296 WILD SPOETS IN THE SOUTH. 



home in the fastnesses of the - everglades. They were 

 called Spanish Lidians, and their chief was named Che- 

 Idka. 



The Creeks of Georgia came down to assist their kms- 

 men in the wars that ensued, and were led by Octiarche, 

 and subsequently by that chief whose name has added so 

 much to the romance and dignity of the Indian charac- 

 ter, Osceola. The whole number of Indians in Florida 

 at this time Avas estimated at from fifteen hundred to as 

 many thousands. To this was to be added an equal num- 

 ber of negro fugitives from the slave States or the chil- 

 dren of free Spanish negroes, all of whom w^ere livmg 

 with and adopting the habits of the Indians. So wide 

 the extent of country over which they roamed, and so 

 inaccessible their villages, that even the existence of 

 some tribes was unknown until after many years of war- 

 fare. The tribes were diiferent from each other in 

 government and location, and some of them were hostile 

 to the others. 



After the cession of the province by the Spanish, the 

 United States immediately sought to control the haughty 

 nations that peopled the newly acquired territory, many 

 of which had never been subject to Spam, and to induce 

 them to cede their lands and delegate their government 

 to the Government of the United States, upon the con- 

 dition of protection and alliance. To this end three Com- 

 missioners were appomted by the United States, at Fort 

 Moultrie, near St. Augustine, in Sept., 1823, who caused 

 thirty-five of the prmcipal men of the northern tribes to 



