Fort King Virtual Cache
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(virtual)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
The Fort King National Historic Landmark is located in Ocala, Florida – Marion County.
The fort was built as a result of the 1823 Treaty of Moultrie Creek, signed between the United States and leaders of the Seminole Nation. That treaty required the Seminoles to relocate to a large reservation in what is now Central Florida. The Moultrie Creek treaty also prohibited white persons from entering or settling on Seminole lands. As the Ocala area was central to the main Indian towns, the army built Fort King to assure that both sides followed the terms of the treaty.
The original fort consisted of several log buildings and a log stockade and was held by the army from 1827-1829. Because of its distance from Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay, the army decided that it was too costly to supply and evacuated it in the latter year.
The passage by Congress of the Indian Removal Act in 1830 and the subsequent negotiation of the highly controversial Treaty of Payne's Landing with the Seminoles led to the reoccupation of the post by the army in 1832. A core group of Seminole warriors, led by Osceola and others, fiercely opposed the determination of the U.S. government to remove their people to new lands in what is now Oklahoma. Fort King and the U.S. Indian Agency it protected became symbols of oppression for the Indians.
Much of the Seminole animosity was aimed at General Wiley Thompson, the U.S. Agent assigned to them. Thompson and Osceola, who was not a chief but a respected warrior, engaged in a growing series of verbal confrontations. These culminated when the agent suddenly ordered the warrior clapped in irons and thrown into the guardhouse at Fort King. The act would spark a war.
Released after a few days, Osceola decided that armed resistance to removal was the only option left to his people. On December 28, 1835, he exacted his revenge on Wiley Thompson. As the agent and Lieutenant Constantine Smith went for an afternoon walk, they were ambushed by a war party led by Osceola. Thompson was shot 14 times and scalped. Six others were also killed and the Indians ransacked a storehouse. Fort King was too strong to take so they withdrew to the Cove of the Withlacoochee and Wahoo Swamp.
A larger force of Seminole warriors struck a column of troops on its way from Fort Brooke to Fort King on the same day. The result was Dade's Battle, which left over 100 soldiers dead. The Second Seminole War had begun.
Although Fort King survived the initial outbreak, it was abandoned in May of 1836 when Fort Drane was built nearer to the swamps from which the Seminoles emerged to fight. The post was burned to the ground by warriors two months later.
The site was reoccupied in April of 1837 and the army built a new fort. It served as a base for raids and in 1840 a sharp fight took place just outside the walls.
Captain Gabriel Rains of the 7th U.S. Infantry had led 16 soldiers from the fort on a scout when they came under aggressive attack by a Seminole war party. The captain managed to fight his way back into Fort King, but not before three of his men were killed in the battle.
The Second Seminole War was declared over on August 14, 1842. Fort King was evacuated for good the following year.
The Florida Territorial Legislature created Marion County in 1844 and the buildings of the fort were used as its original courthouse and offices. Fort King continued to fulfill this purpose until a courthouse was built in the adjoining settlement of Ocala in 1846.
TO CLAIM THIS CACHE YOU MUST EMAIL THE ANSWERS TO ME.
1. At the posted coordinates there is a gate. What is the total number of the logs on the two swinging gates?
2. Now face NorthWest, what is the tallest object within about fifty feet.
3. Optional: Upload a picture with any of the historical items in the background.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Gurer vf n genvy jvgu ahzrebhf fvtaf eryngvat vasbezngvba nobhg guvf uvfgbevp fvgr. Gurfr fvtaf ner DE pbqr rdhvccrq naq jvyy oevat lbh gb n terng pryy cubar gbhe bs gur nern.
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
Loading Treasures