These portraits of some of the major Seminole leaders of the Second Seminole War (1835-1842) are a highly prized set of hand colored lithographs. Eight of the portraits were produced from original paintings done by Charles Bird King (1785-1862). King was a Washington, D.C. artist noted for his portraits of prominent people in government and Washington society, as well as those of many Indian delegations who visited the capital.

The Seminoles, except Osceola, visited Washington and were painted during the spring of 1826. Lithographs were also published by Thomas L. McKenny and James Hall in The Indian Tribes of North America with Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs between 1837 and 1844.

Nea-Math-La
Nea-Math-La, a Seminole chief, was a Creek Indian by birth. Nea-Math-La was considered a man of eloquence and influence among the Seminoles. When he advised his people not to accept the government plan to move to the lands beyond Mississippi, Governor William DuVal deposed him by refusing to recognize him as a chief of the Seminoles.

Micanopy
Micanopy, "Head Chief", "Governor", or "Pond Governor", established and united the Seminoles as a people in the early 1830's.

As one of the most important chiefs in Florida, Micanopy fought against removal to Arkansas as the government demanded. The short, stout chief fought until the pressure of eight thousand troops, disease, and starvation wiped out his band of warriors.

Osceola (Asceola)
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 and 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

Tuko-See-Mathla
Tuko-See-Mathla, also called John Hicks, once saved a number of white men from being killed after they had been taken prisoner in a raid near Georgia. When he supported the plan to move the Indians west he was killed by Seminoles who opposed the United States Government.

Foke-Luste-Hajo
Known as "Black Dirt" or "Black Craggy Clay." Although Foke-Luste-Hajo was described as a man always ready for a fight, he and six other chiefs were forced to sign the treaty of Payne's Landing in which Seminole lands were given up in return for territory across the Mississippi River. When the tribal council pronounced his death sentence, he fled to Fort Brooke where he remained throughout the war.

Chittee Yoholo
Chittee Yoholo was a superb guerilla fighter who attacked numerous outposts and settlements during the Seminole War. He boasted of bringing back so many scalps that he became known as "The Snake That Makes A Noise." He eventually surrendered to the army garrison at St. Augustine and agreed to migrate to Arkansas.

Julcee-Mathla
For several years Julcee-Mathla fought American troops in the Everglades and outlasted four generals. In the winter of 1842, General W. J. Worth recommended to the War Department that the several hundred remaining Seminoles be allowed to stay in Florida and not be removed to the Indian Territory.

Yaha-Hajo
The name means, "Mad Wolf." Yaha-Hajo was the second principal war chief of the Seminole nation and had been among the seven chiefs selected to inspect the western lands reserved for the Seminoles. For a time he wavered between the pro-American faction and Micanopy, who fought against selling any land to the United States. He finally joined Micanopy and was killed by a Dragoon patrol on the banks of the Oklawaha River.

Jtcho-Tustinnuggee
Jtcho-Tustinnuggee is translated "Deer Warrior" in English. It is thought that he was well known as a deer hunter when he was young, and no doubt owed his name to this skill.

     1. Patricia R. Wickman, Osceola's Legacy. (Alabama: The University of Alabama Press, 1991), 73-76.