The Powerful Legacy of Chocochatti, Lost to the Long War
Welcome back to our Seminole Spaces series! In this series we explore places and spaces important to Seminole history, culture, and tourism. Today, we are traveling back in time to look at a brief, but impactful, Creek-Seminole settlement: Chocochatti, located near Brooksville, FL. Seminoles occupied Chochochatti for around 70 years, before the Seminole War period shattered Seminole communities throughout the state.
In our featured image, you can see a piece of an 1836 map by Major General W Scott. It depicts his understanding of the “Seat of War in Florida” during the Seminole War period. In particular, the initial years after the Indian Removal Act. Chocochatti (on the map as “Chicuechatty”) is in the top left, with Big Hammock above it. Below, you can see an image taken at the May 2014 dedication of the Chocochatti Historic Marker. To the right, you can see Bobby Henry (light blue patchwork), James E. Billie (black patchwork), and Danny Tommie (purple shirt).
Chocochatti Marker Dedication
Chocochatti
During the turmoil of the post-contact period, many Indigenous peoples were pushed and pulled by the tide of European settlers expanding into their traditional homelands. The Muscogee Creek, who traditionally lived in areas of Alabama, were fighting European displacement since European contact. Eventually, this would explode into the Creek War in the beginning of the 19th century. Upper Creeks settled Chochochatti escaping European encroachment in 1767.
They called the settlement “Tcuko tcati or Chocochatti, which means red house or red town.” In time, it would develop into a robust, self-sustaining community of traders, hunters, farmers, and cowkeepers. Soon, the United States considered Chocochatti the seat of the Seminole Nation. Located on the edge of a prairie, the Creek-Seminole would graze their cattle here. Later, U.S. Army troops would march through the same prairie during the Seminole War period (8 Feb 1987, Tampa Bay Times).
For seven decades the settlement flourished, and the Upper Creeks mingled with other Indigenous tribes in Florida. It became a major moment of ethnogenesis, where the Seminoles of Florida as we know them today developed out of the melding of multiple ancestor tribes. Seminoles have been in Florida and the Southeast for thousands of years.
But, the term “Seminole” is one born out of the post-contact era, and in particular began to represent resistance. The term originated from the Spanish word “cimarrónes,” meaning “runaways” or “wild ones.” In the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s own words, “We gathered from across Florida, Georgia, and Alabama; those borders did not exist for us. Our culture, our home, and our way of life joined us together. We defended our homes and our people, and we became a refuge for those who sought freedom from conquest and slavery.”
The Beginning of the Long War
The 19th century would usher in the beginning of the end of Chocochatti, as well as incredibly dark times for Seminoles and Indigenous people throughout the country. In 1812 the Creek War, where bands of Upper Creek (Red Stick Creeks) openly resisted the United States Military, erupted in Alabama and along the Gulf coast. These tumultuous and devastating conflicts ended in their removal from ancestral lands after years of fighting and conflict.
The Creek War would end violently with the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in 1814, with General Andrew Jackson capturing or killing most of the remaining Creek. Those who could fled, many into Florida. Andrew Jackson would soon turn his full attention to Florida, ramping up tensions as he campaigned against the remaining Indigenous tribes of the Southeast.
Although the history books list the beginning of the First Seminole War as 1817, the reality is much more complicated than that. Around the same time as the beginning of the Creek War, military pressure and invasions were also happening in Florida. In 1812 a “collection of southern militias with tacit support from Washington invaded Florida” attacked Spanish holdings and attempted to wrest the territory from the Spanish.
Known as the Patriot War of East Florida, they soon also attacked the Seminole cattle town of Alachua. These southern militia “operating out of Georgia…sought to exploit the shrinking Spanish presence and claim Florida for the United States.” This battle resulted in the death of famous Seminole leader King Payne, who had allied with the flagging Spanish forces to save his people. American soldiers would burn Payne’s Town to the ground in 1813.
The End of Chocochatti
It is these early moments of violence that mark the beginning of the Seminole War period for Seminoles. The Seminole “came under armed and organized attack from America in 1812, and the fighting only ended in 1858. While there were negotiations and times where the Army did not directly engage them, the Seminole still faced regular aggression and violence from American settlers, militia, slave catchers, and even lawmen.”
