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CARITA DOG(GETT COR E. A... N.'A.. LIT.D.
ALTHOR OF
"DR. ANDREW
"KEY TO
"'FLORIDA
TI RNBULL
THE GOLDEN ISLANDS
EMPIRE OF THE
SUN"
AND
"'SiPPL.EMI E
\1T I\
ISTORIf
OF FLORIDA'
Doyelt, C' rYf.
1w35
Copyright
1,y Carita
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Shrine of the
'Water
9ods
CAIrITA DOGGETT CORSt, A.B., M.A.,
AUTHOR OF
"DR. ANDREW
TURNBULL"
"KEY TO THE GOLDEN ISLANDS"
"FLORIDA, EMPIRE OF THE SUN"
AND
"SUPPLEMENTARY HISTORY OF FLORIDA"
a
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Copyright by Carita Dogett Corse, 1985
I
LIT.D.
Shrine of the Water Sods
TABLE OF CONTrENrTS
I. Prologue
II. The Making of the Big Spring
III. Water for Noah's Ark
on the Continental Causeway
Timucua, Kingdom of the Sun
Violators of the Shrine
The French in Middle Florida
The Rival God
IX. "De. Suliga" *
x.. The BdiaflSida f .Ac.
Sa. *
..* :.\*Ielired to the Enemy
C S S ..*
Epilogue
. '*
* C
* C
* .*
.' *
Bibliography
Notes
Numbers in the text refer to notes in the back of the booklet.
Map on
inside of front and back cover locate places mentioned in this account.
"Ab",
VII.
VIII.
* XIII.
XIV.
XV.
g r ^s
Shrine of the Water Rods
I-PROLOGUE
"I am the sweetness of waters,
The light of moon and sun
The perfume of earth, the splendor of fire,
I am the soul in all that lives,
Time without end am I
And the life of things to be
The spirit celestial and supreme."
-Ancient Indian hymn.
WATER WORSHIP holds first place in the primitive religions of the world.
It was the first of all things, the parent of all things. Evem the gods
themselves were born of water. Adoration of springs, or rather of the
spirits that ruled them, prevailed everywhere among the American Indi-
ans, and a grove by a spring provided a ready-made shrine.'
Of all the regions best fitted for water worship, the ancient province
of Ocali (earliest Indian name for middle Florida) ranks highest. Some
new gegraphical term should have been invented to describe this expanse
of lakes, rivers, sink holes, and giant springs, for it is more water than
solid ground. And in the center of this aqueous land, as within a charmed
circle, rises the greatest of springs, whose influence on the history of the
native inhabitants was as profound as it was mysterious and carefully *.
hidden.
To the modern magicians of science many things which mystified the
Indians are revealed. And so before we trace the strange spell of Silver
Springs upon the Indians let us go back into the unimaginable readies
of time and see how great natural forces shaped this wonder.
II-THE MAKING OF THE BIG SPrING
Late in the life of the world, only about twenty million years ago,.the
great granite plateau of Florida sank beneath the sea, carrying with it
all records of its worn-down mountains, old forests, rivers, and animals.t
So those who came to a later Florida found no gold nor even the bones
of the hundreds of thousands of dinosaurs which had roamed that lost
land.2 In the warm shallow sea which then covered Florida- lived untold
millions of small shell fish called Foraminifera, whose tiny ske n
fell in a gentle rain upon the gaunt-frame of the submerged plateau, and
built a foundation of pure white limestone four thousand feet thick.4
Shrine of the Water Gods
Ocean currents brought clay and sand down from the continent north
of Florida, and delivered these to the forces building the Florida to be.
Meanwhile the granite foundations stirred like a giant asleep. The
peninsula rose and sank, and rocked from side to side, but so slowly that
the limestone crust was not broken, but only gently domed, so that finally
the island of Ocala rose from the shallow sea, looking much like a pre-
historic white whale, 150 miles long and 60 miles wide.5
Between this new-born land and the mainland flowed the Suwanee
Strait. Slowly the mass of soft, soluble rock rose from the sea to a
greater elevation than it is now," and the warm heavy rains of the old
world scored it with channels and funnel shaped cavities, and hollowed
out great underground passages which widened to become subterranean
rivers flowing into vast sunless seas of fresh water.7 Such a sea was to
be the source of Silver Springs, greatest of limestone springs. Meantime
the island of Ocala sank like the hull of a wrecked vessel, to about its
present elevation, and this freat underground cavern whirh was to nrn
duce Silver Springs lay below the water table of the ocean.8 But the
marvelous purity of the sweet water was safe from contamination by the
ocean salt, for the pressure of the great weight of its accumulated waters
sealed the sides of the cavern and the surface waters of the island trickling
through the sand and rocks from above, brought fresh strength daily to
oppose the invading ocean. The rainfall over only one-fourth the area
of Marion County is still great enough to keep the spring full.' Over
460 million gallons of water per square mile are added every year to the
underground area around Silver Springs.1 A new ally to resist the
ocean's threat is added by the weight of the solids which the rain waters
dissolve on their long slow journey down to that nameless sea. Six
hundred tons of minerals are still carried off in solution every day in
the waters of Silver Springs.11
THE GRrAT P30ra TO3C
WATBS HOIL SILVSB
SPRINGS
In the relentless passage of
the homing waters through
the thick crust of primeval
limestone and in the lime
they dissolve lies the secret
of the marvelous brilliancy
and transparency of the
waters.12 Small wonder
that this prisoned giant
Burst the walls of his
underground dungeon.
Through a great fis-
sure 65 feet long and
twelve feet high the
Shrine of the Water Gods
water flows--swift-
ly, because of the
pressure behind it.
Many other springs
in the basin add to
the volume of the
water.
At its maximum
flow, 801 million
gallons of water a
day come from the
springs, enough to
supply New York
City.1" The bowl
of the Spring is
400 feet in diameter
TIMUCUIAN SHEIN
OI THE WASE GODS
eighty feet has been reached, in the deepest fissures.
III-WATER FOR NOAH'S ARK
Having built a mighty spring, secret forces within
now set the stage for a second act in the long drama o
time was almost modern, geologically speaking--about
ago. The old continent north of the island of Ocala
by inward agonies, mountains were pushed up in new
lands sank in others. In this reassembling of lands, a
rose, carrying with it a fragment of ocean bed which
America, thus presenting the reborn land in the role i
nental causeway.1
the earth
f its .history. The
one million years
became convulsed
places, old high-
ubmerged Florida
joined it to South
of a mighty conti-
The climate was warm and equable, much
as it is now,2
and the
abundant waters
of Florida. So
animals of the
world has such
Florida.' Acro
i nourished rich grasses whicl
the water-gods of the great
world responded. Probably
a variety and multitude of
ss the causeway from South
h covered the rolling prairies
it springs beckoned and the
never in the history of the
animals gathered -as roamed
i America came armadillos,
sloths, peccaries, tapira, llamas, to graze and trample the rim of the
great water hole, Silver Springs. From the far north, across another
continental causeway at Bering Strait, the gigantic mastodons led an army
of Asiatic immigrants down to the Florida plains-the rhinoeros, bison,
horse, lion, great dire-wolf, and most feared of all, the sabre-toothed tiger.4
6 Shrine of the Water Gods
IV-"Au" ON THE
.CONTINENTAL
CAUSEWAY
When we consider how few and
small are the wild animals of
S Florida today, we may wonder what
became of all that vast concourse of
'--wild life. The answer lies partly in the
Small, light bones of yet another animal,
S3 found in company with mastodons near Vero
waTrs Beach.1 These are the bones of prehistoric man,
unow nM who staked out his claim to Florida and dis-
puted with the mastodon and the sabre-toothed
tiger his right to rule the water hole.s Memorials
of those struggles are to be seen in the huge bones of mammoth and
mastodon which have been taken from the spring. Absorbed in their
struggle to survive, neither man nor animals were conscious of the great
changes which were again taking place around them. The world grew
colder; the waters around Florida receded, absorbed by great ic.-caps
at the other ends of the world.' The epicontinental seas were drained;
gaps were washed in the continental causeways, and connection with South
America was broken, like a frayed cable. The ice crept down over North
America, never reaching Florida but changing it from an animal causeway
to a cul-de-sac, where man and beast were trapped by their destiny. But
though it was cold, life was still comparatively easy for these rat Florida
men, because they had at hand the plentiful animal food, fruits unfailing,
and fresh waters they needed. And so they throve, but remained hunters,
for thousands of years after men in less favored parts of the world were
advancing toward civilization by means of agricultural toiL4
V-TmucuA, KINGDOM OF THE SUN
Though animals might not swim the strait of Bering Sea, man could
still paddle canoes acreo the narrow waterway and so in comparatively
recent years (five thousand more or less), ancestors of the American
Indian began to come to their new home, by the back door. Following
with unfailing instinct the old animal trails which traeed the high ground,
red m entered Florida by Trail Ridge and settled in great numbers
j North Central Flokida, in the vicinity of Silver Springs. Thus began
STim a, Kingdom of the Suns where even the sun was a kind of water
god. The reason sun and water worship was so prominent in the religion
Shrine of the Water Gods 7
of the southern Indians was that they reached an agricultural stage of
civilization, and on the course of sun and showers depended the success
of their crops.
The water worship of these people was similar to, though lem elaborate
than that of the Mexican Indians. The underlying principle was that
the Sun was the God, the Moon the Goddess of the universe. The moon
was the symbol of moisture or water, the sun of fire. But it was the moon
or water goddess who came first and was the Creator, not the sun.3s- So
the moon was the goddess of mothers and children, and a spring their
special shrine.' Contrary to oriental ideas, the feminine deities of the
Indians were also the most powerful and represented the spiritual and
intellectual qualities,6 while the sun, though beloved, was often in her
power. The Timucuans sacrificed their first-born children, so that the
sun might be freed from the moon-goddess and rise. The Paradise of
the gods, the abode of the Sun and Moon, was in the east, whence came
the mild rains, and the four attendants of these deities were the rain-
bearing winds from the four points of the compass. Las Cas, famous
early Spanish missionary, said of the Mexicans, "Around the principal
water springs the natives were wont to erect four altars (also for the
points of the compass) in the form of a ." Te Ate goddess
rain bore a cross in her hand. Other Indians laid cords across the tranquil
depths of a lake to form a great cross. At the intersetion they threw
in their offerings of gold and precious stones.7 Among the Timnuean
and later Florida Indians descent was through the female line, still
carrying out their idea of a Creator. The T. .mar AwmUn,
land of the dead was west, a place of rest smon nm zvA.
and sleep, where the sun went, and from .
whence he must be freed by sacrifice.
But the dead, who must follow the sun -
westward, lay with heads to the east, .
hoping for a future life.'
An old Florida slave, part Timu-
cuan, part Creek, by blood, once
told his owner that the name
for Silver Springs was "Sua-ille-
-aba", which he translated "Sun-
glinting water",1 a name which
seems to express the idea of the
union of their two major
deities in this greatest of ,
springs. Another pos-
sible interpretation
8 Shrine of the Water Gods
would be "Saw-ille-aha", "Saw" meaning "taker"; "ille," death; "aha",
bend; or writhing waters of death. Underground waters were feared and
revered, as the
These ideas
exclusive, not a
But the more
important are
When a. write]
inclined to be
But only when
writing become
beliefs conned
The Indians we
knew no bouni
eir architect
the early Indi
Brinton, at on
Advancement
archeology of
raphy. The b
mighty power which daily carried away part of the land."
are little known today because the Indian's religion is an
i proselyting one, What he loves most he says least aboutL"
carefully we study his history, the more we realize how
those beliefs as the controlling factors of his actions.1x
r is unable to understand these powerful motives, he is
fashionably incredulous and to pass them over in silence.
I he interprets the record in the light of motives does his
; intelligible. In this account I have selected mainly those
ted with water worship, though there were many others.
are great believers-all events were miracles and their faith
ds."4 Accordingly nearly all their conduct, their art, and
re had a religious significance.1' My conclusions regarding
an beliefs are based mainly on the works of Dr. D. G.
xe time President of the American Association for the
of Science, and the most distinguished authority on the
Florida, according to the Encyclopedia of American Biog-
eliefs of the Seminoles and other later tribes are mainly
to be found in Dr. Swanton's works, published by the Bureau of American
Ethnology.
The best established and most universal of these beliefs was that of
immortality.16 If the Timucuan warrior should be killed in battle, he
died happy, sure that he would some day live again.17 All he asked' was
that his bones should be preserved, for he thought it was necessary for
them to be buried,
CHIEF DULCHANCHMAu N OF OCALI MaTS NABVAMZ to sprout later like
seed, and reclothe
themselves with
flesh.'s
Into such a land
of sacred shrine
and fanatical fight-
ers entered first the
SSpaniard, trampling
without t knowledge
or heed these chil-
dren of nature. His
was the opening pre-
Inde of the bloody
Story, -but we shall
Shrine of the Water Gods
see that not one of the
whitraces who came
here were capable of '
understanding the
natives they conquered -
-with the arrogance of "
their kind they condemned
and destroyed the native cul-
ture, because it was different -
from theirs.
