Dark Prospects

Overnight, Mason had wiped out the freedom of more than 280 Black Seminoles. Even John Horse's family was in dire jeopardy. His wife Susan was now subject to the claims of an Indian master, Nelly Factor, who also claimed Susan's children. Worse still, Factor had sold all her claims to Creek traders. For the first time in their lives, Susan and her children faced the prospect of plantation slavery. They could be sold anywhere -- to another Indian in the Territory, to white men in Arkansas, to traders who would sell them South, forcing an anguished separation.

John Horse and his wife were not alone in their agony. Across the Black Seminole community, family members and loved ones were facing the darkest prospects of their lives.