
Chief Billy Bowlegs
Posted by:
lazyCachers
N 26° 39.108 W 081° 51.380
17R E 414776 N 2948155
Located on the north side of Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers, Florida on Billy's Creek.
Waymark Code: WM4NB6
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 09/10/2008
Views: 55
The marker states:
Billy Bowlegs was a Seminole Indian Chief during the second (1835-1842) and third (1855-1858) Seminole wars. He and his followers resisted their removal to the Indian Territory in Oklahoma until 1858. That year, Bowlegs and about 125 other Seminoles were placed aboard the steamer Gray Cloud for transport across the Gulf to New Orleans and from there up the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers to Fort Gibson, then overland to Wewoka, Oklahoma.
The war later termed the "Billy Bowlegs War" began in 1855 when Bowlegs's gardens of squash and bananas were destroyed by the troops of First Lieutenant George Hartsuff. After his removal to Oklahoma, Bowlegs continued his own war by serving on the Confederate side during the Civil War. He died during the fall or winter of 1863-64 but his name is preserved by his descendents, a town named Bowlegs in Oklahoma and in the name of Billy's Creek.
