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Osceola was born in 1804 and died Janauary 30, 1838. He is known for
resisting the efforts of the United States government to clear Florida
by transporting them across the Mississippi. Osceola fought the United
States and was finally captured only after coming into a camp under an
American flag of truce.
While General Thomas S. Jesup, the American commander, never lived down
the public revulsion which followed this violation of the truce, Osceola
remained in prison, first at the Castillo de San Marcos in Saint Augustine
but later transferred to Fort Moultrie at Charleston, South Carolina.
Weakened by chronic malaria and quinsy, he lost the will to live in captivity.
Osceola died there, and his head was removed from the body before burial.
Osceola earned his place of leadership among the Seminoles by the force
of his personality and ability, for he was neither born nor selected as
a chief. Osceola is derived from the Creek asi-yahola, "black drink cry".
The Creeks and later the Seminoles prepared a ceremonial black drink from
the leaves of the yaupon. Research indicates that Osceola was part Creek
Indian and part Scottish.
The image of Osceola in this collection was not painted by Charles Bird
King. It was probably created after Osceola's death. The pose and details
of the clothing appear to be based on several earlier, well known portraits
of Osceola. The face does not resemble any of the most authentic portraits
of Osceola .1
Published by Daniel Rice & James G. Clark, Philadelphia. Drawn, printed
& coloured at J.T. Bowen's lithographic establishment. Entered according
to act of Congress in the year 1842 by J.T. Bowen in the Clerk's Office
of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Transparency
by Ted Saylor Photography.
1. Patricia R. Wickman,Osceola's Legacy.
(Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1991), 73-76.
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