The position of the Seminole nation had be-
come complicated and endangered owing to
the expansionist policies of the United States.
During the War of 1812, Seminole war parties
infrequently aided their Creek cousins in com-
bat, which brought about a spate of retaliatory
raids. In 1818, the Seminoles, angered by
white attempts to secure fugitive slaves on
their territory, ambushed some army detach-
ments. This brought on a riposte by Gen. An-
drew Jackson, who invaded Florida, burned
several villages, and was ultimately appointed
governor of that territory. In 1819, Spain ceded
Florida to the United States, thereby opening
the floodgates to a wave of American settlers.
By 1825, the Treaty of Payne’s Landing had
been concluded with the government,
whereby the Seminoles agreed to leave their
swampy abode in return for new homes be-
yond the Mississippi River. However, as the
date for actual removal drew near, a militant
faction of war chiefs, headed by the famous
Osceola, refused to leave. Seminoles under
Alligatorand Micanopy then ambushed an
army detachment of Maj. Francis L. Dade on
December 38, 1835, and the Second Seminole
War commenced in earnest.
At this time, Wildcat was only in his late
teens, but he acquired a reputation for brav-
ery and leadership in combat. His command
consisted of several warrior bands and es-
caped slaves, who struck repeatedly at Ameri-
can columns tramping through the swamp-
land. This pattern of guerrilla warfare and
army retaliation continued with little inter-
ruption for two years, until Chief Emathla
was captured in 1837 and sent west. That Oc-
tober, Osceola selected Wildcat as his peace
emissary, and he arrived at the camp of Gen.
Thomas S. Jesup bearing a ceremonial peace
pipe. Jesup accepted the overture initially, but
when Wildcat returned with Osceola and sev-
eral other chiefs, Jesup treacherously ar-
rested them under a flag of truce. They were
subsequently confined at Fort Marion, but
Wildcat, determined to escape, fasted for six
days so that he could pass through the bars
on their cell window. As a consequence of his
daring move, he assumed greater prestige
among Seminoles and commanded larger
numbers of warriors. On December 25, 1837,
Wildcat was conspicuously engaged against
Gen. Zachary Taylor during fierce fighting at
Lake Okeechobee. Having inflicted heavy
losses upon their American antagonists, the
Indians then melted into the Everglades. De-
spite their best efforts, the Americans were
confronted by a costly stalemate.
Wildcat continued fighting his guerrilla war
with distinction until 1841 when, distraught
after hearing of his father’s death in the Indian
Territory (present-day Oklahoma) out west, he
appeared at Fort Pierce for peace talks. There
Wildcat parleyed briefly with Lt. William
Tecumseh Sherman before agreeing to relo-
cate to Oklahoma with 200 followers. By this
time the American government had dropped
its insistence on repatriating escaped slaves—
a major obstacle to peace—and finally recog-
nized the freedom of black escapees. Hence-
forth they would be treated as full-blooded
Indians during the move west. In view of the
desperate situation of most Seminoles by that
time, it was a humane decision, but Wildcat
never forgave himself for capitulating. “I was
in hopes I should be killed in battle,” he
lamented. “But a bullet never reached me.”
By 1842, Wildcat’s band had been trans-
ferred to Fort Gibson in the Indian Territory.
But because Seminoles shared the land with
more numerous Creek Indians, who com-
peted with them for scarce resources, rela-
tions were far from cordial. Furthermore, the
Creeks were continually seizing Seminoles of
African American descent and selling them
off to slave owners. In 1842, Wildcat joined a
deputation of Seminole leaders who ventured
to Washington, D.C., to press for better condi-
tions. When this was not forthcoming, he set
about a new and daring plan to improve the
lot of his people. This entailed unifying the
various Indian tribes of his region for their
mutual protection, a concept alien to most
Native American cultures.
Commencing in 1846, Wildcat sent peace
emissaries to the neighboring Kickapoos, alsoWILDCAT