(Back Drink),
Seminole Indian chief; born on the
Chattahoochee River, Ga., in 1804; was a half-breed, a son of
Willis Powell, an Englishman and trader, by a Creek Indian woman.
In 1808 his mother settled in
Florida, and when he grew up he became by eminent ability the governing spirit of the Seminoles.
In all their sports he was foremost, and was always independent and self-possessed.
From the beginning
Osceola opposed the removal of the Seminoles from
Florida, and he led them in a war which began in 1835 and continued about seven years. Treacherously seized while under the protection of a flag of truce, Oct. 22, 1837, he was sent to
Fort Moultrie, where he was prostrated by grief and wasted by a fever, and finally
[
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died, Jan. 30, 1838.
A monument was erected to his memory near the main entrance-gate of
Fort Moultrie.
His loss was a severe blow to the Seminoles, who continued the war feebly four or five years longer.
