Billy Bowlegs III Bridge - Okeechobee, Florida, USA
Posted by: 
BoomersOTR
N 27° 14.353 W 080° 58.914
17R E 501791 N 3012931
Bridge named in honor of Seminole elder Billy Bowlegs III by the Florida State Legislature in 1969.
Waymark Code: WM12020
Location: Florida, United States
Date Posted: 01/20/2020
Views: 4
The Place:
Located on Florida State Road 70 where it crosses the 134 mile Kissimmee River is the Billy Bowlegs III Bridge. The Kissimmee River is a central and south Florida River that starts in Osceola County and ends in Lake Okeechobee. This bridge is approximately halfway between Okeechobee, FL. and the Reservation Road leading to the Seminole Reservation former home of Billy Bowlegs III.
The Person:
“Billy Bowlegs III, Billy Fewell, aka Cofehapkee (1862–1965), was a Seminole elder, who was also of African-American descent. He was a tribal historian in Florida.
He was named Billie Fewell by his African-American father and Seminole mother. Fewell was also known by his Seminole name, Cofehapkee. He learned the cultural ways of the Seminole from his mother's family and elders. His maternal grandfather was Osceola, and he was a member of the Snake Clan. His mother, Nancy, was killed in 1889, along with several other members of the Snake Clan, by his uncle, Jim Jumper, in the Jim Jumper massacre. Bowlegs lived on the Brighton Seminole Indian Reservation after it was established, near Lake Okeechobee in present-day Glades County.
As an adult, he renamed himself after Billy Bowlegs (Holata Micco), the prominent Seminole chief during the Seminole Wars. A Black Indian, Bowlegs became an elder in the tribe. He learned and taught much about its history. Bowlegs befriended James Mallory and Minnie Moore Willson, who moved to Florida in the early 1880s. They became advocates for the Seminole. The couple described him in their book, The Seminole of Florida, 1896. He wanted to improve their understanding of the tribe's culture. The Willsons helped gain approval in 1913 by the Florida state legislature for a 100,000-acre (400 km2) reservation for the Seminole in the Everglades. They testified on the Seminole's behalf to the federal government in hearings in 1917. In the mid-1950s, he performed traditional dances at the Florida Folk Festival in Union County, on the Suwannee River. Bowlegs was buried in Ortona Cemetery in Ortona, Florida.”
Taken from Wikipedia
Year it was dedicated: 1969
Location of Coordinates: Coordinates at bridge
Related Web address (if available): [Web Link]
Type of place/structure you are waymarking: Bridge
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