A Seminole tourist camp
The Seminole are a Native American people native to Florida, currently inhabiting much of Oklahoma. The Seminole became independent of the Creeks during the 1750s, developing as a mixture of Native American refugees from the American South and African-American escaped slaves. The Seminole found refuge in the large uninhabited areas of Spanish Florida, forming their own communities and embarking on raids into the United States during the early 1800s. From 1818 to 1858, the US government waged a series of wars against the troublesome Seminoles, who waged guerrilla warfare on the settlers and US Army from the swamps. By 1842, most Seminoles had been forced to move into the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River, and 18,600 live in Oklahoma as of 2017, plus 15,572 more in Florida.