Wild Cat, also known as Coacoochee, was a leading Seminole chieftain during the later stages of the Second Seminole War as well as the nephew of Micanopy.
Wild Cat may have had a twin sister who died at birth and, having been born a twin, he was regarded by the tribe as being particularly gifted.
At the start of the Second Seminole War, the nineteen-year-old Wild Cat gained prominence leading a band of Seminoles and Black Seminoles until his father’s capture and imprisonment in Fort Marion in 1837. His father would die during relocation to Indian Territory.
In 1837, Wild Cat appeared before American forces in a ceremonial peace headdress claiming to be an emissary of Osceola. After negotiations with Col. Thomas S. Jesup, American authorities agreed to peace talks. However, after the arrival of the Seminoles, Jesup ordered their arrest.
While imprisoned at Fort Marion, Wild Cat would escape with nineteen other Seminoles, reportedly fasting for six days before they were able to slide through the bars of their jail cell and drop into the moat on the outside of the fort.
With the imprisonment of Osceola, Wild Cat emerged as the leading commander of the war, fighting alongside Alligator and Arpeika against Col. Zachary Taylor at the inconclusive Battle of Lake Okeechobee in 1837 before retreating to the Everglades.
In 1841, Wild Cat agreed to meet American authorities for peace negotiations. After negotiating with Lt. William T. Sherman at the Indian River post of Fort Pierce, Wild Cat agreed to be transported to Fort Gibson in Oklahoma’s Indian Territory along with his remaining two hundred followers.
Growing depressed over his forced surrender, he was said to have stated, “I was in hopes I would be killed in battle, but a bullet never reached me.”
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After a series of floods, failure to secure financial aid, and raids by Creek bandits, Wild Cat left the reservation with about one hundred followers, consisting of Seminoles, Black Seminoles, and former slaves, and escaped to Texas. Joined by one thousand Kickapoos, Wild Cat’s band eventually were able to establish a new community in Mexico, where he lived until his death of smallpox in 1857.
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