The first American military expedition to the Everglades winds up a dismal failure.

WILLIAM COOLEY; BROWARD'S LEGEND PART TWO

Coope r Kirk grew up in Broward County, attended local public schools, and served in the By Cooper Kirk arm ed forces of th e United State s during W orld War II. He is a graduate of the University of Miami and obtained his Ph.D. in history from Phase One of 's career Florida State University. A married man with a ended with the horrible New River massacre of his fa m ily. he is a mem ber ofthe many historical and household by hostile Indian allies on cultural organizations, teaches at Piper High January 6, 1836. For the next year and a half School and is County Historian. official duties and private undertakings required his presence in a myriad of locations. He operated from northward to military camps near Jacksonville, westward to the Suwannee River and southward along the to the Keys. A whirlwind of activities threw him into almost every conceivable situation in a territory largely un­ stoic sufferer became a cause celebre to South known and unexplored by Americans. That he Floridians because of his losses and refusal to survived through it all is astonishing enough; that succumb to them. he enhanced his reputation and sphere of Cape Florida keeper John L. influence simultaneously is almost miraculous. Dubose shared responsibility with Cooley in a News of the Cooley massacre threw the subordinate status because of his official position inhabitants of the South Florida mainland and on the cape, although he hardly seemed the man keys into a near panic condition. In a matter of to defend terror-stricken refugees. Bereft of his hours a dozen or more whites, their families and family and possessions, Cooley had only his life to slaves from New River and crowded lose while Dubose had a family and twenty slaves onto near the Cape Florida to protect. The transplanted South Carolinian, Lighthouse to await an anticipated onslaught by an after serving as United StatesCollector of Customs undetermined number of rampaging Indians at St. Augustine,where he acquired a well-merited whose slaughter of the defenseless Cooley reputation for knowledge of operations household spread from lip to lip. The refugees had along the coast, became the first Cape escaped with only the clothes on their backs Florida Lighthouse keeper and Inspector of because time did not permit the bundling together Customs in late 1825. Conditions were cramped as of even a little food. Leadership of the motley band James Wright, Richard H. Fitzpatrick's Miami devolved upon Cooley because of his position as River plantation overseer, added fifty to sixty justice of the peace. Subsequently, the less than slaves to Dubose's.

24 The white settlers took stock of their From this brig he returned with two brass cannons desperate situation as they fearfully contemplated and ample balls, armaments considered capable of an imminent assault by a band of blood-th irsty repelling an Indian invasion. The cannons Indians possibly. numbering two hundred. Investi­ furnished the main firepower of the militia kept in gation soon revealed the scarcity of arms, a high state ofreadiness by daily, fatiguing drills. ammunition and food necessary for sustenance Sheer weariness, rather than fear, took its toll during a potential long-term siege by an Indian as the defenders remained at their posts night and force well-supplied from Cooley's trading post. day. A "correspondent" of the Charleston Dubose scarcely contributed to the refugees' Mercury wrote from the island on January 14, sense of security as he pointed out the suscepti­ revealing the peril faced by the embattled bility of the wooden portions of the lighthouse and refugees and their hosts. He believed that the the flimsy nature of the outbuildings to Indian islanders had made the best preparation possible attempts to fire them. His arguments clinched the to prevent the enemy from lan ding, "but our matter. feeble force will be nothing if they succeed in Late on January 10 the settlers and slaves effecting a landing. We are nearly worn out and scrambled aboard Cooley's recently acquired large exhausted from having been compelled to keep schooner and upon several smaller craft and set watch every night." Imperiled as they were, the out to sea. They headed for the safety of Indian defenders' vigilance heartened women and chil­ Key, located well off the mainland one hundred dren as they scrounged for wood, cooked and miles north of Key West and a few miles southeast spoke cheering words. Danger of another sort of Lower Matecumbe Key. Heavy seas soon from the north, however, threatened the islanders rendered the vessels well-nigh helpless and only and seaborne commerce. They surmised that help, the timely arrival of a large schooner, attracted by if it ar rived, must come over th ree hu ndred miles their distress signals, prevented the refugees from southward from St. Augustine. being plunged into a watery grave. Late the next On the night of January 14 the Steamboat afternoon as they stepped ashore at Indian Key Champion, bound from St. Augustine to Key the rescued and the rescuers gave thanks, mindful West, passed the deserted ­ of the frightening conditions they had endured house only to note the great hazard posed to aboard a vessel designed for one third its recent shipping. For some months an extraordinarily human cargo. swift current of three to four knots had driven Security on Indian Key recently had been numerous commercial and passenger ships onto tightened. For one or two days prior to the the . Only the daring and skill of the refugees' arrival several boatloads of Indians had wreckers prevented total loss of cargoes and appeared there and when questioned by the passengers. Never before in memory had sea­ suspicious islanders, denied any knowledge of the farers stood so greatly in need of the reassuring Cooley household murders, stating they only and directive light of the Cape Florida Lighthouse. wished to purchase some lead and powder. The bare mention of returning to the Quickly the islanders ordered them off empty­ lighthouse made brave and wizened settlers and handed, convinced that the Indians had lied up to seamen blanch. Nameless terror arose from lack of their teeth. Soon, upwards of two hundred whites knowledge regarding the size and intentions of the and slaves from the mainland and adjacent keys Indian bands thought to be roaming the southeast had flocked to the twelve-acre Indian Key, a Florida mainland. If the Indians struck, would principality of the notorious wrecker-merchant there occur a repetition of the Cooley massacre, Jacob Housman, who occupied the island not by further pillage and destruction of property? fee simple but simply through the sufferance of The position of lighthouse keeper went the government. For protection begging among men intent on preserving their against any imminent Indian attack Housman own tortured existence until Cooley arrived at Key already had formed a militia force consisting of West on January 16 aboard the Steamboat forty to fifty able-bodied islanders and seamen Champion and volunteered to take the dangerous who now hastily threw up wood and rock assignment. This threw young William A. fortifications. Whitehead, the former New Jerseyite who served Immediately upon his arrival at the key, as United States Collector of Customs at Cooley noted the desperate situation confronting Key West, into an extremely awkward situation. the islanders who were destitute of the means to He did not possess the legal authority to make an prevent a determined Indian attempt to land in appointment reserved for his superiors in Wash­ force. He returned through heavy seas to the ington. Besides, the lighthouse was in Dubose's brigantine Gil Bias, beached near Hillsboro Inlet. bailiwick. Mastering his trepidation, three days

