Seminole Wars Authority

SW049 Irish-Immigrant U.S. Army Private Paddington "Paddy" McCormick Discusses Soldiers' Perspectives at Living History Events

Irish-Immigrant Army Private Paddington McCormik meets us this week along the Dade Battlefield historic trail in Bushnell, Florida. He's at his post, guarding the trail from any potential hostile Seminole incursions. The lot of a private -- and an immigrant one at that, was a miserable one. Paddy explains how he ended up at what he calls "this Godforsaken place", what Soldier life is like -- the rotten pay, the inhuman heat, the dicey rations -- and his hope that if he just keeps his head down, he just might get out of the war alive. Paddy may be a private, but when he steps out of his 1830s-era sky blue fatigues, he becomes Seminole Wars Foundation president, Steve Rinck. Steve is instrumental in a multitude of ways in bringing awareness about the Seminole Wars throughout Florida. Steve chats about how he created the Paddy character and about how he went from mild-manner school teacher and later school principal to joining the ranks of Seminole War historians. 
Above, Pvt. Paddy McCormick, ever vigilant at his post along the Dade Battlefield trail, says Army life is miserable and he is just trying to keep his head down so he can get out of the war alive. Below, Steve Rinck (far right) as Pvt Paddy McCormick joins other Seminole War living historians, such as George Webb (second from left) playing a sutler/trader and Ken Wood portraying his main impression, a Seminole fighter called "Hawkwood". To the left is British Air Commodore (Air Cdre) Stephen R. Thornber, the senior UK  officer from the British contingent visited the Dade Battlefield as part of a militaray staff ride from U.S. Central Command, at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa, Florida.  Such staff rides help contemporary military personnel to learn and apply lessons to current operations from past military battles and conflicts, such as the Dade Battle and the Second Seminole War.  
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website www.seminolewars.us

SW048 Gunpowder Warrior Discusses Seminole Fighters' Perspectives at Living History Events

A Seminole going by the name Gunpowder Warrior spoke with this host along the memorial trail at Dade Battlefield Park in Bushnell, Florida. We engaged in a short colloquy about the reason for the battle, Seminole perceptions during the battle, and where the Seminole went after their victory. Visiting groups on military staff rides often encounter Gunpowder Warrior as they trek along the hallowed ground that we call the Dade Battlefield trail. He stands as a stark reminder that there was another side to the battle, a side different from that of the soldiers who fought and perished here. I was aided in our discussion by translator Steve Creamer. Steve has portrayed Seminole at various events and venues around Florida for many decades. When Gunpowder Warrior and I completed our talk, Steve Creamer stayed behind to discuss how he portrays the Seminole fighter, how he has also portrayed a Missouri volunteer militiaman, and what the public can learn from witnessing battle reenactments and engaging with the re-enactors, such as Steve, who portray Seminole and Soldier at Florida parks. 
Participants in miltiary staff rides have often encountered Gunpowder Warrior (Steve Creamer) along the trailat Dade Battlefield Historic State Park.
Steve Creamer and other non-Seminole Tribe members portray Seminole Warriors at living history events.
Living historians such as Steve Creamer often reenact Second Seminole War battles side by side with members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida, such as Pedro Zepeda. 
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website www.seminolewars.us

SW047 Digging into the Tantalizing What Ifs Surrounding the 1836 Peace Parley at Camp Izard

