1812

John Horse's mother was an African woman whose name is lost to history. His father -- and master -- was Charles Cavallo, a Seminole Indian.

The birth name Cavallo revealed the hybrid nature of John Horse's world, where Spanish and English mingled freely with Hitchiti and Muskogee. Written variously as Caballo, Cowaya or Cohia, the name was probably a variant on the Hitchiti word kaway for horse. "John Horse," used later in his life, was how Black Seminoles would come to remember their future leader.