34 University of California Publications in History

through Onis, in 1812 and 1813, and after the war was well under
way, United States troops were finally withdrawn from before St.
Augustine in May, 1813.
 Later, Indian troubles on the Apalachicola River directed at-
tention to the apparent English incitement of the red men in an-
other part of East Florida. Major Edward Nicholls, of the British
marines, built a fort on that river, gathering Seminole and Creek
allies. When he left at the end of the war Negroes, evidently allies
of the Indians, seized the place, which thus acquired the name Ne-
gro Fort. After various threats from General Jackson in an effort
to end its troublemaking, General Gaines, under Jackson's orders,
built Fort Scott on the Flint River near-by. In 1816, when a supply
convoy moving up the river was attacked, with some casualties,
troops from Fort Scott advanced. A redhot cannonball was thrown
into Negro Fort, killing many of its defenders. As a result of this
reprisal the Negroes and Indians were for a time cowed, if not
pacified.
 WEST FLORMA
 It is difficult at times to keep the stories of East and West Florida
 separate, and it is not in all respects desirable. For in their strate-
 gic position, their Indian troubles, and their dangerous possibili-
 ties in the war, they were much alike. They were separated in
 some degree by the fact that there were few permanent settlements
 between St. Augustine and St. Mark's or Apalache, and few be-
 tween the latter two towns and Pensacola, the capital of West
 Florida. An important element in the population of the western
 province was the body of several hundred Indians, mostly of the
 Creek federation," who were nearly as troublesome as the Semi-
 noles in East Florida.
 The chief political dispute over West Florida involved the region
 west of the Perdido, which was claimed by the United States as
 part of the Louisiana Purchase. There, owing to this claim and to
 more rapid occupation, Spain's regime was disturbed sooner than
 in the peninsula.
 After the passage of the Mobile Act in 1804, numerous settlers
 entered West Florida, as well as Louisiana proper, from the west-
 ern states. Many of them received land grants from Intendant
 Ventura Morales; and all were subject, though in a more or less
 rebellious manner, to the administration of Governor Folch.