GOD SAVE MUSKOGEE: Pirate War on the Apalachicola

William Augustus Bowles, pirate and
adventurer, as painted by Thomas Hardy.

William Augustus Bowles declares war on Spain!

by Dale Cox

The story of William Augustus Bowles and his "State of Muskogee" is remarkable and violent. The young adventurer waged war on Spain with furious intent in 1800-1804, seizing ships, capturing a fort, and wreaking havoc.

His life was brief but complicated. He was born in Maryland in 1763, the same year that Great Britain gained control of Florida from Spain at the end of the Seven Years (French and Indian) War. He joined the British army as a teenager and came to Pensacola only to be cast from the ranks after a conflict with an officer. Rescued by a Native American trading party as he tried to make his way across the wilderness of Northwest Florida, the charismatic young man lived for a time in the Perryman towns of Tocktoethla and Telmochesses. These important Seminole communities were near today's Parramore Landing north of Sneads, Florida.

Bowles was ambitious and soon married the daughter of Chief Thomas Perryman. He came to envision a trade empire for himself among the Creeks and Seminoles, but Spanish authorities seized and imprisoned him in 1792. He escaped and returned to Florida in 1799, however, only to suffer the loss of his supply ship when it ran aground on St. George Island.

The Apalachicola River as seen from Prospect Bluff, the site
where Bowles started building a port facility in 1799.

That is when things got very interesting. Spanish troops tried to capture Bowles, but he slipped away onto the mainland and started building a port facility at Achackweithle (Prospect Bluff) on the Apalachicola River. Spain destroyed the unfinished settlement and captured some of his followers, but Bowles slipped away and soon reestablished himself at Estiffanulga Bluff in what is now Liberty County, Florida.

The furious adventurer convened a council of his followers at Estiffanulga, producing one of the most remarkable documents in Florida history: a declaration of war against Spain:

Estifanulga, April 5, 1800

Whereas His Catholic Majesty has for many years part entertained evil intentions against this Nation and pursued measures in every way injurious and hostile against us, Wantonly violating the Rights that belong to us as a free & Independent People, Has disregarded all remonstrance made by us to obtain redress, and induce him to abandon his unfriendly intentions against us, Has treated our representative with dissimulation and falsehood, Has suffered all good faith to be violated with impunity by his Governors in our vicinity. Has formed a treaty with the United States that clearly manifest the the wickedness of his heart; that his intentions were to usurp the sovereignty of our Country and totally to distroy our name as a People: To this end he has by his emisaries endeavoured to disseminate discord amongst our people and by the force of bribary and corruption to make a party in order to support and effect his diabolical designs. Ultimately in the month of February 1800 did with an armed force attack our town of Achackwheethle laid our houses in ashes, made prisoners of our people, and otherwise distressed us, by blocking up our Ports, thus terminating all pacific negotiation by an open attack, which reduces us to the necessity of either taking up our arms to defend our sacred Rights; our Country; our every thing that is dear to us, or tamely surrender then (and ourselves) up forever to the dispotic will of his Catholic Majesty.

  

Estiffanulga Bluff, the headquarters of William Augustus
Bowles in 1800, overlooks the Apalachicola River just
south of Bristol, Florida.

We being now in special council met in order to consider of the present state of our Country, do declare that we have not given his Catholic Majesty any cause whatever to commence hostilities against us; That we view with abhorrence and detestation the wicked designs of his Catholic Majesty; That we will defend our Country and our Rights while Blood remains in our veins. That we now consider all pacific remonstrance as ineffectual.

Therefore we do determine, and are determined to take such measures as may be effectually necessary to defend our Country, to defend our most sacred Rights; to defend the Honor of this Nation, and procure reparation and satisfaction for our injured Citizens.

Historical Marker noting the presence of Bowles on
St. George Island near Apalachicola, Florida.

Therefore be known to all Men, that WE THE DIRECTOR GENERAL OF MUSKOGEE In special Council met, for the reasons aforesaid do, by virtue of our authority and High office, as in duty bound declare war against his Catholic Majesty and his subjects and order that general reprisal be made both by Land and sea of the goods ships and subjects of his Catholic Majesty.