The Battle of Camp Izard, Second Day by Jackson Walker
In March,1836, the commanding general of a large US Army force had foolishly boxed himself into a hastily built fortification, a 250-yard quadrangle fortified with log breastworks and earthen bastions. He called it Camp Izard, after a West Point-trained officer who had perished on the first day of what became known to history as the aptly named Battle of Camp Izard. The Camp was located along the Withlacoochee River about 20 miles southwest of today’s Ocala, Florida.
The expedition’s leader was General Edmund P. Gaines, commander of the US Army’s Western Military Department, based in New Orleans. Upon learning of the Seminole’s annihilation of Major Francis Dade’s column in late December 1835 and their rebuff of General Duncan’s Clinch’s advance against them in early January 1836, Gaines quickly amassed a military force and rushed off to Florida to join the fight. Gaines found the Dade site, buried the fallen with military honors, and set out to avenge Dade’s men and the Army’s honor. Resupplying at Fort Drane, Gaines believed he could quickly find the Seminole, whip them into submission with his combined force of regulars and militia, and evict them to the Oklahoma territory.
Color map of Camp Izard in February 1836 and black and white photograph of Maj. Gen. Edmund P. Gaines (late in his life)
Instead, he found himself besieged and beleaguered facing a force of Seminole he could not perceive at a small camp he could not escape into terrain he did not know his way out of. As his supplies dwindled, his men began killing and eating their horses and mules to survive. Anxious with the precariousness of his position, Gaines sent messengers begging for relief from the commander of US Army forces in Florida, the aforementioned General Clinch, but thus far no relief had received no reply.
Therefore, he speedily agreed to parley when he received such a Seminole request. They told him they were willing to let his starving Army retreat unmolested if he agreed to leave them alone in Florida. He was close to agreeing to this condition when men from General Clinch’s late arriving relief party stumbled onto the camp and, unaware of the negotiations, began firing. The Seminoles withdrew. The war would drag on for another seven years. We who look back at the poor timing can only despair and ask, What If?
In this episode, Sean Norman, acting executive director for the Gulf Archaeological Research Institute, returns to the Seminole Wars podcast to help us address this great “What if” question. He will explore how the specialized study of Conflict Archaeology informs his study of this Seminole War site, and, how an acronym called KOCOA can aid archaeological teams in complementing and in some cases verifying written accounts of military engagements, such as this one. And, as Camp Izard is the first site GARI began surveying from the Seminole Wars, Sean will address GARI’s challenges in locating and excavating at the camp’s remains, and he will examine why camps and forts in Florida were so short-lived and left such an ephemeral signature on the landscape.
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website www.seminolewars.us
 

SW046 In Seminole Wars, West Point's 1829 Military Academy Graduates Showed Mettle and Officer Corps' Institutionalized Professionalism

Monument to Major Dade and His Command that perished in 1835 is located on the grounds of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. Although Major Dade himself did not graduate from West Point, the Academy graduated many officers who served honorably in the Second and Third Seminole Wars.
Recently, a military historian cast his lens on the West Point Class of 1829. That class featured 11 cadets who later saw service in what was then termed, The Florida War. One 1829 graduate in fact served under Major Dade in 1835, but found himself detached to deliver a message and therefore unable to accompany Dade on that disastrous march in late December 1835. Another saw action at the First Battle of Loxahatchee in January 1838, ironically though, as a civilian contractor rather than as a military officer. He later put back on a military uniform advancing to general officer in both the Union, and, in 1861, in the Confederate States of America. One graduate, to commemorate a close friendship, changed his surname to that of a fallen comrade from the Class of 1828 who had died in the war. One other became a trusted Indian agent in the years leading up to the Third Seminole War. Other classes had representation in the Army during the long Second Seminole War, with most of the officers in Major Dade’s ill-fated command having West Point pedigrees.With us to discuss this West Point Class of 1829 and those among it who served in the Florida Wars – and one famous graduate, Robert E. Lee, who did not -- is Professor P.J. Springer. He is the chair for the Department of Research at the Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. A military historian, he has taught at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, and at the U.S. Army War College in Carlyle, Pennsylvania.  Along with Christopher Mortenson, he is the editor of the three volume Daily Life of U.S. Soldiers: From the American Revolution to the Iraq War. He is also the author of several books including America's Captives: Treatment of POWs from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terror; Transforming Civil War Prisons: Lincoln, Lieber, and the Laws of War; Military Robots and Drones: A Reference Handbook; and Cyber Warfare: A Reference Handbook. 
Dr. Springer first discussed the 1829 West Point for the podcast A Better Peace from the U.S. Army War College at Carlisle Barracks, Pa. That podcast is available here: https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/podcasts/class-of-1829/
A list of officers from that class and where their careers eventual led is here: https://civilwarintheeast.com/west-point-officers-in-the-civil-war/class-of-1829/
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website www.seminolewars.us
 

SW045 Dade Battlefield Staff Rides Instruct Present-Day Military Leaders in Challenges of Command When Under Fire in Irregular Conflict