VI--VIOLATORS OF THE SHRINE
In 1528,: signal fires rose above the
forest near Tampa Bay and were repeated
northward, until finally the news reached
t Ocali that Narvaez' expedition, with four i
shining armor, had landed on the coast,
Ponce de Leon's second expedition had been
had not penetrated .the interior. No white
dispel their illusions, so the Indians still be
white invaders, because their religion, like t
would some day come to rule them well anm
CBIEF OP -
)CALI AND DfSOTO
PLAN BRIDGE ACR01S
THE SANTA FE RIVER
hundred white gods, clad in
and were marching inland.
here seven years before but
men had come in force to
,lieved in the divinity of the
he Mexican, said white men
i wisely.1
And these strangers bore terrifying proof of their godliness. Narvaez,
the leader, was a great one-eyed giant of a man, with red hair. This
color was a symbol of the Sun-god and seemed to prove his divine origin.
Then his army had come by water, on the wings of great birds (sailing
ships). Fifty of the men seemed to have four legs and two heads, for
they were mounted on horses, hitherto unknown to this region. Moreover
they were attended by great savage dogs possessed of miraculous keenness
of scent for tracking- Indians. The Floridians were not afraid of death,
but "Efa", the dog, was the symbol of the water gods. And so they only
tried to hide in the shadows of the forest as the cavalry ranged, looking
for Indian scouts to guide them through the country. From the moment
captives were brought in, however, the Spaniards began to earn the hatred
of the Indians. Narvaez tried to terrify them into submission, by methods
which had succeeded in South and Central America. These Northern
Indians, however, were made of sterner stuff. Instead of submitting,
Hurrihigna, Chief of Tampa, insulted Narvaez and for this his nose was
cut off by the enraged leader, and his old mother torn to pieces by the
dogs. Other captives, hoping to rid their village. of this scourge, told
him that northeast lay the rich province of Ocali.Y
And so he marched
I
10 Shrine of the Water Gods
I inland and up the
coast through fear-
Sful swamps and dense
jungles which even three
hundred years later were to
Sdefeat American armies in their
fights with the Indians. For fifteen
days he met no living soul but this was
not because the natives were cowed--they
were gathering to oppose him at a strategic
place. Finally he entered the western part
of the Ocali provinces and came to the Withla-
cooche river, where he had to build rafts to
cross. On the other side 200 Indiana met him
and fought like panthers. But in vain-arrows
rattled harmlessly on that marvelous Spanish
n u ~armor, and Indians fell in scores, while even
T Rnone mosmID more were captured and chained to the terrible
line of native bearers who staggered along under
the lash of the commissariat. The Spaniards entered the village so
vainly defended and spread like hungry locusts over the cornfields for
which the region was famous. Then the chief, Dulchanihellin, bethought
himself of an improvement on the strategy of the Tampans--he would
Sdivert these monsters from his own province and at the same time inflict
a blow on his enemies of Apalache, by himself leading the Spaniards
northward into that country. So with a great show of pomp he went to
meet Narvaez, borne as royalty always traveled in Timucua, .in a litter
on the backs of bearers.' Three hundred warriors followed him; an
orchestra of flutes, drums, and pipes led the way, playing to show that
he came in peace. Dilchanchellin was elaborately decorated rather than
V dressed, as the chiefs of Timcuna were wont to be. His whole body was
tattooed in intricate designs from head to foot, his face freshly painted
red, with inflated red fish blaqders shining like pearls in his ears. For
red was the royal color, symbol of the Sun, worn by Chiefs to show they
were kindred of that celestial body.* He appeared even taller than he
was; his long hair was gathered in a knot on the top of his head and
from this floated heron plumes, also dyed red. A cloak and robe of
deer skin, beautifully dyed, were his only garments, but from neck, wrists,
knees, and ankles, dangled gold and copper ornanents.
According to native custom, Dulchanchellin exchanged presents with
Narvaez and then told him of Apalache, bounded on the south by the
Guasaca-Esqui, River of Reeds-the Suwanee, that river which the Indians
Shrine of the Water Gods
told Fontenada twenty years later flowed over beds of gold and lapis-
lazuli. Eagerly the cruel and greedy Spaniards followed Dulcanchellin
out of Ocali lands, like credulous children behind the Piper of Hamlin.
Then, like the Piper, Dulchanchellin vanished,8 leaving them to a terrible
fate at the hands of the wilderness and Indians to the north.
Ocali was saved-but not for long. Eleven years later, on May 30th,
1539, an even more gorgeous and awesome company of white gods landed
near Tampa, whose wide bay so often betrayed the portals of the Indian
land. Hernando DeSoto with six hundred foot soldiers had two hundred
and thirteen cavalry was heading inland.' This was the most splendid
expedition which came to America and it was marching for Ocali.
Nothing could save the water gods this time, for the Spaniards had
heard of the wealth of Ocali. After listening to e reports of Indian
near Tampa Bay, DeSoto wrote to Cuba his reasons for going to see this
fabulous land. He said in this, his only known letter, that the Indians
told him northwest lay the country of their enemies, where there was a
"town called Ocali. It is so large and they so extol it, that I dare not
repeat what is stated. They say that there is to be found in it a great
plenty of all the things mentioned, and fowls, turkeys in yards and tame
deer tended in herds. How this can be, I do not understand, unless they
mean the cattle, of which we heard before coming here. They say there
are many traders and much barter, and that there is an abundance of gold
and silver and many pearls. God grant this may be so."1o
Juan Ortiz, a young Spaniard who had been sent with an expedition
to search for Narvae, and had been captured by Hurrihigua, was found
living under the protection of another' chief, and became DeSoto's inter-
preter.11 Ortiz said he had not UwwrS MDaC N MAN swmmV4?
been into the interior but had PRENCH NOT TO ATTACK POTANO
heard of the wealth and power
o( Ocali. The Gentlemen of
Elvas, having talked to survivors
of the expedition, said it was re-
ported that the warriors wore
helmets of gold,12 while Biedma,
a member of the expedition, re-
ported that the Tampans said a- "
that the Ocalis were so mighty ,:
thatat theirshout, birdsonthe a o"
wing fell to the ground.18 Flat- .
tering as this picture
was, it sealed the fate .
of Ocali, in spite
- -
12 Shrine of the Water Gods
of the most desperate efforts of its people to conceal the way there. The
order of march was painfully slow, hampered as the army was with three
hundred hogs and a heavy piece of field ordnance?. But DeSoto could
not bear the delay, while that golden mirage beckoned ahead. With only
ten cavalry he pushed in advance, ranging the dense woods and vast bogs
to find the road. He was thirty-six years old, full of courage and resource-
fulness, but, as in this case, too often lacking judgment. Here lay the
seeds of later disasters. But his men were devoted to him, for he was
spirited, fine-looking, and an Indian fighter with a brilliant record. He
tried to force captives to show him the way but the
ambushes, though for this offense the culprits were
be torn to pieces. This was the most terrible fate the
because of their peculiar belief regarding bones.
of animals were thrown to their own dogs, because t
destroy the game.'" Animal bones were either hu
houses or consigned to the kindly protection of th
After death, the bones of a Timucuan were careful:
in a sacred mound. If they were destroyed, he thouj
again. Four guides suffered this fate but the fifth fi
horror and led them through the swamps.6x Beyond
the country of Acuera, high, rolling, and pleasant.
roads so "broad he thought he already had his hand
had told Moscoso, his camp master, to stay behind
some good reason for advancing. Now he dispatch
on fast horses to bring up the army. How broad
7y only led him into
given to his dogs to
Indians could suffer,
Not even the bones
hey thought it would
ag overhead in their
e waters of streams.
y cleaned and buried
ght he would not live
nally collapsed from
the bogs they found
Here he found the
on the spoil."17 He
until he should find
bed two young men
this Ocali road was,
may be surmised from the fact that DeSoto
a was looking for cities such as he had seen
D in Peru, where he had served as Pizzaro's
second-in-command. At once we begin to
wonder what goal had drawn so many pil-
grims along that way, that their feet had
written so wide and plain
that it led to
a stone region
a story. We know
that domed lime-
of great springs;
we also know that national
shrines were as common
among the Indians as
they were among the
Europeans of the pe-
riod, sought by pil-
grims over an area
of several hundred
Shrine of the Water Gods 13
miles.'s "Trails and
active barter in amu-
lets, lucky stones,
and charms existed
all over the conti-
nent, to an extent
unrealized", says ory al- hghay,
Brinton. But even mND .-
this distinguished cmanePTGrLOmUDb
INDI NS POB OR CARLJR
scholar was baffled TON sWVE wmano
by the meaning of -
. these "Caminos Reales", or royal highways, "== F
which he said could certainly not have
been mere trails.1' Knowing that the In-
dian's social life centered around his re-
ligion, it does not seem unreasonable to
conclude that this great Ocali highway was
a holy road. Certainly the desperation
with which it was defended seems to indicate some such idea.
DeSoto found the village of Acuera deserted and sent Indian messengers
to the chief, inviting him to a friendly interview. But Acuera would make
no terms whatsoever. He vowed that "War never-ending, exterminating,
is all the boon I ask. You boast yourselves valiant--and so you may be-
but my faithful warriors are not less brave. And this, too, you shjll one
day prove, for I have sworn to maintain unsparing conflict while one
white man remains in my borders-, not openly in battle-though even
thus we fear not to meet you-but by strategem and ambush and midnight
reprisal."s Twenty days the army rested here, feasting on the plentiful
corn, nuts, and fruits of the region. But fourteen Spaniards strayed from
the army in search of food or water and each in turn vanished. The next
day they were usually found beheaded, quartered, and hung on trees.
Vainly DeSoto strove to avenge them--he counted the death of fifty of
Acuera's warriors a small return for what he considered Indian mockery.1t
It was probably not mockery but a ceremonial, for victims were usually
offered to the water gods by hanging their bodies on the branches of trees.
Finally DeSoto set out along the road-in advance of the army, as was
his custom. The region was better, there were more towns and fields,
and best of all in his eyes, the road grew wider as he advanced.a He
passed the towns of Acela and Tocaste and came to another -where some
of the people had evidently been unwarned, for they had fled to a nearby
lake. The interpreters shouted to them and by threats, persuasion, and
force induced them to come to shore. Thus they secured a guide who
Shrine of the Water Gods
s showed them the way across the
01
R. swamp and river of Cale, the
m Withlacoochee." DeSoto had only
twenty-six horsemen with him.
These waded up to their necks,
with clothes and saddles on their
heads for "three crossbow shots",
and crossed with ropes in the parts
where it was so deep and swift
that they had to swim the horses.
Thirty horsemen crossed a few days
later to reinforce him, and lost one
horse here. They were now in
the province of Ocali, where the first
village was called Uqueten. Here
they captured two Indians and found
so much corn that they sent muleloads
back to the army which was toiling
through the swamp and sul
them in the swamp and a cr
several stragglers wounded.
They had begun to fear the
gods must be stronger than
firing from
os-bowman
The Indians
white man's
theirs because
food shortage.24 Indians beset
named Mendoca was killed and
were not so bold now, however.
magic and to believe that his
ein spite of their most frantic
eforts to stop them, the army marched on. It was never fear of actual
things but this dread of stronger magic which handicapped the Indian
in his fight with whites.5 So it was that quite unopposed, DSoto ap-
proached the deserted capital city of Ocali, a town of six hundred houses.5
This is an unbelievably large number of dwellings for a Timacuan town,
since each of their great lodges housed a hundred or more people." It
is the greatest number of houses mentioned by DeSoto's chroniclers in
his march through the peninsula. Even the great Apalache was said to
have only two hundred and fifty dwellings. Thus may it be that the
number is exaggerated but the exaggeration is by a contemporary writer
who wrote his account from the narratives of three soldiers of the expe-
dition.2 It is sufficient for us to know, however, that this was an unusual-
ly large town, whose great store houses held quantities of vegetables,
nuts, dried grapes, and fruits. Like all Timucuan towns it was sur-
rounded by a stockade (which our pioneers later used in their own frontier
villages), the spiral entrance of which was probably protected by a swift
stream since this was their usual habit.2S About a mile and a half below
Silver Springs on Silver River, Dr. Brinton found in 1856 two Indian
mounds with "every evidence of a very large Indian population."'0
Shrine of the Water Gods
Many authorities have supposed the town of Ocali to be either in the
neighborhood of what is the present Ocalas1 or Fort King,'*
further. But since the Timucuans preferred swift water to
entrance to their towns, and since Dr. Brinton found traces
usually large native population beside Silver River, it would
able, at least, that here stood Ocali.
In sp
was of
residence
and daily
the chief
plumes,
required
DeSoto,
three miles
defend the
of an un-
seem prob-
ite of its beautiful location and the abundance of food, DeSoto
course disappointed, for he found no gold." He took up his
e in one of the great timbered houses thatched with palmetto,
ly sent three or four Indians into the Oklawaha Scrub to induce
f Ocali" to come out. Four young braves, gaily decorated with
came to see the sights and to prove their own prowess, a thing
I of any young man before he could achieve a warrior's standing.
eager to make friends with their chief, gave them presents and
offered them a feast.