We order that this proclamation be duly proclaimed that all our beloved people may have due notice hereof, And we pray God the great disposer of all things who knows the wickedness of our enemies who knows the justice of our Cause to favor our exertions.

Given under our hand in council

at Estifanulga this 5^th day of april

1800

WM. A. BOWLES

GOD SAVE MUSKOGEE

The declaration was no mere threat. Bowles soon laid siege to the Spanish fort of San Marcos de Apalache at St. Marks and unleashed "privateers" (pirates) on Spain's shipping in the Gulf of Mexico. His piratical war continued for three years. Legends it produced of battles and treasures continue to reverberate today.

Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of articles from historian Dale Cox on the pirate career of William Augustus Bowles. The adventurer and his crews will be commemorated at Pirate and Heritage Days at Three Rivers State Park on May 1-2, 2020. The park is located on River Road (FL-271) just north of Sneads, Florida. Please click here to learn more.

William Augustus Bowles and the Wreck of HMS Fox

Part 1: Disaster on St. George Island

By Dale Cox

William Augustus Bowles marker at Dr. Julian G. Bruce
St. George Island State Park in Florida.

Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of a new series by historian Dale Cox the activities of William Augustus Bowles in 1799-1800. 

Fox Point is the name applied to the eastern end of Florida’s St. George Island. Time and the elements have moved the location of this landmark over the years. Its name is a lasting memorial to a disaster that may have shaped the future of the Southeastern United States.

HMS Fox was one of fourteen British warships honored with that name. She entered the service of the Royal Navy in 1799, a time when Great Britain was at war with France and Spain in the Anglo-Spanish and Napoleonic Wars. The 150-ton schooner was armed with 14-16 heavy cannon and on a secret mission when she sailed into the path of a hurricane and was wrecked off today’s Carrabelle, Florida.

The Fox was the spearhead of a British plan to seize control of Spanish Florida. Onboard was one of the most notorious and enigmatic adventurers and pirates ever to set foot on the white sand beaches of St. George Island.

Self-Portrait of William Augustus Bowles.

William Augustus Bowles was a controversial figure on the Southern frontier. A former Loyalist officer who fought on the side of Great Britain during the American Revolution, he settled among the Lower Creeks or Seminoles where he married the daughter of Chief Thomas Perryman. A bigamist, he also had a wife in the Chickamauga towns of the Cherokee. Spanish authorities captured the Maryland-born adventurer and exiled him to the Philippines, but he escaped their custody and made his way to England.

Bowles represented himself as the “emperor” of the combined Muscogee (Creek) and Cherokee nations in meetings with British authorities, convincing them that he headed an army of Native American warriors. This force, he promised, would follow him in a scheme to seize Florida from Spain and hand it over to Great Britain. Then at war with Spain, the British went along.

HMS Fox was to be the instrument of Bowles’s delivery. Captained by Lt. James Woolridge, she sailed from Great Britain to the Bahamas in the summer of 1799, and from there the ship northwest across the Florida Straits and into the Gulf of Mexico. The ship’s mission was to set Bowles ashore near the mouths of the Apalachicola and Ochlockonee Rivers. Also, onboard was a force of nearly 100 mercenaries, arms, ammunition, rum, and an array of other goods intended for distribution to the warriors he expected to call into the service of Great Britain.

This section of a map by Andrew Ellicott shows the site of
the shipwreck at the east end of St. George Island.
Library of Congress

Disaster struck as the vessel entered Apalachee Bay and was hit by a severe September hurricane. High winds tore away the masts of the Fox, and the tidal surge threw her helpless hulk ashore on the east end of St. George Island.

