, or head chief.
Many years had passed since tho
Dade fight and Billy had grown to
fill manhood. He, was a crack shot,
warrior OF marvellous strength and
endurancei and had, moreover, the
faculty Of. escaping, from every tight
place in which he CHANGED to. find him.
sell. This last,named quality led ibis
superstitions followers to believe, Billy
had The powertto+ make himself ,inyls,
ible. At one time he. secretly led a
party Of his braves on "a sixty.milo
march away from their Everglades
stronghold oJdke Kissimmee, where
at, daylight he fell upon the fort there
and wellnish carried It by storm be.
fore the large garrison was fairly
awake. Eeaten back at last by supei.
ior- numbers, he retreated fp gS6d 6r.
der.
Captain Clarke, commandant OF the
fort, led a party OF soldiers In pursuit
Of the retreating Indians. This suited
Billy Bowlegs perfectly, He. On.
trenched his men around little hill,
and poured forth such a calling, dead.
ly FIRE that the troops were beaten
back with heavy loss. achievements
were hurried to the spot by General
Harvey. who hoped to catch the Semi.
noles before they could get back 10
the safety OF the Everglades, But
Billy Bowlegs was too clever for him.
The whole party had vanished. blythe
time the government reinforcements
The war department, angry at the
Seminole leaders audacleus raids,
aenr ~ big expedition pndsr Colonel
Eoomis todcrush him.. Loomis divided
his force and attacked the Everglades
from many different points. One com.
pany. was SO fortunate as to, come
upon q, party of Indians, who were car.
rylng their wives and. children to a
place oil; safety. Billy Bowlegs was
leading the fugitiyes. The troops gal.
loped down upon the Indians, shoot.
Ing, slashing and capturing. But when
tbs smoke Of battle cleared away 1t
WIS found that Billy RnHlers had