The fort was built very durable and comfortable. Brick was ordered to construct the chimneys, but the request was denied by the War Department, so they were instead made of timbers and clay. The buildings were elevated off the ground for a comfortable air flow to keep the place cool in the summer time. An elaborate enlisted barracks was made of four rooms connected by walkways; all off the ground and under one roof. A large roof had ample storage space, even enough room for extra sleeping space. Two blockhouses were planned, but only one was built at this time. There were two officers quarters that were smaller but similar in construction. The fort was built to survive the Florida weather in comfort. It was said that there was not a better fort in the southeast. Unfortunately the fort was ordered abandoned in 1829.

Fort King was reactivated in 1832 to facilitate removing the Seminoles to the west in agreement with the Treaty of Payne's Landing. The former buildings had deteriorated, and requests for new building materials were turned down. All the new construction had to be from local materials at first, and troops were organized into parties that would constantly lumber the area.

About a mile from the fort was built the Indian agency headquarters with a spacious porch. There has been a dispute of the location of the sutler store that traded with the Indians. Different accounts put it anywhere from 100 yards to two miles from the fort.

Indian relations with the United States were deteriorating long before the Second Seminole War started. In 1829, Chief John Hicks complained at Fort King that white allegations against the Seminoles were untrue. He said that the Seminoles were not making raids against white settlements in North Florida like was claimed. Seminoles were not hiding escaped slaves, that all their black Seminoles were free men. Claims by plantation owners against the Seminoles were false, and that they had remained peaceful. Hicks said that plantation owner John Bellamy had taken livestock from Hicks, when Hicks had never taken anything from Bellamy or done anything wrong to him. Any charges of damage filed by the plantation owners against the Indians would be pretty much uncontested in court. Indians were not allowed to testify in court, and had no legal rights. Any claims against the Indians would also be taken out of the annual annuity payment. So much of the money that was suppose to go to the Seminoles as annuity never ended up in the hands of the Indians. Many of the Seminoles were not paid, and were in impoverished and starving conditions.

Indian Agent Gad Humphrey was forced to resign in 1832; possibly because he did not like the way the Seminoles were being treated, and that the Treaty of Moultrie Creek was not upheld by the U.S. government. Maybe also because he did not facilitate removal fast enough. John Phagan became Indian agent, but was removed from office in 1833 after scandal, corruption, and dishonorable conduct. General Wiley Thompson became Indian agent in December 1833, and his death would start the Second Seminole War.

Agent Wiley Thompson held a council with the Indian chiefs at Fort King on 23 to 25 October 1834. Thompson's purpose was to make the Indians agree on how they would be removed from Florida and sent out west. Chief John Hicks had recently died, and Micanopy was now recognized as the main leader. Also at the talk was Micanopy's advisor Jumper, Abraham the black interpreter, Chief Charlie Emathla, Maker of Medicine Abiaka (Sam Jones), Chief Holata Micco, and the soon to be famous Osceola. (We don't hear much more about Holata Micco, because he agreed to removal and died during the journey out west.) The Seminoles camped around Silver Springs during the conference. The combined group of Seminoles, Miccosukees, and Tallahassees demanded from Thompson that the agreements of the Treaty of Moultrie Creek be upheld by the United States, and that the Indians did not want to leave Florida. Thompson went into a fit of rage in front of the council because of the Indian's response, and they would not forget this. Public speaking is a very refined art form among the Creek/Seminole culture, much more than in English. With Thompson "losing his cool" in front of the Indians was a blatant sign of disrespect towards them. Osceola, who was a little known sub-chief before this time, gained fame among the Indians for his anti-removal speech.

Osceola is first recorded around Fort King in the early 1830's. At first he was a minor sub-chief who was leading a group from Peter McQueen's band. Many escaped slaves and black Seminoles were also members of his group. McQueen's band was originally from Alabama, and was part of the prophet movement until the defeat of the Creeks at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814. Since Osceola was raised in a traditional Muskogee family, then he promoted the tradition Creek and Seminole way of life. This is how Osceola gained influence without being part of the Seminole leadership, because he represented the older traditional values.

In the early 1830's, Osceola was a frequent visitor to Fort King and was also said to be employed as a guide or Indian scout by the army on occasion. He paid close attention to how the Army fought and drilled, and used this knowledge against the Americans when the war started. Wiley Thompson believed that he was a friend of Osceola and tried to use Osceola's influence to convince other Seminoles to emigrate to the west. Thompson even presented a finely crafted trade rifle purchased in Savannah, Georgia, as a gift to Osceola; the rifle that would kill Thompson at the beginning of the war.

Looking back at the correspondence between Wiley Thompson and the government in Washington, we see that Thompson was no friend of the Seminoles. He supported total removal of the Indians from Florida, and when they disagreed, he called them ignorant, animals, or children. He even did two things that President Andrew Jackson had to repeal. One was to prevent the sale of powder and lead to the Indians; Jackson said that this would only create more tension among the Indians and make them resist removal even more. The other incident happened at the April 1835 council meeting at Fort King. In a furious outburst in front of the Indian chiefs, Thompson declared that any chief who resisted removal would no longer be recognized as a chief by the United States. Jackson had this order rescinded and said that nowhere in the U.S. history had the U.S. government interfered in the internal political elections of the Indian tribes.

