Fort Cooper State Park

Fort Cooper offers a spot for relaxing, hiking, studying nature and learning about Florida's rich history. The park’s diverse natural areas provide a refuge for many plants and animals. The inland woods feature hammocks of hickory, oak, magnolia and sweet gum. Beyond is the sandhill community — a dry, open forest of longleaf pines and turkey oaks. Sightings of deer, turkey, opossum and bobcat are common. Owls, herons and cardinals are frequently seen. Lake Holathlikaha is popular for fishing and boating; although private boats are prohibited, canoes and kayaks are available for rent when water levels and conditions are optimal.

As part of the Great Florida Birding Trail, the park offers nearly 5 miles of self-guided trails with excellent bird and wildlife viewing. The park's diverse natural areas provide a refuge for many plants and animals, including threatened and endangered species. A paved pathway connects the park to the multi-use paved Withlacoochee State Trail. Park visitors can enjoy the picnic facilities and playground under a hardwood hammock near the lake. The Seminole Heritage Trail kiosks are a series of four interpretive panels that provide insight into the lives of the Seminole Indians who lived in this area and the reason for Fort Cooper's construction.

In September 1823, Seminole leaders relented to the increasing government pressure of the time and signed the Treaty of Moultrie Creek, effectively ending the First Seminole War. This agreement required they give up their established farms and cattle ranches in North Florida and relocate to a 4 million acre reservation in the center of the peninsula - the Cove of the Withlacoochee. The Seminoles quickly adapted to life in the watery, wilderness of the cove by putting their hunting, fishing, agricultural and survival skills into practice. But peace here was fleeting.

Andrew Jackson was elected U.S. president in 1828, and pressure from Washington to move the Seminoles west grew fierce. The Seminoles declared they had no intention of leaving. Tensions grew and the U.S. government sent large numbers of troops to remove the Seminoles. The Second Seminole War began in December 1835 with the massacre of Dade’s troops in the Cove of the Withlacoochee. For the first year of the war, the Seminoles and their Black allies scored impressive victories.

In March of 1836, General Winfield Scott launched a campaign to surround the Seminoles in the cove with an army of 5,000 men. While marching to Fort Brook in Tampa, Scott stopped by a lake to leave the sick and wounded under the care of Major Mark Anthony Cooper. Cooper’s priority was to build a protective fortification, aware that if a large Seminole force caught the soldiers out in the open, the entire command might be wiped out.

A few days after Scott departed, a force of several hundred Seminole warriors led by Osceola attacked. The 380 soldiers remained safe behind the picket wall fortification of pine trees; however, the Seminoles kept the soldiers trapped by attacking for 16 days, stealing cattle and forcing them to slaughter horses for sustenance.

The Seminole warriors who attacked Fort Cooper needed no fortification. Their defense was familiarity with the forests and swamps of the cove, where they could hide unseen and travel undetected. The Seminoles had adapted to the conditions of Florida’s interior.

Just as supplies were running out at Fort Cooper, General Scott returned on April 18 with more soldiers and supplies. Major Cooper, the five companies, the sick and wounded were evacuated. Due to Major Cooper’s vigilant leadership during the two week siege, the Georgia Battalion sustained about 20 men wounded, but lost only one man. It is unknown how many casualties were taken by the Seminole warriors. The knowledge of a manned Fort Cooper and the ability of the soldiers to enter the Cove of the Withlacoochee convinced Osceola and other Seminole leaders that the cove was no longer a safe haven. The Seminoles living in the Cove of the Withlacoochee moved south.

From 1836 to 1842, the United States Army used the fort as a horse depot, a scouting post and a watering hole, after which time it was abandoned. In 1842, with only a few hundred defiant Seminoles still at large, the Second Seminole War was declared over.  After a third and final war from 1855 to 1858, the last remaining Seminoles stayed hidden in the wilds of the Everglades. Today, the several thousand Seminole Indians who live in Florida are proud descendants of the fewer than 200 defiant warriors and their families who refused to give up the homeland they loved.

In December of 1970, landowner John H. Eden Jr., sold land to the state and began working with archaeologists to excavate the Fort Cooper site. Fort Cooper was added to the National Register of Historic Places on June 12, 1972. In 1977, the site opened to the public as a state park. An annual reenactment event, known as "Fort Cooper Days", is held each March on the third weekend. "Fort Cooper Days" is a two-day event, complete with two battle reenactments daily, Living History demonstrations, Period Arts and Crafts, live music, food and refreshments.