County of town: St Clair County
Location of courthouse: 2nd St. & Pine St., courthouse lawn, Osceola
1841 Osceola became the seat of St. Clair County
Location of town: C enter of county; crossroads of MO-13 & MO-82
Elevation: 751 ft (229 m)
Population: 901 (2017)
The Person:
"Osceola (1804 – January 30, 1838, Asi-yahola in Creek), named Billy Powell at birth in Alabama, became an influential leader of the Seminole people in Florida. Of mixed parentage, including Creek, Scottish, African American, and English, he was considered born to his mother's people in the Creek matrilineal kinship system. He was reared by her in the Creek tradition. When he was a child, they migrated to Florida with other Red Stick refugees after their group's defeat in 1814 in the Creek Wars. There they became part of what was known as the Seminole people.
"In 1836, Osceola led a small group of warriors in the Seminole resistance during the Second Seminole War, when the United States tried to remove the tribe from their lands in Florida to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. He became an adviser to Micanopy, the principal chief of the Seminole from 1825 to 1849. Osceola led the Seminole resistance to removal until he was captured on October 21, 1837, by deception, under a flag of truce, when he went to a site near Fort Peyton for peace talks. The United States first imprisoned him at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, then transported him to Fort Moultrie in Charleston, South Carolina. He died there a few months later of causes reported as an internal infection or malaria. Because of his renown, Osceola attracted visitors in prison, including renowned artist George Catlin, who painted perhaps the most well-known portrait of the Seminole leader." ~ Wikipedia
"Osceola, (born c. 1804, Georgia, U.S.—died January 30, 1838, Charleston, South Carolina), American Indian leader during the Second Seminole War, which began in 1835 when the U.S. government attempted to force the Seminole off their traditional lands in Florida and into the Indian territory west of the Mississippi River.
"Osceola moved from Georgia to Florida, where, although not a chief, he came to be acknowledged as a leader of the Seminoles. He led the young Indians who opposed the Treaty of Payne’s Landing (1832), by which some of the Seminole chiefs agreed to submit to removal from Florida. In 1835 he and a group of braves murdered Charley Emathla, a chief who was preparing to emigrate with his people, and Gen. Wiley Thompson, the U.S. Indian agent at Ft. King.
"For the next two years, U.S. troops attempted to crush Seminole opposition. The Indians withdrew into the Everglades and fought back, employing guerrilla tactics. In October 1837 Osceola and several chiefs went to St. Augustine, Florida, under a flag of truce to attend a parley with Gen. T.S. Jesup. By special order of the general, the Indians were seized and imprisoned. Osceola was removed to Ft. Moultrie at Charleston, South Carolina, where he died. The war continued until 1842, but only sporadically after Osceola’s death." ~ Britannica
The Place:
"Osceola Survives
"By the time the Civil War had ended, Osceola, like other Missouri towns, was devastated – its buildings in ruins and its population reduced to just about 200 people. Though some rebuilding occurred, including a new courthouse and the Commercial Hotel in 1867, it would not see prosperous days again until the Kansas City, Osceola, and Southern Railroad began to make its way to the community.
"In the meantime, many of those who had served in the Civil War, were embittered and turned to outlawry, including the famed Younger Brothers of Lees Summit, Missouri and the James Brothers from Kearney, Missouri. The Osceola area was a frequent hideout of these young men, who were known to have often stayed at the Commercial Hotel.
"In March, 1874, Jim and John Younger were in the area, fleeing from Pinkerton agents who were hot on their trail. Two agents by the names of Captain Louis J. Lull (aka: W.J. Allen) and John Boyle (aka: James Wright) had arrived in St Clair County early in the second week of March, taking rooms at the Commercial Hotel. There, they met up with Osceola Constable, Edwin Daniels, who agreed to serve as a guide for the agents.
"The three soon set out searching for the outlaws. On March 16th, they spent the night at the Roscoe House in Roscoe, some 10 miles southwest of Osceola. The next afternoon, they started toward the farm of Theodrick Snuffer, a family friend of the Youngers, just a few miles out of town.
" John Harrison Younger Posing as cattlemen, they approached the Snuffer home, ostensibly to inquire of directions. Little did the lawmen know that Jim and John Younger were hiding upstairs, watching their every move.
"When the agents left, the suspicious Younger brothers followed them. On the road between Roscoe and Osceola, Jim and John approached the three men and John Boyle immediately fled. Jim took a shot at him, but the bullet succeeding only in knocking off the agent’s hat. The Youngers then disarmed Lull and Daniels, but unbeknownst to them, Lull had a small pistol in his pocket which he pulled and shot John Younger in the neck. John, who was holding a double barrel shotgun, instinctively fired back, hitting Lull's shoulder and arm with buckshot. Lull and Daniels both fled at that point, but Jim Younger shot and killed Daniel, while the wounded John, pursued Lull and fired at him with his pistol. After Lull went down severely wounded, John made his way towards his brother Jim, where he fell from his horse and died. Agent Lull would also die from his wounds three later. In the meantime, Jim was able to make his escape and John was buried at the Yeater Cemetery in an unmarked grave.
"Finally, the town of Osceola would once again see prosperity when the Kansas City, Osceola, and Southern Railroad began to make its way to the community. The building of the railroad itself provided jobs to area residents and when it was completed to Osceola in 1885, the town began to thrive through agriculture, mining and lumbering.
"By the turn of the century, the town's population had reached about 1,200 people and included several industrial businesses such as a flourmill, a sawmill, a cheese factory, a fruit cannery and large kilns producing a superior lime, and several rock quarries." ~ Legends of America