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THE CAPTIVE OSCEOLA
42" X 60" Oil Painting
Video
Seminole War leader Osceola escorted to prison in St. Augustine, 1837.
After two years of widespread fighting across Florida known as the Second Seminole War, desperate measures were initiated to defeat the Seminole Tribe's resistance to the removal policy put in place by the U.S. Government.
It was determined by the Federal Army and the Territorial Militia of Florida, in combat with the Indians, that the war could be ended and the spirit of the Seminoles broken if their charismatic war leader Osceola was eliminated. A controversial plan was initiated to meet with the leader and his followers under a flag of truce and then apprehend them by force. The plot was successfully executed at a place ten miles south of St. Augustine known as Moultrie Creek. The trap was sprung and the entire delegation of Seminoles was abducted in minutes. The captives were herded back to St. Augustine.
The procession wound through the narrow streets, creating a spectacle that drew the citizens to line the doorways and verandas along the way. They all wished to see the fabled Osceola, who was already becoming a legend.
Of the more than eighty captured Seminoles, some escaped. The others were later removed to the Western Territory. Osceola fell ill and was transported to Ft. Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina. His health continued to decline and the legendary War Leader died there on January 31, 1838.
Osceola has become one of the greatest Native American leaders in our history. His followers fought for four more years, never fully capitulating to their enemy. They receded into the Everglades, where today their descendants still live with honor.
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