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The Medal of Honor, this nation's highest honor for valor, was awarded to four Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts. Buffalo Soldier Regimental returns show that after twelve engagements and twenty expeditions, not one of their men was killed or seriously wounded in their seventeen-year history from 1868-1885. These young men of pure African or mixed black and Seminole ancestry, dressed, acted and possessed trailing, hunting and fighting skills like those of the plains Indians. Their number varied between thirty to fifty scouts. They were probably the best desert fighters and trackers the in the history of the United States Army. |
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What are Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts? Well, Seminoles were Indians that originally lived in Florida. But they later moved to Texas. And the word "Negro" is just another name for black or African-American people. The Seminole-Negro Indians scouted for the United States Army during the Indian wars of the late 1800s in Texas. The Negroes came into contact with the Seminoles during slavery when some Negro slaves escaped. They hid in the Florida swamps where the Seminoles lived. [Did you know that the word "Seminole" comes from the Spanish word Cimarron, which means runaway?] Even though the two peoples lived separate from each other and had their own chiefs, they became friends and lived happily together. There were some marriages between the two people.
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Gopher John was the leader of the Seminole Negroes. He led his people to Oklahoma then across Texas to Old Mexico. In Mexico he was given the name John Caballo or John Horse because he was very good with horses. John became very famous when he joined the Mexican Army to fight against Maximillian's troops. John Horse was so brave that he was made colonel. He became known as El Coronal Juan Caballo. The Mexican Army gave John a silver-mounted saddle with a gold-plated pummel in the shape of a horse's head. He used that saddle when riding his favorite horse American.
John Horse and his people lived on the border of Texas and Mexico. They were waiting to move to the Indian Territory. They lived at the reservation at Ft. Duncan as they waited to move. The Seminoles farmed the land and hunted for game. While there in 1870, the Seminole-Negro men enlisted as scouts for the United States Army. The Seminoles Negroes became very valuable to the frontier army. They understood both English and Spanish and could converse in "Mexican" which was the language spoken in that region. Also, they had lived in the border country for more than twenty years and knew the land and the Indian bands that lived or came to the area. The Seminole Negroes were excellent warriors and experts in frontier combat. The scouts wore clothes that looked like Indian fashion. But later on they were given the usual uniform of army scouts. John Kibbetts was made leader of the scouts and his men respected and obeyed him. His Seminole name was Sittertastonacky (Chitto
Tustenuggee) or snake warrior. He was "very smart and reliable." John Horse never became a scout, but he served instead as advisor to John Kibbetts |
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Today, outside Brackettville, Texas, there is a graveyard with a marker giving testament to honors won by the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts and the dreams lost by the Seminole Indian Nation. |
| Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts Medal of Honor Recipients |
Pvt. Adam Paine, September 20, 1874. The Staked Plains, Texas. Sept. 26-27, 1874. Inducted: Fort Duncan, Texas. Born: Florida. Issued: Oct 13, 1875. Citation: Rendered invaluable service to Col. R. S. Mackenzie, 4th U.S. Cavalry., during this engagement.
Pvt. Pompey Factor, April 25, 1875. Eagle's Nest Crossing, Pecos River, Texas. Issued March 15, 1875. Citation: With 3 other men, he participated in a charge against 25 hostiles while on a scouting patrol
Pvt. Isaac Payne, April 25, 1875. Eagle's Nest Crossing, Pecos River, Texas. April 25, 1875. Born: Mexico. Issued: May 25, 1875. Citation: With 3 other men, he participated in a charge against 25 hostiles while on a scouting patrol.
Sgt. John Ward, April 25, 1875. Eagle's Nest Crossing, Pecos River, Texas. April 25, 1875. Entered service at. Fort Duncan, Tex. Born: Arkansas. Issued: May 28, 1875. Citation. With 3 other men, he participated in a charge against 25 hostiles while on a scouting patrol.
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| Indian Scout Cemetery, Kinney County Texas |
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Edwin C. McReynolds. THE SEMINOLES. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1957.
Katz, William Loren. BLACK INDIANS: A Hidden Heritage. New York: Athenaeum, 1986.
Kevin Mulroy. FREEDOM ON THE BORDER: The Seminole Maroons in Florida, the Indian Territory, Coahuila and Texas Lubbock: Texas Tech University Press, 1993.
Miller, Donald. AN ALBUM OF BLACK AMERICANS IN THE ARMED FORCES. New York, NY. Franklin Watts, 1969.
White, William Bruce. THE MILITARY AND THE MELTING POT: The American Army and Minority Groups, 1865-1924. University of Wisconsin: Thesis submitted to by William Bruce White 1968, University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor Michigan, U.S.A., London England, 1978. |
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