25 later he appointed Cooley as temporary lighthouse plantation on the day of the massacre. Further keeper. As he wrote his superior Stephen J. inspection revealed that the houses of his nearest Pleasanton, United States Superintendent of neighbors had been "ramsacked-the furniture , Dubose would not return as long as destroyed-beds ripped open, etc." Upon taking one Indian was reported on the mainland. Cooley, inventory, Cooley listed his principal losses of armed to the teeth, returned to the lighthouse with provisions as: "21 gallons of Madiera wine and a hastily assembled guard of five men and barrels of corn, sugar, rice, grits, pork, beef and maintained a twenty-four hour vigil. coffee." Other material losses included eighty Either from foolhardiness or heroism, but hogs, fowls , sheep and horses, one keg of powder, within days of his appointment Cooley returned to over two hundred pounds of lead, $700 worth of the abandoned New River Settlement only to dry goods, $480 in specie, and one Negro slave discover that the hostiles had removed everything woman. Property losses included his home and of value that had not been taken from his furniture, outhouses, slave quarters, processed

Copy of Alexander Patterson's Bill of Sale of Seminole Indians, Patsy was the object of slave woman Patsy to Cooley for $450, dated Cooley's search at in 1837 when December 20, 1834. In 1837 she was he incurred the wrath of General Jesup. described as "aged about thirty-five, of a Monroe County, Florida Records, Deed dark color, and about five feet five inches Book A. high, slender made." Captured by the

26 coontie, coontie mill and machinery, tools, then served until the arri val of John W. B. shipbuilding tools, wagon , horses, clothing, boat Thompson, the appointed permanent keeper. and wharf. The marauding Indians destroyed his Cooley retired to Indian Key where he began twenty-acre crop consisting of sugar cane, to draw up a petition listing his losses and praying " Arrowroot," corn, potatoes and pump­ the United States government for relief since his kins. Sadly, his New River trading post had come tormentors were now at war with the government. to an ignominious end. Cooley fixed his loss at In the petition preamble he confessed his bleak $12,700. Furthermore, his Spanish coontie pro­ condition:" since his loss and misfortune he had cessor I. Emanuel disappeared with the Indians on no permanent place of abode , not being able to do the massacre day, never to surface in white hard work at his age , is obliged to trade from place society. Cooley now possessed only the clothes on to place for support." Resilience and resourceful­ his back , some arms, a schooner, but plenty of ness characterized Cooley's life and career and the courage. Surprisingly, for an American frontiers­ plaintive outburst bespoke the initial reaction of a man robbed of his irreplaceable family by murder man whose once bright future had suffered and his property by rapine, he had no desire for irreparable loss. Past the prime of life at revenge against Indians among whom he had lived fifty-three years of age, penniless, with the so long. prospect vanished of a hearth warmed by From the lighthouse Cooley kept Whitehead frolicking children and nurtured by a comparative­ informed of nautical and Indian affairs. From ly young companion chosen to share the intimacies February 14-20 five wrecking vessels saved the of marriage, his outburst seems mild indeed. schooner Grecian. bound from Boston to New Despite his misery, life must go on and Cooley Orleans, by removing her cargo and passengers, joined the throng who picked themselves up after unreefing her, and then replacing them. During disastrous bouts with Indian outrages. the salvage operations the wrecker Olive Branch Sailing his schooner again under the colors of capsized at Cape Florida when attempting to a wrecker. Cooley operated out of Indian Key. harbor for the night. Une schooner loaded with Here he joined forces with Jacob Housman, settlers, their livestock and furnishings, bound for Richard H. Fitzpatrick, Thomas Jefferson Smith, was disabled on the Florida reef. A Walter C. Maloney , Charles Howe and John P. schooner sailing under the colors of a wrecking Baldwin in an effort to maintain freedom from vessel boarded the distressed ship, made the domination by Key West interests, particularly captain, crew and passengers prisoners, and from the admiralty court situated there. Wreckers sailed off in the direction of the Bahama Islands. of the upper keys and mainland plantation No further details could be learned of this ill-fated operators had long groaned under the Key West ship whose passengers might have aided General yoke. They reserved special criticism for having to Sam Houston and his independence movement in transact salvage and legal matters in that far out of Texas. the way island town. In a petition to Congress one By relying upon signs left by them on the New hundred-thirteen men complained they "must River and by observing their fires from the safety serve as jurors at Key West twice each year at a of the lighthouse, Cooley estimated that two to season when our presence ismost required at our three hundred Indians occupied the coastal region place of residence." They had " no other means from New River to Miami River. He recommended than small open boats to travel by water a to Whitehead, for transmittal to Secretary of War distance between two and three hundred miles, B. F. Butler in Washington, the construction of subject to all the ill consequences of exposure to forts at New River and so that boisterous and disagreeable weather, with great reconnaissance operations might forestall Indian hazard attending such a mode of travelling and subsistence from the coontie that grew so frequently owing to headwinds exceeds two abundantly between the two locations. Subse­ weeks." It was well-known that the southeast quent scouting expeditions along the Miami Florida mainland was rapidly " coming into notice River revealed the total destruction of all white for the cultivation of sugar cane, sea island cotton , property including Fitzpatrick's immense planta­ tropical fruits, the mulberry tree and rearing the tion which Stephen R. Mallory later valued at not silk worm, to which the climate and soil are both less than $50,000, and which had the makings of peculiarly applicable, particularly at, and in the one of the finest plantations in the South . vicinity of Cape Florida, New River and Indian After serving until April at the lighthouse, for River. " Obviously, the signers favored the the abnormally swollen wages of $100 monthly creation of a new county out of Monroe County, for for himself and his armed guard, Cooley turned then business and legal matters could be the keeper postion over to Captain Griffin who conducted close to home.