The Indians accepted his food, though they probably were reluctant
to do so, for they had so many food taboos the Spaniards could hardly
have failed to violate one. For example, they would not eat beef or pork
for a long time after white people introduced them because they thought
they would become slow and brutish like a cow or pig. Deer were sacred
and venison their favorite meat, for they sought to be swift and strong
as a buck." The four visitors ate quietly, however, until they saw the
Spaniards were off guard; then they sprang up and ran away so swiftly
that no one could overtake them. But their exploit was to end in
Brutus, one of the Spanish hounds, was near, and seeing tem run,
them. Overtaking them, he pulled than down, one after another,
ferociously so that the runaways were paralyzed with
terror.'6 Again the water gods had sided with the awAONG
enemy. A dog running and barking was associated r anm
failure.
pursued
barking
with the
the forn
itself.8"
terious
"night-sun'" the moon, that goddess who took
i of a dog and sometimes swallowed the sun
This moon-goddess, "Acuhiba", had a mys-
power over the water gods, too, and was
associated with the darkness and terror of under-
ground waters. The only way to rescue the Sun
from her power was to kill the dog whose guise
she had assumed."8 At any rate Brutus'
fate was sealed, as will be seen. After
six days Chief Ocali came out of
hiding and visited DeSoto, who ..
did everything to win his {I
friendship.
sWLOVNS.Y
WUIONA U
wmJ^on
c'hSi
The Span-
Shrine of the Water Gods
DUVAL GIVW MICANOPY
AND EOMINO.l TB
OC ALA AmRA
Apalache was DeSoto's
next obj
across the Santa Fe. He could have
but the Indians were giving him n
the chief were talking, the Ocali
There was their chief beside a s
pointing out places in its depths
ective
,j iards thought he
.4;' succeeded, for the
it Chief protested undy-
4-. ing loyalty and agreed
to furnish workers to
'- build a bridge across
the Santa Fe River, so
that DeSoto might march
S northward through Po-
tano. In the course of
their explorations of Ocali
province, DeSoto's men
could hardly have missed
Silver Springs. But natural
wonders and Indian shrines
were not remarkable in their
eyes, dazzled with the mirage
of vast Eastern Empire.
and for this he sought a bridge
crossed this river by a natural bridge,
Lo free information. As DeSoto and
Indians watched with helpless rage.
acred river, smiling and apparently.
to a foreign monster who sought to
enslave them. Finally their wrath burst the bounds of
five hundred warriors rose from the thickets across the
"You want a bridge, do you?' Merciless robbers! You
it built by our hands!" Then they sent a flight of arr<
Spaniards. The dog, Brutus, was being held on a leai
page but the shouting excited him so that he tore loose
discretion and
river, shouting,
will never see
ows toward the
sh by DeSoto's
from his guide
and sprang into the stream. Vainly the Spaniards called him-he only
swam faster toward the Indians. The warriors shot their arrows at him
by the hundreds and he gained the opposite shore, only to fall dead, with
arrows sticking out of him like a porcupine's quills.89 Thus the gods
were appeased, but the Spaniards mourned for Brutus, as if he had been
human.
DeSoto was perplexed and asked Ocali why his people were so angry,
since he had showered their chief with kindness. The embarrassed chief
explained that they had cast- off their allegiance to him because of his
fondness for the Spaniards. So DeSoto urged the native to go back to
his people and pacify them. He departed, promising to return and bring
workmen for the bridge, but he was not seen again. Whether he regained
__ __
A
Shrine of the Water Gods
his authority or not, the Spaniards never knew. So D
to use a Genoese engineer named Francis to direct hi
Beams with puncheons across, secured by cords, fins
passage for the army.
As usual, however, DeSoto went first to see if he coi
the country ahead. He ambushed thirty of Ocali's wi
and forced them to show him the way." Doubtless t
willing to do this, though they knew of Apalache only
August llth he departed41 with fifty horsemen and
soldiers. The rest of the army still stayed at Ocali,
because they had not yet caught enough Indians to act
teSoto was forced
is bridge making.
illy made a safe
Ald learn more of
warriors for guides
hey were not un-
' by hearsay. On
one hundred foot
much disgruntled
as servants. Not
-- -. a -I
knowing that green corn is best eaten boiled on the ear, they laboriously
cut it off, pounded it and sifted it through their shirts of mail so as to
make flour for bread."4 Here they first ate "little dogs that do not bark",
the opossum," which the Indians would not eat because he was a night
prowler. Word finally came from DeSoto at another town, Caliquen,4"
that he needed the whole force of his army. to advance further. The
messengers said Indians reported that beyond Apalache lay nothing but
water, but DeSoto had ceased believing them now. The army believed,
however, and thought they would return to Ocali, for the winter at least,
as previously planned. And so before they left Ocali, they lightened
their loads by burying all their iron tools and many other things they
thought they would not need at once.a
VII--THE FRENCH IN MIDDLE FLORIDA
Ocali recovered slowly but was never owcLo KNIFS G
afterwards unaware of the threat of the TrrIt al"
white man. Twice the danger had come
from the south, but from now on, it was
to loom larger and larger from the
north. Thirty years of comparative '
peace almost restored the morale of
the tribes of Potano, of which Ocali ..
was one, and various successes of
tribes in its borders against their
neighbors increased their
reputation for prowess in
war. About fifteen years
after DeSoto had dis-
appeared into the
northern wilds, the
Nt
p
Shrine of the Water Gods
chief of Canaveral, Oathcaqua, gave his daughter as a bride to Carlos,
then ruler over southwest Florida. As the bride and bridesmaids were
journeying towards their new home, a fierce band of warriors from the
island of Sarrope (in Lake Weir, twelve miles from the present Ocala)1
put her escort to flight and carried off the princess and her maidens to
their island home. Since the warriors "loved them above all measure",
the captives became contented with their lot, and the story of this prowess
in thwarting two great chiefs spread through the neighboring tribes.
In 1564 came the first threat from .the northeast. A French colony,
challenging the claims of Spain to Florida, was built near the mouth
of the St. Johns River, and the leader, Laudonniere, at once began to play
politics with the three great chiefs of Timucua-Saturiba, Utina, and
Potano. Saturiba's realm lay nearest the French, around the mouth of
the St. Johns and north perhaps as far as Cumberland island. The vil-
lages of his arch enemy, Utina, were most numerous around Santa Fe
Lake, though his own town was near the mouth of the Oklawaha.2 Potano,
also an enemy of Utina, lived near the present Gainesville.' Since Ocali
was part of Potano it was very near the great enemy's headquarters, but
fortunately a vast swamp lay between them and him. Northwest were
Hostagua and Onathaqua,
wealth was to be a factor
This brief drama was
but it remains of interest
the pictures of their offi
chiefs of the Apalaches, whose reputation for
in the political game of the French.
to have little permanent effect on the Indians,
to us, because the accounts of the French and
cial artist, Le Moyne, are the most important
sources of information on the vanished race of Timucua.
AS COACOOCHNEE
sams ma
swan
WABTERL
Wtif'lll
SPIRIT
LAND
C
.. .-----
went up the
as far as the
and lived tc
adventures
Le Moyne
St. Johns
Oklawaha
write his
and com-
plete his drawings, in
England, under 'the
patronage of Sir Wal-
ter Raleigh. His map
of Florida (reproduced
in the center of this
book) is the first one
on which Ocali ap-
pears-called by him
Eloquale.
As soon as the
French fort was built,
Captain Ottigny sailed
Shrine of the Water Gods 19
up the St. Johns as
far as Palatka, with a I
two of Saturiba's
men as guides. But f
instead of making
war on Utina, as
Saturiba had hoped,
Ottigny gave pres- OSCEOLA esmes
GENIAL
ents to Utina's men THOMPBON
and went back to
report that Utina should be cultivated,
since he knew where gold was to be
found. So a week later another captain,
Vasseur, was back again, listening to nore
tales of gold, in return for which he promised to w ,
help Utina fight Potano, "a man cruell in warren ,
said Utina's chiefs.' Truly the French had mixed their
politics badly and for it they earned the hatred 'of
Saturiba on whom they depended for food. Still courting
the plausible Utina, the French forced Saturiba to giveaup two
of Utina's men whom he had captured. Escorted by Captain Vas-
seur, Ensign Arlac, and eleven soldiers, these me were returned to
Utiua's village. Here the crafty chief received them graciously and
again proposed a raid on Potano,5 so Arlac and five soldiers with arque-
busiers were left to help him.
Preparations for war consisted largely in ceremonies to propitiate the
gods. In the only known original picture of Le Moyne which survives,
a chief is shown pouring a libation of water to the sun, then dashing
some on the council fire. The only time water was poured upon a fire
was in time of war or death, for otherwise it was a sign of disrespect to
the water gods.
Two hundred warriors marched toward Potano's villages with the
Europeans in the front ranks, and Potano's mm came out bravely to
fight them. But when the arquebusiers spou ed fire, smoke and thunder,
and the. principal chief fell dead, Potano was routed. Again their own
gods had betrayed them, for thunder was revered' by them, as the voice
of the Great Spirit himself,s and lightning feared as his weapon of pun-
ishment. Things struck by lightning were never touched, whether man,
tree, or food.' So the men of Potano, though usually fearless and loving
war, fled to their towns, which were easily destroyed and the inmates
captured or killed.s As the fortunes of Potano were those of Ocali, it
is probable that these French also laid waste the shrine of the water
SEIZURE OP OSCBOLA
-
Shrine of the Water Gods
gods at Silver Springs.
r *The next French ad-
\ venturer was laRoche
Ferriere, who was bent
on trade rather than
war, visiting the towns
of middle and west
Florida and sending badk
the gorgeous feather mantels
f royalty, gold-tipped arrows,
.and wedges of a green stone like
beryl or emerald.9
'These French travelers were eyewitnesses
of the great annual Timucuan ceremony of sun-
worship which was of course performed by the natives
of Ocali, in the same manner as the other Timucuans. Le
Moyne, the artist, drew a picture of the sun-worship and described
its procedure.10 A large open space was selected, facing east and
near the water. For Ocali, the most probable location would be the
eastern side of the spring itself, for such a place would be dedicated to
religious purposes and taboo for ordinary use.1 This was probably why
the town was built a mile and a half away, on Silver River.
Here on the first of March, at the time of the first corn planting, the
people of the region gathered to offer prayers to the Sun-god for his
favor. The largest stag skin was saved, with head and antlers on, and
stuffed full of choice roots, while garlands of fruits and flowers adorned
the horns and body. Thus decorated they bore it in a procession with
music and songs, to the sacred shrine. The procession started before
daylight, guided. to the spot by bonfires at intervals along the road.
Behind the stag and the orchestra came the chief on his litter, with his
warriors marching after him. All
parts of their bodies painted red,
moss skirts and mantels, wore orna
garlands on their loosely flowing
of the spring, the stag was set on
hung up their weapons, for it was
Then the company knelt in a semi
and his priest stood beneath the t
wears but a scant costume. Other
robe,12 similar to the costume of t
the first rays of the sun touched
prayers, the company making resp
were decked in their best, the exposed
in honor of the sun. The women, in
iments of shell and bright stones, with
hair. When they came to the brink
a tall tree facing east. The warriors
an unthinkable crime to quarrel here.
circle behind the stag, while the chief
ree. In Le Moyne's picture the priest
writers say he wore a white deerskin
the Creek priests of a later day.1x As
the stag's head, the chief began the
onses at proper intervals, bowing their
Shrine qf the Water GCs
foreheads to the ground in token of their earnestness. /
of the prayers, all filed down to the spring to cleanse
sacred waters. Then, leaving the stag there until the
departed for their town, to celebrate with feasting and
beginning of their 'New Year.
From one of the Frenchmen we have also a descrip
markable ceremonial avenues such as led from O
edge of Silver River. The one described by the i
(Drayton's island in Lake George). "At the con
to go unto the river's side, a man must pass thr
three hundred paces long and fifty paces broad, (
great trees are planted; the boughs thereof are tied
together so artificially that a man would think i
of purpose, as fair I say, as any in Christendom."14
At the conclusion
their sins in the
next year, they
dancing this, the
tion of those re-
cali town down to the
French was at Edelano
ing out
ough an
) both
. like an
t were
Many
to Timucua was to testify to the beauty of these avenues
mounds, expressing the sanctity of trees, water, and sun-wi
Bartram saw them in 1766, his son, William, returned to
years later and Brinton found them still distinguishable as
of the village
avenue about
sides of which
arch and meet
an arbor made
a later traveler
and the sacred
worship1 s John
see them eight
late as 1856.16
VIII-THE RIVAL GOD
Middle Florida knew the French for but a short time. In September,
1565, the whole company were massacred by Menendez, sent out by Philip
II of Spain to put an end to French claims to Florida. On the whole
the Indians had rather liked these French, in spite of their quivocal
dealings with the chiefs. Saturiba was very bitter against Menendez for
killing them, and waged relentless war against the Spaniards partly for
that reason. It was perhaps on account of Saturiba's uncompromising
attitude that Menendez soon succeeded in establishing friendly relations
with Utina. After he had overcome the French and founded the village
of St. Augustine, the great Spanish Commander came up the St. Johns
river hoping to find a water route to the Gulf of Mexico.1 Like DeSoto,
Menendes was fortunate in having a former Spanish captive of the In-
dians, called Fontenado, in his company, and sent wor4 to Utina that
he would like to visit him. Now besides being under no illusions about
white men, Utir
him with terrot
was a seasoned
of whites had s
to fall at will,
the coast.2 So
la had heard disquieting things of Menendez, which filled
. Again it was not a fear of material things, for Utina
warrior. But it had been reported that this new leader'
uch influence with his own God that he could cause rain
having recently brought rain to the crops of a chief on
this must be a new water god, and one who was greater
than Him the French worshipped, for they had been overcome.
