John Horse (c. 1812–1882), also known as Juan Caballo, Juan Cavallo, John Cowaya (with spelling variations) and Gopher John, was of mixed ancestry (African and Seminole Indian) who fought alongside the Seminoles in the Second Seminole War in Florida. He rose to prominence in the third year of what was to become a seven-year war when the first generation of Black Seminole leaders was largely decimated and the primary Seminole war chief, Osceola (Asi Yahola), fell into the hands of the American military commander, General Thomas Sydney Jesup. Biography Early life and education John Horse, called Juan as a child, was born around 1812 in Florida. He was a Seminole slave of Spanish, Seminole, and African descent. He lived initially in the region that came to be called Micanopy after the last head chief of the Florida Seminole in north central Florida. John assumed the surname of his father and nominal owner, the Seminole trader Charley Cavallo, his surname "Horse" being believed to have been a translation of Cavallo (or Caballo, the Spanish word for horse). His mother was likely of pure African descent, a slave acquired by Charley Cavallo in his travels. Charley was, himself, of possibly mixed descent (Indian-Spanish parentage.). The young John also had a sister, Juana (sometimes spelled "Wannah" or "Warner" in some sources). Not much is known about Charley Cavallo although it does not appear that he treated either of his two mixed-race children as slaves. The War of 1812 broke out between the United States and Great Britain in the year John Horse is thought to have been born. At that time he and Juana were probably living with their mother in one of the black settlements affiliated with, and under the jurisdiction of, the Alachua band of Oconee Seminole along the Suwannee River. When the American General Andrew Jackson invaded the area, he scattered the tribal peoples and their black allies in the region, destroying settlements and seizing blacks from among the Seminole for removal to the north to be returned to plantation slavery. John was probably displaced with his family by these actions since he first enters the historical record some years later as a young adolescent in the Tampa area. John Horse spent his formative years among the Oconee Seminole, living like other Indian boys, learning to hunt and fish and developing tracking skills. He also became proficient with bow and