My 4th great grandfather was chief of the Seminoles – Holatta Micco (Alligator King) of the Alligator clan. Americans referred to him as Billy Bowlegs. This was not due to his physical stature but because of a mangling of the name Bolek, (Scottish trader Arbuthnot referred to him as Bolek).
Who are Seminoles? In the early 1700’s the Oconee, part of the Creek Confederacy, left their home in Georgia and migrated south to a few miles south of present day Gainesville, Florida. They were known as the Alachua band. Secoffee –Cowkeeper was chief, and father of Billy Bowlegs and King Payne. The form of government was by hereditary head chief chosen for life and several band chiefs.
The Seminoles were joined by runaway slaves from Georgia many of whom had been captured from African fighting tribes, the Ibo and Egha, Senegales from Dakar, Ashanti, and Corromantee from the Gold Coast. The Seminoles welcomed these warriors and let them form their own town villages near them.
The expansion of US settlers towards the Gulf Coast and into the peninsula of Florida precipitated a long period of confrontation and battle against the Seminoles usually defined by three Seminole wars, however the struggle for their existence was continuous.
Florida was in Spanish possession though not well controlled by Spain. The US feared that the British would take control of Florida and use it as a base for aggression into the US. The US was afraid of the Seminoles aiding the British. US settlers also wanted the choice Florida land near Gainesville the Seminoles occupied and they resented the Seminoles welcoming the escaped slaves from Georgia.
The disregard for Indians’ rights and the view held by most Americans at the time was stated succinctly by John Quincy Adams who as an attorney argued before the Supreme Court,
“What is the Indian title? It is mere occupancy for the purpose of hunting. It is not like our tenures; they have no idea of a title to the soil itself. It is overrun by them, rather than inhabited. It is not a true legal possession.”
John Quincy Adams, 1810, Fletcher v. Peck
It was the strong desire of the President, Congress, Secretary of War and state governors and militia that Indians of all tribes be physically removed by all means necessary. The Louisiana Purchase was made in 1803 and Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) was selected by the US government as a permanent home for the various Indian tribes then living east of the Mississippi River. It was this ultimate plan of the US government which fueled the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Seminole Wars.
– A delegation was brought to Washington to meet with President John Q. Adams – May 17, 1826 – Tukose Emathla response to Secretary of War James Barbour – Carter, vol.23
“We have heard the talk you sent us by our Agent—You say our Great Father gives us permission to occupy the land we ask for (the Big Swamp) until he may want to send us from it—This does not please us—The land we occupy, we expect will be considered our own property, to remain as such for ever, unless we may think proper to part with it—If this is refused us, we can not be happy, for we do not like the thoughts of being put to the trouble of moving again—The hardship we suffered from our first removal, gave us pain enough—We do not wish to feel it again, and we have such confidence in the justice of our Great Father, that we do not believe he will force it upon us, but will comply with our demands and give us more land—This was promised us by the Treaty of St. Augustine—We only ask that this promise should be complied with—
–Tukose Emathla 1826
When Andrew Jackson was president The Removal Act was passed by Congress in 1830. It authorized the president to negotiate lands west of the Mississippi River in exchange for millions of acres in the east and southeast. However the US underestimated the will and courage of the Seminoles to resist.
Billy Bowlegs-Holatta Micco-Alligator King
Billy Bowlegs’ first or “old” wife was the sister of No-Kush-Adjo, one of his two sub-chiefs who signed the peace with Col. Worth in 1842. The second wife, known as the young wife, Mary was the sister of Fasatchee Emanthkla (Long Jack), his lieutenant who had acted as a go-between with General Blake.
Museum of Natural History
The Museum of Natural History purchased Billy Bowleg’s beaded belt and pouch for $35 in 1940 for its collection but it was presented by Billy Bowlegs to a man named Anthony Breath in 1849. In a letter to his brother Jim he said “I was at Charlotte harbor with Genl. Twigg, when Billy Bowlegs and all the other chiefs of the Seminole and Mickasukie were on board and we had a grand council…he presented me with a fine belt and shot bag worked by one of the Mrs. Bowlegs…but I am fearful we will have trouble with them yet when it comes to their removal.” Copy of letter