27 Frem : They a ll ca ll it TROPICAL, by C. 1\1. B rook field a nd O. Griswold

SJ 0 i>- Ground plan of Indian Key ),-, In 1840. . I

....

';:- :

Ground plan of Indian Key in 1840. William Frankee Lewis Donation on New River near Cooley furnished cannons and armaments in the Cooley plantation, maintained a resi­ January 1836 to protect the key against dence on Indian Key after Indians had Seminole Indian attack. Flori da territorial driven him off the Florida mainland. Senator William English. who owned the

The brunt of endeavors fell upon Housman. included inspection of the Cape Florida Light­ Smith and Fitzpatrick. For sometime, in deepest house after the severe September 1835 hurricane. secrecy, Fitzpatrick had been hatching a plan to Fragmentary evidence indicates that he inspected create a new county from the northern part of the Gil Bias cargo stored at the Cooley trading post Monroe County. He had lost favor in Key West on new River as he swung along the coast following his opposition to a more liberal city inspecting the many vessels beached by the charter which only the Legislative Council could hurricane. His business dealings with Fitzpatrick, grant. He then transferred his residence and however, rendered him a special favorite with this interests to his blossoming New River and Miami powerful politician. River plantations. The 1836 Legislative Council With the Florida populace virtually worship­ put power into his hands when it elected him its ping the memory of the fallen heroes of the president and the Dade ambush provided him with ambush, Fitzpatrick appealed to the members of an immediate hero around which to spin his web of the Legislative Council to memorialize Major Dade separation. and his slain comrades by creating a county in The gallant Major Francis 1. Dade had been their memory. Housman went in person to on duty with the army in Florida for many years Tallahassee to plead the cause of a new county. prior to leading himself and one hundred six of his Encountering little opposition and enlisting much men to death in an Indian ambush on December support, Fitzpatrick guided a bill through on 28, 1835. Thereafter, his name was on everyone's January 28, 1836, that created Dade County from lips. While military commandant at Key West in Monroe effective February 4 and specifying Indian the mid-1830 's, the major had made many friends Key as the temporary county seat,thereby holding in South Florida during his round of duties which in abeyance the possible claims of Key Vacas,

