by Donna Cooner
1586 Sir Francis Drake attacks St. Augustine, burning and plundering the settlement.
1698 Pensacola is founded.
1740 British general James Oglethorpe invades Florida from Georgia.
1763 At the end of the Seven Years’ War, or the French and Indian War, both the East and West Florida Territories are ceded to Britain.
1763–1783 British rule in east and west Florida.
1775 The “shot heard round the world” is fired in Concord, Massachusetts Colony.
1776 The War of Independence begins; many British Loyalists flee to Florida.
1783 By the Treaty of Paris, Florida is returned to the Spanish.
1812–1815 The War of 1812.
1813–1814 The Creek Wars. (“Red Stick” land is decimated. Numerous Indians seek new lands south with the “Seminoles.”)
1814 General Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola.
1815 The Battle of New Orleans.
1817–1818 The First Seminole War. (Americans accuse the Spanish of aiding the Indians in their raids across the border. Hungry for more territory, settlers seek to force Spain into ceding the Floridas to the United States by their claims against the Spanish government for its inability to properly handle the situation within the territories.)
1819 Don Luis de Onis, Spanish minister to the United States, and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams sign a treaty by which the Floridas will become part of the United States.
1821 The Onis-Adams Treaty is ratified. An act of Congress makes the two Floridas one territory. Jackson becomes the military governor, but relinquishes the post after a few months.
1822 The first legislative council meets at Pensacola. Members from St. Augustine travel fifty-nine days by water to attend.
1823 The second legislative council meets at St. Augustine: the western delegates are shipwrecked and barely escape death.
1823 The Treaty of Moultrie Creek is ratified by major Seminole chiefs and the federal government. The ink is barely dry before Indians are complaining that the lands are too small and white settlers are petitioning the government for a policy of Indian removal.
1824 The third legislative council meets at Tallahassee, a halfway point selected as a main order of business and approved at the second session. Tallahassee becomes the first territorial capital.
1832 Payne’s Landing: Numerous chiefs sign a treaty agreeing to move west to Arkansas as long as seven of their number are able to see and approve the lands. The treaty is ratified at Fort Gibson, Arkansas. Numerous chiefs also protest the agreement.
1835 Summer: Wiley Thompson claims that Osceola has repeatedly reviled him in his own office with foul language and orders his arrest. Osceola is handcuffed and incarcerated.
1835 November: Charley Emathla, after agreeing to removal to the west, is murdered. Most scholars agree Osceola led the party that carried out the execution. Some consider the murder a personal vengeance, others believe it was prescribed by numerous chiefs, since an Indian who would leave his people to aid the whites should forfeit his own life.
1835 December 28: Major Francis Dade and his troops are massacred as they travel from Fort Brooke to Fort King. Also on December 28—Wiley Thompson and a companion are killed outside the walls of Fort King. The sutler Erastus Rogers and his two clerks are also murdered by members of the same raiding party, led by Osceola.
1835 December 31: The First Battle of the Withlacoochee—Osceola leads the Seminoles.
The war continues.
Dedicated to the Great State of Florida
And with love to five native Floridians very special to me:
Jason, Shayne, Derek, Bryee-Annon, and Chynna Pozzessere
Books by Heather Graham
SPIRIT OF THE SEASON
LORD OF THE WOLVES
AND ONE RODE WEST
AND ONE WORE GRAY
ONE WORE BLUE
DEVIL’S MISTRESS
GOLDEN SURRENDER
EVERY TIME I LOVE YOU
SWEET SAVAGE EDEN
A PIRATE’S PLEASURE
LOVE NOT A REBEL
THE VIKING’S WOMAN
RUNAWAY
Heather Graham lives in Florida with her husband and children and has long been intrigued by the story of her home state. She has written twelve bestselling historical novels, each of which has confirmed her growing stature as a superior storyteller.