Seminole Wars

The Expedition party met Old Nancy and reported that she had lived in the Seminole Wars, which were three wars between the United States and the Seminole people in Florida throughout much of the 19th Century. The Expedition texts also mentioned that Fort Myers was created during the Seminole Wars. The First Seminole War was in the 1810s. Some historians date this conflict from 1812 and others from 1816, and it lasted through 1819. During this conflict, General Andrew Jackson invaded Spanish Florida to wage war against the Seminoles in northern Florida. This led to the Adams–Onís Treaty of 1819 in which Spain ceded Florida to the U.S. The Second Seminole War was from 1835 to 1842, and it began when the U.S. government attempted to remove the Seminoles from Florida altogether. The Seminoles put up a determined resistance and the war was extremely costly to both sides. At the end of the war the majority of the Seminoles were forced to relocate to Oklahoma but a small group remained in the state. The Third Seminole War was from 1855 to 1858 and began when white settlers began to encroach on Seminole lands. Again, the end of the conflict resulted in the relocation of Seminoles to Oklahoma. A very small group, perhaps less than 100 people, remained in Florida by living in the Everglades and other wetlands of South Florida. The Expedition party also saw or mentioned several other structures and sites created during the wars, including Fort Dallas, Fort Capron, Fort Shackleford, Ft. Simon Drum, etc.

Sources:

References in the Texts:

Links below open in a new browser window.

For other topics referenced in the Expedition texts, please refer to the Index to Subjects and Names.
1892 Everglades Exploration Expedition : Three Digital Texts, 2015