In the spring of 1835 Thompson and General Clinch had two unsuccessful talks with the Seminole chiefs to try and get them to emigrate west. These also ended with nothing agreed upon.

There is no written record of Osceola slashing a treaty with a knife, which is one of the tales that many people believe. We are uncertain if this event even happened because there are no eyewitness account that should exist.

Thompson made a fatal mistake in late May 1835 when he puts Osceola in irons, and imprisoned him in one of the storage houses inside Fort King. Thompson said that he arrested Osceola for bursting into his office and making "insolent remarks" to him. Maybe Thompson usurped Osceola's authority and got the other sub-chiefs to sign the treaty behind Osceola's back. Unfortunately the reason for the outburst is not clear from eyewitness accounts. Osceola vowed revenge against Thompson for being put in irons like a dog. One tale is that Osceola suffered heat and thirst while a prisoner in the hot storage shed. It is said that one sympathetic officer (his friend Captain Graham?) secretly gave Osceola bread and water at night and saved his life.

After a few days of confinement, Osceola told Thompson that he would agree to removal. Thompson said that he no longer trusted him, and that he would need more to show that he was serious. Several chiefs negotiated to Thompson on Osceola's behalf, including Charlie Emathla. Thompson agreed to release Osceola if the Indian would bring in his band for emigration. This was agreed upon, and a few days later Osceola returned to Fort King with 79 people from his band. Now Thompson was of the false belief that Osceola had seen the light and was totally supportive of Thompson's efforts to bring in the wandering bands of Seminoles. Thompson would soon learn that he had made a mistake.

Wiley Thompson had organized a sale at Fort King in November 1835 for any Indian chief who wanted to sell his cattle to the government and agree to emigrate to the west. At the same time, Osceola had declared that anyone who agreed to sell their cattle would be put to death. The story is that the Seminole Council had agreed that any chief who sold cattle should be put to death, and Osceola was announcing the decision of the council. The cattle was very important to feed the people. Chief Charlie Emathla unfortunately ignored Osceola's threat. After all, Osceola was considered at that time to have a small radical following, while Charlie Emathla led a town of around 500 Seminoles. After a few weeks of negotiation, the sale was closed, and Charlie Emathla was returning to his village northwest of Fort King with his family. Before reaching home, Emathla came across Osceola with several warriors who were waiting for him. Emathla was killed in front of his family, and the money from the sale was scattered across his body as an example of what would happen to any chief who sold his cattle. Emathla's people soon fled to Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay for protection. It is said that the body remained untouched on the ground for several years.

As soon as Wiley Thompson heard of Emathla's death, he warned the white inhabitants of Florida to expect increased Indian attacks. Thompson set up another cattle sale for December 1st. This time none of the Indians participated.

Wiley Thompson was ambushed and killed by Osceola while returning from dinner on December 28, 1835, the same day that Major Dade was also killed. (See Sumter County for the Dade Battlefield State Historical Site.) Each evening Thompson would attend supper at the sutler's store. He was warned against doing this because of the tension between the Indians and the whites, but ignored the warnings. Lieutenant Constantine Smyth was killed alongside Thompson. Smyth was shot twice, Thompson was shot 14 times.

Osceola and his warriors attacked the sutler store at the same time they shot Thompson, and killed the sutler Erastus Rogers, a store clerk, and a boy. All were scalped except the boy. A few slaves were able to escape to the fort. An army escort that arrived about the same time from Micanopy searched the surrounding hammocks, but did not find any of the attackers. The garrison was at a very low strength, having sent four companies to Fort Drane a few hours before.

In spring 1839, Secretary of War, Major General Alexander Macomb, came to Fort King to negotiate a treaty with the Seminoles. Although there was still skirmishes across Florida, the war remained pretty quite for about a year, and there was even talk of it ending. But not every group of Indians in Florida agreed to a truce, and things eventually fell apart.

There was one very bloody skirmish at Fort King in April 1840. Captain Gabriel J. Rains tired of constant harassment of his troops by the Seminoles, and set a trap of an exploding shell hidden under a blanket. After one night when the trap was sprung and an explosion was heard, Rains left the next day on a scouting patrol to check things out. The command was ambushed by Miccosukees under Halleck Tustenuggee. Three soldiers were killed, and Captain Rains and Halleck Tustenuggee were gravely injured. Rains recovered, received a medal, and was declared a hero for the action. During the Civil War, Confederate General Gabriel Rains invented an "automatic subterranean exploding device," or anti-personnel mine. We can see here that he first tested out such devices earlier than most people know about, during the Second Seminole War.