Shrine of the Water Gods
At length Utina sent word back to Menendem that he would re
if he would come with only twenty men-and bring rain for hiz
corn! Menendez was very conscientious in his dealings with th
and often tried vainly to deny his power over rainfall, but 1
to meet Utina with only twenty men. So he left his boats near 1
of the Oklawaha and started overland to the village. Halfway
sky darkened,' thunder rolled, and great drops began to fall.
too much for Menendez' sense of humor-he slapped his knee an
with laughter, saying to a messenger, "Tell Utina, here I come w
men and the rain!" But it was too much also for Utina's re
he fled to the swamps and refused to meet a man with such awfi
On Menendez' return down the river, however, Utina came out
and received a pair of breeches, a green silk doublet, and a
Menendez. "That Indian was much of a gentleman in face a
ceive him,
s withered
le Indians
he agreed
the mouth
there the
This was
id shouted
ith twenty
verence-
il power.3
of hiding
hat from
nd figure,
about twenty-five years old and very discreet," wrote Meras, brother-in-
law of Menendes.
Spanish influence spread slowly but surely over middle Florida. In
1576, Pedro de Andrada with a company of soldiers was sent from St.
Augustine to aid Utina against Potano and other chiefs.' By 1583 all
the chiefs had acknowledged Spain's control.
The submission of Potano was a spiritual as well as physical one. By
1597, there were 1500 Christian converts in Timucua and Spanish priests
had pushed far into the interior. The missionaries labored faithfully
with their charges, but the result in the minds of the pupils was largely
confusion. To their astonishment and
UP TEE OsIA WSI horror, the good priests'had learned that
TO SILVER SPlING
the Indians already baptized with water
to cleanse themselves from sin, received a new name,
and considered themselves reborn spiritually.' This
could be nothing less than the workings of the
Devil to parody religion, decided the teachers.
What difference did that make? replied
the pupils. They worshipped the Power
of Evil as well as of Good, giving
each due acknowledgment of his
power. Many converts fell
back into apostasy when
they heard they must
renounce the Devil.
Other principles
of the new faith
were in direct
Shrine of the Water Gods
opposition
ideals of
to old
the Indi-
ans. Humility, for- 'I ".
giveness, modesty--
none of these had ever e
been considered virtues l
by the Indians.' But
patience and kindness
worked slow miracles. In
1609 Utina with his heir
and chiefs was baptized in- i
St. Augustine. Though the
Potanos were among the -. a
most warlike of the Timu-
cuan tribes, a little later, o v s.ee of "ae
about 1655, there rose in --
this district the great mission center of San Francisco de Potanos
with substations in other villages, visited regularly by priests. Though
pestilence thinned the ranks in 1617, the arts of civilization were steadily
advancing and the Timucuans were known in the New English settle-
ments to the north as the Spanish mission Indians. Only once more did
this proud race rebel, and that was in 1656 when the tyrannical Governor
Robelledo ordered them to bring corn to St. Augustine on their backs.'
To an Indian man manual labor was a disgrace, not because he was lazy,
but because his belief and manner of life made it seem expedient for his
women to do such work. Asked why he did not help raise the corn,
the Indian replied, "women know the secret of fruitfulness and can teach
the grain."'0 Indian women were far from being the downtrodden
wretches usually imagined. The Indian's house belonged to his wife
and by his own home he meant the house of his mother.11 Many tribes
were ruled by a chieftainess, advised by a seeress, and led by a warrior
maiden.
Florida
die figh
to keep
their ch
finally
Later the Seminole women, though they
wars, taunted the warriors who went west,
citing. War was a man's career,, with ball
him
arges
suffered
because
playing
fit at all times. The missionaries had come
and protested to Spain against the Governor'
d most in the
e they did not
g and hunting
to understand
s decree, until
a new and more reasonable official was sent to St. Augustine.
Spain had found the missionaries knew how to employ the energies of
the Indians. Under their wise administration the men learned to raise
cattle, hogs, and horses, so that not only St. Augustine but even Cuba was
supplied with Florida meat. Orange groves of sweet, sour, and bitter-
sweet varieties spread around the mission centers, where figs, plums, and
<
-san*s WIK
1111
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n
-S
^ LW
La *~j'
.5 -~
-a-
. b 1*.
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v'-
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a-^ r^^
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-
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PROM THE DRAWINGS AND MAPS OF JACQUI
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5
LQ^~r
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1
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0 ''
PRBNCR ARTIST IN' POS13A IN 18TH CENTURY
- I L C
BMW C
'l L c <
-I
a t ,
I. -
~s;c~
~sF~J
~+E,
;~ncll
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c~s~
IFm..
o..
9`. -i
em~P~R K~lc~ar~
p *z
*IA
Shrine of the Water Gods
grapes
raised.
were
$'. IX-"DEST. SULIGA"
This Eden became too
rich and tempting, bor-
dered as it was, by wild
tribes and predatory Charles-
i j ton traders. In 1685 an Eng-
lish expedition raided San
BFrancisco de Potano, carrying
off church ornaments and
81WINOLJE VILLAGb TODAY
--SLVER sPrINc slaves to Charleston.1 From
1697 on there was a rapid
decrease in Timucua's inhabitants. First the Carolinians
sent their Indian allied into Florida-the Yemassees of the coast
and the Creeks of the back country of what is now Georgia. These did
so well that Englishmen joined the raiders and between 1700 and 1706
nearly all of the inhabitants of Timcua were carried off into slavery.'
But in the meantime the Yemassees quarreled with their English friends,
and sought alliance with the Spanish Governor at St. Augustine.' He
received them gladly and allowed them to settle in the almost deserted
Timncuan towns, most of the newcomers centering around the Oklawaha
and the old provinces of Utina and Potano. These Indians were much
darker than the Timucuans and less advanced in agriculture. But they
absorbed Spanish doctrine and Timucuan tradition with equal facility,
so that the old shrines of the water gods and the mission churches received
their new converts.
It may have been these Yemassees who contributed to the multitude
of Florida beliefs the idea of tree burial, characteristic of their tribe.
As has been said, in all parts of Amica, tree, wates, winds, and' the
cross were objects of worship.) The tree symbolized the source of life
and so was sacred to the god of waters.' It was this idea which had
caused the early Indians to line their ceremonial avenues with tresm.
These Yemassees carried the symbolism further and placed their dead
in hollows of trees, as the receptacle most fitting to preserve them for
rebirth. Later the Creeks in this same region followed the custom, and
especially buried very young children in hollow trees, carefully ceiled
ove, for fear a drought would follow.' If a drought should actually
take place, the people sprinkled owate around the tree tomb, in the
hope of breaking the evil sd It, er as lafe p'ai822, a traveler in the
., a .* .: ..-
S| $ l *
t 1 i i *
a. I i.* *
C~"
Shrine of the Water Gods
vicinity
of Silver Springs saw the bones of an Indian in a hollow tree.'
X-THE INDIAN SIDE OF THE RiVtR
The inevitable finally happened-England acquired Florida in 1763.
Some Spanish Indians went with their old masters to Cuba, or stayed on
the coast of South Florida, where they traded with the Cubans. Many
came out
English so that they were a
on the Oklawaha since 171W
remained faithful to Englai
consideration. Some Crc
Apalache by 1705. They c
mained there in possession
inhabitants.2 These were tl
ble
5.1
nd,
ame
of the woods and made friends with the
to re-establish their towns which had been
But the Creeks of West Georgia, who had
low came to Florida and received greatest
had already penetrated as far as
in with English raiders and re- '
of the ruined towns of the former
ie Lower Creeks or Mikasukees,
who became known as Seminoles about 1775.* The
Upper Creeks, called Muskogees, differing in language
and blood from the Mikasukees, be-
gan to come from Georgia to Florida
about 1750.4 Secoffie, their chief, FLORIDA sEPT
took up his residence in old Potano, INtorrroS
1. iaLVER SPRI
renamed by his people Alachua
(Paine's Prairie, near Gainesville)
about 1775. Thus he was but -
a little north of Silver-
Springs. Governor
Grant, first English
executive in Flori- c -
ida, called Secoffie
NGB 'I
NG8
r~~~*
Yemassees, however,
Another belief thought to have originated with the Yemassees was the
faith in sabhia crystals, % dangerous charm supposed to .be found in an
early spring flower. Before gathering it, the warrior bathed four times
that his family might receive its good and not its evil effects.8
The Spanish missionaries were not so successful in taming these new-
comers.. They chafed under discipline and the English came often to
wreak vengeance on their former allies, so that the fugitives had to move
constantly, the priests following as best they could. Weeds grew high
and the fruit-laden orchards were untended. English maps showed a line
across middle Florida in the region of Ocala as the boundary of Carolina,
and traced thereon the route of the slave hunters. Here "Dest. Suliga"
(deserted old fields) appeared, where Ocali's rich farms had flourished
for so many centuries.
28 Shrine of the Water Gods
and the other chiefs to Picolata on the St. Johns, and made a treaty with
them, which provided that they should be undisturbed in the po
of the lands west of the St. Johns river. That country--the old
of Utina and Potano-then became known as the Indian side of d
During the twenty years of English rule, the upper Creeks, or Mi
grew very wealthy and their cattle and hogs increased to great 1
the Alachua plains. They enslaved the Yemassees,s whose villa
tered about the Oklawaha and Silver Springs. The legend of '
and Chulcotah might well belong to this period. According to d
Chulcotah was the chief of a tribe at Silver Springs, probably Y
whose enemy was Okehumpkee. The latter is the name of a gpr
miles south of Gainesville, which could have been named for a M
chief. Winonah, Okehnmpkee's beautiful daughter, loved 0
but her father killed him in battle, whereupon Winonah drowned
in Silver Springs. The long grasses, glistening and swaying in
-sesOn
regions
he river.
erds on
ge cen-
Finonah
ism story
eauusee,
ring 120
Iudkogee
ulcotah,
I hmealf
the cur-
rent, suggest her lovely tresses. The idea of lovers united in the waters
of the spring is quite in keeping with the Indian conception, as the place
where sun and moon, fire and water, god and goddess are united. Hence-
forth, in the opinion of the Indians, Winonah would be a hand-maiden
of the water gods, for those who drowned, were struck by lightning, or
died of dropsy were thought to be their special attendants.'
A Philadelphia botanist, William Bertram, visited middle Florida in
1774 and wrote his adventures in a travel book which exerted a wide-
spread and powerful literary influence in Europe. His description of
the carefree Indian life enraptured Wordsworth, whose notes are
full of "Siminoles" and alligators. "Ruth" and "She Walks in
Beauty" are two poems showing Bartram's influence over
the great Engli poet.
The imagination of Coleridge was captured by Bar-
tram's description of the underground rivers, great
springs, and sink holes of the Ocala region,
whose waters appeared from such mysterious
sources. The result
colored the poem,
-A GILA om "Kubla Khan" where
LAT AT fVLV
m Grm "Alp, the saeed river,
ran, through caverns
measureless to man,
down to a sunless a.g"*
-.. Like all travelers
---.,among the Indians,
..- = Bartram was deeply
i
Shrine of the Water Gods
impressed with the
strict adherence to
religious ceremony.
His observations
bear out the testi-
mony of others as
to the great simi-
larity of Indian
beliefs all over the
country. There were
variations, elaboration
but the main ideas
generally the same.1
an early firsthand st
Indian life, said he
Spanish Indian capt
been brought to Cha
their ideas
southeastern
Adair too
Indians, for
(even in the
at dawn of
similar
hILVLI PEPNfl
TODAT
IJ
-b
Is,
were
Adair,
udent of
questioned
ives who had
rleston and found
to those of the other
tribes.11
was impressed
he wrote, "Men
coldest weather
day, adoring Y
with the power of the water-cults among the
I and women turn out of their warm houses
r) singing their usual sacred notes 'Yo Yo'
o He Wah, at the gladsome sight of morn,
and thus they skip along, echoing praises, till they get to a river, when.
they instantaneously plunge into it." They had to immerse themselves
four times and stay in the water until sunrise.12 Going in and returning
the chief priest led the procession, followed by the old men, warriors,
women with children in arms, and last the older children, according to
size.1s Anyone failing to observe this rite was punished by raking their
legs and arms with snakes' teeth.14 Even the drinking of water had a
certain significance. A warrior could not take a pitcher of water from
a married woman unless she set the vessel on the ground and retired.1
Drinking from a skull was supposed to make one wise.16 Like the Greeks,
these Indians thought the souls of the dead must cross water,17 after
which they climbed the Milky Way to spirit land.'8
For mixing medicine or bathing, water from eddies in a swift running
stream was necessary,'9 and so the clear, rapid stream of Silver Springs
was of outstanding merit. Not only in the morning but whenever mis-
fortune threatened, the Creek family bathed four times to avert evil.
When the warrior went to bed, he said, "I am going to hunt a dream",
and if it was a bad one, he and his family took to the running waters
to wash it away.20
In fact they were so much in water as to be almost
30 Shrine of the Water Gods
amphibious.21 It was unlawful to put out even a cooking fire with water.
Only when someone died, a kinsman grasped a firebrand in his right
hand, brandished it, and dipped it in a stream, allowing it to sink to the
bottom."
Bartram described the center of each town, a square on an artificial
mound where stood the town house, flanked by houses which were open
on sides facing the square. This square formation repeated the four
points of the compass, or direction of the four winds, the rain bringers.
