Billy Bowlegs



Billy Bowlegs (Holata Micco, Halpatter-Micco, and Halpuda Mikko in Seminole, meaning "Alligator Chief") (ca. 1810 – ca. March 10, 1864) was a leader of the Seminoles in Florida during the Second and Third Seminole Wars against the United States. One of the last Seminole leaders to resist, he eventually moved to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), where he fought on the side of the Union Army during the American Civil War as a captain.

Early life and Seminole Wars
Bowlegs was born into a family of hereditary chiefs descended from Cowkeeper of the Oconee tribe of the Seminole in the village of Cuscowilla on the Alachua savannah (present-day Micanopy, Florida). His father's name was Secoffee, while it is thought that the chief Micanopy was his uncle. The name "Bowlegs" may be an alternate spelling of Bolek, a preceding Seminole chief; a story that he had bowlegs from riding horses is unsubstantiated.

Although Bowlegs signed the Treaty of Payne's Landing of 1832, he refused to leave Florida. While not particularly well-noted at the beginning of the Second Seminole Wars (roughly, 1835 to 1842), the surrender of Osceola and the death of Micanopy, amidst the loss of other prominent Seminole chiefs, left Bowlegs and his band of 200 warriors one of the most prominent fighters remaining by the time an end to hostilities was agreed to on 14 August 1842. As part of an effort to impress and awe the Seminole chiefs, the Federal government brought Bowlegs to Washington, D.C. to underline the power of the United States.

Bowlegs and his band lived in relative peace until 1855 when a group of army engineers and surveyors invaded his home area in southwestern Florida, cutting down banana trees and destroying other property. These brazen actions are often seen as an intentional provocation to make Bowlegs react so the settlers would have a reason to force the Seminole out. The provocation worked; Bowlegs led his warriors in sporadic attacks for the next few years in what is known as the Third Seminole War. The Army once again proved unable to stop his guerrilla tactics.

In early 1858, Chief Wild Cat of the Western Seminole was brought back from Indian Territory to try to convince him to relocate voluntarily and the government offered Bowlegs $10,000 and each of his followers $1000 if they did so. They initially refused, apparently in fear of government retaliation, but the band of 123 agreed to relocation later that year. In May, Bowlegs and his followers arrived in New Orleans, enroute to Arkansas and then on to their new home in the Indian Territory. A news correspondent described him as having "two wives, one son, five daughters, fifty slaves, and a hundred thousand dollars in hard cash." Upon his eventual arrival in Indian Territory, Bowlegs became a leading chief. He and his daughters became prominent land holders and slaveowners.

Civil War
With the secession of eleven Southern states in 1861, both the Union and Confederacy vied for control of the Indian Territory. Old tribal rivalries were renewed, with some aligning with the North and others with the South. Billy Bowlegs sided with the Union, hoping that somehow his participation would be rewarded by the Federal government after the war and his fervent desire to lead his people back to Florida would be fulfilled. When a Confederate force under Col. Douglas H. Cooper attacked Unionist tribes in the Indian Territory, Billy Bowlegs aligned his followers with Opothleyahola’s Upper Creeks and resisted. Together, they fought Cooper in a series of losing battles in the winter of 1861–62 that led to the withdrawal of the Union sympathizers to Kansas in a bitter trek known as the “Trail of Blood on Ice.” Billy Bowlegs’ band covered the rear after the Battle of Chustenahlah against Cherokee chief Stand Watie. They eventually settled near Fort Belmont, where a number of his Seminoles perished of exposure and starvation during the winter.

Billy Bowlegs formally enlisted in the Union Army as a captain in May 1862 and was assigned command of Company A of the First Indian Home Guards. He saw action in a number of battles that year and was commended by Col. William Cloud, commander of the Third Brigade, Army of the Frontier, for his actions at the Battle of Cane Hill in December. The First Indian Home Guards arrived on the battlefield, dismounted, and entered a patch of woods on the left-center, flanked by two white regiments from Kansas and Iowa. When the Iowans gave way under a heavy volley, the entire Union line wavered and fell back. Rallying, the Indians and Kansans pushed forward and gained the position. Colonel Cloud wrote, “Of the Indian officers, Captain Jon-neh, of the Uches, and Captain Billy Bowlegs, of the Seminoles, and Captain Tus-te-nup-chup-ko, of Company A (Creek), are deserving of the highest praise.”

Eventually being reassigned to command of Company F, Billy Bowlegs remained prominent in the fighting in Kansas and Indian Territory. At a skirmish with Confederates at Rhea Mills, he lost two revolvers, saddle, bridle and his horse, but emerged unscathed.

He died in 1864 of smallpox and was buried in the Fort Gibson National Cemetery. Indian Agent G.C. Snow lamented, “His loss is very much regretted, as he was an influential man among (the Seminoles) and I believe generally beloved by all.”

He is memorialized by the namesake town of Bowlegs, Oklahoma.