28 Miami River and New River, the other chief man the county court, much less a Superior Court settlements, to be designated the permanent and, for this reason Congress should annul the county seat. territorial act creating the county court and abolish Comprised, for the most part, of the large the Superior Court which controlled admiralty watery wasteland variously known as the Ever­ cases. Furthermore, since Housman owned Indian glades or Pai-hai-o-kee, an Indian name for river Key lock, stock and barrel, he would allow no of grass, Dade County was huge. It extended competition at auctions, causing irreparable loss along "a line running from West end Bay Honda to owners and insurors of wrecked vessels while Key, to Cape Sable and from thence to Lake making Housman incomparably wealthy. Macaco (), thence to the head of Rising to unprecedented heights of vitupera­ what is now known as Hillsboro River, (the north tion and character assassination, the petitioners branch) and down the said river to the Atlantic dwelt at length upon the allegedly unsavory Ocean." The judge of the Southern District was to character of Smith and Housman. Marshaling a hold one term of the Superior Court each year at vast array of pertinent data relative to population Indian Key and the judge of the county court was and commerce in the new county, and couching it to hold a term each at Indian Key and Cape in sober language, Smith methodically refuted Florida, while records of both courts were to each charge without engaging in personalities. remain on Indian Key. For all practical purposes Still unappeased, Whitehead and his cohorts Dade County became Indian Key and Indian Key countercharged: what would become of justice in belonged to Housman. In addition to thrusting Dade County with Smith in charge? Obviously, Indian Key into undue political prominence, the with political throatcutting the order of the day, desertion of the mainland in January 1836 by Justices Cooley and Fletcher could hardly cooper­ white settlers proved momentous in the long run. ate with or even maintain decent relations with Almost fifty years would elapse before the fellow Justice Whitehead. While shunning ex­ southeast Florida mainland would attain the treme partisanship, Cooley generally acquiesced agricultural prosperity and population of pre-1836. in the political decisions of Fitzpatrick, Housman, The closely knit Housman partisans con­ Smith and associates. He doggedly held onto his ducted the public affairs of Dade County. After justice post and wore it as a badge of honor; even 1836 Fitzpatrick sought in vain to restore the long after he left the county he continued to sign prosperity of his New River and Miami River his correspondence " J ustice of the Peace, Dade plantations and, for years, he continued to sit in County." the territorial legislature as Dade County repre­ Sandwiched between his activities as justice sentative. Maloney assumed the clerkship of the of the peace, wrecker, and auctioneer of wrecked county court and in 1838 married Mary Elizabeth vessels, Cooley piloted schooners for the United Rigby, survivor of the New River Settlement States Army and Navy through the shoal-ridden massacre, who bore him eight children. As United Florida Straits and the Bahama Channel to points States Inspector of Customs Howe moved from between Key Nest and New River. By a Key West to Indian Key. Smith, a brilliant lawyer Legislative Council Act of 1836 slaves abducted by with powerful Washington political connections, Indians must be recovered within six months or be became the first county judge. Cooley, Whitehead escheated to the territorial government. Faced and Lemuel Otis shared law enforcement chores as with the possibility of this loss, Cooley was driven justices of the peace. Belying his age and to New River on several occasions in search of his self-confessed incapacity, Cooley assumed other missing slave woman. On these occasions he official duties in Dade County as he joined William reported to military authorities on the situation on H. Fletcher and Whitehead as legislative ap­ the river. pointed auctioneers. Time, fortune and Indian Numerous other witnesses observed Indians depradations rendered all arrangements tenuous, moving in their canoes in the direction of the river. and appointees came and went in rapid suc­ Captain Robert Armstrong, commander of the cession. Transport Motto, reported Economic considerations and pride forced that upwards of two hundred Negroes had been Key West boosters to launch a vigorous campaign whisked away from New River inlet by a large to have Congress reverse the legislative ukase Spanish ship. These often unverified reports which created Dade County. Their generally generated fear on the part of the military that unsuccessful efforts, led by Whitehead, A. B. Indians and their Black allies would secure the five Browne, and Judge William Marvin, continued for to six tons of lead remaining on board the brig Gil years. Petition after petition alleged that the Bias beached by the September 1835 hurricane meager population of Dade County could hardly near Hillsboro Inlet. Such a dreaded event might

29 Cape Florida Lighthouse, Key Biscayne, Florida, built 1824-1825. William. Cooley served as temporary Lighthouse Keeper in early 1836 when Southeast Florida was under attack by Seminole Indians.

