 Constant attacks and rumor @-@ spreading amplified the demands of Floridian community leaders , forcing the Navy to send Lieutenant Levin M. Powell to Key West . Lieutenant Powell built a small force of fifty seamen , ninety @-@ five marines , and eight officers , reinforced by two schooners and the United States Cutter Washington , commanded by Captain Day . Powell called Cooley to be his guide in the enterprise because of his knowledge of Indian leaders and customs . Powell had mixed success , although by December 1836 the situation was under control at the coasts . Cooley went back to his usual duties in Indian Key ( Dade County Seat ) ; not long after , he moved to Tampa but still worked occasionally as a guide . 