The wreck took place on September 17, 1799. Woolridge, Bowles, and the crew and mercenaries fled to the highest nearby dunes where they stayed, exposed to the elements until spotting a small boat four days later. Woolridge took advantage of the opportunity to send a note to U.S. Commissioner of Limits Andrew Ellicott, who arrived at Apalachicola Bay that day:

On his Britainic Majesty’s Service.
Fox Point, September 22d, 1799.
Sir,
I beg leave to make known to you, that I am at present on a small island on this coast, which is well known to the bearers, with the crew of his Britainic Majesty’s schooner Fox, late under my command, but which was unfortunately wrecked five days since, on this coast. As there is no possibility of saving the schooner, I trust sir, your humanity will induce you to stop here, and devise with me, some means of removing those unfortunate men, who have nothing more than some provisions saved from the wreck to exist on; the island producing nothing; on the contrary, for two days, during the late gale, the sea made a break over it, so that for those two days, we were with nearly two feet of water on the ground. – Lt. James Woolridge, Royal Navy, to Col. Benjamin Hawkins, September 22, 1799.

Ellicott soon met with Wooldridge and Bowles. Caught between his duty to the United States, which was then an ally of Spain, and his humanitarian need to help the castaways, the American authority provided them with food. He declined, however, to help them escape the island.

Editor’s Note: The story of the wreck of HMS Fox and the future of the British effort to gain control of Florida continued to develop over coming days. Watch for the next article in this series on Saturday, September 28. We will post a link here as soon as it is available.

#95 Lost Treasure of the Money Pond (100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida)

The Money Pond in Jackson County, Florida

The lost treasure of the Money Pond is #95 on our list of 100 Great Things about Jackson County, Florida. Click here to see previous items on the list.

In the northeast corner of Jackson County, legend holds that a pirate treasure waits to be found deep beneath the mud and muck of a swampy body of water. Locals call the place the "Money Pond" and many believe there is enough gold and silver at its bottom to make the person who finds it an instant millionaire.

Spanish treasure on display
Museum of Florida History in Tallahassee

That is likely even more true today thanks to the astronomical price of gold, which at the close of the markets today was selling for $1,339.50 per ounce.  Silver closed at $20.89 per once. Legend holds that the pond contains 7 horse loads of gold and silver, each said to weigh over 100 pounds.

If true, that means there is somewhere around 11,200 ounces of gold and silver at the bottom of the Money Pond. If half of it is in gold, then the value for the weight of the metal alone would be nearly $8 million!

More Spanish Treasure at the Museum of Florida History

And that's just the beginning of the story. The actual value of the treasure could be much, much higher because each of the coins would be worth far more to collectors than the value of its weight alone. A much smaller hoard of three cans containing gold coins from the 19th century was recently found in California and is already thought to be worth more than $10 million.

So is the story true?  Is an unbelievable treasure waiting to be found at the bottom of a swampy Florida pond?

The answer to those questions may be... yes.

William Augustus Bowles
Self Portrait of the Pirate "Billy Bowlegs"

The story has its roots in the real life of the famed pirate and adventurer, William Augustus Bowles. He is celebrated in Fort Walton Beach today as the Pirate Billy Bowlegs, which often causes him to be confused with the later Seminole Indian chiefs of the same name.

Born in Maryland in around 1763, Bowles joined the British military service in 1776 when he was thirteen years old. That was the year, of course, that the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. Bowles was from a family of Tories, however, and his loyalty was to King George III.

According to an early History of the Bowles Family, he fought at the Battle of Monmouth, New Jersey, before traveling with his regiment from New York to Jamaica and from there to Pensacola. Spain had lost Florida to Great Britain at the end of the French & Indian War and it is a little known fact that East and West Florida remained loyal British colonies during the American Revolution.

According to family historian Thomas M. Farquhar, Bowles was driven from the British service following a dispute with one of his commanding officers. The exact details remain murky and there are several different versions of what happened.

Lower Creek village in Jackson County, Florida

Only 15 years old at the time, he decided to walk home to Maryland and set off on his own through the vast wilderness of the Florida Panhandle. He quickly became completely lost, but was discovered by a party of Lower Creek Indians from the Perryman towns. These villages, located in today's Jackson County, Florida and neighboring Seminole County, Georgia, were headed by Thomas and William Perryman. The son and grandson of English trader Theophilus Perryman and his Creek wife, the two Perryman chiefs were wealthy mestizos (a term meaning they were of mixed Creek and European ancestry).

Since the Creeks were on good terms with the English, the warriors carried Bowles to their towns and he quickly ingratiated himself with the Perryman family. He later married Thomas Perryman's oldest daughter and led the Perryman warriors during the Battle of Pensacola in 1780.