30 prolong the war that whites expected to end survive by hurling a keg of gunpowder down the momentarily. In response to this threat Com­ stairwell to the base of the stairs. The powder keg mander M. P. Mix, aboard the United States Ship exploded' and tore down the stairs and provided Concord lyingat anchor at Tampa Bay, dispatched the light seen by the Motto and Pee Dee. This left Lieutenant Thomas J. Lieb and Midshipman the half dead Thompson stranded on the platform Stanley and nineteen enlisted men on July 6, 1836, eighty feet above the wave-swept rocks below. He aboard the schooner Motto, with urgent orders to alternately prayed and contemplated suicide by proceed to Hillsboro Inlet and destroy the Gil Bias. jumping to the rocks below. Unable to reach their At Key West, Lieutenant prey, the Indians loaded the moveable items George Clark came aboard and Captain Armstrong aboard their boats, departed in a northward engaged Cooley to pilot the transport to the direction and left Thompson to die a slow, horrible distressed brig. The Motto arrived at the Gil Bias death. on July 23 and, according to the statement sworn Piloted by Cooley, the Motto, accompanied by by Lieutenant Lieb to Justice Cooley, "did set fire the Pee Dee, arrived at the lighthouse near to the brig Gil Bias, that she might become midnight. Working intermittently through the covered with sand, and that all traces of her might night and morning the officers and crews finally be destroyed to prevent the Indians ever getting extricated Thompson's and Carter's bodies from her any lead, or other articles which would be through the ingenious use of blocks and tackles. of any use to them," and all "for the public Making Thompson as comfortable as the situation good." Leaving the derelict vessel afire with wood permitted, the Motto and Pee Dee skirted the procured from the shore, the Motto proceeded for Cape Florida and Miami River plantations and Key West mistakenly confident its mission had observed their state of total destruction wrought been performed. Later testimony revealed the fire by the pillaging hands of the Indians. Proceeding consumed only the upper portion of the brig while with utmost speed to Key West, Thompson was the hull remained intact. Unsuspected by the placed in the military hospital through the officers and crew of the Motto another, even more kindness of Lieutenant Benjamin Alvord of the dangerous, mission beckoned as they proceeded Fourth United States Infantry Regiment. Remark­ southward. ably, Thompson eventually recovered from his Nearing dusk in the area of New River Inlet disastrous experience. the Motto fell in with the schooner Pee Dee of New Led by the sub-chief, guide and warrior York, commanded by Captain Cole. A short time Chico, a band of about seventy Indians began to later those aboard the ships saw the sky suddenly plunder white possessions from Key Largo light up in the direction of the Cape Florida northward early in the hostilities. Chico proved Lighthouse. Astonished and mystified by what doubly dangerous because in addition to harboring appeared to be an unnatural phenomenon, the an intense hatred of whites, he was thoroughly ships unfurled more sail and sped southward at an conversant with their ways. Prior to the war he increased tempo, hardly knowing what to expect. broke away from the "Spanish fishing Indians" In the meantime, one of the most dramatic near Charlotte Harbor and embraced a nomadic episodes in United States Lighthouse Service existence which led him in circuit from the keys to history had already commenced. the New River Settlement. In return for instruc­ Near four o'clock in the afternoon of July 23 a tions in the manufacture of various little articles party of forty to fifty war-whooping, combat­ useful to his way of life, he reciprocated by painted Indians ferociously attacked Cape Florida hunting and fishing for the whites. After being Lighthouse outhouses. Retreating to the safety of roughly handled by Captain John Whalton, the sturdy lighthouse from the indefensible commander of the lightship stationed at Carys­ outdoor kitchen, keeper John W. B. Thompson ford's Reef south of Cape Florida, he intensified and his Negro attendant Carter bolted the door, his depradations. Late in September 1836 he scrambled up the wooden lighthouse ladder, firing began a series of savage forays which propelled their guns as they went. Unable to break down the United States Navy Lieutenant Levin M. Powell door despite repeated surges, the rampaging into action at Key West, a move long advocated by Indians emitted blood-curdling screams in the prominent Floridians who believed that the Navy, genre of Confederate rebel yells as they set fire to despite its assertions to the contrary, was the windows and door and loosed volley after dragging its feet at the expense of suffering volley from their Spanish rifles in an attempt to kill Floridians. the besieged. His clothing afire, his legs As early as January 1836 Richard H. punctured by bullets and Carter dead from one, Fitzpatrick recommended to Brigadier General Thompson made a last desperate attempt to Richard K. Call of the Florida Militia that a

31 tri-pronged sally of light draught steamboats be tist, assisted by Mallory, gathered data which employed to ferret out the Indians who were when published would permit settlers to select the residing along the fringes of the Everglades. choicest locations. The fact that he had spent one When Call became territorial governor in June he winter living among the Indians on New River set into motion plans to crush Indian hostilities by gave him an insight into their thinking and a a bi-pronged pincer movement. With 1500 men knowledge of the area. from the Volunteer Brigade, reinforced As commander of the expedition, Lieutenant with a few regular troops and militia and Powell chose as his chief guide the one man buttressed with politician Fitzpatrick as staff uniquely qualified by experience and craft to colonel, Call planned to crush the main Indian locate Indian trails and settlements. Included force near the cove of the Withlacoochee River in among his many qualifications was Cooley's the vicinity where he had fought them late in familiarity with the Indian mode of life and December 1835. Meanwhile, a naval force would language and his own long residence in Florida scour the Everglades to capture or eradicate dating back to 1813. Consequently, Cooley had Indian remnants. Thus, in a matter of weeks, the become acquainted with the chief Indian leaders Indians and the Negroes among them would be and many of their braves. caught in a vise-like grip which would make As a resident of South Florida for a dozen surrender mandatory and preliminary to their years Cooley had hunted, trapped, and explored shipment west of the River, the the eastern edge of the Everglades northward to permanent horne assigned them by the United Lake Okeechobee. His knowledge of the Ever­ States government. glades, southward from New River, rested upon By early October Call had penetrated to the his travels up to the headwaters of New River Withlacoochee River cove, ready for combat. On thence southward, utilizing the Rio Ratones the southern flank the Navy readied a small (present day Snake Creek) until he reached the flotilla. Their general mission was to flush the Miami River and Cape Florida settlements. He hostiles from their Everglades recesses on a line was knowledgeable of the sea lanes after years of extending from Cape Sable northward to some sailing the Bahama Channel and Florida Straits indefinite point around Lake Okeechobee. The past Indian Key onto Key West in pursuit of his specific objective was much more limited. The commercial and legal obligations. As a ship Navy must surprise the Indians at or near Cape captain he had mastered the intricate regulations Florida and New River, take them captive, and promulgated for that position by the Key West provide protection against further Indian outrages City Council. Beyond these technical and ex­ for settlers like Cooley who wished to return to the periential accomplishments, he possessed a native mainland. cunning and intelligence which his contemporaries Chico's lightening, ferocious attacks galvan­ often found either reassuring or else mystifying ized the Navy into hurriedly assembling a light­ and irritating. draught fleet for the accomplishment of its Moving from Key West in great haste on missions. Enlisting every Navy ship available in October 13, the confident flotilla passed through South Florida waters, Lieutenant Powell found hIS the keys with minor side excursions and reached miniature armada consisted of 50 navymen, 95 Cape Florida eight days later. Coincidentally, on marines, 8 officers, reinforced by the schooners the same day that the flotilla departed Key West, Caroline and Firefly and the United States Cutter Call and the Tenrr-sseans were repulsed at the Washington commanded by Captain Day. Doctor Withlacoochee River by swollen flood waters and Charles A. Hassler accompanied the determined by the devastating fire of Indians from across the expedition as surgeon, while versatile Doctor river. Dividing the expedition at the cape, Edward Frederick Leitner and future Confederate Lieutenant Powell passed up the inland waterways Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory while Lieutenant William Smith sailed northward volunteered to serve in a military capacity. The with a detachment intent on sweeping the coast latter two provided backup experience and and then rendezvousinz with Lieutenant Powell on knowledge about the terra incognita where the New River. If successful, this pincer tactic would naval fleet proposed to operate. Both were terminate hostilities in South Florida and begin a explorers girded with vast experience in South new era of prosperity. Florida waters and the water logged land lying Between October 27 until he formed a back from the coast. For years they had traversed juncture with Lieutenant Smith on October 30 the outer fringes of the Everglades in an Lieutenant Powell banked upon Cooley's astute­ investigation of South Florida flora, soil, and ness and comprehensive knowledge of South topography. The German-bred doctor and scien- Florida. Thus, Cooley led Lieutenant Powell's