George Webb, a former Florida State park ranger, portrays a trader of the 1830s. He briefs British officers and NCOs from US Central Command on a military staff ride to the Dade Battlefield.
The Dade Battle of December 28, 1835 is considered one of the U.S. Army’s most lopsided defeats. How an Army column could allow itself to be caught so unaware of a hostile adversary in its midst is a question that military professionals still ask to this day. One way to answer that question is through what's called the Military Staff Ride.
The staff ride puts military leaders in the figurative shoes of the officers and men of Dade's column. Although the battle was part of what is now called “irregular warfare,” today’s leaders—uniformed and civilian—can find ample opportunity to highlight the role of all warfighting functions with a particular emphasis on intelligence, fires and protection. Was the outcome foreordained? Would it be foreordained in the contemporary world? How might today's leaders have conducted the march and the battle differently had they been in charge? Listeners will not be surprised that the insights gleaned from conducting the Dade’s Battle staff ride are as relevant today as they were over 175 years ago.
With us today to discuss the Military Staff Ride and specifically how one is conducted at the Dade Battlefield is David A. “Scotty” Dawson, the civilian command historian for U.S. Central Command, at MacDill Air Force Base, in Tampa, Fla. Scotty is a retired Marine Corps colonel with numerous combat deployments to his credit. Reenactor Steve Rinck, Seminole Wars Foundation president, portrays Irish-immigrant Pvt. Paddington McCormick -- Paddy to his friends. Paddy explains the miserable life of a U.S. Army recruit in Florida to British officers and NCOs from US Central Command visiting Dade Battlefield on a military staff ride in the summer of 2016.
The British Army military contingent (in civilian clothes) and three living history reenactors (front row) portraying a trader, a Seminole warrior, and a U.S. Army soldier, pose for a group photo after completing the Dade Battle staff ride. The reenactors explained their character and the part they played in the Second Seminole War. Our guest this week, Scotty Dawson,  command historian for US CENTCOM, is standing in the back row, third from the left (white hat). Seminole Wars podcast host, Patrick Swan, is in center rear (wearing safari hat). Summer 2016. 
The Staff Ride Handbook for Dade’s Battle, Florida, 28 December 1835 is published by The Combat Studies Institute at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. Authored by Michael G. Anderson, this extensively researched handbook examines this opening conflict of the Second Seminole War. He uses it as a vehicle to allow organizations at any echelon to study leadership at the tactical level.
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website www.seminolewars.us
 

SW044 Living Historian Louie Bear's Heart Demonstrates Seminole Cultural Practices to Teach and Educate on Traditional Ways of Life

For many warrior re-enactors of the Seminole Wars, the smell of gunpowder from a mock battle is sweeter than the aroma of a roasting pig from camp fire barbecue. Smoking gunpowder represents action…and engagement. It represents an adrenalin rush from fighting for your side while hundreds of onlookers watch nearby. And it represents a means to show what is usually only described through the written word in a history book. THIS, they are saying, is how it went down.
Smoking gunpower then is indeed sweeter…for some. But not for Louie Bear’s Heart. He prefers the slow-burn of smoking meats in a Seminole hunting camp; where he can live in tune with the old ways of self-reliance far removed from the conveniences of modern American life; where he can trap and then carefully butcher a racoon, sear it on a spit, and then provide it for his family’s dinner plates. After all, you just can’t find tender enough racoon filets at your local supermarket these days. It is where he can quietly engage with the public about Seminole life OUTSIDE of the famous battles they fought to resist Army removal to Oklahoma. And, it is where he can personally demonstrate and educate through his appearance, his words, and his activities what the Seminole customs were that sustained a people often on the run throughout Florida. 
Louie (Ferris) Bear’s Heart joins us to discuss all this: Why he believes authenticity is the key to all he does and represents; how he earned his noble Seminole name; and how his living history interpretation is a family affair. 
Reenacting Seminole ways is a famly affair. Louie is here with his wife Pam (and young son Christian) and(back row) daughter Justine and son Taj.  At historical events, they don period attire to portray traditional Seminole life. 
Louie with wife Pam (left).
Louie (right) and son Taj (center) portray Seminole at living history events. 
Louie's son, Taj.
Louie's daughter, Justine. 
In his day job, Louie Ferris (second from right) is a Hillsborough County (State) Park Ranger. 
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast catcher, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website www.seminolewars.us
 

SW043 Just Who WERE the Black Seminoles?

We recognize that the Second Seminole War was a war of Indian Removal, ignited by Indian resistance to U.S. government efforts to deport them from Florida to Indian Territory west of the Mississippi.
A key sticking point in resolving the conflict was the disposition of those who were known, for purposes of convenience, as Indian slaves, Seminole Negroes or Black Seminoles.
And at the center of that was the delicate business of defining who the Black Seminoles were. The translator, diplomat, and strategist Abraham was a leader among Black Seminole and a representative among the Seminole of their interests.
One can use the structure of a classic internet meme to illustrate the difficulty in defining who were Black Seminole such Abraham and his people. 
Who did the Seminole say they were? [Abraham and his people were property, not to be given up without financial compensation and worth fighting to keep.]
Who did the Americans say they were? [To the Americans in Georgia and other southern states, Abraham's people were a threat to national security, poised to pour across the border under cover of darkness or to filter up through the swamps to pillage at will.]
Who did the Spaniards who ruled Florida say they were? [men and women who fled slavery were potential citizens and able allies who were worth arming and supporting for their value in protecting St. Augustine's back door.]
Who did the Black Seminoles say they were? [Abraham, his people, and hundreds of others like them were "freedom seekers" who fled the slavery of the American South and deliberately forged symbiotic alliances with the more numerous and established Seminole Indians.]
Who can WE say the Black Seminoles were?
Returning to the Seminole Wars podcast to help with what Sherlock Holmes might dub, “The Curious Case of the Black Seminoles of Florida,” is Dr. Brent Weisman.
Doctor Weisman has podcasted with us earlier to discuss the continued Historical and Cultural Importance of the Seminole in Florida. He is Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. He has served as the editor of The Florida Anthropologist, president of the Seminole Wars Historic Foundation and the Alliance for Weedon Island Archaeological Research and Education, and was a founding director of the Florida Public Archaeology Network. His research interests continue to be Seminole Indian culture and history, Florida archaeology, and North American Indians. 
Black Seminoles at the annual Dade Battle reenactment. Photos by Andrew Foster
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast provider, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website

