Black Seminole Scouts
Encyclopedia
Black Seminole Scouts, also known as the Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts, or Seminole Scouts, were employed by the United States Army
between 1870 and 1914 as United States Army Indian Scouts. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some native
Seminoles. Because most of the Seminole scouts were of African-American descent, they were mainly attached to the Buffalo Soldier
regiments, to guide the troops through hostile territory. The majority of their service was in the 1870s in which they played a significant role in ending the Texas-Indian Wars
.
in the Indian Territory
but originally they came from Florida. Before the United States government banned slavery in December of 1865, several hundred black freedmen escaped their masters and sought refuge among the Seminoles in Florida. Not long after the Seminoles were removed to the Indian Territory, the Black Seminoles, as they became, went to Coahuila
, Mexico
, to escape enslavement. There they were welcomed by the Mexicans and later joined by native Seminoles, Black Creek
s and Black Cherokees. In 1870, the United States Army issued a message to the Black Seminoles' chief, John Horse, inviting him and his band to come back to the United States to enlist as Indian scouts and help fight hostile natives Americans. The Black Seminoles, about 200 people, accepted the agreement, believing that they would be granted land in the United States, food and provisions, as well as reimbursement for traveling costs. Though over the years none of these conditions were met. The future scouts crossed the international border on July 4 and were officially mustered into service on August 18 at Fort Duncan
, near Eagle Pass
, Texas
. However, in July of 1872, most of the scouts were moved to Fort Clark
, near Brackettville. Their first able commander was a Quaker and Civil War
veteran, Lieutenant
John L. Bullis
, the others were too unreliable to control the unit. Having been a commander of black soldiers during the Civil War, Bullis was trusted by his men and even asked to perform marriages for the tribe. Between May of 1872 and 1881, the Seminole scouts fought in several successful engagements with Comanche
s, Kiowas, Apache
s and Kickapoos, sometimes traveling into Mexico, the Indian Territory and Kansas
.
During their service against hostiles, not a single scout, out of no more than fifty men, was killed or seriously injured. Usually the scouts fought with the cavalry
regiments stationed at Fort Clark but occasionally they launched their own operations. Fort Clark was also the headquarters of Colonel
Ranald S. Mackenzie
, the leader of multiple expeditions into Mexico to punish hostile natives that crossed the border to raid in the United States. Mackenzie played a key roll in ending the Indian wars in Texas. In 1873, the Secretary of War William W. Belknap
and General Philip Sheridan
went to Fort Clark for "secret talks" with Mackenzie. It was decided that the colonel would lead a punitive expedition
across the border to fight the Lipan
and that scouts would guide the way. On May 17, 1873, Colonel Mackenzie crossed the border into Coahuilla with the scouts and a detachment of 4th Cavalry. They fought a successful skirmish against Kickapoo raiders at El Remolino, forced the Mexican Army
to keep from intervening and then hastily returned to the fort. During the Red River War
, a notable engagement occurred on September 19, 1874, when three Black Seminole scouts and two Tonkawa scouts were sent out by Mackenzie to search for enemies. During the journey the five men were ambushed by about forty Kiowas. The only option was to try and fight their way out and escape. Details of the engagement are unclear but the scout Adam Payne
was awarded the Medal of Honor
for risking his life to save the others. Under fire, Payne engaged the Kiowas, allowing the other four men to get away. Eventually Payne's horse was shot out from underneath him but he was able to kill one of the attackers and take his horse. Payne was decorated for his "habitual courage" though there is no evidence that he ever received the medal itself.
Three more scouts received the Medal of Honor in 1875 for their "bravery and trustworthiness" during a skirmish on April 25 against Comanches who had raided a stagecoach
on April 5 and stolen some horses. The scouts John Ward, Isaac Payne
and Pompey Factor
were with Lieutenant Bullis on an expedition to locate the Comanches encamped on the lower Pecos River
. When the camp was found a battle ensued. The scouts dismounted and positioned themselves behind some rocks so that they would appear to be a larger force. According to Bullis' report "we twice took their horses from them and killed three Indians and wounded a fourth" but the hostiles, about thirty of them, eventually discovered the size of the scouting party and attempted to surround it in order to cut off the scouts from their horses. The scouts made it to their horses though and they were on their way back to safety when they realized that Lieutenant Bullis had been left behind. Under heavy fire, the scouts turned around and rescued their commander. In May of 1876 Chief John Horse was badly wounded and the scout Titus Payne was killed after a shooting incident in Eagle Pass. There was apparently no effort to catch the shooters because the former outlaw
and sheriff
John King Fisher was suspected of being responsible. Fisher was a horse thief and cattle rustler in his early life and well known for his hatred of the scouts. By 1876 he was a sheriff and had almost indisputable control over Kinney County
. Because of this power Fisher was untouchable. The shooting created unrest among the Black Seminoles and over the course of the next few months there were outbreaks of brawling and rioting. The local American settlers attempted to have the scouts disbanded but others argued that the army should enlist all of the male Black Seminoles as scouts in order to protect them from outlaws and hostile natives.
