Thlocklo Tustenuggee

Chief Thlocklo Tustenuggee
Nickname(s)	Tiger Tail
Died	New Orleans, Louisiana
Allegiance	Seminole
Battles/wars	Dade Massacre

Thlocklo Tustenuggee (also known as Thlocko, Thlocco, and Tiger Tail) was one of the most prominent Seminole leaders in the Second Seminole War. He spoke English fluently,^[1] and also spoke Muscogee.^[2] Tustenuggee was one of the three leaders of the 300 Seminoles who fought in the battle that became known as the Dade Massacre.^[3] During the war, he and Halleck Tustenuggee, another prominent Seminole leader in the war, met with General Walker Keith Armistead to negotiate, but negotiations broke down and the war resumed.^[4] As the war waned, Armistead used money to bribe several Seminole leaders to surrender, but Tustenuggee refused to be bribed and he continued to lead his band in fighting.^[5] When the war ended, his Seminole band was one of the few that remained in Florida.^[6] In 1843, Tustenuggee and 26 of his followers were forcibly migrated from Florida to New Orleans, Louisiana.^[7] They were transported by the USS Lawrence along with 65 other Native Americans and three black slaves.^[8] Tustenuggee then committed suicide by swallowing powdered glass.^[9] His death was reported in newspapers, as were the deaths of other prominent Native American leaders who died in connection with the Trail of Tears.^[10]

References

1. Joseph Norman Heard (1987). Handbook of the American Frontier: The Southeastern Woodlands. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 359. ISBN 0810819317.
2. Dan Ryan (2011). Merryweather: USMC. AuthorHouse. p. 82. ISBN 1463414455.
3. John C. Fredriksen (1999). American Military Leaders. ABC-CLIO. p. 559. ISBN 1576070018.
4. Adam Wasserman (2009). A People's History of Florida, 1513-1876: How Africans, Seminoles, Women, and Lower Class Whites Shaped the Sunshine State. p. 300. ISBN 1442167092.
5. Ralph Van Blarcom (2011). Seminole War Artifacts and a History of the Forts of Florida. Xlibris. p. 24. ISBN 1462877435.
6. Ron Field (2009). The Seminole Wars, 1818-58. Osprey Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 1846034612.
7. Daniel F. Littlefield, Jr.; James W. Parins (2011). Encyclopedia of American Indian Removal. ABC-CLIO. pp. 214–15. ISBN 0313360413.
8. Edwin C. McReynolds (1957). The Seminoles. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 237. ISBN 0806112557.
9. Merab-Michal Favorite (2013). Bradenton. Arcadia Publishing. p. 43. ISBN 0738590789.
10. James Leitch Wright (1990). Creeks & Seminoles: The Destruction and Regeneration of the Muscogulge People. University of Nebraska Press. p. 287. ISBN 0803297289.