The terms of the treaty were made known regarding a treaty to be signed. This treaty would finally end the fighting between the Seminole Indians and the US forces that had been going on for years. However one of the terms in this treaty would require the Seminoles to move from their home in the Everglades. An Indian warrior named Osceola determined he would not leave his beloved home, the Everglades. He soon found himself chief over five thousand other Seminole warriors. These warriors also had decided they would not leave their homes either. Thus began the Second Seminole War. This war pitted the five thousand Seminoles against two hundred thousand U.S. troops for eight years. The fighting finally subsided when Osceola was betrayed under a flag of truce, captured, and placed in a prison at Charleston, South Carolina. Osceola died in this prison about a year later. During this time in prison he repeatedly refused to surrender his warriors and would not sign any treaty that would require the Seminoles to leave the Everglades. Though the fighting basically came to a standstill after Osceola’s death, the war was not over officially until a treaty was signed in 1935. This treaty was signed, but it gave recognition to the Seminole nation’s right to reside in their home, the Everglades. Almost a hundred years after Osceola’s betrayal, capture, and his death, he won! Osceola won! Though he was betrayed, captured, and died at the hands of his enemy, he was not defeated. He won! He won! We, too have won! We, too have our homeland secured for us... eternally! Jesus!
'There is a place called Heaven where I have staked a claim. It's guaranteed by Jesus' blood and cosigned by His name.'
Richard L. Grimes
(ã 2005 God Ain’t What He’s Cracked Up To Be… RLG)
