Exile: 1838 - 1850

From 1838-1850, the story of John Horse and the Black Seminoles forms one of the most fascinating, unsung chapters in the history of the American West. In present-day Arkansas and Oklahoma, white speculators, Indian slave traders, and southern politicians worked to deny the blacks their freedom. John Horse faced death threats, assassination attempts, and finally the bleak prospect of seeing his family sold into plantation slavery. In a surprising twist, he found an unlikely ally in the U.S. Army. At the same time, his traditional alliance with the Seminole Indians came under threat. Finally, a legal decision in Washington brought the situation to a climax. With the aid of his friend Coacoochee, John Horse took matters into his own hands, as the Black Seminoles struggled to conclude their epic quest for freedom.