Suwannee, Columbia, and Baker County

Suwannee County

There was a Spanish mission northeast of Branford named San Juan de Guacara. The word Suwannee is thought to be a corruption of that word. The Indians in this area were Utina and Yustega (Yustaga) Indians, and they were easy converts to Christianity. There were 3 different Spanish missions in the county, but they were destroyed by the English around 1705. Suwannee Springs has always been known for its healing properties, and was used as a sacred healing place by early Native Floridians. After the arrival of the whites, it became a famous spa.

During the Second Seminole War, settlers in the area stayed at the fort at Suwannee Springs for protection. The Clemon family tried to move and settle about 5 miles away. When the husband was away at the fort for supplies, the rest of the family was killed by Seminoles.

Other Second Seminole War forts: Fort Downing; Fort Union.

HISTORICAL QUOTE: SEMINOLES AT FORMAL PARTIES IN ST. AUGUSTINE

Coacoochee (Wildcat) by John T. Sprague.

"...Coacuchee was the lion of the night, attracting the special attention of the ladies. His remarks were always to the point, prompted by the impulses of nature. A lady and gentleman being introduced to him, he enquired if they were married. Being answered that the pair had lately been yoked, he added that she was very pretty, and that her husband no doubt enjoyed her very much, but that after bearing several children, she would be scarce worth having."

"Last evening King Philip's brother got so drunk that it was necessary to carry him off. When he saw the display of liquors, he was really transported to the third Elysium. He gulped down draught after draught, and finally drew from his pocket a black bottle, thumped it upon the table, and cried out to have it filled. Coa-cuchee also drank immensely; but by being led between two men, he contrived to maintain the perpendicular; and thus he continued to receive the applause of the ladies. Coa-cuchee has the countenance of a white man--a perfect Apollo in his figure-dresses very gaudily, and has more than the vanity of a woman."

Quoted from: "Letters of Samuel Forry, Surgeon U.S. Army, 1837-1838, Part III", Florida Historical Quarterly, Vol. VII, pp. 89.

Columbia County

Charles Coe in his book "Red Patriots" has this painting identified as Chief Alligator. On checking George Catlin's paintings, Catlin identifies him as Coe Hadjo.

Chief Alligator (Halpatter Tustenuggee) was a famous chief and war leader during the Second Seminole War, and had his village here. Originally he was said to be an Eufaula Indian, which was one of the Creek Indian groups from southeast Alabama. Alligator participated in some of the biggest battles in the Second Seminole War, like the battle with Major Dade's force, and the Battle of Okeechobee. At the Battle of Okeechobee, he commanded the biggest Seminole "brigade" against Colonel Taylor's armies. His eyewitness account of the Dade Battle is one of three eyewitness accounts written down. His town was named "Halapata Telofa" or Alligator Town. The Americans kept the same name after the Indians were chased out, and Alligator Town soon became a major crossroad for north Florida. Years later it was renamed Lake City.

PLACES TO VISIT:

Ichetucknee Springs State Park:

There was a big Indian village around the main spring in this park. Because of the village, good water source, and plenty of food, the Spanish built a mission here. The main attraction is tubing on the river, and there is nothing to mark the Spanish mission or Indian village today except a few stones hidden in the woods.
 

HISTORIC QUOTE:

"I have often seen them in St. Augustine, bartering their venison, raccoons, squirrels, and skins for rum, and powder, and shot. They present a very picturesque appearance when they are in the city. The chief marches first, straight as a forest pine, and decked in all his finery, his long dark hair being fantastically dressed with feathers of wild fowl, eyebrows dyed black, and underneath his eyes is a semicircular rim of red paint. He has large silver rings in his nostrils, and if he is a great brave, his ears are slit, and elongated so as to rest on his shoulders. His tight fitting tunic is covered with circular pieces of silver of various dimensions, hammered out of dollars, or half-dollars. He wears a sash of variously colored worsted, prettily decked with beads and moccasins of buckskin, lined with silk."

An eyewitness account of the Second Seminole War by John Bemrose in "Reminiscences of the Second Seminole War."

Baker County

Baker County is a small county on the Florida / Georgia border. Ocean Pond is in the Osceola National Forest, next to the Civil War Olustee Battlefield. Olustee is from the Creek word "Blackish Water", named after the blackish colored Ocean Pond. (Would a more correct variation be Okeelustee or Oklustee?) The northern part of this county is part of the Okefenokee Swamp, which was an impenetrable hiding place for the Creeks and Seminoles. It remained so until the end of the Second Seminole War, where the Indians raided local plantations.

According to the Florida Militia muster rosters, from 22 June to 22 October 1836, a company of the 1st Regiment, 2nd Brigade of Florida Militia, under the command of Captain William B. North, conducted a search and destroy mission to search out Creeks and Seminoles in the Okefenokee Swamp area. Of their campaign they wrote, "This company was greatly distinguished for its services and exploits in seven brilliant affairs against the Creek Indians who were paddling down attempting to join the Seminoles. Killing a great many and taking prisoners on the frontier of Georgia along on the Florida and Georgia line in the country bordering on the Suwannee and St. Mary's called the Okefeenokee Swamp Bend." Not much else is known on what happened during these campaigns. (The militia force was from Columbia County.)

Fort Moniac on the St. Marys River was established in the Second Seminole War, named after David Moniac, a West Point graduate and Creek Indian who died at the Battle of Wahoo Swamp, November 21, 1836. He was related to families on both sides of the Fort Mims massacre near Mobile, and even a close relative to the Red Stick leader William Weatherford or Red Eagle. Moniac's wife is said to have been the cousin of Osceola. Fort Moniac was part of a chain of forts and military roads that surrounded the Okefenokee Swamp.

In 1838, a company of Army Dragoons went on a mission in the swamp searching for renegade Creeks and Seminoles, but didn't find a single Indian and ended in utter failure. Even Coacoochee is said to have used the area as a base of operations in 1838, after he participated in the Battle of Okeechobee a few months before. I would doubt that, because that is travelling pretty far in just a few months.

15 miles north of Sanderson is the Burned Blockhouse. This pioneer home was built in 1837, and has holes for rifles ports.  I have been told that the Blockhouse is being preserved by the county and has been moved to the county historical museum.
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© 1998, 2002, 2007 Chris Kimball
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