32 Since their primary miSSIOn to scout Cape Florida and New River for Indians had proved extremely disappointing, the council implemented the general mission. Lieutenant Powell again divided his forces by sending Lieutenant Smith northward with directions to penetrate the inlets as far north as Indian River. It was thought this maneuver would determine the presence of coastal Indians. Powell relied upon Cooley's knowledge of the inland Indian trails that led northward and pushed the second detachment in light boats into the dreary, dark morasses. From there their early evening camp was an island forest of pine and cypress which enclosed on the east. Westward stretched an eerie expanse of flat wasteland. From the island elevation the party commanded a position from which any Indian fire certainly could be seen. At dawn the weary, soaked, insect-bitten men pushed forward over the shallow arassv sea: however, the dry season had set in and, thusly, even the smallest of the miniscule fleet could not approach the islands in the distance. Discouraged, the sleepless expedition retraced its path to New River . Utilizing his field notes, Lieutenant Powell described the impossibilities of foot and boat traffic in the partially dried out, forbidding Everglades by writing: "The matted saw-grass which wounds like a razor, and the deep sluices, Stephen R. Mallory: William Cooley's which intersect the glades, prevented access to friend. military compatriot and lawyer. them on foot. I fonnd it impracticable to navigate Mallory served with great distinction as the glades, at this stage of water in keel boats, United States Senator from Florida and as though no labor had been spared; and we Confederate Secretary of the Navy. reluctantly commenced our return to camp." While the lieutenant did not describe in his report any currently recognizable landmark, the most carefully conceived estimate places his further­ detachment up the narrow, winding Rio Ratones to most penetration some miles northwest of "the old, and now deserted, village of the Hillsboro Inlet. Although hatched amid the Indians" located east of Pine Island. highest hopes, the first attempt by the American After setting fire to the "remaining wigwams," military to discover and capture Indians in the the lieutenant plowed forward in his shallow­ Everglades ended in dismal failure. draught mackinac boats without glimpsing a fresh Even though he carried out his mission in the trace of Indians. His chagrin increased when he highest traditions of the navy, Lieutenant Smith learned at their rendezvous that Lieutenant Smith met with no more success than his superior. On had had even less success on his easterly swing November 6 the lieutenants rendezvoused with aboard the navy ships and schooners. their forces on New River where the commander ruminated upon his lack of accomplishment. True After establishing their camp on Cooley's to his directives, Lieutenant Powell had minutely deserted plantation located slightly east of the examined New River and the adjacent country by New River forks on the northside, Lieutenant land and sea but had not found "the Southern Powell's examination of the area revealed that Indians, reported to be in force" on New River . only one partially standing dwelling remained of Powell had, however, confirmed the widely the once prosperous New River Settlement. A circulated report that arrowroot abounded on the council of officers convened to determine the next river in a manner "peculiar to Florida, " Con­ step. viction mounted on his part that arrowroot was