SW042 Matt Griffin Uses Military Reenactment to Bring Alive the Black Seminole Warrior Spirit

First-time visitors to the annual commemoration at the Dade Battlefield in Bushnell, Florida, are sometimes startled to see -- amidst the melee -- a Black Seminole racing his war horse up and down the field of action. Likewise, groups escorted along the Dade Park memorial trail discover this same Black Seminole emerge from a concealed strategic position to converse with them.
The young man portraying the Black Seminole warrior is Matt Griffin. He is a native Floridian who traces his heritage back to the times of forced Indian removal during the Second Seminole War. He joins us to discuss what the alliance between Seminole and Black Seminole in that war signifies to him; what part Black Seminoles played in the Dade battle itself; what portraying a Black Seminole Reenactor for two decades has taught him about the war; and why we should know and still care about that conflict from nearly two centuries ago.
Peace in our Time? Black Seminole Matt Griffin casts a skeptical eye as a Seminole Swamp Owl shakes the hand of Maj. Gen. Thomas Jessup (Steven Rinck) at Fort Dade Capitulation Historical Reenactment Ceremony at the Pioneer Museum Dec. 19, 2020. Photo by Andrew Foster
 
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast provider, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website at www.seminolewars.us 

SW041 Waging War Amidst Fear and Anxiety on the Frontier of 1830s Territorial Florida

Painting: The Macon Volunteers by Jackson Walker
Last week, we looked at the terrain, environment, climate and on-the-ground atmosphere for Seminole and Soldiers and Settlers. This week, we look at some of the underlying causes of the war; some the places and incidents where the Second Seminole War was waged; and also the strategic, operations and tactics used to wage the war. Returning again is Dr. Joe Knetsch, author of a number of books and journal articles on the Seminole Wars. His anthology Fear and Anxiety on the Florida Frontier: Articles on the Second Seminole War 1835-1842, informs our discussion today.
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast provider, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website at www.seminolewars.us 

SW040 Living in Fear and Anxiety on the Frontier of 1830s Territorial Florida

Painting: The Captive Osceola by Jackson Walker
The 1830 Indian Removal Act aimed to relocate Indian tribes in the southeastern United States to undetermined land across the Mississippi River in the Oklahoma Territory. The tribes affected were the Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Creek – the so-called “four C” tribes -- and the Seminole of Florida. The tragic tale of this unjust trail of tears rips at our collective hearts to this day. When removal efforts came to the Seminole of Florida, some departed voluntarily. But, the majority stood their ground and refused to be moved.  
Dr. Joe Knetsch. author of a number of books and journal articles on the Seminole Wars, joins us for the first of two episodes to discuss what life was like for Floridians in those days. We examine the Florida terrain, climate and on-the-ground atmosphere for Seminole and Soldiers and Settlers. His anthology Fear and Anxiety on the Florida Frontier: Articles on the Second Seminole War 1835-1842, informs our discussion today. Next week, we look at some of the underlying causes of the war, some the places and incidents where the Second Seminole War was waged, and also the strategic, operations and tactics used to wage the war. 
Host Patrick Swan is a board member with the Seminole Wars Foundation. He is a combat veteran and of the U.S. Army, serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Kuwait, and Kosovo, and at the Pentagon after 9/11. A military historian, he holds masters degrees in Public History, Communication, and Homeland Security, and is a graduate of the US Army War College with an advanced degree in strategic studies. This podcast is recorded at the homestead of the Seminole Wars Foundation in Bushnell, Florida. 
Like us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Get the latest episode without delay where and when you want it by subscribing through your favorite podcast provider, such as iHeart, Stitcher, Spotify, DoubleTwist, Pandora, Podbean, Google podcasts, iTunes or directly from the Seminole Wars Foundation website at www.seminolewars.us