Crazy Brave Medicine: Josiah Francis of the Creek

Some spiritual leaders preached a message that fired their people to resistance or a new way of life.  Others had more intangible powers that were equally effective in making warriors want to fight the invading Settlers.  Abiaka was one known for his medicine, a combination of ceremonies, herbs and other methods to inspire Seminole and Miccosuke warriors into the proper frame of mind for battle.  So, too, was Josiah Francis (1770-1818).

Josiah was mixed race, born in central Alabama to a silversmith father and a Creek mother.  He married into the Wind Clan, the first among the Creek clans.  This made him a nephew by marriage of Alexander McGillivray and a brother-in-law of William Weatherford, a Red Stick Creek leader.  He was inspired by Tecumseh's movement and instructed by a Shawnee medicine man, though not Tenskwatawa himself.  He became known for his skills at preparing warriors for battle, hence his
Creek name, Hillis Harjo, or Crazy Brave Medicine.  Though he was primarily a spiritual leader, he sometimes led war parties in the field, as he did along with Weatherford at the Battle of Burnt Corn, which we discussed in an earlier post.

At the disastrous conclusion of the Creek War, as his family fled to Florida along with the McQueens, Powells and others, he traveled to England to enlist English  help for a resurgence of the Creeks.  The English promised nothing concrete and he returned to Florida in 1817.  At first, he was prepared to lay down arms and try to coexist with the Americans.  But as more and more Settlers poured into Florida, he again took up the fight.  Andrew Jackson invaded Florida and began burning Native villages, sparking more resistance.  Jackson quickly determined the leaders and culprits and on April 8, 1818, Josiah Francis and a Seminole war leader were hanged on Jackson's order, in sight of Francis' daughter Milly, his wife and Milly's sisters.