In 1842, Halleck Tustenuggee, one of the last war chiefs, was captured at Fort King. Commander of the forces in Florida, Colonel Worth, soon declared an end to the war. Halleck Tustenuggee would go from fort to fort talking about surrender. The post commander would issue supplies and rations to bring his people down to Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay. Halleck would then disappear without a trace, and then find another fort to get rations from. Finally Colonel Worth caught on to this trick. He captured Halleck's family with a promise of food and a celebration. When Halleck Tustenuggee, away at the time, heard about the capture at Fort King, he fainted and was imprisoned. Strange way for one of the most terrifying war chiefs to be captured. Later when one of the other Seminoles questioned Halleck's honor for being captured, Halleck bit off the offending critic's ear.

During the war, Fort King was abandoned and reoccupied like any other fort in Florida. The longest period that the fort was abandoned was from July 1836 to April 1837, during which time it was burned by the Seminoles. By the close of the war, the fort had a large enlisted barracks building in the center with a cupola on top that served as a lookout. If someone approached, a sentry on top rang a cow bell. The fort also had a blockhouse at each angle. In 1844 the newly formed Marion County used this building as the first county courthouse. Later Ocala became the county seat, and the fort was abandoned for the last time. Local settlers used the material from the fort for their own building supplies.

In the 1950's a house was built on the site of Fort King. In June 1997 the property went up for sale. The county, city, and state worked out a deal to purchase the property after grassroots support was organized to prevent the development of this historically significant site. The site is now being developed into a park, but has a long ways to go and will not be ready to open soon.  It is up for nomination as a National Historical Landmark.  If approved by congress, it will be the first 2nd Seminole War site with the National Historical Landmark designation.

The Daughters of the American Revolution put up a historical marker at the location of the fort cemetery along East Fort King Street, a few yards west of the historical marker. Soldiers, settlers, and Indians were buried here. At the end of the Second Seminole War, the remains of the soldiers were moved to St. Augustine. They apparently missed a few that are still there, because records from the National Guard in St. Augustine are missing the names of three soldiers that were buried at Fort King. The settlers remained buried nearby, on the other side of the road where Fort King Street runs today. The settler's grave markers eventually weathered away and disappeared, and houses were later built on top.

General Duncan L. Clinch had two very large plantations in Florida. Old Lang Syne in northwest Marion County, and at Silver Glen Springs in the Ocala National Forest. Although a successful military career and a wealthy planter in the southeast, the war ruined him and he resigned his commission in 1836. He moved to Georgia and became involved in banking, which also became a risky venture during the "Panic of 1837."

Fort Drane was about one or two miles south where the town of Irvine is. When hostilities started to break out between Seminoles and settlers, General Duncan L. Clinch turned his "Old Lang Syne" plantation into a military reservation. Pickets were built and named after Captain Drane who organized the construction of the fort. The original fort was rectangle with a single blockhouse. The former slave quarters of the plantation were the soldier's quarters, and they had dirt floors and gaps in the wall large enough for a breeze to go through. Local settlers flocked here for protection when the war started, and crowding inside the fort made unsanitary conditions.

In December 1835, a large force of 1000 to 1200 troops were gathered at Fort Drane to strike against the Seminoles in the Cove of the Withlacoochee. General Call brought a large Florida militia force from up north, including the Spring Grove Guard in Alachua County. Several companies of regulars were brought over from Fort King. This large force from Fort Drane went south and participated in the first Battle of the Withlacoochee, where they were defeated by the Seminoles and retreated back to Fort Drane. Although the Battle of the Withlacoochee was three days after Major Dade's defeat, they were unaware of the sad fate of Dade. The soldiers found an Army backpack on the Withlacoochee battleground that an Indian dropped, and wondered where they had obtained it. What was interesting was the movement of the Seminoles, who had gathered as large a force as the soldiers and were waiting there for them. Many Indians had gone three days and 30 miles from where they just defeated Major Dade. (See Citrus County for more information on the Withlacoochee campaigns.)

In April 1836 the Seminoles under the leadership of Osceola attacked Fort Drane in the middle of the night. This was unusual, because the Indians were rarely known to conduct a large battle at night. The Seminoles were driven off, but not without taking several of the fort's horses. A week later the fort was raided again. The Seminoles burned General Clinch's plantation nearby while the soldiers in the fort were helpless to defend it.

Fort Drane was evacuated in July 1836 and completely abandoned later in August because of the unhealthy conditions and the inability of the government to keep the fort supplied in a war-time situation. When the troops were gone, the Seminoles under Osceola moved in. It is believed that Osceola contracted malaria while there, which helped lead to his death in 1838. The troops returned in October to reactivate the fort, expecting to find the Seminole and Miccosukees there. The Seminoles had known that a large force was coming, and all that General Call found was a few fleeing Indians and some charred ruins.

Throughout the war Fort Drane was an important depot and major fort in the war effort. Like most forts in Florida, it was abandoned more than once because of unhealthy living conditions. After the war ended, it appears there was a town there also named Fort Drane, but there are no remains there today.

All traces of the fort were destroyed by an industrial plant built there around 1990. There were even stories of the cemetery remains being secretly eradicated so nobody would find the old fort. There was more than enough evidence of the fort that was ignored for the sake of making kitty litter. Complaints of local residents were ignored, even when they had evidence of the fort being there. A shameful chapter in Florida history of a historical site being destroyed by developers.

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(c) 1998, 2002 Chris Kimball
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