In late August, John Ward's brother, Scott, was accused of stealing five horses and then in September Isaac Payne and Dallas Griner were accused of stealing a horse from Deputy Sheriff Claron Windus. The two evaded arrest and fled to Nacimiento, Mexico but they made the mistake of returning to Brackettville in December to celebrate the coming of the new year. Somehow the sheriff of Brackettville, Lorenzo C. Crowell, learned of the celebration and devised a plan to capture the fugitives. So on the night of December 31, Sheriff Crowell, Deputy Sheriff Windus and a teamster
named Jonathan May went to the Seminole's reservation just outside of town and stealthily positioned themselves around the fugitive's camp. One later account of the incident says that a company
of soldiers was to assist in the arrest but if this was true they played no active role in the event. At midnight Sheriff Crowell made his appearance, some accounts say the Black Seminoles were dancing at a church when Crowell appeared and others say that the celebrating took place on the property of the scout Friday Bowleg. According to one account, Adam Payne was dancing when he heard Crowell call his name. As he turned, Claron Windus fired upon him with a shotgun
and "shot him so close it set him on fire." Other accounts say that there was a struggle while Crowell was trying to handcuff the men and that Adam and the scout Frank Enoch were shot while trying to escape. The scout Bobby Kibbett attacked Windus at that point and while Windus and Crowell were fighting with him Isaac Payne and Dallas Griner got away to Mexico. Adam's body was given to his family for burial and Enoch died during surgery in Brackettville. Bobby Kibbett was later tried and acquitted for attempting to murder Deputy Sheriff Windus and the charges against Isaac Payne and Dallas Griner were dropped. Payne stayed in Mexico for a few weeks before returning to Fort Clark to re-enlist.
In 1878 Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie was recalled to the fort in order to lead an expedition against the Kickapoo. After this campaign the Texas-Indian Wars were mosly over, all of the hostile natives were either dead or living in the reservation system. However, on February 23, 1893 the scouts fought in one final skirmish against Mexican bandits at Las Muias Ranch, thirty miles north of Fort Ringgold in Starr County
. The Black Seminole Scouts were disbanded twenty-one years later in 1914 and most were forced to leave the Fort Clark reservation with their families. Just twenty-seven Black Seminoles were aloud to remain at the fort but only until the elders of the group had departed. The official report of the disbandment reads as follows; "In compliance with orders contained in the 3rd Indorsement Headquarters Southern Department, May 7th, 1914, and the 5th Indorsement War Department, June 29th, 1914, on communications 2128018-A.A.G.O., April 16, 1914 - Subject Seminole Negro Indian Scouts. The Seminole Negro Indian Scouts will be disbanded and cease to exist as an organization after September 30, 1914. They will be discharged from Service of the United States in three detachments as follows: Privates, Curly Jefferson, Fay July, Sam Washington, and Charles J. July on July 31st, 1914. One third in the Scout camp on the reservation including the families of the scouts discharged July 31st, 1914 will move from the Fort Clark Military between August 1st and August 15th, 1914 with all of their stock and belongings. The following named scouts will be discharged from the Service of United States, September 30th, 1914, - 1st Sgt. John Shields, Privates: Antonio Sanchez, Isaac Wilson and William Wilson. The remainder of the people including the Scouts discharged September 30th, 1914, and their families with the exception of those named in the following paragraph will move from Fort Clark Military Reservation between October 1st and October 15th, 1914 with all of their effects. The following named members of the Scout Camp will be permitted to remain and live on the Fort Clark Military Reservation until the older people pass away in the course of nature, or until such time as the War Department may see fit to order their removal. After the removal of the people from the Scout Camp, the buildings not in use by those permitted to stay, will be demolished."
Many of the scouts' remains rest at the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery in Kinney County, Texas, including Adam and Isaac Payne and members of their family. Descendants of the Black Seminole Scouts still live in southern Texas and northern Mexico.