33 "the bread, the chief sustenance of the Indians, approached the proportions of an Indian war. deprived of which they might starve." Some other In early March 1837 General Jesup persuaded conclusions accounted for his failure and the Chief Miconopy and several important sub-chiefs subsequent results. The expedition had com­ to sign articles of "Capitulation." The articles menced too late in the year; some months had required that all Indians and the Negroes among passed since the Indians had harvested arrowroot them journey to a cantonment located about ten on New River. Abandoning their favorite granary, miles west of Tampa Bay preparatory within a the Indians had retreated to pose danger on other short period to their shipment west to the presently discernible Florida fronts. Arkansas Territory. Movement by the Indians After putting their vessels and equipment in a from scattered locations proved exceedingly slow, state of readiness and catching up on their sleep, however, in part due to frenzied opposition by the disappointed and highly subdued expedition Osceola and Sam Jones, two die-hard leaders who on November 8 proceeded south to Cape opposed emigration. Sable. There, Cooley relinquished the position of While waiting for the Indians to congregate at guide to Doctor Leitner. He was content to resume the cantonment, the general faced two pressing his interrupted wrecking and judicial duties from needs. First, he had to maintain the series of forts Indian Key. Lieutenant Powell's naval entourage and camps he had established on a line from Fort explored the Gulf of Mexico coast northward to Heilman southwest of Jacksonville to Charlotte Harbor without encountering a single at Tampa Bay. An even greater task required that Indian, a repeat performance of the Atlantic coast he prevent white settlers from going among the expedition. Indians and seizing by force those Negroes whom Returning to Key West on December 8, 1836, they claimed had either been captured by the the lieutenant compiled a fabulously lengthy Indians or else had run away to join the Indians in account of his two months and 1,000 mile odyssey wilderness freedom. to his immediate superior, Commander Thomas From his headquarters at Fort Dade, General Crabb who was commanding the United States Jesup heard of Cooley's whereabouts at Tampa Ship Vandalia, then riding at anchor at Key West. Bay and his reputation as a guide; he engaged the Doctor Leitner continued his topographical explor­ rawboned South Floridian in this capacity in early ation for the season and young Mallory continued March. With the arm y in a state of quiescence for his intermittent study of law at Key West. the moment as it waited for the hostiles to obey the Although he failed to mention it in his report, "Capitulation," Cooley was temporarily assigned Lieutenant Powell's unsuccessful expedition pre­ the position of express rider. His task required cluded the return of Cooley and other settlers to him to deliver the absolutely essential messages the mainland. which flowed between the general's headquarters Four days before Lieutenant Powell returned and an irregular line of forts that extended from to Key West, Governor Call surrendered com­ Tampa Bay northeastward to Fort Heilman, a mand and control of the Florida conflict to Major distance of approximately 200 miles through a General Thomas S. Jesup at Camp Volusia on the nearly impassable wilderness. St. Johns River .Richard H. Fitzpatrick left the Repeatedly, white settlers penetrated into the military service and , like Call, was bitter at the area under military jurisdiction in search of sudde n but not unexpected order of Secretary of Negroes upon whom they could lay some often War B. F. Butler to reliev e Call of his command. vagu e claim of ownership. When they presented Butler acted on the direct order of President valid evidence of ownership General Jesup . surrendered Negroes to them for re-enslavement. The governor's supply system had broken Not content with this generous concession, down completely in the wilderness and his troops overbearing whites seized any Negro within their suffered to the point of exhaustion and starvation. path of search although some were legitimate He had been balked by the wily Indians who slaves of the Indians. By March 2S seizure had simply melted away before the superior force and become so critical that the general ordered that no retreated ever deeper into a veritible jungle, white settlers were to be permitted south of Fort erroneously described as the Everglades by the Armstrong located twenty miles north of his governor's associates. The grand failure of a headquarters. He had "found the Indian negroes, modified pincer strategy, operating along the who govern their master, so apprehensive of being northern and southern perimeters of Indian taken by Georgians and Floridians, that to quiet concentration, insured another season of bloody, them I was obliged to give orders that no citizen fatiguing warfare. Contrary to popular and except express riders should pass south of Fort military expectations, the Indian uprising now Armstrong, but for all that the negroes would not

