other land, according to what I told my father.
When great men say anything to each other, they should have good
memories. Why does Colonel White plague me so much about going over the
Mississippi? We hurt nothing on this land. I have told him so before."

V. THE TREATY OF PAYNE'S LANDING

One day when Osceola was at Fort King he was told that a great council
was to be held at Payne's Landing, about twenty miles from the fort. The
Indians' "white father" had sent special messengers to talk with the
Seminoles, and all the leading men of the nation were summoned to come
to hear his words.

Osceola knew that the message was about the Seminoles' leaving Florida.
He was bitterly opposed to that project. He knew that some of the old
chiefs were very easily influenced, and that the white men had a way of
getting them to make promises in council which they afterwards
regretted. He therefore wished that none of the Indians would attend the
council. Then no action could be taken.

He went around advising men not to go to Payne's Landing. But the white
men sent their messengers near and far, calling in the chiefs and head
men. Early in May the streams were full of canoes and the forest paths
were traveled by bands of Indians on their way to Payne's Landing.
Seeing this, Osceola decided to go to the council himself, and do what
he could there to prevent the chiefs from making any rash agreements.

Osceola was not a chief, but he was a recognized leader of the young
men, and as he sat in the council house, stern and alert, many a glance
was cast in his direction to see how he was impressed by the white man's
talk.

He listened to the interpreter eagerly and learned that the President
wished the Seminoles to give up the land that had been reserved for them
by the treaty of Camp Moultrie. In exchange they were to occupy a tract
of land of the same extent west of the Mississippi River in Arkansas
among the Creek Indians. A delegation of chiefs was to visit the country
and if "they" were satisfied with the country, the Seminoles were to be
transported to it in three divisions, one in 1833, one in 1834, and the
last in 1835. Something was said about the payment of annuities, about
the distribution of blankets and homespun frocks, and compensation for
cattle and slaves stolen by the whites. But the point that concerned
Osceola most of all was that the Seminoles were expected to leave
Florida and live among the Creeks west o