Such were the Creek towns near Silver Springs, which were much as the
chronicler de la Vega (in DeSoto's expedition) found the ceremonial
mounds of the earlier Indians.u The mounds were miniature repre-
sentations of their mountains of tradition, "The Hills of Heaven", or
peaks on which their ancestors escaped the flood, that earthly paradise
from which flowed the rains." When a rainbow appeared, the Creeks
thought it shut off the rain, because its two ends stood in great springs,
the water sliding down the arch into the sacred pools."
It is interesting to note that John Bartram, father of William, visited
and described Mopunt Royal, possibly the site of Utina's town. "What
a prodigious multitude of Indians must have labored to raise it", he said.26
"North of the tumulus is a fine straight avenue about sixty yards broad,
all the surface of which has been taken off and thrown on each side,
which makes a bank of about a rood wide and a foot high, more or less,
as the unevenness of the ground required, for the avenue is as level as
a floor from bank to bank and continues so for about % of a mile to a
pond about 100 yards broad and 150 long, north and south. Seemed
to be an oblong square and its banks four feet perpendicular, gradually
sloping every way to the water. (The pond) seems to be artificial;
if so, perhaps the sand was carried from hence to raise the tumulus, as
the one directly faces the other at each end of the avenue. Here had
formerly been a large Indian town. I suppose there were 50 acres of
planting ground cleared." So father and son of the distinguished Bar-
trams recorded their impressions of the old and -new Indian towns of
middle Florida, bringing out the great similarity of customs and beliefs.
On the mound was held the Green Corn Buask of the Creeks, a ceremony
lasting four days (to repeat the magic number) to celebrate the harvest.
An understanding of this ceremony of purification and renewal gives an
insight into how well the water cults had survived. In August, when
the corn was ripe, four days were set aside for festival. The. first day
a priest in white deerskin costume went to the square at daylight. Here
he made a new fire for the village with rubbing sticks. Four young men,
representing the first four brothers of the race, brought four new sticks
(cut from branches extending eastward)"2 for the fire, which was laid
Shrine of the Water Gods 31
in a cross (still the emblem of the winds, dispensers of the showers).
Then were brought the first of the harvest corn, fish, and new casino
(black drink)--for offerings only, as all fasted until the last day. Mean-
while the women put out their old fires, cleaned their houses, decorated
them with boughs and received part of the new fire. The second day
the warriors drank their war physic (of button snake-root) and the
women bathed. Then the warriors went down to the river, singing, and
bathed also. On the last day the whole village assembled in the square
where game, corn, and other food was cooked and feasting and dancing
lasted far into the night. All crimes except murder were forgiven at this
time, and the tribe started life again cleansed physically and spiritually.
An underworld in the crystal waters of Florida's springs was an obses-
sion in the minds of the Creeks. They thought there were "water people",
four feet tall, with long hair,"8 who had square towns and celebrated
their festivals just as earth people did.29 There were also water animals
which included several snakes of miraculous powers, a water bear, calf,
bison, and tiger. The king of these animals was a white deer, only two
feet high, but with lofty horns.sa Likewise there were little tree people,
very beautiful, whose favorite prank was to lead a hunter across a river
and leave him wondering how he got there.)1
Soon after Bartram saw Secoffie and his people in the Ocali region,
the English Governor of Florida had occasion to call on his Indian allies
for help. The American Revolution flamed in the colonies and came
to the borders of Florida. Here in Florida the English Loyalist made
his stand in the south and called on the Indians, not only to hold the
line but to aid in raids on Georgia. Seeoffie must have done his part
well, for he was given a silver crown by the British government for his
services during the war.)2
XI-DELIVERED TO THE ENEMY
His crown may have been gratifying to Secoffie but the results of the
alliance were unfortunate for his people, because the British surrendered
Florida to Spain in 1784 and left the Creeks (or Seminoles,. as this con-
glomeration of Indian nations was now called) hemmed in by hostile
whites. Spain's authority in Florida during this second Spanish period
of twenty years was but a shadow. Many Georgia Creeks left their coun-
try and came to Florida to live in this unrestricted area and to avoid the
Americans. Among these was a woman from a "red" or war town of
the Creeks and her eight year old son, later to become the famous Oscola.1
This was about 1808.2 Tennessee raiders descended into Alachua and
in 1812 killed King Payne, nephew and successor of Secoffie. Soon after
Shrine of the Water Gods
they killed Bowlegs, his brother.
property was the young Osceola,
Among the defenders of Seminole
who later retreated to Peas Creek in
south Florida.s The Seminole leader, King Micanol
Payne, as descent was still through the female line)
to Pelaklekaha, near the spring called Okehumpkee.4
of Indian property in these raids was enormous, and
justifiable.' Andrew Jackson had been fighting the (
part of whom fled to Florida. In pursuing them the
all Indians they encountered and destroyed or carried
negroes they found.6 These negroes were an ancient
Almost from the beginning of Spanish times, the Indi
runaway negroes from the English plantations and the
courage them to do so. The negroes became the sla
but their slavery was the lightest of servitude. They
towns from their masters and merely furnished
a partJ
a part
py
(a nephew
moved south also,
The destruction
in their eyes un-
Georgia Creeks, a
Americans fought
off any cattle and
source of trouble.
ians had harbored
B Spanish had en-
res of the Indians
lived in separate
(usually less than
ten bushels) o
kindly and rar
slave holders
generations in
were taller, m
selves. Their
f the year's crop to the Indians.7 The Indians treated them
ely consented to sell one. Fear of being seized by American
was deep in these negroes, most of whom had lived for
i Florida. They had intermarried with the Indians and
ore robust, and fully as intelligent as the red men them-
opinions had great influence with their Indian masters and
they usually served as the interpreters when dealing with whites, as they
spoke the Spanish, English,
disdaining the whites, usually
Dealings with the natives
and Indian languages,8 while the Indians,
ly did not learn.'
were complicated by all sorts of white ad-
ventures, and it was hard to know whom to believe, the Indians concl
The Florida tribes were in a disturbed state of mind when the dire
reached them of the sale of Florida to the United States. Wors
their old enemy, Andrew Jackson, was to be Governor and Commish
for the Indians. Jackson justified their fears by at once recommei
that the Seminoles be sent west and grouped with the Creek nation I
the same Indian agent.'0 Jackson's influence was temporarily in ec
however, and the U. S. government heeded the Seminoles' protest aj
such a step. They were all opposed to being grouped with the C
under any circumstances, because they had quarreled and separated
the Georgia Indians, many owed debts, some had disputed or stolen
erty, some were refugees. Moreover the beliefs of the Muskogees
emigration an alternative of death itself. Their legend said that
came originally from the center of the earth. So the earth was
mother, the streams her blood, and to sell her would be sacrilege."
[uded.
news
e yet,
sioner
ending
under
lipse,
against
reeks
from
prop-
made
they
their
The
only real landowners in their opinion were the dead, and their word for
landowner was the "dead"."
Shrine of the Water Gods
Failing to get support for his policies, Jackson resigned his Florida
offices and on Sept. 18th, 1823, the treaty of Camp Moultrie was engi-
neered by James Gadsden,1s acknowledging the Seminoles as a separate
nation and allowing them to remain in Florida, provided they moved
to South Florida." The Indians protested against moving as far as
Tampa, and Mr. W. P. Duval, their agent and friend, allowed them to
remain in the Ocala region,15 where Fort King, an Indian agency, was
located in 182516 three miles from Silver Springs.
no accident-it was
of the area at that ti
Yelacasoche, at its
where on the river;
Girl's town, south o
towns of Coa Hajo
of Fort King, while
houses. One dire r
as a provil
with supp
of the sprt
sought it,
not talked
gent chief
In addil
This location was
near a spot where Indians gathered. Seminole towns
me included Ahapopka, at the head of the Oklawaha;
mouth, (where Utina had lived); Oclawaha, some-
; Buckerwoman's town, near Long Swamp; Mulatto
>f Cascawilla Lake.17 On Blake's map of 1839, the
and Charley Emathla were also within a few miles
the area fairly bristled with other forts and block-
result for the Indians was the use of Silver Springs
sion depot. Up the Oklawaha and Silver Rivers came the boats
lies for the interior posts, which were unloaded on the brink
ing. So the sacred spot was defiled and the Indians no longer
though they made no mention of their loss. Such things were
of-when asked to describe the Green Corn Busk, one intelli-
said, "It is not fitting to speak of these things."
oion to moving into a restricted area, the Indians promised to
restore slaves who had taken
to go among the Indians t(
breed ill feeling, for the
situation to claim slaves, ca
The Indians were admirable
refuge with them, but
Sfind their property.
worst white element t
little, and horses which
ly disciplined by their
tunately these provided that in case of injury or
party should exact retribution himself, either on
someone of the offender's tribe. This is not unl
honor of the same period, when the duel was th
for gentlemen to settle their disputes. So when a
the Indian did not think it right to appeal to a
own sentence. Not to punish an offender, even 1
loved one, was considered a sign of weakness, a f
to bring the wrath of the gods down upon the tri
editions in Florida were intolerable for white settle
Fort King became a real fort, garrisoned by re
Andrew Jackson became president of the United
of the government toward the Seminoles changed, t
rhite men were allowed
At once this began to
ook advantage of the
had never been theirs.
own laws, but unfor-
injustice, the injured
the guilty party or on
like the white code of
e only honorable way
white man abused him,
court but executed his
though the latter be a
failure in duty,18s liable
be itself.1' Soon con-
lers and Indians alike.
gulars in 1827. Then
States and the policy
o conform to his ideas.
It looked as though Jackson had been right in the first place and that
Shrine of the Water Gods
the Seminoles ought to be removed west. This they stubbornly refused
to do, mainly because of their reluctance to leave the sacred places of
their religion. Primitive man does not go far from home and a spot
marked by some peculiar feature was soon associated with religious ideas
and deemed sacred.Y0
Finally up the Oklawaha came James Gadsden again, on a schooner
plentifully supplied with presents and rum for the Indians. At Payne's
Landing, a little northeast of Silver Springs, he held a council on May
9th, 1832 and proposed that the Seminoles should emigrate and join
the Creeks in the west. The chiefs protested, saying among other things
that they would not receive fair treatment if their agent was the same
as the Creeks'. But Gadsden, under Jackson's instructions, was firm. He
said if they did not go, their annuity of $15,400 would be paid to the
Creeks.
A terrible drought in 1831 had ruined the Indian crops, and they were
greatly depressed, not only because of the limited food supply but because
the lack of rain was to them a sign of the displeasure of the water gods.
Such droughts were caused, they
in their sacred places, such as
waters" had lost control.21 They
thought, by
Silver Sprin
agreed to Ga'
a delegation of their chiefs was allowed to go v
of those who agreed merely meant to tempo]
One who opposed the treaty but had no wei
at this time was the young Osceola, just recently
to join the Mikasukees. He had but two fi
the presence of white men
gs. Here the "master of
dsden's proposals, provided
vest to see the lands. Some
rize, others were doubtful.
ght in the Indian councils
ly come from South Florida
)llowers, no rank, and no
property, but was distinguished as an athlete.22 He was living three miles
southwest of the present Ocala, near Bradley's Pond, and frequently
came to Fort King to act as a guide. The Indians thought they were
to hear of the lands before they agreed to emigrate, but the wording of
this treaty was purposely misleading and said they must emigrate if the
chief's committee were satisfied.2s The Seminole agent at Fort King
at this time was John Phagan, a dishonest man who was soon afterwards
dismissed for cheating his charges." He went west with the chiefs'
delegation, however, and while they were still out there, persuaded them
to sign a document at Fort Gibson, (called the Treaty of Payne's Landing)
March 28th, 1833, which said that they were satisfied, and so committed
their nation to emigration. This committee included John Blunt (a
former guide of Andrew Jackson) who was to be exempt from emigration,
Charley Ematha, Holata Emathla, Jumper, and their negro interpreter,
Abraham. They said they liked the country but did not like their Indian
neighbors. Major Ethan Allen Hitchcock wrote in his Seminole war
diary, "The Treaty of Payne's Landing by which it was attempted to
Shrine of the Water Gods
remove the Indians was a fraud upon them and they have in fact never
agreed to emigrate. I say therefore that the Indians are in the right to
defend- themselves in the country to the best of their ability."" The
government was ignorant of the dissatisfaction of the Seminoles with its
agents and their duplicity in securing this treaty." Foke Luste Hajo
(Black Dirt), the principal war chief of the Seminoles, was deposed
because he signed these papers.
As determination to resist removal to the west grew, the eloquence and
leadership of the sub-chief Osceolan began to impress the Indians. He
was already in favor with the white people at Fort King, because of his
intelligence, agreeable manners, and apparent willingness to promote
good relations between the two races. He had often brought in offenders
from among the Mikasukees, the most troublesome of the tribes. As
pressure on the Indians increased, Osceola became more active in the
conferences. One of the American officers at Fort King recorded his
impressions of Osceola at this time. "I recollect once to have seen him
on the piazza of the officers' quarters, whilst Micanopy, the ostensible
chief of the nation, was closeted with General Clinch, in his office, which
opened upon the stoop. Micanopy was a fat, lubberly kind of man and
is ever a stupid fool when not replenished by his sense bearer (as he
calls him) Abraham, who was on the present occasion absent. Osceola
well knew this, and therefore it was that he betrayed the anxiety he did,
to be near Micanopy, to give him the proper cue for non-commitment.
