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{{Short description|Seminole principal chief of the Alachua chiefly line}}
{{About|the Seminole chief|the French World War II intelligence officer with this code name|Gustave Bertrand|the Polish cartoon character|Bolek and Lolek|the secret agent Bolek|Lech Wałęsa#Wałęsa and secret police}}
{{Infobox American Indian chief
| name            = Bolek
| image           =
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| tribe           = [[Seminole]]
| lead            =
| birth_date      =
| birth_place     =
| death_date      = 1819
| death_place     =
| predecessor     = [[King Payne]]
| successor       = [[Micanopy]]
| native_name     = Boleck, Bolech
| nicknames       = Bowlegs
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| spouse          =
| partner         =
| children        =
| parents         = [[Ahaya|Cowkeeper]]
| relations       = [[King Payne]] (older brother)
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}}
'''Bolek''' (died 1819), also spelled as '''Boleck''' or '''Bolechs,''' and known as '''Bowlegs''' by European Americans, was a [[Seminole]] principal chief, of the Alachua ([[Oconee people|Oconee]]) chiefly line.  He was the younger brother of [[King Payne]], who succeeded their father [[Ahaya|Cowkeeper]] (known to the [[Seminole]] as ''Ahaya'') as leading or principal chief in Florida.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Jim Robison
| title = Billy Bowlegs Iii Had A Name With History
| work = [[Orlando Sentinel]]
| access-date = 2013-02-15
| date = 1998-04-05
| url = https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1998/04/05/billy-bowlegs-iii-had-a-name-with-history/
}}</ref> Bolek succeeded King Payne in 1812 when he was killed during the [[Patriot War (Florida)|Patriot War.]]
==Early life and education==
Bolek was one of several children born to Ahaya ([[Cowkeeper]]) and his wife.  He and his older brother King Payne were groomed by their mother's brother (in the [[matrilineal]] kinship system) to become chiefs and take leading roles among the Seminole. They inherited that role through their mother's people, who were descended from the Alachua chiefly line.
Bolek was designated as a village or ''itwála'' chief while a young man; he was based on the [[Suwannee River]], near present-day [[Old Town, Florida|Old Town, FL]]. He began to oppose United States influence in [[Spanish Florida]] during the early 19th century.  He prevented [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] slaveholders from entering Seminole territory to pursue escaped slaves from the Low Country.  Some of the fugitives married into the Seminole people; most created independent communities nearby as allies and were known as [[Black Seminoles]]. They kept much of their Gullah culture and developed the [[Afro-Seminole Creole]] language in Florida, which they used through the 19th century.
In 1812, Bolek and his brother [[King Payne]] began raiding frontier settlements along the Florida-Georgia border.  Seminole bands fought several engagements with militia forces; Payne was killed in 1812, and Bolek suffered serious wounds during the same skirmish against Georgia militia forces under Daniel Newnan.<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Seminole Indian Chiefs and Leaders
| work = Access Genealogy
| accessdate = 2013-02-15
| url = http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/handbook/chiefs/seminole_indian_chiefs_leaders.htm
| archive-url = https://archive.today/20130407154738/http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/handbook/chiefs/seminole_indian_chiefs_leaders.htm
| url-status = dead
| archive-date = 2013-04-07
}}</ref> An expedition by Colonel [[John Williams (Tennessee politician)|John Williams]] the following year destroyed hundreds of Seminole villages and captured numerous horses and cattle. Border warfare between the Seminole and Georgia settlers contributed to US involvement in the [[Creek War|Creek War of 1813-1814]].
==Seminole Wars==
During the [[First Seminole War]], beginning in 1818, American forces under General [[Andrew Jackson]] advanced into northern Florida capturing [[Kinache]]'s village of [[Miccosukee, Florida|Miccosukee]] and occupying the Spanish settlement of [[St. Marks, Florida|St. Marks]] before destroying the Red Stick village of [[Peter McQueen]] at the [[Econfina River]] and Nero's town of maroons on the Suwannee River before reaching Bolek's (old town) abandoned village. They captured two Englishman, [[Arbuthnot and Ambrister incident|Robert Ambrister]] and Peter Cook<sup>(?)</sup>, who were taken back to [[San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park|Fort St. Marks]]. Charged with assisting the Seminole, they were executed by American forces (see [[Arbuthnot and Ambrister incident|Arbuthnot and Ambrister]] incident). Although this created an international incident, Jackson continued his offensive and recaptured [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]].
The U.S. purchased Florida from Spain in 1819 via the [[Adams–Onís Treaty|Adams-Onis Treaty]], and the Seminole expected they would have more to do to try to keep the Americans from their territory. Bolek died that year and was succeeded as principal chief by his maternal grandnephew, [[Micanopy]].
Micanopy was principal chief through the move into central Florida and the [[Second Seminole War]]. He also led the Seminole to Indian Territory, realizing that trying to fight the US superior forces was finally futile. In the West, he worked to gain separate territory and independence for the Seminole from [[Muscogee people|Creek]] oversight until his death in 1849.
He was succeeded by his sister's son, John Jumper, who died in 1853. John's younger brother, Jim Jumper, succeeded as principal chief, leading the Seminole in Indian Territory until after the American Civil War, when the United States government began to interfere with tribal succession.
Another member of the [[Cowkeeper]] dynasty was [[Billy Bowlegs]].
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*Johansen, Bruce E. and Donald A. Grinde, Jr. ''The Encyclopedia of Native American Biography'', New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1997.
{{s-start}}
{{succession box| before=[[King Payne]]| title=[[Leading chief of the Seminoles]]| after=[[Micanopy]]| years=1812&ndash;1819}}
{{s-end}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bolek}}
[[Category:18th-century births]]
[[Category:1819 deaths]]
[[Category:Chiefs of the Seminole]]
[[Category:18th-century Seminole people]]
[[Category:18th-century Native American leaders]]
[[Category:Native Americans of the Seminole Wars]]