Billy Bowlegs

This article is about the Seminole chief of the 2nd and 3rd Seminole Wars (there was a different Bowlegs (Bolek) in the 1st Seminole War). For the Civil War Billy Bowlegs, see Sonuk Mikko. For a later tribal elder, see Billy Bowlegs III. For other uses of the name Bowlegs, see Bowlegs.
Billy Bowlegs
Holata Micco (Alligator Chief)
Billy Bowlegs during his visit to Washington, D.C. in 1852
Personal details
Bornc. 1810
Paynes Prairie, Florida
Diedc. 1859 (aged 48-49)
Oklahoma, United States
Mother tongueMuscogee

Holata Micco (a Muscogee name translated as Alligator Chief, also spelled Halpatter-Micco, Halbutta Micco, Halpuda Mikko; known in English as Chief Billy Bowlegs or Billy Bolek; c. 1810 – 1859)[1][2] was a leader of the Seminoles in Florida during the Second Seminole War and was the remaining Seminole's most prominent chief during the Third Seminole War, when he led the Seminoles' last major resistance against the United States government. With the possibilities of military victory dwindling, he finally agreed to relocate with his people to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in 1858. As part of the settlement, he was paid $6,500 plus $1,000 each for the subchiefs and $100 each for the women and children who went with him.[3] Several sources claim that he is buried at the Fort Gibson National Cemetery, but it is disputed whether the grave marked "Captain Billy Bowlegs" is actually his or that of a different Billy Bowlegs.[4]

  1. ^ "Chief Billy Bowlegs" Archived February 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, Reclaiming the Everglades: Everglades Biographies, Publication of Archival, Library & Museum Materials, Florida International University
  2. ^ Francis Samuel Drake (1872). Dictionary of American Biography, Including Men of the Time: Containing Nearly Ten Thousand Notices of Persons of Both Sexes, of Native and Foreign Birth, who Have Been Remarkable, Or Prominently Connected with the Arts, Sciences, Literature, Politics, Or History of the American Continent ... J.R. Osgood. pp. 111–. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  3. ^ Abner Doubleday (1998). My Life in the Old Army: The Reminiscences of Abner Doubleday : from the Collections of the New-York Historical Society. TCU Press. p. 353. ISBN 978-0-87565-185-9.
  4. ^ Ruth, Kent (July 29, 1984). "We'd Like to Find Out Where Billy Bowlegs Was Buried". The Oklahoman. Retrieved September 27, 2024.