He would stand at the door, apparently in the attitude of an eavesdropper;
then he would
assuming that
Becoming more
be peeping into this and then into that window; ever
peculiar air of curiosity discernible only in the Indian.
i and more impatient of his exclusion from the conference,
he suddenly stalked across the stoop, jerked out his knife, and flourished
it around his head with the
a mqre striking figure
costume, as appropriate
attitudes. On his head
feathers, his hair of gl
face of most beautiful
exhibiting a mixture of
characteristics with his
and his uplifted hand,
his knife, and you may
than
as i
was
vari
hate
most savage vehemence. Never have I seen
he presented. Of a fine, rigid frame, his
it was striking, gave grace and dignity to his
a turban, garnished by two long drooping
blackness fell in thick profusion around a
ety of expression when unruffled; but now
and unconquerable resolution. Couple these
sturdy stride, the significant shake of his head
cleach
form s
Osceola was playing a dee
apparently bargaining with thu
and provisions he could from
resist emigration as long as
ing and flourishing with savage ferocity
ome conception of him.""
p game with masterly strategy. He was
e whites, getting all the arms, ammunition,
them but at the same time determined to
possible, perhaps forever. A little later
__
36 Shrine of the Water Gods
Thompson refused further ammunition to the Indians and Osceola was
furious, claiming his people were being treated like negroes (who were
not allowed arms in slave states). Knowing that they had been tricked,
the Seminoles matched duplicity with guile and made no effort to comply
with the terms of the treaty, which provided that within three years they
should be ready to emirate. As the time annroached. it was extended
three months, and still they did not come in.29
The patience of the government was exhausted-in February, 1835,
General Clinch was authorized to draw six additional companies to con*
centrate around the Seminolesso and Fort King was made army head-
quarters for the six hundred regulars in the field. Tension increased-
the Mikasukees were frankly hostile and held a strong position on the
Withlacoochee r
iver. General Wiley Thompson was the Indian agent at
Fort King, a kindly man but apparently of limited understanding of the
Indians. On April 22nd, 1835, he called a conference of the chiefs and
tried to persuade them to comply with the treaty. On the second day of
the meeting, Micanopy was absent and when the chiefs acknowledged
that he was unwilling to agree to the terms, Thompson angrily declared
Micanopy was no longer head of the nation. This did not help matters
and even Andrew Jackson reproved
Thompson for interfering with tribal
government.2' In this tense hour Osceola emerged as the man of the
hour and began to take the lead. Though still but a sub-chief of the
warlike Mikasukees and up to this time friendly with the whites, he had
already denounced the treaty of Payne's Landing for the fraud it was.
Now he openly called the chiefs who favored Thompson's proposals
traitors and told the agent he would die before he would emigrate."2
At the end of his fiery and eloquent address he drove his knife through
the paper on the table before the ageht. Some of the chiefs withdrew,
others remained to sign. Thompson was astonished and perplexed at
Osceola's conduct. Up to this time, the young man had been one of his
favorites and he had but recently given him a valuable rifle for a present."
But his comprehension failed to connect events in the young man's per-
sonal affairs with politics. The wife of Osceola, Che-cho-ter (Morning
Dew) ,4 who had some negro blood, had been carried off as a slave by
a white man and Osceola blamed the agent for her loss.*s The right to
claim negroes from the Indians had by now become "first come, first
serveC
that a
he wi
I". Osceola's language to General Thompson becax
it the agent's request, he was arrested, in June, by Col.
is dragged to the guard house he exclaimed in the
"The sun is high.
I will have mine."26
I will remember the hour. The
His hands were so tightly bound
ageni
that
ne so abusive
Fanning. As
Creek tongue,
t has his day.
the scars were
still to be seen two years later.87
This was probably unintentional cruelty,
Shrine of the Water Gods
prompted by the fear of his great strength, for he was the best athlete
of the Seminoles, first in the ball play, hunting, wrestling, and running."
When he saw he could not escape Osceola resorted to subterfuge, a
device in war which was regarded as justifiable by the Indians. He pre-
tended to submit to Thompson's decree, and called in the chiefs friendly
to the whites, begging them to intercede for him. So deceived were they,
that they pledged themselves for his good conduct and he was released."
To completely deceive the
the emigration agreement.
announced for the autumn1
but before this could be
called an Indian council
* whites, he and seventy-five Mikasukees signed
A sale of Indian hogs, cattle, and ponies was
, so that they might take the money with them,"
consummated, Osceola and the hostile chiefs
in the depths of the Big Swamp, a few miles
south of Fort King,' at which they declared death would be the penalty
for any Indian selling his stock. Five chiefs with 450 friendly Indians
fled to Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay"4 but Charley Emathla refused to go,
and sold his possessions. On Nov. 20th, as he was returning home from
the sale of his property with his money, Osceola and a band of followers
rose from ambush and killed him.'2 The Americans were scandalized,
because Charley had been one of the chiefs who had secured Osceola's
freedom. This is only one of hundreds of instances where white people
have insisted that the game of war must be played by their rules only.
It is not the purpose of this account to defend Indian actions-only to
understand them. And Osceola played his war game by rules inherited
from generations of warriors. Probably Charley Emathla understood.
At any rate he played the game according to Indian rules, which counted
it a disgrace to seek to avoid the consequences of one's acts. And Osceola
scorned to touch his money-he scattered it to the four winds on the spot
where Emathla fell.a
XII-OPEN
DEFIANCE
Soon after this, troops at Fort King were ordered to one of General
Clinch's plantations, Lang Syne, afterwards Fort Drane, a few miles
northwest of Silver Springs. Because there were only forty-six defenders
left1 at Fort King all the men were ordered to remain inside the pickets.'
But on Dec. 28th, the sutler of Fort King, Erastus Rogers, and two clerks,
Mr. Hisler and a boy Robert, went to dinner at the sutler's house, a few
yards outside the pickets, and bordered on the northwest by a thick
hammock. They were still there about two or three in t
unknown to Captain Lendrum, General Thompson and
Smith were also outside, walking after dinner, about
near the same thick hammock.
he afternoon, and,
Lieut. Constantine
300 yards away,
Suddenly the peculiar, shrill war whoop
38 Shrine of the VWater Gods
of Osceola was heard.3 Osceola and sixty Mikasukees rose from the
bushes and fired at the two white men. Thompson died with fourteen
bullets and a knife wound4 (probably Osceola's) in his body. Smith
was also killed and both men scalped. The Indians then killed the men
in the sutler's house. Their negro cook, hidden behind a barrel, saw
Osceola enter the room first. Rodgers was killed inside, Osceola over-
threw the table, to be sure no one was underneath it, looked around with
a stern expression, and left."
On the same day that these events took place at Fort King, the Dade
Massacre was executed a short distance to the south. Because of his
anger against Thompson, Osceola chose to lead the warriors at Fort King
and so could not take part in the larger engagement against Dade. But
both bands of Indians met that night in the great Wahoo Swamp to cele-
brate their victories according to their ancient custom. The scalps of
the victims were exhibited, the scenes were re-enacted with savage triumph
and the warriors received their full reward of praise, which was all they
ever desired.
Just after the outbreak, Osceola wrote a letter of defiance to General
Clinch whose grim determination sounded like an echo of the voice of
Acuera defying DeSoto. "You have guns," he said. "So have we-you
have powder and lead and so have we-Your men will fight, and so will
ours, till the last drop of Seminole blood has moistened the dust of his
hunting ground."s It is hard to convey an idea of Indian eloquence and
imagery through the words of the interpreters, who often listened for
hours and then translated in a few words. Caocoochee, another noted
chief of the Seminoles, voiced his love for the land of the water gods
they were fighting for, by telling of a dream he had while confined in
St. Augustine. This dream, he said, had given him courage to do what
no other man had succeeded in before, escaping from the grim prison
of Fort Marion. His "twin sister who had died appeared to him, holding
in her hand a cup of pure water which she said came from the spring
of the Great Spirit-and if I should drink of it, I should return and live
with her forever."'
The desperation of the Indians in their fight to stay in the land of
their sacred shrines can be illustrated in thousands of ways. When bands
were captured, it was noticed that few children between the ages of three
and fourteen were taken. This, it appeared, was because the children
of noisy age, had been killed lest they betray the hiding place of the
band.8 Yet the Indians were noted for their love of children and when
told that out west their children could grow up in safety, an Indian
woman, her reserve broken down, bowed her head and wept openly.
The double tragedies of Fort King and the Dade Massacre were the
Shrine of the Water Gods
signals for Indian revolt all along the line from Tampa Bay to middle
Florida, and the American people were electrified by the outbreak. There
is room here only for an account of those battles of the Ocala region
bearing on our story. Three days after Thompson's death, General
Clinch with 200 regulars and many volunteers met the Indians on the
Withlacoochee and fought a sharp engagement in which nine Americans
were killed and 98 wounded. Osceola was everywhere, urging his men
on and leading them with the greatest adroitness. From thirty to forty
Indians were killed' but Clinch was driven back.t1 It was six weeks
before reinforcements could be assembled and sent into the interior.
Then General Gaines with 1100 men and 77 friendly Indians marched
to Fort King, where he found no provisions and so hastily retreated.
While crossing the Withlacoochee forty miles from Fort King, on Feb.
27th, he was attacked by Indians and held there ten days, during which
time he had to kill horses for food." This recalls the exploits of Narvase
and DeSoto, and the scenes of the battles were nearly unchanged after
three hundred years. The military roads traveled by American troops
followed the old Indian trails used by Narvaez and DeSoto and the
Seminoles selected many of the same strategic points to attack on these
roads which the Timuquans had used against the Spaniards. In this
battle Osceola was again conspicuous, giving the whites much the worst
of the engagement. Finally the Indians proposed a truce-if the troops
would not pursue them, they would withdraw, allow Gaines' men to go
to Tampa and a formal treaty would follow. To this Gaines was glad
to agree but while the negotiations were going on, General Clinch ap-
peared with reinforcements and fired at the Indians on sight. The latter
fled, thinking they had been betrayed again.12 Then, on the night of
March 29th, 1836, the main army was on the banks of the Oklawaha,
when two fires were seen on the opposite side of a nearby lake. Colonel
Butler was sent to investigate and caught sight of four Indians. Joseph
Shelton of South Carolina overtook Yaha Hajo (Mad Wolf), who faced
about and fired at very short range. Shelton wounded the Indian and
then walked up to him, placed his pistol on his breast and fired. The
pistol missed fire, while Yaha Hajo shot Shelton in the hip, just as another
soldier killed the Indian. It was a splendid exhibition of nerve on both
sides, for neither white nor red man showed a sign of flinching in this
encounter at arm's length. The dead Indian, Yaha Hajo, had been
received in Washington with acclamation in 1826, had had his portrait
painted, and received assurance of friendship from the American govern-
ment.
The war dragged on; generals came with acclaim and departed amid
a shower of investigations, and finally General Jesup was appointed to
40 Shrine of the Water Gods
command the Florida troops. He met with little better success than his
predecessor, General R. K. Call.
Indians from other sections of the United States had been recruited
to fight the Seminoles. On Oct. 19th, 1836, there were 690 Creek warriors
from Georgia and 90 white soldiers at Fort Drane. Other tribes too now
joined the fight-Shawnee, Delaware, Choctaw, 900 in all. Besides the
pay of a soldier, the inducement offered by General Jesup (appointed to
command Dec. 8th, 1836) was a share of the loot captured, slaves, cattle,
and horses.13 Dogs were used to hunt fugitives, also recalling the exploits
of DeSoto. The Seminoles had the same word for dog that the Timu-
cuans did, though the American spelling renders it "Efaw" instead of
"Efa", as the Spanish had it.
In September old King Philip and thirty-five of his people were cap-
tured, and his son, Caocoochee, came to St. Augustin
could be made for emigration. Caocoochee was hel
which he sent messages to Osceola to come to a point
from St. Augustine to make terms with Jesup.
On March 6th, 1837, General Jesup had succeeded
with the Seminoles, in which he promised that free ne
the Seminoles might go west with them. On t
prompted by his negro, Abraham, agreed to
of his people in to Fort Brooke at Tampa.
but folded his arms and walked away. "If on
f2 *i-'L d--.A--..t ..... -- _
these c
emigra
Osceol
ly hall
ie to see what terms
d at the Fort, from
seven or eight miles
in making a treaty
sgroes and slaves of
conditions Micanopy,
te and brought 250
la would not agree,
f that has been said
oi mus mouumianole warrior De true, ne is a most remarxae man,--
said the Pensacola Gazette. Osceola's premonitions of bad faith were
correct, for Jesup violated his promises by allowing white men to enter
the Indian camp at Tampa and seize negroes. Thereupon Micanopy, Jum-
per, and other chiefs were rescued by Osceola and the war was resumed.
Jesup had been severely criticized for failing to end the war, and he
decided to resort to desperate measures. On Oct. 20th, 1837, Osceola
and a party of warriors were at the place designated in Caocoochee's
message, within seven miles of St. Augustine, and sent word that they
would like the General to come without escort to confer with them.
Since Philip and Caocoochee were in confinement, Jesup said he feared
the Indians might seize any officer who met them and demand an exchange
of prisoners. He sent General Hernandez, but while Hernandes talked
with them, Colonel Ashby's company was instructed to surround and
seize them.
