 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The trip from Indian
Territory through Texas to Mexico
The granting of land and citizenship was not entirely benevolent, since Mexican authorities were aware of the Seminole Indians’ and maroons’ reputations as fierce fighters who had great facility with languages and excellent tracking skills. Accordingly, the land grant was strategically located in Indian country. Wild Cat and John Horse were appointed as colonels in the Mexican army. In exchange for protecting the properties of Mexican nationals from Indians, the group was also given provisions and equipment such as guns, ammunition, blankets, and clothing and was allowed to keep captured booty (Porter 1951:14).
Through time the number of settlers peaked, as the community attracted diverse groups of colonists in addition to the Seminoles and maroons. In many respects, it served as an unofficial “Underground Railroad” for Indians of mixed blood as well as for runaway blacks from Texas and other Southern states (Mock 2000). The determined Wild Cat continued to recruit more followers in Indian Territory, creating some concern among U.S. authorities that their own attempts to control marauding Indians and trouble spots on the border would be compromised (Swanson 1985b:24, 27).
Reports of Indian raids and sightings of blacks in Texas fueled the tensions with the U.S. Army and led to a flurry of accusations against Wild Cat's band. As early as 1854, irate slaveholders formed militia groups to cross into Mexico to retrieve runaway slaves (e.g., Mulroy 1993:74). In 1855 Texas Ranger Captain J.H. Callahan led a raid on the Seminole village, but Mexican forces were alerted by the maroons, and his mercenaries were repulsed (Thybony 1991:96).
John Horse, while visiting Piedras Negras in 1852, became involved in a brawl with a Texan and was wounded. Shortly afterward slave hunter Warren Adams was able to capture the wounded chief and transport him across the Rio Grande to Eagle Pass. The slave hunters demanded a $500 ransom and return of runaway black slaves from Wild Cat. Wild Cat acquiesced, and his old friend John Horse was released; however, when the slave hunters received the ransom, as legend goes, the money was covered with blood. The young blacks were never returned by Wild Cat (Swanson 1985a:79).
Differences between the Indian and maroon communities at Nacimiento began to surface by 1856, aggravated by a change in Mexican governors at Coahuila and an order for the maroons to recognize Wild Cat as their supreme chief. The alliance started to unravel along with the longtime friendship as the Indians and the maroons each developed new interests and priorities (Mulroy 1993:76).
Wild Cat left for patrol in 1857 with his warriors but returned to Nacimiento carrying a new virulent disease, smallpox, which soon spread to the maroon community (Swanson 1985b:89-90). The great warrior himself finally succumbed to the disease, throwing the Seminole Indian community into crisis. The end of the Florida War and passage of the Treaty of 1856 creating a Seminole Nation prompted the remaining Seminoles of Wild Cat’s band to return to Indian Territory in the U.S.; however, the maroons, ever fearful of slavery, remained in Mexico (Mulroy 1993:88; Porter 1985:360). Power struggles between leaders, continued Apache raids, and the French invasion of Mexico caused the maroons to leave Nacimiento and relocate deeper into Mexico. Later the group, led by John Kibbetts, would return to Nacimiento and establish a community on the old land grant. During the ensuing years in Mexico, the community would continue to attract other refugee black Seminoles and blacks from Florida and would grow to about 350 members by 1861 (Mulroy 1991:Note 1).