EMATHLA (KING PHILIP)

Emathla (1739-1839), also known as King Philip, was a respected Seminole leader of the Alachua region in the early 1800s. Known for his diplomacy, Emathla was firmly committed to keeping Seminoles in Florida and opposing President Andrew Jackson’s Indian removal policy. During the Second Seminole War, Emathla was a skilled strategist. He planned several victorious military campaigns alongside his son, Coacoochee (Wild Cat), and his brother-in-law, Chief Micanopy. In 1836, Emathla and Coacoochee led an attack on a sugar mill and plantations in this region. The following year, at almost 100 years of age, Emathla was captured by the U.S. Army while encamped near the ruins of Dunlawton Plantation. He was used as a pawn to lure Osceola and Coacoochee to meet under a flag of truce at Fort Marion, where they were betrayed and taken captive. Osceola remained imprisoned for the rest of his life, but Coacoochee escaped and continued to lead his people. Emathla died in 1839 as he was forced west to the Indian Territory on the “Trail of Tears.”