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A History of Columbia County Florida (1996) Edward F. Keuchel 16/340

A History of Columbia County Florida
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accomplished at the conference held at Moultrie Creek about five
miles south of St. Augustine in 1823. About four hundred and
twenty-five Indians including seventy chiefs attended the seven­
teen day conference. James Gadsden, Bernardo Segui and Terri­
torial Governor William P. Duval represented the United States.
The Indians selected Neamathla as their principal spokesman, the
Mikasuki leader who was highly regarded by the various Seminole
groups. The Indians agreed to give up their claims to the whole
territory of Florida. In return they were allowed a reservation
some four million acres in size located south of Ocala in an area
that was to be at least fifteen miles from the Gulf Coast and twenty
miles from the Atlantic. This was to make it more difficult for the
Seminoles to obtain guns through trade with Cuba. The Indians
agreed to return runaway slaves and allow American citizens to
pass through the reservation for lawful purposes. The Indians
received $6,000 worth of farm tools, livestock, meat, corn, and salt,
and a $5,000 a year annuity for twenty years. Chief Alligator and
his tribe were included in the settlement and would be located on
the reservation.
White settlers wanting unhindered access to new lands were
not pleased with the Treaty, and the Seminoles soon realized that
the reservation allotted them would not support their agriculture.
Many Indians never left their old areas while those who had,
quickly returned. The Indians’ problems were compounded by a
severe drought in 1825 which caused them to go beyond their old
areas in search of food. The legislative council of territorial
Florida enacted laws to keep the Indians on their reservations, but
the statutes were of little effect. The Indian question would
continue to be an issue in the settlement of northern Florida.

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