Various Sketches and Artwork by Patrick Elliott

More information about the artist can be found at : The Longleaf Alliance - Artist Patrick Elliott's work on longleaf pine ecosystems.

lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Seminole Village, Apalachicola Region

Seminole Indian circa 1800-1865 lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

This is a typical costume of an early to mid-nineteenth century Florida Indian. There is a blending of European style clothing, trade ornaments and Native American craft. The firearm is a Kentucky style Flintlock. Members of many other Southeastern tribes wore similar costumes, but the Seminoles were the most colorful.

The name "Seminole" is from a Creek Indian word, "Sem-a-nol-ee" meaning "Runaway", "people who separate themselves" or "people of distant fires". The majority of Seminoles were derived from Lower Creeks who migrated into Florida from Georgia and Alabama in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Remnants of Apalachee, Timucua and other endemic aboriginal Florida tribes joined these groups of Creek origin, or joined enclaves of migrants from various other Southeastern Native American tribes who also settled in Florida. "Seminole" became the name used to designate all Florida Indians. The Seminole Wars- First, 1818-1819; Second, 1835-1842; and Third , 1855-1856- united and cemented Florida's Indians as a tribe. Many blacks, some owned by Seminole Indians, others escaped from slavery to white Americans or free-born, were accepted as allies and were members of the Seminole Nation.

Although many Seminole Indians were captured or surrendered as individuals or groups and removed to Oklahoma Territory as part of the U.S. policy of Indian Removal, the Seminole tribe never surrendered. They retreated into the watery wilderness of South Florida's Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp regions. Their descendents- the Seminole and the Miccosukee- remain in South Florida today, a justly proud and unconquered people.

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lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll Steamer going down the Apalachicola River

A "Black Seminole" Indian lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

One of the British Fort's commanders was a Black Seminole Warrior known as "Garcia" or "Garcon". No pictures orportiraits of Garcia are known to exist but there are contemporary illustrations of a number of African-American Seminoles.

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Fort Gadsden explodes when an American shell hits the powder magazine, killing hundreds of former slaves and indian defenders. Print from Ft. Gadsen Historical Site Exhibit case "The Tragic Incident at Prospect Bluff". This is a reconstruction of U.S. gunboat response to an attack from British Fort (" Fort Nicholls" or "Negro Fort") and ensuing Powder Magazine Explosion, July 27, 1816.