Not much is known about Osceola's life as a young man. It is believed that he was born around 1804 in Alabama. His father was Scottish and his mother was Creek. As a youth he went by the name of Billy Powell. As an adult he identified with the Seminole tribe which was a conglomeration of southeastern tribes and escaped slaves. He acquired the Seminole name Osceola which means ( Black Drink Singer). Seminole purification rites required that a new warrior drink a laxative like black liquid brewed from yaupon holly leaves. Osceola became a hero to the Seminole and many Whites during the Second Seminole War. It became a very costly and unpopular war in the United States. Much like Vietnam. Osceola's first act of defiance was to kill the Indian agent Wiley Thompson at Fort King near present day Ocala Florida. Just prior to the war Thompson unjustly imprisoned Osceola and humiliated him. Osceola quickly proved himself to be a talented military leader. In December 1835 he defeated General Duncan Clinch at the battle of Withlacoochee. From 1835 until his capture by trickery he was able to elude multiple American armies sent to defeat him. In October 1837 while negotiating under a white flag Osceola was taken prisoner near Saint Augustine Florida by Major General Thomas Jesup. He was imprisoned at Fort Marion, better known as Castillo de San Marcos in modern day Saint Augustine. Although many White Floridians were relieved by Osceol;a's capture there was public outrage in America over this treachery. This outrage was not enough to help Osceola's plight. He became very sick with malaria while confined in prison. About twenty warriors escaped from Fort Marion in December 1837 but Osceola was too weak to join them. On New Years day 1838 Osceola and 237 of his people were transported to Fort Moultrie on Sullivans Island near Charleston South Carolina. By this time Osceola was a dying man with only a few weeks to live. The famous Indian artist, George Catlin, painted Osceola in his full Indian attire. Catlin wrote this about Osceola,"...they had taken great pains to give me an account of the war and the mode in which they were captured, of which they complain bitterly. I am fully convinced from all I have seen and learned from the lips of Osceola, and from the chiefs who are around him, that he is a most extraordinary man, and one entitled to a better fate." Osceola had become friendly with Dr. Frederick Weedon who just happened to be the brother-in-law to Wiley Thompson. The Indian agent that Osceola had killed at Fort King in 1835. Dr. Weedon was unable to help Osceola but he died peacefully. Weedon described his death this way. "He made a signal for them to lower him down upon his bed, and he then slowly drew from his war-belt his scalping knife, which he firmly grasped in his right hand, laying it across the other on his breast, and in a moment smiled away his last breath without a struggle or groan." It is said that Army officers and Indian's alike wept at his passing. Dr. Weedon then did something really weird. He cut off Osceola's head and would use it to punish his small boys when they misbehaved. He did this by hanging it at the end of their bed. Eventually he would give the head to his son-in-law who would donate it to the New York University Medical school and Academy of Medicine. The head was destroyed in a fire in 1866. Osceola's headless body was buried just outside the entrance to Fort Moultrie. I have had the honor of visiting his grave on two occasions. The first in August of 1989 and again this past June of 2016. The thing that I love about history is that many times the truth is stranger than fiction. Unfortunately this is one of the dark episodes of our past but is a story that must be told. Osceola is not just an Indian hero but an American hero.
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| Fort Moultrie |
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| Fort Moultrie |
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| Osceola's grave |
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