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Only
200 black Seminoles remained at Fort Clark by 1895, and by this time many
were too old to move away. In 1909 the U.S. Army started phasing out Fort
Clark. The Seminole rolls had closed in 1907; thus, the U.S. Government
had effectively written the black Seminoles off by declaring that they could
not receive allotments or provisions as Seminoles (Mulroy 1993:169). The
War Department had still not decided what to do with the Seminole Scouts
by 1913, despite persistent recommendations by military brass as to their
disposition (Bateman 1913:761-62). In compliance with orders from the War
Department, the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts ceased to exist as an organization
in 1914.
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Seminole
Indian Scouts
Institute of Texan Cultures,
excerpt from 95-371 |
They
were discharged in three detachments and ordered to remove themselves,
their families, and all their belongings from the post. Their homes along
Las Moras Creek were destroyed. Miss Charles Wilson’s father, Private
William Wilson, was one of the last scouts to be discharged in 1914.
Of
the 207 black Seminoles at the fort, some old and decrepit scouts and
family members were allowed to stay on at Fort Clark by the U.S. Government
until they died or until the War Department ordered their removal.
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