History of Osceola County

On the 21 Jul 1821 there were two counties formed in Florida - Escambia to the west and St Johns County to the east. From these two counties were formed over sixty counties. in 1824 From St Johns county the area to the south became Mosquito County and Enterprise was the county seat. The name was changed to Orange county in 1845 when Florida became a state. A year before in 1844 Brevard County was carved out from Mosquito County. On the 12 May 1887 Osceola was named a county having been created from both Orange and Brevard Counties. At that time Osceola reached all the way down to Lake Okeechobee until 1917.

During the First Seminole War, Andrew Jackson pushed them farther south in 1817 and 1818, n 1819 Florida was bought from Spain and the momentum grew to push the Seminole farther south.  The treaty of Payne's Landing, 1832, called for the removal of the tormented Indians.  Osceola was one of two Indian Chiefs who resisted being removed from the lands of Central Florida boarding Lake Okeechobee during the Second Seminole War, 1835 to 1842.  Osceola, was tricked into a meeting under a flag of truce and captured.  He was imprisoned by Gen. Thomas S. Jesup at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida.  Later he was moved to Fort Moultrie at Charleston, S.C.  Later he became ill with malaria and quinsy and lost his will to live and died on January 30, 1838.  Osceola, which figuratively means "black drink cry," was born in Creek County in 1803.  He is believed to be part Scotch, part Creek Indian.  Highly regarded by the Seminole Indians up to today for his tenacity and determination to keep the Seminoles free and able to retain possession of Indian lands.  In the late 1980's there were about 1500 Seminole Indians living on three reservations near Lake Okeechobee.

Ref.: Grolier Encyclopedia, Florida place Names by Allen Morris