K
Kentucky Kache
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Seminole Bills lost gold
In the early 1800s both freed blacks and runaway slaves found safety and acceptance among the Seminole Indians in northern Florida. They lived in separate villages but recognized the local Seminole chief and essentially adopted the Indian way of life: ?e were Indian,·one of them later proclaimed.
In 1887 Bill Kelly, a large black Seminole, showed up at the ranch of the four Reagan brothers in Big Bend country looking for work. Kelly, who answered to the name of Seminole Bill, was a good worker but didn't mix in too well with other ranch hands. His curious mixture of English, Spanish, and Indian phrases made it hard for them to understand him when he spoke. So, for the most part, he kept to himself. But he was good for an occasional laugh.
When Bill calmly announced while sitting around the camp fire one night that he had found a gold mine with ?uy oro,·the cowboys took it for a joke and fell into a fit of laughter. Seminole Bill retreated back into his shell. Later, while out chasing strays with Lee Reagan who treated Bill with respect and with whom Bill could talk a little, Bill broached the subject again. Reagan asked Bill why he didn't bring in a sample of the ore and Bill responded that it was bad luck to bring in gold you found alone (a common Indian superstition). you die fo·you get home,·he is supposed to have said. However, on the way back to camp Bill changed his mind and suggested that he and Lee Reagan go have a look. Reagan replied that it was too late in the evening for a gold hunting, and Bill never mentioned the subject again.
A few days later Seminole Bill deserted the Reagan's and hopped a train to San Antonio. There he looked up a friend of his named Locke Campbell to whom he showed some rich gold ore. Bill told Campbell that the gold had come from the Reagan Ranch, and Campbell agreed to have it assayed for him. Bill returned to Big Bend country and got his old job back, but after a few weeks he disappeared. When a letter from Campbell arrived at Big Bend stating that the ore Bill had given him assayed out at $80,000 a ton, a search for Seminole Bill and his gold mine was instituted. It went on for years, but neither were ever found.
In the early 1800s both freed blacks and runaway slaves found safety and acceptance among the Seminole Indians in northern Florida. They lived in separate villages but recognized the local Seminole chief and essentially adopted the Indian way of life: ?e were Indian,·one of them later proclaimed.
In 1887 Bill Kelly, a large black Seminole, showed up at the ranch of the four Reagan brothers in Big Bend country looking for work. Kelly, who answered to the name of Seminole Bill, was a good worker but didn't mix in too well with other ranch hands. His curious mixture of English, Spanish, and Indian phrases made it hard for them to understand him when he spoke. So, for the most part, he kept to himself. But he was good for an occasional laugh.
When Bill calmly announced while sitting around the camp fire one night that he had found a gold mine with ?uy oro,·the cowboys took it for a joke and fell into a fit of laughter. Seminole Bill retreated back into his shell. Later, while out chasing strays with Lee Reagan who treated Bill with respect and with whom Bill could talk a little, Bill broached the subject again. Reagan asked Bill why he didn't bring in a sample of the ore and Bill responded that it was bad luck to bring in gold you found alone (a common Indian superstition). you die fo·you get home,·he is supposed to have said. However, on the way back to camp Bill changed his mind and suggested that he and Lee Reagan go have a look. Reagan replied that it was too late in the evening for a gold hunting, and Bill never mentioned the subject again.
A few days later Seminole Bill deserted the Reagan's and hopped a train to San Antonio. There he looked up a friend of his named Locke Campbell to whom he showed some rich gold ore. Bill told Campbell that the gold had come from the Reagan Ranch, and Campbell agreed to have it assayed for him. Bill returned to Big Bend country and got his old job back, but after a few weeks he disappeared. When a letter from Campbell arrived at Big Bend stating that the ore Bill had given him assayed out at $80,000 a ton, a search for Seminole Bill and his gold mine was instituted. It went on for years, but neither were ever found.
