On May 28, 1830, the United States Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, which began the forced relocation of thousands of Native Americans. While it freed more than 25 million acres of fertile, lucrative farmland to mostly white settlers in the Southeast, more than 46,000

Life wasn’t easy for the soldiers serving at Fort King during the Second Seminole War. Florida was a hostile and difficult environment. There were insects and animals they were not familiar with, their wool uniforms were not well-suited to Florida’s tropical climate, and they would

Osceola was born in a Creek town near Tallahassee to a Creek mother, Polly Copinger and an Englishman named William Powell in 1804. In his youth, he was known as Billy Powell. He adopted the name Osceola, which means “black drink crier” at a tribal

From Invasions to October, 1821 By the time September 18, 1823 had arrived, the Seminole Indians had already been invaded three times, and had sustained extensive losses. After the first two invasions, the “Patriot War” of 1811-1813 and Andrew Jackson’s campaign in 1818, they were

The First Seminole War (1816-1819) Several years after the conclusion of the War of 1812, the U.S. military began excursions into the Spanish owned territory of Florida. General Andrew Jackson ordered his military to invade and destroy the “Negro Fort” on the Apalachicola River in

The heritage garden at Fort King is dedicated to the memory of David Laffey, whose leadership and vision was an integral part of the Fort King Historical landmark. The crops you see growing are representative of crops grown in the 1800s. Learn more about the history of Ft. King’s heritage garden,