Billie Bowlegs III - Ortona, Florida, USA - Grave of a Famous Person on Waymarking.com

A year after his burial a remembrance ceremony was held at his grave to honor and acknowledge him as a great Florida historic figure. An estimated 1000 people attended including Florida's senior US Senator Spessard L. Holland. Florida's former Governor Doyle E. Carlton was master of ceremonies for the occasion. The Polk County Historical Commission and the Peace River Valley Historical Society spearheaded a campaign to to mark the Bowlegs' grave. A bronze plaque was unveiled by his great-grand niece Gloria Jean Wilson of the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation. The plaque inscription is as follows:

Billie Bowlegs (III)
chufi hajo
Born Feb. 17, 1862
Three Miles from lake Istokpogo
on
Arbuckle Creek
Died Feb. 13, 1965
at
Brighton Indian Reservation
This tablet placed as a Memorial
to
a Noble Citizen of the
Seminole Tribe of Florida
and
A Great American
by the
Peace River Valley Historical Society
and the
Polk County Historical Commission
1965

A Florida Historical Marker was placed at the intersection of State Road 78 and US 27 in Glades County. Photos in gallery show original and replacement markers. At the time of this posting there was no visible marker present.

Description: Billie Bowlegs III was a mixed race Seminole whose father was of African American decent and known as a "Black Seminole." His mother was a Seminole of the Snake Clan and a daughter of Osceola making Billie his grandson. He was given the name Billie Fewell by his father and was also known as Cofehapkee from the Seminole. As an adult, he renamed himself after Billy Bowlegs II also known as Holata Micco, the famous Seminole chief who fought in the Second and Third Seminole wars and later was sent to the Oklahoma Indian Territory. A Tampa Tribune news article dated September 17, 1961 stated that Billy Bowlegs I was his great-grand uncle. In the late 1800's Billie met James Mallory and Minnie Moore Wilson who were instrumental in the development of the Indian Reservations in Florida for the Seminole. It was Billie's teachings of the Seminole culture and history that enabled Mallory and Wilson to gain approval in 1913 by the Florida state legislature for a 100,000 acre reservation in the Everglades. Later in 1917 Mallory and Wilson testified in hearings on the Seminole's behalf to the federal government. In each case it was Billie's sharing of Seminole history and culture that enabled them to represent the Seminole so accurately. After the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation was established near Lake Okeechobee in Glades County he moved there until his death at the age of 102. He was buried in the Ortona Cemetery in Glades County just 3 days before his 103rd birthday. Date of birth: 02/17/1862 Date of death: 02/13/1965 Area of notoriety: Historical Figure Marker Type: Plaque Setting: Outdoor Visiting Hours/Restrictions: dawn to dusk Fee required?: No Web site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
To post a visit log for waymarks in this category, you must have personally visited the waymark location. When logging your visit, please provide a note describing your visit experience, along with any additional information about the waymark or the surrounding area that you think others may find interesting.

We especially encourage you to include any pictures that you took during your visit to the waymark. However, only respectful photographs are allowed. Logs which include photographs representing any form of disrespectful behavior (including those showing personal items placed on or near the grave location) will be subject to deletion.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   12/08/2018 BoomersOTR visited it 10/01/2018 Markerman62 visited it

View all visits/logs