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
between 1870 and 1914 as United States Army Indian Scouts. Despite the name, the unit included both Black Seminoles and some native
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
Seminoles. Because most of the Seminole scouts were of African-American descent, they were mainly attached to the Buffalo Soldier
Buffalo Soldier
Buffalo Soldiers originally were members of the U.S. 10th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army, formed on September 21, 1866 at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas....
regiments, to guide the troops through hostile territory. The majority of their service was in the 1870s in which they played a significant role in ending the Texas-Indian Wars
Texas-Indian Wars
The Texas–Indian wars were a series of conflicts between settlers in Texas and Plains Indians. These conflicts began when the first European and mostly Spanish settlers moved into Spanish Texas, and continued through Texas's time as part of Mexico, when more Europeans, especially Americans...
.
Texas-Indian Wars
By 1870 the native Seminoles were living on a reservationIndian reservation
An American Indian reservation is an area of land managed by a Native American tribe under the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs...
in the Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...
but originally they came from Florida. Before the United States government banned slavery in December of 1865, several hundred black freedmen escaped their masters and sought refuge among the Seminoles in Florida. Not long after the Seminoles were removed to the Indian Territory, the Black Seminoles, as they became, went to Coahuila
Coahuila
Coahuila, formally Coahuila de Zaragoza , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, to escape enslavement. There they were welcomed by the Mexicans and later joined by native Seminoles, Black Creek
Creek people
The Muscogee , also known as the Creek or Creeks, are a Native American people traditionally from the southeastern United States. Mvskoke is their name in traditional spelling. The modern Muscogee live primarily in Oklahoma, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida...
s and Black Cherokees. In 1870, the United States Army issued a message to the Black Seminoles' chief, John Horse, inviting him and his band to come back to the United States to enlist as Indian scouts and help fight hostile natives Americans. The Black Seminoles, about 200 people, accepted the agreement, believing that they would be granted land in the United States, food and provisions, as well as reimbursement for traveling costs. Though over the years none of these conditions were met. The future scouts crossed the international border on July 4 and were officially mustered into service on August 18 at Fort Duncan
Fort Duncan
Fort Duncan was a U.S. Army post, set up to protect the first U.S. settlement on the Rio Grande near the current town of Eagle Pass, Texas.Fort Duncan was established on March 27, 1849, when Captain Sidney Burbank occupied the site with companies A, B, and F of the First United States Infantry...
, near Eagle Pass
Eagle Pass, Texas
Eagle Pass is a city in and the county seat of Maverick County The population was 27,183 as of the 2010 census.Eagle Pass borders the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico, which is to the southwest and across the Rio Grande. The Eagle Pass-Piedras Negras Metropolitan Area is one of six...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. However, in July of 1872, most of the scouts were moved to Fort Clark
Fort Clark, Texas
Fort Clark was a frontier fort that later became the headquarters for the 2nd Cavalry Division.-Founding:The land that became Fort Clark was owned by Samuel A. Maverick at the time its potential for military development was recognized by William H.C. Whiting and William F. Smith in 1849...
, near Brackettville. Their first able commander was a Quaker and Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
veteran, Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
John L. Bullis
John L. Bullis
John Lapham Bullis was a much-decorated American soldier and later an entrepreneur.He was born at Macedon, New York, the eldest of the seven children of Dr. Abram R. and Lydia P. Bullis...
, the others were too unreliable to control the unit. Having been a commander of black soldiers during the Civil War, Bullis was trusted by his men and even asked to perform marriages for the tribe. Between May of 1872 and 1881, the Seminole scouts fought in several successful engagements with Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
s, Kiowas, Apache
Apache
Apache is the collective term for several culturally related groups of Native Americans in the United States originally from the Southwest United States. These indigenous peoples of North America speak a Southern Athabaskan language, which is related linguistically to the languages of Athabaskan...
s and Kickapoos, sometimes traveling into Mexico, the Indian Territory and Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
.
During their service against hostiles, not a single scout, out of no more than fifty men, was killed or seriously injured. Usually the scouts fought with the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
regiments stationed at Fort Clark but occasionally they launched their own operations. Fort Clark was also the headquarters of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Ranald S. Mackenzie
Ranald S. Mackenzie
Ranald Slidell Mackenzie was a career United States Army officer and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, described by General Ulysses S. Grant as its most promising young officer...
