OSCEOLA - A BIRD OF SUPERSTITION
The Hunt for the Osceola
EDITOR'S
NOTE: Osceola - the very word rings with defiance. The
man who bore this name and blazed it into the history
of this nation was one of the greatest Indian chieftains
who ever lived. He led his Seminole people into battle
against one of America's finest generals, Andrew Jackson,
and handed Jackson his only defeat in the great Indian
wars of the 1800s. So powerful was the Seminole nation
that they never signed a peace treaty with the American
government but chose instead to retreat to the swamps
of Georgia and Florida. Chief Osceola was a guerilla
fighter who effectively used hit-and-run tactics to
defeat Jackson's army. Because Osceola and his men would
appear and just as quickly disappear, many soldiers
under Jackson attributed supernatural powers to Osceola.
Even today the turkey that bear his name, Meleagris
gallopavo osceola, also known as the Florida turkey,
the only place where it's found, is believed by many
of the Seminole nation to be spirit-possessed.
Before
first light, the camp was up. Soon Allen Jenkins, Marcelous
Osceola and I were out listening for gobblers. We only
drove 200 yards before we stopped and listened. After
10 minutes of silence, a swamp gobbler began to crow.
When we determined the direction the gobbling was coming
from, we climbed back into our truck and drove 1/2-mile
to get closer to the bird. However, after 45 minutes
of calling and listening, we couldn't find the tom.
"I can't believe I can't crank this gobbler up
and make him talk," Jenkins commented with disgust
in his voice. "The bird just vanished. I don't
know where he went. Let's go see if we can locate another
one."
We
drove about two miles and listened. Once more we heard
a turkey gobble. Again when we went to where a tom should
have been, the gobbler was gone. "There's a pasture
where I always see turkeys in the morning," Osceola
mentioned. "Maybe we'll spot a gobbler there."
We drove about five miles, got out of the truck and
walked down a raised dirt road between two pastures
to reach a back pasture where Osceola had watched turkeys
before. After we'd walked about 150 yards, Jenkins said,
"Let's listen."
Within
five minutes a gobbler reported, apparently in the back
field where Osceola had thought he would be. We moved
quickly down the road to get to the corner of the field.
Jenkins was out in front. Just as Jenkins came to the
edge of the back field, he motioned for Osceola and
me to get down. Crawling back to us, Jenkins whispered,
"There's a longbeard out in the field, but no place
for us to hide. I'm going to set up this portable blind
on the edge of the road. John, you can move off the
edge of the road into the ditch and up beside the field
and watch the turkey with your binoculars. Marcelous,
you stay here behind the blind, and I'll try and call
the turkey to you."
TOMORROW: MORE OF THE HUNT
FOR THE OSCEOLA
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