The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-12-20

INDIANS
ALsEpF ~ NTtRH6Ns
oscEoLA..
a. r.,o,-e-nc-o.o-o-.e.

-AtphlhB u lHunuTeu5 BaYABeB with mis-
drawn bow. The threatened men were
chiefs and ssub.chiefs OF the Seminole
nation. Brave they we're and. fierce
warrlofs they shrank before the
leyeled arrow Of this one leader. For
t%assweIl known he never twanged
hoWstrtng nor pulled trigger without
killing. While the Seminoles hesItat.
ed he spoke:
No treaty shall be signed" said he,
which robs us Of our land. The man
who sets his name to such paper
dies iat my hand"
The speaker was As.se.he.ho.lar
tmeaning Black Drink.") The name
has been shortened in history to "Os.
ceola.n His mother was daughter OF
Creek Indian chief. His father was
William Powell, an Engllshman. os.
ceola was born near Chattahoochee,
Gas In 1904. When he was a mere
child his mother fed from her English
husband. taking her son with her, and
4 never pausing in her flight until she
REACHED her fathers tribe In southern
Georgia. Whether because her hus.
band had maltreated her or for some
other cause, she had a mortal hatred
Tor: al white men, and she made her
son hate them even more bitterly than
did she. Both she and, osceola spoke
English as readily as their own Ian.
guage.
4. A Boy Warrior
The Creek tribe which osceola and
his mother Joined went to war in 1918
with the United States. osceola was
\ only fourteen years old, yet so valiant
4 WIS he and already SO brilliant com.
mander that he was chosen as one Of
the tribes sub-chiefs. He and his
Y people fought in vain againlt the gov
4 eminent troops and were forced to re.
I treat southwark into the Everglades
q Florida. There they Joined the
4 seminoles. Micanopy, the Seminole
sachem, was old and a peaceful ma.
ture. So the boy. osceola, quickly be-
came q real war chief of the Semi.
roles. For the next. few years no
Went, from tribe to tribe OF the ina
ton, preaching against the white
men and preparing the savages for
war; Then came the first great clash
with Uncle Sam.
The government decided to ship the
whole Seminole nation west lof the
Mississippi and to pay them a nomi.
nal sum for their Florida land. A few
chiefs were induced on March 9, 1892,
to sign q treaty to, this effect, Osceola,
In fury, denouhced such an act aud
dashed his people to rebellion. Then
1t was that he called the council and
threatened to shoot dead the first man
4 who should agree TO leave Florida.
Micanopy was US wax In the hands OF
I the local Indian agent, But he feared
to disobey osceola more than no
.caded the power of the white men.
The agent saw that Osceola was the
Z real power in Florida, so he spread be.
fore the young savage copy OF the
4 treaty. begging him to sign It. BY way
OF answer. osceola drove his knife
through the paper. The agent threat.
eneds him with the wrath of President
Jackson. former conqueror Of Florida.
osceola retorted:
II fear Jackson no more than fear
you"
: The conference broke up In disor.
der. .osceolas hatred OF the, whites
was increased tenfold when they cap.
tured his young wife and sold her as
n slave. He himself was captured, but
\ escaped from Jail inside OF two days.
After that, 1t was war to the death.
Osceola looked on the Indian agent as
his worst enemy. Soon afterward the
agents dead body was found, pierced
+ by fourteen bullets. Major Dade, with
ITO soldiers, was marching inland
! from Tampa when Osceola and a band
OF braves flung themselves on the
troops and slaughtered all but three
Of them. Then with an inferior force
he marched against General Clinrh
and 1000 soldiers. He marlalcd his
little army like an expert tacticinn.
The Indians held off the troops uE"l
all their ammunition was gone, then
5 retreated in safety. Osceola himself
is said to have slain 40 white men IN
that fight.
An Act of Treachery.
Battle followed battle, wiki varring
results. AT times Osceola used all the
willy tricks Of his race, pretending to
agree to the governments w:shes;
then, as soon as he was strong enough,
breaking out in some new section.
i When hard pressed he and his men
would take refuge In the Everglades
Tbs Everglades is huge, marshy
Florida lake, go miles wide by 100
miles in length, dotted with ilnpene.
trable islands and altogether hope
less maze to one not used TO It's many
hiding places. Thence Osceola would
dash forth on his murderous raids.
I Yet. at his worst, he would never per-
init his followers to harm u woman or
a child.
At5last, in 1887, temporary peace
+ was patched up with the government.
Under flag of truce and a promise
Of safety osceola went by Invitation
to- a conference in General Jesup's
camp. There he was trcacherously