Quote:
Originally Posted by K2
And whacky business #2 of the day ... Seminole Tride of Florida ponying up ~$1 bil for Hard Rock Cafe ...
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If anyone was confused, the Seminoles are INDIANS, a
tribe from Florida.
Quote:
Originally Posted by K2
sorry to be pessimistic but running 2 casino's does not make you capable of running a global business - wish them luck ... they'll need it!
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Don't underestimate the Seminoles too readily!
From 1814 to 1858, the US govt. brought the full force of the army, the navy, and the Marines against 5,000 Seminoles, the last remnants of a proud people that numbered 200,000 when the Spanish first set foot in Florida 300 years before(most died from white man's diseases). In 1830, the US law decreed that all remaining US Indians must move west of the Mississippi to Arkansas and Oklahoma. They then spent $40M fighting the Seminoles, and lost 2,000 soldiers in battle in the first guerilla war the US ever fought. At the beginning of the 2nd Seminole war in 1835, the great Seminole warrior, Osceola, when called to a meeting of chiefs and confronted with a treaty agreeing to move the tribes to Arkansas, responded by pulling his long knife, and throwing it through the paper, sticking it to the table, whereupon he was thrown into the brig. Later, he signed it to get out of jail, then went into the forest, assembled a war party, and attacked a column of 800 army troops, of whom only 3 lived to tell of it. Finally, after 3 years of fighting and many victories, he was lured into peace talks under a white flag of truce,and immediately imprisoned where he died of pneumonia six months later in mid-winter. His followers fought on. By 1842, many had died fighting, and 3,000 had been captured and moved West. The remaining 300 fled into the swamps, and hid there, rather than surrender their lands and freedom. In 1856, soldiers went into the swamps looking for them. Led by Billy Bowlegs, the Seminoles attacked and won another victory. They spent two years, and a great sum of money to find Bowlegs, which they did. But they never got the Seminoles to surrender. After an Army surveyor wandered into the swamps in 1908, and was shot and killed by Seminoles, the US changed its' tactics, set aside a number of small plots, and tried to convince the Seminoles to move to reservations. Remembering the trap Osceola fell into, only a few took the offer. In 1938, the government created several very large reservations, and some Seminoles moved to them, but still the majority preferred freedom in the swamps. It wasn't until 1957, when the govt. proposed to terminate all rights of the Seminoles, in effect, declaring them non-existent as a tribe, that the Seminoles finally agreed to move to the reservation lands, and set up a formal elected tribal government.
Soon, thereafter, they set up business, selling duty-free goods, especially cigarettes, on their reservation, refused to pay any taxes from tribal enterprises to the state or federal govts., declaring that they were the sovereign Seminole Nation, and the US/Florida govts. have no authority to tax their businesses, nor were they obligated to collect sales taxes on behalf of the US or state govts., and they aslo made a claim on the US govt. for most of the land in Florida, claiming the govt. owed them for it. They won a large settlement on the land claim, and were largely ignored/tolerated on other matters until they opened the first gambling business on their reservation, which was against state and federal law at the time. Dragged into court, they claimed their land was sovereign, Outsied the jurisdiction of US/Florida govts., and, therefore, exempt from US or Florida law. After lengthy legal battles, they emerged unbowed and victorious once again, thereby, opening the way for all US Indian tribes to start gambling casinos. Today, they are a very prosperous tribe, with gambling casinos, an amusement park, and substantial citrus and tobacco businesses.
Liek the Thai nation, the the Seminole Nation has always maintained its' independence, and never surrendered to anyone. Except, unlike the Thais, they did it the hard way, by fighting for it.
I would not underestimate the Seminoles.