Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838) was an influential leader with the Seminole in Florida. Osceola led a small band of warriors in the Seminole resistance during the Second Seminole War when the United States tried to remove the Seminoles from their lands. He exercised a great deal of influence on Micanopy, the highest-ranking chief of the Seminoles.
Osceola was named Billy Powell at birth in 1804 in the village of Tallassee, Alabama around current Macon County. "The people in the town of Tallassee, where Billy Powell, (later named Osceola) was born, were mixed-blood Native American/English/Irish/Scottish, and some were black. Billy was all of these." His mother Polly Coppinger was daughter of Ann McQueen, who was part Muscogee and part Scottish. Many sources, including the Seminole, state that Osceola's father was an English trader William Powell.
Osceola's mixed white ancestry would have been an anomaly at the time because the Seminoles strictly forbade intermarriage with whites. Osceola's great-grandfather was James McQueen, who was Scottish and the first white man to trade with the Creeks in Alabama in 1714. He stayed in the area as a trader and became closely involved with the Creek. James McQueen's daughter Ann married Jose Coppinger. Their daughter Polly was the mother of Osceola. Osceola claimed to be a full-blood Muscogee.
In 1814 Osceola and his mother moved from Alabama to Florida together with other Creeks. In adulthood he received his name; Osceola (pronounced /ˌɒsiːˈoʊlə/ or /ˌoʊseɪˈoʊlə/) is an anglicised form of the Creek asi-yahola (pronounced [asːi jahoːla]); the combination of asi, the ceremonial black drink made from the yaupon holly, and yahola, meaning shout or shouter.
On October 21, 1837, on the orders of U.S. General Thomas Sidney Jesup, Osceola was captured when he arrived for supposed truce negotiations in Fort Payton. He was imprisoned at Fort Marion, St. Augustine, Florida. Osceola's capture by deceit caused a national uproar. General Jesup and the administration were condemned. That December, Osceola and other Seminole prisoners were moved to Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. They were visited by townspeople.
George Catlin and other prominent painters met him and persuaded him to pose. Robert J. Curtis painted an oil portrait of Osceola as well. These pictures inspired a number of other prints, engravings, and even cigar store figures. Afterward numerous landmarks, including Osceola Counties in Florida, Iowa, and Michigan, were named after him, along with Florida's Osceola National Forest.
Osceola died of malaria on January 30, 1838, less than three months after his capture. He was buried with military honors at Fort Moultrie.
אים פעם אמצע אותף פה אקח אותך לסיור ולשיט על הנהר
באייר בוט.
אתה עכשיו יודע מי היה אוסיאולה.