Hernandes was also carefully drilled as to what he must say, and as
the chiefs stood with guns cocked and eyes alert, he reproached Osceola
with failure to return goods stolen by an obscure chief, not even under
Osceola's authority. This talk was merely to pass the time until Ashby
_ I 1 1
Shrine of the Water Gods
should have surrounded them.
were armed and not under a
ethical.1' Jesup was surprised
the capture and said, logically
it was lawful to seize them.""
Osceola was imprisoned at St
and many other chiefs. At thi
It is true they were not in sight of a fort,
flag of truce, but their seizure was not
at the storm of reproach which followed
enough, "If it was lawful to remove them,
;. Augustine along with Caocoochee, Philip,
a juncture the Cherokees, pitying the con-
editions of the Seminoles, offered to try to persuade them to surrender.
A delegation were brought to Fort Marion to talk the idea over with
the prisoners. It was a dangerous mission because the decree of death
to those suggesting emigration had continued to be carried out. Osceola's
sister would not even speak to her white husband because he was on the
other side. The Seminole chiefs welcomed the idea of Cherokee media-
tion, and even Osceola said he was tired of fighting, but was too ill to
say more.17 The Cherokees met the Seminole chiefs at Chickasaw Creek,
sixty miles from Fort Mellon (now Sanford). Micanopy, Cloud, eleven
chiefs, and twenty warriors came with them to Fort Mellon under a flag
of truce and were imprisoned. The Cherokee were incensed at this
treache
and thi
ry, insisted on telling the prisoners they too had been deceived,
eir chief, John Ross, wrote a protest to the Secretary of War.Us
But the Seminole spirit was not broken. Caocoochee escaped from
Fort Marion and inflamed the Seminoles again at the news of this fresh
abuse. The imprisoned chiefs were removed to Fort Moultrie in Charles-
ton Harbor for greater security and finally sent west.1x Osceola was too
ill to go, having developed a bad case of quinsy. His two wives and
two children were allowed to stay with him, and great attention was paid
him. Catlin, the famous painter of Indians, hastened to the fort and
painted his picture just five days before he died, Jan. 30, 1838.
Those who agreed to emigrate were scarcely less wretched than those
who continued to fight. The band of Holata Emathla, 407 in number,
had fled to Tampa early in the conflict and on April llth, 1835, started
their westward journey. Three times during the forlorn pilgrimage the
American officers in charge of their emigration were changed and the
last one, Lieutenant Jefferson Van Home, was desperately anxious to end
the journey. He found 78 of the Indians ill with measles and the teams
waiting in camp "at heavy expense". Moreover, -he noted with exaspera-
tion, "Their proximity to the river enabled them to bathe the sick con-
stantly in cold water which was sending them rapidly to the grave.""
Their first conductor had battled vainly with the same problem--"Their
mortality resulted from the perversity of the Indians in adhering to their
own peculiar treatment of the sick; which, being confined to frequent
deluging the patient with cold water--ended almost invariably in death.
,
---Z---'-'~
Shrine of the Water Gods
And this could not be obviated, although after having exhausted advice,
entreaty, and exp<
The Indians were
places lacked the
wagons stuck in
hardly stopping t
constant need to
ostulation, we resorted to watching, threats, and force."
trying to take th<
mag
the
to bu
bury
ic of their
heavy mud,
ry the dead
their dead
e w
old
an
i.
in
person polluted those who must bury
not purify themselves away from th
ready to make trouble had put Black D
of me coffins and burial for his wife ai
were obliged to expose ourselves to a
the lieutenant. Out of this party, eig
himself, died during the two months
their property-slaves and cattle havi
not favor emigration, or by dishonest
Seminoles sent west, 4000 died in the
The balance on the white side of
as appalling. Forty million dollars
water gods with them, but the strange
shrines. It rained constantly, the
d the harassed leader pressed on,
Another cause of anguish was this
strange places. Touching a dead
r them, and they feared they .could
eir own holy places.21 "Someone
(irt (one of the chiefs) up to require
nd daughter. Myself and Mr. Chase
soaking rain to effect this,""2 said
hty-seven, including Holata Ematha
i journey west. They had lost all
Ing been stolen by Indians who did
whites. Out of the total of 11,702
course of detention and removal."
the ledger for the war was almost
was spent by the government, and
from 1500 to 3000 soldiers lost their lives, not to mention the number
who were injured.u Fort King ceased to be a military post in 1843 but
remained a trading post and was the county seat in 1844." The town
of Ocala was named in 1846. But it was 1856 before the Indian removal
could be pronounced an accomplished fact, and even then several bands
of Indians still remained in the Everglades. Among these was chief
Sam Jones, formerly of the Silver Springs area, who still refused to
surrender, though he was over 100 years old and had but 38 warriors
left.2 In the fastnese of the Everglades their descendants live still.
These will not allow their families to learn the language or ways of whites
and their only contact with civilization is for purposes of trade. Recently
a teacher was sent by the F.E.R.A. to contact the Indian children of one
village on the Tamiami Trail. The chief endured her for one week and
then announced, "If she stay, we go."
And so the cherished spots of the Indians-their sacred springs and
rivers, burying grounds and fields-were shorn of their devotees, and
their centuries of tradition forgotten. An alien race overran the land,
to whom the shrines were objects of wonder only-curiosities without
significance.
Shrine of the Water Gods 43
EPILOGUE
Health cults in modern America are becoming widespread, especially.
those featuring sun and water cures,
our race is rapidly assuming traits
Indian. Certainly to the new Ameri
while anthropology
similar to th
ceans, Silver I
ose of
Springs
sts tell us that
the American
is no less an
object of wonder than it was to their predecessors. Few of our famous
men have failed to pay it a visit, and scientists, poets, novelists, and
travel writers test their powers of description on its beauties. Uncounted
thousands are continually coming to make the "journey over transpar-
ency". .Every hour of daylight, the noiseless, electrically propelled boats
may be seen hovering over the great boil, or the many fissures, while
the guides explain to passengers the wonders of the springs,. Fitting
indeed it is that these guides are negroes, for just as these cheerful
servants aided the Seminoles as
to convey the impressions of
prosaic race of America.
The "enchanted pool" is ap
objects characteristic of this un
interpreters, so they serve most effectively
the half-magic water world to the more
propriately surrounded by collections of
ique region. A Seminole village has risen
on its shores, giving the ancient race a share in the new life here. Tame
deer wander along the brink of the spring, lingering as if they were still
honored emblems of the Sun. At the Reptile Institute, a modern white
"medicine man", in a scientific manner, extracts venom from enormous
snakes to send to hospitals all over the country for medical purposes.
On a high diving platform, facing east, the new devotees of water make
their swan dives into the fluid crystal. of the springs. Beautiful park
ways and buildings serve as a splendid setting for the jewel like waters.
Modern improvements here are valued at a million dollars. Surely the
water gods must be appeased with the number and admiration of their
pilgrims. And to these modern pilgrims the story of the antiquities of
the great spring may add one more appeal to the natural beauties of this
charmed spot.
The value of Silver Springs as a tourist attraction was appreciated by
Americans at a very early date. Only a month before Florida became
a state, James Rogers bought from the United States th eighty acres
surrounding Silver Springs on July 1st, 1845, paying $1.25 an acre for
under-water as well as dry land. His purchase was valuable for com-
merdal as well as tourist purposes, since the Springs was the head
of navigation and only outlet for the Ocala area until the coming of
railroads. Barges poled by negro slaves were replaced by steamboats
in 1859.
The first Florida railroads were but short spurs from planting areas
44 Shrine of the Water Gods
to waterways, so it was natural that Silver Springs should be an early
terminal. The Florida R. I and Navigation Co., operating trainsm and
boats was a pioneer developer of this idea. In 1888 the Florida Central
and Peninsular R. R from Waldo to Ocala had a spur to Silvemr Springs
but it was a long time before railroads were more than feeders for water
traffic.
In 1891 tourist travel up the St. Johns to Silver Springs was well
established, as is shown by the fact that a large hotel was operated by
Prosy Bros. at the Springs. In 1903 there were still two steamboat
lines running to Silver Spring, one being the Hart Line of Palatka. By
this time, IL L Andeson had bought Silver Springs and was opeting
the Silver Springs and Western R. I. between his property and Ocala.
He sold his railroad to the Seaboard Air Line but by a curious turn of
fate, soon had reason to regret this transaction. This was due to the
bright idea of a young red-headed lad, Philip Morn
Brown Home at Silver Springs. Morrell, seeing d
vented a good view of the underwater wonders of
piece of glass into a well in his row boat and began
seeing, using the Seaboard docks for landing. This
lar that Mr. Anderson found his resort was losing
and in 1903 a suit was brought by Mr. Anderson
for allowing Morrell to se the docks. After 1903
R. R. acquired the Seaboard's spur to Silver Spri
line to Paladta, a prosperous tourist center.
to operate until 1922.
In the
from Mr.
leased it
sublet th
Jan. 1st,
steadily
roll, who lived at the
hat ripples often pro-
the springs, fittd a
to take visitors sight-
novelty was so popu-
ctomels to Morrell
aint the Seaboard
the Oklawaha Valley
ng and extended the
This railroad continued
-mem in 1909, Columbus Carmichael bought
. Anderson ad operated the resort until July lit,
to Ray and Davidson for 50 years. In 1926-7 t
eSprings to the Silver Springs Holding Co., re
1928. Since this date the improvements at th
increased and are now valued at a million dol
Silver Springs
1924, wbh he
se proprietors
sumi ctrol
SSpripng have
lar. Gasoline
motors were installed in the glass bottomed boats in 1925 and in 1932
these were supplanted by electric motors, making the trip over the
Springs a joy undisturbed by noise or odor of the engine. Silver Spring
is perhaps the most successful and elaborately developed single tourist
attraction in America today, deservedly famous abroad as well as in
this country.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Baran, Joan, Journal. London, 1769, in Smithonian Report, 1874.
BAnraa, WM., Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and Wet
Florida, etc. London, 1792.
-- v
Shrine of the Water Gods 45
BOLTON, H. E., Spanish Explorers in the Southwest.
BOLTON, H. E., Arredondo's Historical Proof of Spain's Title to Georgia.
BRINTON, D. G., Religious Beliefs of Primitive Peoples.
BRINTON, D. G, The American Race. Phila., 1901.
BRINTON, D. G., Myths of the New World. Phila., 1905.
BRnTroN, D. G., Notes on the Fla. Peninsula. Phila., 1859.
BUCKMAN, H. H., Geol. Background of Fla. Hist., Jacksonville Hist. Soc. Annual, 1933-4.
CATUN, GEOcRE, North American Indian. Edinburgh, 1926.
CLARKE, J. O. D., Ocala, A Sketch of its History, etc. 1891.
COHEN, M. M., Notices of Fla. and the Campaigns. New York, p1836.
Conwoa, J. T., Pedro Menendez de Aviles. DeLand, 1923.
CooKE, C. W, and Mossom, S., Geology of Fla. Florida State Geological Survey,
20th Annual Report 19274- Tallahamee, 1929.
FAIRsNas, G. R., History of Florida. Phila., 1871.
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GIDNcs, J. R., Exiles of Fla. Columbus, Ohio, 1858.
HE aN, LEFCrIO, Leaves from the Diary of an Impressionist.
Honez, F. W, editor. Narrative of Gentleman of Elvas in "Spanish Explorers in
Southern U. S."
HooDE, F. W., Handbook of American Indians.
InvrNc, W, Conquest of Fla. N. Y, 1868.
LANIF SIDNEY, Florida, 1876.
LE MOYE, JACQUm, Narrative of Le Moyne, an artist who accompanied, the French
expedition to Fla., under Laudonniere, 1564. Boston, 1875.
LowmtY, WoonDBUy, Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of the U. S, 1513-
1561, V. 1; 1562-1564, V. 2. N. Y., 1901.
LOWES, J. L., Road to Xanadu.
MAcCAULEY, CLAY, Seminoles of Florida.
MAYNARD, T., DeSoto and the Conquistadors. N. Y., 1930.
MEmzNER, O. E, Large Springs of U. S, Water Supply Paper 557. Washington, 1927.
McKENNEY, T. L, and HALL, JAS., Indian Tribes of North America. Ed. by F. W.
Hodge and D. O. Bushnell, Jr. V. 2, 1934.
A Narrative of the Early Days and Remembrances of Osceola Nikkanochee, by his
guardian. London, 1841.
NASH, ROY, Survey of the Seminole Indians of Fla. 1930. Senate Doc. No. 1314
Washington, 1931.
PARKuan, F., Pioneers of France in the New World. Part First, Boston, 1905.
PICARn, BmNAmn, Ceremonies and Religious Customs of the Various Nations of the
Known World. London, 185L
PoTTER, WOODBURY, The War in Fla., by a Late Staff Officer. Baltimore, 1836.
Notices of East Fla., by a Recent Traveler in the Province, Charleston, 1822. .
RANJEL, RI, Narratives of the Career of Herando DeSoto, V. 2. Trans. by Bucking-
ham Smith and ed. by G. Bourne. N. Y, 1922.
Scnoozanrr, HEn R R., Historical and Statistical information, respecting the history,
condition, and prospects of the Indian tribes of the United States. Parts I-VL.
Phila, 1851-7.
SELrARn, E. H, Underground Water Supply of Central Fla., Fla. State Geological
Survey, Bulletin No. 1. Tallahassee, 1908.