34 come in. and without their assistance the Indians There was not a word spoken of revenge for the could not be gotten in for a year to come." murder of his family. Citizens. nevertheless. continued to penetrate In a report to General Jesup, Lieutenant­ beyond the line of demarcation and further Colonel Miller's assessment of Cooley was highly retarded lndian and Negro movement to the complimentary. The express rider had answered cantonment. Some express riders were suspected every question in a candid manner and enjoyed a by the military of conveying to slavehunters for a high reputation in the Tampa Bay area. Cooley bounty the location of unsuspecting Negroes. who did. however, feel that his presence at Tampa Bay were then easily captured and placed in might embarrass the military. He stated " ...that whether or not they had ever been a slave before. as he was known to most of the hostile Indians. Into this highly flammable situation. upon and especially to the party who murdered his wife which devolved the weighty issues of war and and children-that he thinks it would be better for peace. stepped Cooley. As an express rider. he him not to remain here as there might be some could pass at will through military lines. All went who knowing that he was at Tampa and possessed well for several weeks until suddenly, at the end of of material facts in relation to their murders and March 1837. General Jesup heard rumblings of depredations, who would avoid meeting him." anger from the Indians and made an investigation Eventually, the military reassigned Cooley in into the cause. Trembling with rage, he wrote order to remove him from a location where friction from Fort Dade to commandant Lieutenant­ might develop; however. it was not before Cooley Colonel Samuel Miller at Fort Brooke what he had gave unwitting testimony involving Captain learned. Jesup had just been apprized that Cooley William Bunce with Indian discontent. General had circulated reports that a Seminole chief at the Jesup's wrath then descended upon the captain. cantonment was about to quit the cantonment with whom he threatened to hang. a party of Indians and Negroes and return to the Always characterized by the abilities to make wilds. If true. this might signal a mass exodus and and retain friends. Cooley exhibited these a return to bitter conflict. The general understood admirable traits at Tampa Bay as he renewed that Cooley had come to Tampa Bay to look for friendships with two singular individuals. Captain Negroes. If confirmed. Cooley must be sent away Bunce had migrated to Key West in 1824 after because •.A trifling circumstance would light up years of navigating boats from his home in the war again. Any interference with the negroes Baltimore to Philadelphia and New York. For which would produce alarm on their part would years at Key West. until his bankruptcy in 1831, inevitably deprive us of all the advantages we have Bunce had operated the largest general merchan­ gained. I sympathize with Mr. Cooley in his dise emporium in South Florida. Here Cooley afflictions and losses, but responsible as I am for traded with his fellow Marylander and whiled the peace of the country, I cannot. I will not permit away hours and days in conversation with South that peace to be jeopardized by his imprudence." Floridians and sailors from all parts of the world. It was General Jesup's desire that Cooley be put Upon removal to the Gulf Coast in 1832, under oath and examined in the presence of Judge Captain Bunce had become a justice of peace for Augustus Steele at Tampa Bay. More than once Hillsborough County and operator of the largest the general had threatened to hang whites who commercial establishment on the lower Gulf interfered with Indian removal in a treasonable Coast. At his fishing ranchos he employed way. upwards of one hundred Indians and thirty Learning that the judge had not returned to Spanish fishermen. Naturally, the captain opposed Tampa Bay from a trip, Lieutenant-Colonel Miller Indian removal as it would remove cheap and examined Cooley verbally and. after, required efficient labor and result in another bankruptcy. Cooley to furnish a written statement. Cooley As General Jesup relentlessly exerted pressure for acknowledged that he had been concerned about the captain's relinquishment of the fishing Indians the Negroes but only with regard to reacquiring for shipment west. Bunce responded by enlisting the female slave who had been taken the year the support of Cooley and the local judge. Late before by the Indians on New River. He had heard from Connecticut, Judge Steele possessed journal­ of her whereabouts in the Tampa Bay area and had istic credentials and served as jurist and United simply tried to locate her. Exhibiting an attitude States Inspector of Customs in the Tampa Bay far different from that of haughtly slavehunters, area. The judge had met Cooley when the latter he stated to the colonel that he had "lost my all, was making one of his frequent trips to the west and for the good of my country I am for peace. If I coast in order to auction and appraise wrecked am any detriment I will withdraw immediately or vessels. They became fast friends and, after stay and do all I can for harmony and peace." Cooley left the army as express rider, they became

35 firm political allies when Cooley decided to enter the arena of elective politics.

Note : This article is a reworked version of the second section of C. Kirk's unpublished pamphlet entitled: William Cooley: Broward County's Phoenix.

Bibliography

The material for William Cooley's life has been garnered from many sources. In addition to those cited in Part I appearing in Broward Legacy. Vol. I, No.1 (October, 1976), the following listing is representative.

*Army and Navy Chronicle, IV, 298. Anderson, Robert. Diary. Library of Congress. "'Buker, George E. "Lieutenant Levin M. Powell , U.S.N., Pioneer of Riverine Warfare," Florida Historical Quarterly, XLVII (January, 1969). "'Dodd. Dorothy. "Jacob Housman of Indian BrowardLegacy Key," Tequesta , Number Eight (1948). "'Giddings, Joshua R. The Exiles of Florida . Yearly Subscription: $4.00 (1858). Floridiana Facsimile and Reprint Series, Single Copy: $1.00 University of Florida Press, Gainesville, 1964. Plus Tax House Document 41, 2S Cong ., 3 sess. House Document 798, 30 Cong., 1 sess. Contact Broward County Historical Commission, Legislative Council Journal (Florida, 1836). Room 800, Broward County Courthouse, Fort Knauss. James Owen. Territorial Florida Journal­ Lauderdale, Florida 33301. Telephone (305) ism. Deland: Florida Historical Society, 1925. 765-5872. "'Maloney, Walter C. A Sketch of the History of Key West. Florida. (1876). Facsimile Reproduc­ tion . University of Florida Press, 1968. "'Record Group 75: Letters Received, Office of Indian Affairs 1824-1881, Florida Superinten­ dency, 1824-1853. National Archives. "'Record Group 92: Records Office of Quarter­ master General, Water Transportation 1834-1900, Entry 1403, Schooner "Motto." National Ar­ chives. Senate Document 15, 25 Cong., 3 sess. Senate Document 140, 25 Cong., 3 sess. Senate Document 278, 26 Cong., 1 sess. St. Augustine Florida Herald 1838-1840. St. Augustine News 1838-1840. Western Literary Journal and Monthly Review. Vol. I (November 1844-April 1845), American Periodical Series, AS, Reel 527.

'" Copies of the material used in this article are located in the archives of the Broward County Historical Commission, Broward County Court­ house.

36