BLACK SEMINOLE ADAM PAINE AWARDED MEDAL OF HONOR (MOH) FOR BATTLE OF PALO DURO CANYON
Born near Alachua, Florida, in 1843, his family was moved to Indian Territory but, fearing slavery, they like many Black Seminoles fled to Mexico & fought hostile tribes in return for land. After 1865, the U.S. Army offered land, food & pay to serve as scouts. At Fort Duncan, Texas, on November 12, 1873, Paine joined the “Seminole-Negro Indian Scouts.” On September 26, 1874, he & 4 other scouts ran into a larger group of Comanche and fled. When his horse was shot, he used his saddle for cover, shot the lead attacker, mounted the man’s horse & escaped. The scouts alerted the 4th Cavalry which, the next day at the Battle of Palo Duro Canyon, surprised the Comanches. Paine & 7 others earned MOHs. Discharged in early 1875 and working at Fort Brown, Texas, he killed a trooper Christmas Eve, 1875 and fled. On December 31, 1876, authorities including one Deputy Claron Windus—another MOH winner–captured him. Windus shot Paine–the only known case of one MOH recipient killing another.
Sources: “Adam Paine: Medal of Honor Recipient,” Seminole I.T. Retrieved 7/23/2020, http://www.seminolenation-indianterritory.org/adampaine.htm Wikipedia. Photo: Author unknown, 1914. Public Domain.
Indigenous America Calendar 