Flag flown by William Augustus Bowles

In 1791, at the age of 22, he traveled to London where he negotiated docking rights at British ports in the West Indies for ships flying the flag of what he called the "Creek and Cherokee Nation." These rights in hand, he traveled to New Providence in the Bahamas where he purchased a small sloop and began trading voyages back and forth to the Lower Creek towns on the Chattahoochee River.

On a more ominous note, however, he armed his vessel with cannon and soon entered the life of a pirate, capturing merchant ships on the Gulf of Mexico. He was very good at being a pirate and his one ship soon turned into a flotilla of pirate vessels.

To give these ships at least a semblance of legitimacy, he declared the independence of what he called the "State of Muskogee" and declared war on Spain. Florida had returned to Spanish control at the end of the American Revolution, but the British trading firm of Panton, Leslie and Company had remained behind. Turning his flotilla of pirate ships into the "Muskogee Navy," Bowles became a major thorn in their side.

He and his pirate crews, which included white, black and Creek Indian men, raided merchant vessels traveling in the Gulf. On one occasion they defeated Spanish coast guard vessels in a fierce battle on Apalachicola Bay. Among the vessels of his fleet were the warships Mackisuky and Tostonoke.

Ekanachatte in 1778
From the Purcell-Stuart Map

In one of his letters, Bowles mentioned plans to bring a ship loaded with cargo up the Apalachicola River to either the trading post of James Burges (Burgess) at what is now Bainbridge, Georgia, or a place he called "The Bully's" on the Chattahoochee River.

The Bully, so named for his prowess as a trader, was the chief of the Lower Creek town of Ekanachatte ("Red Ground") which lay on the west bank of the river at what is now Neal's Landing Park in Jackson County. He was a supporter and business associate of Bowles and was fabulously wealthy for his time.

Bowles became such a threat to Spanish and merchant shipping that a reward of $6,000 (in 1790s currency) and 1,500 kegs of rum were offered for his capture. He eventually was captured and died while on a hunger strike at the fort of El Morro in Cuba.

Chattahoochee River at Neal's Landing (Ekanachatte)

According to legend, however, his treasure remained behind at Ekanachatte (Neal's Landing). It stayed safe there until 1818 when, during the First Seminole War, the Creek troops of Brigadier General William McIntosh drove south into Florida as part of Andrew Jackson's invasion. Fearful that the treasure would be captured, the chief and warriors of the town sank it into the Money Pond.

McIntosh defeated the Ekanachatte warriors at the Battle of the Upper Chipola near Bellamy Bridge in March 1818 and the treasure was forever lost. See Battle of the Upper Chipola.

The Money Pond

The story, however, does not end there. During the early 1900s, two major expeditions were launched by treasure hunters to find the lost gold and silver of William Augustus Bowles. The largest of these arrived in northeastern Jackson County in 1927, dug a ditch and drained the Money Pond.  Once the mud had dried somewhat, they started digging... and found Spanish silver coins in the muck at the bottom of the pond!

Before they could recover the main treasure, however, it began to rain. 1927 is remembered today as the year of the Great Flood. From Louisiana east and the Ohio River south, flood waters rose to unheard of levels. In Jackson County, the Chattahoochee surged from its banks and flowed as far inland as Malone. The treasure dig came to an end as raging flood waters flowed through the swamps and forced the men to flee for their lives.  They never came back.

The treasure, it is said, is still there today.

To read more of the story of William Augustus Bowles and the Money Pond, please consider my book, The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years.  It is available at Chipola River Book & Tea in downtown Marianna or online from Amazon.com by clicking here: (Kindle)The History Of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years.

The Kindle version is available for instant download by clicking here: The History of Jackson County, Florida: The Early Years.

Ekanachatte, near the legendary Money Pond, is one of the stops on the new Jackson County Spanish Heritage Trail. The 150 mile driving tour passes 11 key Spanish colonial sites in Jackson County. The new guide booklet is available at the historic Russ House and Visitor Center in Marianna. Learn more online at http://visitjacksoncountyfla.com/heritage/spanish-heritage-trail/.