The “First” Seminole War would begin in 1817, with General Andrew Jackson pushing into Florida where he “targeted and destroyed Seminole towns and seized Seminole farms and pastureland before taking Pensacola and marching on Bowleg’s Town, home of Bowlek, and the neighboring Nero’s Town, the largest Maroon settlement in Florida.” The United States would soon after pass the Indian Removal Act in 1830, giving them carte blanche to eradicate the Indigenous groups of the Southeast. Fuche Luste Hadjo, or “Black Dirt,” was the leader of the Cocochatti Seminoles during this period. You can see a drawing of him, found in military documents of the time, below.
Fuche Luste Hadjo, or “Black Dirt”, 1842,
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Under his direction the residents of Cocochatti acquiesced to removal to Oklahoma after the Treaty of Payne’s Landing and the outbreak of the Second Seminole War. Amidst the incredible violence and pressure of the United States Military, Black Dirt chose to agree to removal, in the hopes it would save his community. This moment effectively ended the settlement, which disappeared to history. Those who remained, and were not removed to Oklahoma, would eventually become the Seminole Tribe of Florida.
The Marker
The first colony of Muskogee-speaking Upper Creek Indians from Alabama was established nearby in 1767. British surveyor/naturalist Bernard Romans identified the settlement as “New Yufala, planted in a beautiful and fertile plain.” It later became known as Tcuko tcati, or “Chocochatti,” meaning “Red House” of “Red Town.” It was here that the Upper Creek Indians were transformed into Florida Seminoles. The Chocochatti Seminoles were prosperous commercial deer hunters, traders, farmers, and cattlemen. Chocochatti town and prairie was their home for nearly 70 years. The Brooksville region, historically known as the Big Hammock, processed rich soils for their crops, an abundance of game, and prairies ideal for grazing cattle. Turbulent times came with war in the early 1800s, culminating with the passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. By 1836, the Chocochatti Seminoles, under the leadership of Fuche Luste Hadjo. “Black Dirt,” chose to emigrate to present-day Oklahoma, at the outbreak of the Second Seminole War. Others chose to resist, eventually being forced into South Florida, where they prosper today as an unconquered people, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, whose character speaks volumes to humankind.
2014 Historic Marker Dedication
Like so many moments in Seminole history, most of what is written down prior to recent times has been one-sided. Mentions of Chocochatti can be found in military maps, records, and letters, such as the map seen in our featured image. But, the Seminole truth of the settlement is one that only recently has been written down. You can find the full text of the 2014 Historic Marker above. Below, you can see another image taken at the Chocochatti Historic Marker dedication in May 2014. In it you can see Bobby Henry (light blue patchwork) and James E. Billie (black patchwork). Anthropology Professor at USF Dr. Brent Wiseman stands to the left.
In 2014 the Historic Hernando Preservation Society, in conjunction with the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Florida Department of State, placed a Florida Heritage Landmark Marker not far from the believed location of the settlement. Dr. Brent Weisman, USF Professor of Anthropology, gave the keynote speech, and noted the incredible impact of bringing the other side of history into focus. “Historical markers are not planted by the hand of God, nor do they result from federal mandate. They spring forth from grassroots community action to become a tangible part of public history and a community’s legacy of how it sees itself,” he shared.
The Seminole Tribe of Florida and Hernando Preservation Society erected the marker, located off State Road 50, with about 75 witnesses. This included former-Chairman James E. Billie, Jon Yeager (Historic Hernando Preservation Society), Dr. Brent Weisman, then-Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum director Paul Backhouse, Seminole Medicine Man Bobby Henry, and a slew of supporters, reenactors, and spectators. For the first time, the Creek-Seminole reality and the long reaching impacts of Chocochatti were put into focus.
What is coming up on the blog?
Next week, stop by the blog for the inside scoop on the American Indigenous Arts Celebration (AIAC). Join the Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum November 1-2, 2024 to celebrate Indigenous art, music, culture, food, crafts, dance, and more! All guests will receive complimentary admission to the Museum during the event.
Additional Resources
American state papers: documents, legislative and executive, of the Congress of the United States. Washington: Gales and Seaton, to 1861, 1832. Image. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/09033892/>.
Author Bio
Originally from Washington state, Deanna Butler received her BA in Archaeological Sciences from the University of Washington in 2014. Deanna moved to Florida in 2016. Soon, she began working for the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s Tribal Historic Preservation Office. Deanna was the THPO’s Archaeological Collections Assistant from 2017-2021. While at the THPO, Deanna worked to preserve, support, and process the Tribe’s archaeological collection. She often wrote the popular Artifact of the Month series and worked on many community and educational outreach programs. She lives in Lakeland, FL with her husband, two sons, and dog.