, the leader of multiple expeditions into Mexico to punish hostile natives that crossed the border to raid in the United States. Mackenzie played a key roll in ending the Indian wars in Texas. In 1873, the Secretary of War William W. Belknap
William W. Belknap
William Worth Belknap was a United States Army general, government administrator, and United States Secretary of War. He was the only Cabinet secretary ever to have been impeached by the United States House of Representatives.-Birth and early years:Born in Newburgh, New York to career soldier...
and General Philip Sheridan
Philip Sheridan
Philip Henry Sheridan was a career United States Army officer and a Union general in the American Civil War. His career was noted for his rapid rise to major general and his close association with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S...
went to Fort Clark for "secret talks" with Mackenzie. It was decided that the colonel would lead a punitive expedition
Punitive expedition
A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons outside the borders of the punishing state. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge...
across the border to fight the Lipan
Lipan Apache
Lipan Apache are Southern Athabascan people who are aboriginal to present-day Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and the northern Mexican states of Chihuahua, Nuevo León, Coahuila, and Tamaulipas prior to the 17th century. Present-day Lipans mostly live throughout the U.S...
and that scouts would guide the way. On May 17, 1873, Colonel Mackenzie crossed the border into Coahuilla with the scouts and a detachment of 4th Cavalry. They fought a successful skirmish against Kickapoo raiders at El Remolino, forced the Mexican Army
Mexican Army
The Mexican Army is the combined land and air branch and largest of the Mexican Military services; it also is known as the National Defense Army. It is famous for having been the first army to adopt and use an automatic rifle, , in 1899, and the first to issue automatic weapons as standard issue...
to keep from intervening and then hastily returned to the fort. During the Red River War
Red River War
The Red River War was a military campaign launched by the United States Army in 1874, as part of the Comanche War, to remove the Comanche, Kiowa, Southern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Native American tribes from the Southern Plains and forcibly relocate them to reservations in Indian Territory...
, a notable engagement occurred on September 19, 1874, when three Black Seminole scouts and two Tonkawa scouts were sent out by Mackenzie to search for enemies. During the journey the five men were ambushed by about forty Kiowas. The only option was to try and fight their way out and escape. Details of the engagement are unclear but the scout Adam Payne
Adam Paine
Adam Paine, or Adam Payne, was a Black Seminole who served as a United States Army Indian Scout and received America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Indian Wars of the western United States....
was awarded the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
for risking his life to save the others. Under fire, Payne engaged the Kiowas, allowing the other four men to get away. Eventually Payne's horse was shot out from underneath him but he was able to kill one of the attackers and take his horse. Payne was decorated for his "habitual courage" though there is no evidence that he ever received the medal itself.
Three more scouts received the Medal of Honor in 1875 for their "bravery and trustworthiness" during a skirmish on April 25 against Comanches who had raided a stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
on April 5 and stolen some horses. The scouts John Ward, Isaac Payne
Isaac Payne
Isaac Payne, or Isaac Paine, was a Black Seminole who served as a United States Army Indian Scout and received America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Indian Wars of the western United States....
and Pompey Factor
Pompey Factor
Pompey Factor was a Black Seminole who served as a United States Army Indian Scout and received America's highest military decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Indian Wars of the Western United States.-Biography:...
were with Lieutenant Bullis on an expedition to locate the Comanches encamped on the lower Pecos River
Pecos River
The headwaters of the Pecos River are located north of Pecos, New Mexico, United States, at an elevation of over 12,000 feet on the western slope of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in Mora County. The river flows for through the eastern portion of that state and neighboring Texas before it...
. When the camp was found a battle ensued. The scouts dismounted and positioned themselves behind some rocks so that they would appear to be a larger force. According to Bullis' report "we twice took their horses from them and killed three Indians and wounded a fourth" but the hostiles, about thirty of them, eventually discovered the size of the scouting party and attempted to surround it in order to cut off the scouts from their horses. The scouts made it to their horses though and they were on their way back to safety when they realized that Lieutenant Bullis had been left behind. Under heavy fire, the scouts turned around and rescued their commander. In May of 1876 Chief John Horse was badly wounded and the scout Titus Payne was killed after a shooting incident in Eagle Pass. There was apparently no effort to catch the shooters because the former outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
and sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
John King Fisher was suspected of being responsible. Fisher was a horse thief and cattle rustler in his early life and well known for his hatred of the scouts. By 1876 he was a sheriff and had almost indisputable control over Kinney County
Kinney County, Texas
Kinney County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2000, its population was 3,379. Its seat is Brackettville. Kinney County is named for Henry Lawrence Kinney, an early settler.-Geography:...
. Because of this power Fisher was untouchable. The shooting created unrest among the Black Seminoles and over the course of the next few months there were outbreaks of brawling and rioting. The local American settlers attempted to have the scouts disbanded but others argued that the army should enlist all of the male Black Seminoles as scouts in order to protect them from outlaws and hostile natives.
