Wild Cat

Wild Cat, also known as Coacoochee or Cowacoochee (from Creek Kowakkuce "bobcat, wildcat") (c. 1807/1810–1857) was a leading Seminole chieftain during the later stages of the Second Seminole War and the nephew of Micanopy. Wild Cat's exact year and place of birth is not agreed upon. Many local scholars believe he was born in 1807 on an island in big Lake Tohopekaliga, south of present-day Orlando. Some scholars say Wild Cat was born around 1810 to King Philip (or Ee-mat-la) and his wife in Yulaka, a Seminole village along the St. Johns River in northern Florida. Still others suggest that he was born near present-day Apopka, Florida. Wild Cat may have had a twin sister who died at birth. As a twin, he was regarded by the tribe as being particularly gifted. As tensions mounted between the Seminole and local settlers following the purchase of Florida by the United States in 1821, the bands encouraged the escape of slaves from neighboring Georgia to disrupt settlement in Florida by European Americans. The latter were taking over former Seminole territory. At the start of the Second Seminole War, the nineteen-year-old Wild Cat gained prominence leading a band of Seminole and Black Seminole until his father was captured in 1837 and imprisoned in Fort Marion. In October 1837, Wild Cat appeared before American forces in a ceremonial peace headdress, claiming to be an emissary of the war chief Osceola. After he negotiated with Colonel Thomas S. Jesup, American authorities agreed to peace talks, but when the Seminole representatives arrived to treat, Jessup ordered their arrest. While imprisoned at Fort Marion, Wild Cat escaped with nineteen other Seminole. They reportedly fasted for six days until the could slide between the bars of their jail cell; they then dropped from the walls into the moat on the outside of the fort.After Osceola was imprisoned, Wild Cat emerged as the leading commander of the war among the Seminole, fighting with Alligator and Arpeika against Colonel