The Case of Oceola’s Missing Head
Where’s Osceola?
Evansville Press, March 31, 1966, p4
In April the Florida Senate responds voting on a resolution for remaining South Carolina return Osceol’s Bones voting and the resolution was later passed in the Florida House. Florida senator George Smathers continued to press the return into 1952 but the South Carolina governor James Byrnes said the South Carolina legislature refused and said, “I cannot see that there has been any change in the situation.” and that was pretty much the end of it, Osceola’s remains would remain at Fort Moultrie.
In
May of 1966, William McKinely Osceola, known as Chief Billy, died. Chief
Billy was the grandson of Osceola and died deep in the Everglades as he
watched the annual tribal corn dance. Chief Billy’s son said he wanted his
father buried where his body would rest untouched, unlike his
great-grandfather.
Well mostly. In 1966 the former Miami city commissioner Otis W. Shiver claimed that he had gone to Fort Moultrie, dug up Osceola’s bones and returned them to Florida where he buried them near the Everglades. But Paul C. Schartz, the superintendent of Fort Moultrie said Shiver’s claim was, “A lot of bunk.” and said while there was some vandalism to Osceola’s grave, “they didn’t get anything.”
In the end it appeared that Shiver made the claim as a publicity stunt for his run for the Florida Senate which in April he dropped out of.