In late August, John Ward's brother, Scott, was accused of stealing five horses and then in September Isaac Payne and Dallas Griner were accused of stealing a horse from Deputy Sheriff Claron Windus. The two evaded arrest and fled to Nacimiento, Mexico but they made the mistake of returning to Brackettville in December to celebrate the coming of the new year. Somehow the sheriff of Brackettville, Lorenzo C. Crowell, learned of the celebration and devised a plan to capture the fugitives. So on the night of December 31, Sheriff Crowell, Deputy Sheriff Windus and a teamster
Teamster
A teamster, in modern American English, is a truck driver. The trade union named after them is the International Brotherhood of Teamsters , one of the largest unions in the United States....
named Jonathan May went to the Seminole's reservation just outside of town and stealthily positioned themselves around the fugitive's camp. One later account of the incident says that a company
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
of soldiers was to assist in the arrest but if this was true they played no active role in the event. At midnight Sheriff Crowell made his appearance, some accounts say the Black Seminoles were dancing at a church when Crowell appeared and others say that the celebrating took place on the property of the scout Friday Bowleg. According to one account, Adam Payne was dancing when he heard Crowell call his name. As he turned, Claron Windus fired upon him with a shotgun
Shotgun
A shotgun is a firearm that is usually designed to be fired from the shoulder, which uses the energy of a fixed shell to fire a number of small spherical pellets called shot, or a solid projectile called a slug...
and "shot him so close it set him on fire." Other accounts say that there was a struggle while Crowell was trying to handcuff the men and that Adam and the scout Frank Enoch were shot while trying to escape. The scout Bobby Kibbett attacked Windus at that point and while Windus and Crowell were fighting with him Isaac Payne and Dallas Griner got away to Mexico. Adam's body was given to his family for burial and Enoch died during surgery in Brackettville. Bobby Kibbett was later tried and acquitted for attempting to murder Deputy Sheriff Windus and the charges against Isaac Payne and Dallas Griner were dropped. Payne stayed in Mexico for a few weeks before returning to Fort Clark to re-enlist.
In 1878 Colonel Ranald S. Mackenzie was recalled to the fort in order to lead an expedition against the Kickapoo. After this campaign the Texas-Indian Wars were mosly over, all of the hostile natives were either dead or living in the reservation system. However, on February 23, 1893 the scouts fought in one final skirmish against Mexican bandits at Las Muias Ranch, thirty miles north of Fort Ringgold in Starr County
Starr County, Texas
Starr County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. In 2010, its population was 60,968. Its county seat is Rio Grande City. The county is named for James Harper Starr, who served as Secretary of the Treasury of the Republic of Texas. It is part of the Rio Grande City-Roma, TX,...
. The Black Seminole Scouts were disbanded twenty-one years later in 1914 and most were forced to leave the Fort Clark reservation with their families. Just twenty-seven Black Seminoles were aloud to remain at the fort but only until the elders of the group had departed. The official report of the disbandment reads as follows; "In compliance with orders contained in the 3rd Indorsement Headquarters Southern Department, May 7th, 1914, and the 5th Indorsement War Department, June 29th, 1914, on communications 2128018-A.A.G.O., April 16, 1914 - Subject Seminole Negro Indian Scouts. The Seminole Negro Indian Scouts will be disbanded and cease to exist as an organization after September 30, 1914. They will be discharged from Service of the United States in three detachments as follows: Privates, Curly Jefferson, Fay July, Sam Washington, and Charles J. July on July 31st, 1914. One third in the Scout camp on the reservation including the families of the scouts discharged July 31st, 1914 will move from the Fort Clark Military between August 1st and August 15th, 1914 with all of their stock and belongings. The following named scouts will be discharged from the Service of United States, September 30th, 1914, - 1st Sgt. John Shields, Privates: Antonio Sanchez, Isaac Wilson and William Wilson. The remainder of the people including the Scouts discharged September 30th, 1914, and their families with the exception of those named in the following paragraph will move from Fort Clark Military Reservation between October 1st and October 15th, 1914 with all of their effects. The following named members of the Scout Camp will be permitted to remain and live on the Fort Clark Military Reservation until the older people pass away in the course of nature, or until such time as the War Department may see fit to order their removal. After the removal of the people from the Scout Camp, the buildings not in use by those permitted to stay, will be demolished."
Many of the scouts' remains rest at the Seminole Indian Scouts Cemetery in Kinney County, Texas, including Adam and Isaac Payne and members of their family. Descendants of the Black Seminole Scouts still live in southern Texas and northern Mexico.