ABOUT THIS BOOK

A bestselling, re-evaluation of a major Native American resistance leader. Named an Outstanding Book by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights

Born in Alabama to a Muscogee/Creek Indian mother and an English father, Osceola, born Billy Powell, came to prominence in the 1830s for resisting the U. S. government's sweep into Florida. He protested the government's Florida Indian removal, killed a pro-emigration Indian leader and then made war on the US government.

Osceola's Legacy draws on a wealth of sources, including letters, diaries, and artifacts to bring this fascinating figure and the central role he played in the Second Seminole War into vivid focus. Of particular interest is a chapter on the forensic report on Osceola's grave as well as descriptions and the illustrations of his personal property at the time of his death.

Osceola's Legacy is significant for its genealogy and archaeological study of this Native American and his interaction with the federal government during the 1800s. The catalog of photographs of Osceola portraits and his personal possessions makes this a worthwhile reference book as well.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Patricia Riles Wickman is a former senior historian for the State of Florida, Director of the Department of Anthropology & Genealogy for the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and author of The Tree that Bends: Discourse, Power, and the Survival of the Maskoki People.

REVIEWS

"This is a fresh look at a fascinating figure who led the resistance to the removal of Florida Indians in the early 1800s. Though generally thought to be Seminole, Osceola actually was of mixed English and Creek blood." —Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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"Wickman does a thorough job of answering many questions surrounding the life and death of a remarkable man." —Tampa Tribune

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"Through the newly discovered diary of the surgeon who attended Osceola on his death bed and the innovative use of cultural artifacts and graphic images, this investigation explodes the myth of Osceola and introduces the man in both a historical and an anthropological context." —Book Alert

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
List of Illustrations 000
Acknowledgments 000
Preface to the Revised Edition 000
Introduction 000
1. A Short Life 000
2. Family Matters 000
3. Man versus Myth: Setting the Record Straight 000
4. Through the Eyes of Those Who Saw Him 000
5. A Lonely Grave 000
6. The Forensic Report 000
7. The Search for Osceola's Head 000
8. The Weedon Family 000
9. The Weedon Artifacts 000
10. Osceola's Hair 000
11. Descendents East and West 000
12. Pitcairn Morrison's Mementos 000
13. A Far-Flung Legacy 000
Epilogue: Two Very Expensive Alleged Osceola Artifacts 000
Appendix A: Summary of Osceola Artifacts 000
Appendix B: Graphic Representations of Osceola 000
Notes 000
Bibliography 000
Index 000