Sawpl, BARNARD, History of Hernmando DeSoto and Fla. Phila, 188L
SInPsON, G. G, Extinct Land Mammals of Fla. 20th Annual Report, Fla. State
Geol. Survey, 1929.
SPRACUE, J. T., Origin, Progress, and Conclusion of the Fla. War. N. Y, 1848.
46 Shrine of the Water Gods
SWANTon, J. R., Articles on Creek Culture in 42nd Annual Report, Bureau of Amer.
Ethnology, Washington, D. C. 1924-5.
SWANroN, J. R., Early History of the Creek Indians and their Neighbors, Smithbsonian
Bulletin No. 73. Washington, 1922.
SWANTON, J. R, Modern Square Grounds of the Creek Indiana.
V. 85, No. 8. Washington, 1931.
Smith.
Misc. Col,
WYATT, N.
C., MRS., Fla. the Fascinating.
I. P~OLoaUB
(1) earn, Floridlan Reveries, in
(2) Brinton. Myth,. p. 145.
(8) Brinton. Myths, p. 14i.
II. TH MAKING or TaH Boa SRINGo
(1) Buekmnn.
Fla. GeoL
Fla. GeoL
Fla. Geol.
la. GeoL
U. GeoL
Fla. GeoL
Fla. GeoL
Fla. GeoL
Fla. Geol.
(18) U. S. Geol.
Leaves from the
GeoL Background. Jax. Hist. Soc.
Survey, 20th Annual Report, p. 287.
urvey, Bulletin No. 1, p. 10.
Surve, 20th An. Rep., p. 89.
Survey, 20th An. Rep. p. 47.
Burve. Water Supply Paper No. 5
Survey 20th An. Rep., p. 48.
Survey. Bulletin 1. p. 28.
urvey, Bulletn 1. p. 16.
Survey, Bulletin 1, p. T5.
Swrvep, Bulletin 1, p. 87.
* Survey, Water Supply Paper No. I
Diary of
Quat., 1988-4.
p. 6-7.
III. WATr wie NOAH'S ARK
(1) Fla. GeoL Survey, 20th An. Rep., p. 244.
(2) Wells' Outline of History, p. 88.
(3) Jax. Blat. Soc. An., 19-4, p. 8.
(4) Fla. Geol Survey, 20th An. Rep., p. 240.
IV. "Aa" ON THU CONIKWINTAL CAUI
(1) Fla. GeoL Survey. 20th An.
(2) Fla. GeoL Survey, 20th An.
(8) Fla. GeoL Survey, 20th An.
(4) Ja. Hist. Soe. An., 1988-4,
V. TIMUCUA, KINGDOM Or THB SUN
(1) Brinton, Pla. Pennsula, p.
(2) Called by Spanish. Timueus
Nukflla.
(8) Brinton,
Brinton
(4) Brintna,
(6) Brinton,
(6) Brinton.
(7) Brinton,.
(8) Brinton,
(9) Brinton.
(10) Drew, F
(11) Brinton,
(12) Brinton,
(18 Adair, p
) Brinton,
Brinton.
1) Brinton.
(17) Brinton,
(18) Brinton,
VI. VIOLASO orW
(1) Brinton.
(4)
(5)
(6)
(6)
(7)
(8)
p. 208.
la. Quat., V. 6.
Myth., p. 158.
Myths, p. r4l.
.8L
Myth, p. 880.
MythBd, p. 848.
Mytha, p. 299.
THBs 8wHN
Myths, p. 220.o
(Bledrm ) Oeale
INWAY
. Rep.,
. Rep,
, P. 8.
172.
;Fre
neh, Thimugoa; Euglish, Tomeoo; Creek Indians.
Amer. Indians.
who say otherwise are lacking in insight, say
(RanJel) Cale (Elsn) Eloquale (Le Moyne)-Hodge.
NOTES
an Impressionft.
(Hodge)-Handbook of
Myths, p. 167. Those
empatically.
Myth., p. 158.
Myths. p. 179.
Myths. p. 158.
Myths, p. 114.
Myth,. p. 179.
Mythb, p. 108.
Swanton, p. 884.
Le Moyne
Manard, p. 162.
Swanton, p. 852.
Fontenada, in Shipp, p. 87.
Cabeca de Vaca, trans. by Bandelier. E125n9n92, Rare Book Room,
Conarea
Lowery, Sp. Settlements VI. p. 219.
Letter of DeSoto, tran. by B. Smith, Leg. 81-1569. El 25575.
Boom, Library o Conm.
Letter of DeSoto, El 25575. Library of Consrm, Rare Book Room.
Ehas in lasklynyt (reprint fr. ed. o1 1611, with intr e. W. B. Bye
Mueum. El 1 6537R56. Rare Book Boom, Library of Congr.)
Bledma, Tram. by B. Smith in Bourne. Vol. El 25SB88. p. 4-6.
Irving, p. 84.
Library of
Rare Book
of Brittih
Shrine of the Water
Gods
Brinton, Myths, p. 300.
Irvieg, p. 85.
Ranjal, Seeretary of DeSot, in 1
Brintn. Myth., p. 344.
Brlnton, Fla. Penta., p. 170.
Irvian, p. 96. Irvinas comment
it was completely in the spirit of
Brinton. Myths, p. 160.
Bourne, V. 2. p. 904.
Swanton, p. 884; Bourne, V. 2. p
Bourne, V. 2. p. 904.
Cati, North Amer. Ind.. V. 1,
Shipp, p. 28L
Busmnel, Native Villae, p. 84ff
Irving, Preface II, I speaking o
Swanton, p. 379; Irving, p. 101.
Brnton, Note on MF. Penin. p.
Swanton, p. 827.
IrgfO, 9.
ana p. 102. Chtefs ally
Irtvig, p. O.
Adair, p. 18.
Irving, p. 100.
Uelipee-Brinton, Myths, p. 169-1'
Brinton, Myts, p. 169-161-102.
ShIpp p. 282
Shtpp p. 282.
Bourne, V. p. 904.
l In Hacklnyt, Br. Museum.
Maynard p. 161.
Elve, in Haklnyt, El 2587RS.
nlvs. tran. by Dr. T. A. Robert
VII. Ta FaumnaH IN MImDa FLo
(1 Brinton, Pla. Penin., p
(2 Lower, V. 2. p. 412.
(8 Swanton, p. l1.
4 Parkman p. 02.
( 6 Parkman, p. 06.
0( Brinton, Myths, p. 182.
7 Brinton, Myth. p. 184.
(8 Paruman, p. 7.
(10 Le Mowne, Narrative, p
(11 Brinton, Relion of
(12 Peeart, p. 811.
18 Bartram, Travel, p. 50
14 Parkman, p.
1 Brinton, p. lit
16 Brinton, Fla. Penin. p.
VIII. TB RwVAL GaO
(1 Connor'u M
(2 Connor' M<
(8 Conner' Me
(4 Swanton p.
Brinton, My
SBrinton, FIl
8fmmonar p.
(8 Swanton, p.
(9 Swantons p.
(10) Briaton My
(11)wanton, B'
"DiT. ULmGA"
SSwanton, p.
8 Brinaton, My
4 Brinton, RBe
SSwanton, B
(0 Swanton, BI
(7 Simmnas, p.
(8 Swaton.. B
X. Tia
iI
Bourne.,
Nar. of
Des8oto,
V. 2, p. 904.
the haughty speeeh of th chief was that
Seminole chiefs of the Indian war of 186.
bore the same name as their
towns.
I1.
El 2587R56.
ion.
SA11
. 117.
1. 1I, (III).
'rimitive People.
p. 157.
. 168.
menden, p. 202.
mende,. p. 179.
ths, p. 148.
. PenDn.. p. 181.
98.
888.
thu, p. 174.
ireas of Amer.
Frontier,
Eth.. An. Rep. 1924-5.
p. 887.
Map in C. 0. 167D-1782.
th p. 117.
Ifko of Prim.
mr. Amer. thL.,
r. Amer. EBth.
S..
mu. Amer. Eth.,
Peoples, p.
An. Rep..
An. Rep., 1
An. Rep.
150.
1924-4, p. 198.
1924-56 p. 516.
192465,
p. 499.
IlNaoN Sir or Tvs Ruvm
Drew. Fl. Quat, V. 6, p. 21.
M. & L. p. 84.
Their traditions aid they came originally from the
ame from". So the Mtamukees called them "the
sun'.--Swaton, p. 178.
Swanton, p. 899; M. B., p. 84.
M. 6 p. 899.
Brinaton, Myt& p. 287.
Clarke, p. 48.
Lowe.' Road to Xanadu. p. 455.
weat,
people
to "see where
who came to
fa tl
ae &
48 ohre ofthe Water Gods
(9) Lowes' Road to Xanadu. p. 391.
(10 Brinton, p. 268.
(11) Adair, p. 152.
(12 Swanton, Bar. of Amer. Eth.. An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 899.
(18) Swanton, Bar. of Amer. Eth.. An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 600.
(14) Adair, p. 120.
(15) Adair, p. 148.
(16) Adair, p. 185.
(17) Adair, p. 288.
(18) Adair, p. 288.
(19) Swanton, Bur. Amer. Eth., An. Rep., 1924-5, p. 552.
(20) Swanton, Bur. Amer. Eth., An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 515.
4 (21) Swanton, Bar. Amer. Eth., An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 899.
(22) Swanton, Bur. Amer. Eth., An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 484.
(28) Schoolcraft, V. 2. p. 88.
(24) Brinton, Myths, p. 848.
(25) Swanton. Bur. of Amer. Eth., An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 480.
(26) Bartram, journal of John, p. 398. Smith Rep., 1874.
(27) Swanton, Bureau of Amer. Eth., An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 6546.
(24) Swanton. Bureau of Amer. Eth., An. Rep. 1924-5. p. 494.
(2) Swanton, Bureau of Amer. Eth.. Bal. 88, p. 98.
(80) Swanton, Bureau of Amer. Eth., An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 498.
(81) Swanton, Bureau of Amer. Eth.. An. Rep. 1924-5, p. 496.
(82) Swanton, p. 899.
XI. DmLvs To TO TBM ENuMy
(1) Sprague, p. 101.
(2) M. & H., p. 867. Oseeola's mother had married a white man named Powell after
the death of Osceola's father. She left Powell and came to Florida. Oseeola'a
grandfather was a Scotchman, so he was % white and showed it in his light
color and ees.
(8) M. 4 H., p. 862.
(4) Swanton, p. 411.
(5) alndian Remonval, p. 818.
(6) ASimmaons, p. 74.
(7) Indian Removal, p. 825.
(8) SUmmons. p. 16
(9) Catlin, who painted Osceola's portrait, said this warrior did not speak English.
The English guardian of Osceola's nephew confirmed this statement.
(10) M. A H.. V. 2. p. 86.
(11 Brinton, Myths, p. 258.
12) Tuggle-Creek Legends.
(18) James Gadsde, famous as prime mover in the Gadsden Purchase.
(14) M. A'., p. 820.
15) Cubberly, Fla. Quat., V. 5. p. 139.
(16) Ott, Fla. Quat.. V. p. 86.
(17) Swaton, p. 407. 412.
18) Simmons, p. 74.
(19 Adair, p. 192.
(20 Brinton, Myths, p. 154.
(21 Swanton, Bureau of Ethnology, 1924-6, p. 490.
() 22. A H., p. 867.
(28 M. & H., p. 888.
(24 Indian Removal, p. 822.
(25 Indian Removal, p. 321.
(26) Sehooleraft. V. 6, p. 469.
(27) Oseeola or Aseola, meaning Black Drink. M. & H.. p. 368.
(28) Indian Removal, p. 829.
(29) Indian Removal, p. 822. (6) Indian Removal.
(8) Seooleraft, V. p. 469. (7) Spra 328.
(81) M. & H.. p. 823 (8) Indian Removal, p. 383.
(82) k. B H., V. 2, p. 878. (9) Indian Removal. p. 327.
(88) Oe. Nik, p. 80. 10) Schooleraft, V. 6, p. 470.
(85) S rIndian mo p. (11) Indian Removal, p. 880.
(8 InS E4 P. 226.(12) Indian Removal, p. 880.
(8) M. p. 878. (18 Army 6 Navy Chronicle, V. 171.
(87 M. l, p. 6.n (14) Indian Removal p. 845.
(38 Cohen, p. 5. 15 Indan emo p. 0-1.
(89) M. L p. 876. () 16 H., V. 2,p. 3888.
(4?) SehoorSt. V. 6 p. 471. 11 Indian Removal, p. 853.
(41) h N., p. 880. 18 Indian Removal, p. 858.
(4) Sprae, p. 88. (19 M. A H., V. 2, p. 888-9.
(48) prae, p. 88. (20 Indian Removal, p. 883.
XII. OCrm DIzama (21 Adair, p. 126.
1 Sprague. p. 89. (22 Indian Removal, p. 885.
(2 Cabberly, Quat., V. 5, p. 148. (23 Indian Removal, p. 812.
(8 Cbberly. Fla. Quat. V. 6 p. 148. (24 M. H. V. 2.
(4) M. A H., p. 882. (25 Ott, Florida.
(5) Sechooleraft, V. 6. p. 471. (26 M. A H., V. 2. p. 11.
Map 1600-170-1700: Guaa-Eqi---Guaaaea-Equi; Edeland-Edelano; Navare-
Narvae .
Map 1700-1850: PicolateZ-Pieolata; Prairy-Prairie.
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