John Horse

(SCROLL DOWN FOR PICS!)  

John Horse

Overview of a Story and Screenplay by Walt Alexander and James Riordan

In an era when historic black stories are like diamonds in the rough, with a host of powerful Hollywood actors, director and producers searching for the best, comes the long untold, legend of John Horse. John Horse, also known as Juan Caballo, or Gopher John was the dominant Black Seminole personality for half a century.  He counseled Seminole leaders, served as an agent of the U.S. government, and became a Mexican Army officer.  He served the Seminole Maroons as warrior, diplomat, and patriarch, and represented their interests in both Washinton, D.C. and Mexico City.  At various time he fought for the freedom of his people against the United States, the French, and Indians and survived three wars, four attempts on his life, and the near constant stalking of slave hunters.
 

Little is known of John Horse’s early years but by 1826 he was living in his owner’s village near Tampa Bay, Floridahttp://www.blackpast.org/entries-categories/florida.  During the Second Seminole War, 1835-42, he initially led Maroons against U.S. forces in Florida, but, offered the promise of freedom, he agreed to surrender and relocate west with the Seminoles in March 1837.  By 1840, John Horse had married Susan July, the daughter of a Seminole Maroon guide and interpreter.  Fearing that his family, and his fellow Maroons would be re-enslaved, Horse entered into an alliance with disaffected Seminoles and left Indian Territory in November 1849 for northern Mexico.
 

Naming Horse’s followers Mascogos, the Mexicans in 1852 gave the Maroons, Seminoles, and a band of Southern Kickapoos separate land grants at Nacimiento to establish military colonies.  In exchange for land, tools, and livestock, the immigrants agreed to fight against Apache and Comanche raiders.  The Mexican authorities viewed John Horse as the undisputed head of the Mascogos and referred to him as El Capitán Juan Caballo.
 

During the summer of 1870, John Horse and many of the Mascogos returned to the United States and settled near Fort Duncan, Texas.  In August, the able-bodied men enrolled in the U.S. Army as a new unit that came to be known as the Seminole Negro Indian Scouts.  John Horse, however, never served with the scouts. After a failed assassination attempt against him by white Texans, Horse again led the Mascogos into Mexico.  He died there in 1882 while on a mission to represent them before Mexican president Porfirio Diaz.  Without question his story is the greatest untold one for people of color and his passion for freedom and truth will touch all races, all people with a heart for love. 

San Antonio Film Festival Winner 2018

Independent Talents International Fiilm Festival Selected 2018 

Las Vegas Black Film Festival Finalist 2019 

The American Film Awards Winner 2019 

Austin Revolution Film Festival Selected 2019

Lucky Strike Film Festival Selected 2019 

Los Angeles International Underground Film Festival Winner 2019 

Hollywood International Diversity Film Festival Finalist 2020 

New York International Film Festival Selected 2022 

Oxford Script Awards Selected 2022/23

Magic Silver Screen Film Festival, Winner 2023

Cannes Film Festival Selected 2023

CLIMAX Festival Internacional de Cinema  Nominated 2023

Toronto Film and Script Awards Nominated 2024

Author Script Awards Winner 2024

FILMHAUS Nominated 2024

Chicago Script Awards Winner 2024 

Dallas Movie Fest Winner 2024

 Lonely Wolf (LWIFF)  Nominated 2024

Dallas Movie Fest Winner 2024

Sensei Film Fest Winner 2024 

NYC Independent Film Festival  Selected  2024

Everest Film Festival Winner 2024

Alpine International Film Festival Selected 2024

New York Metropolitain Screenwriting and Film Awards Quarter Finalist 2024

NYC International Screenplay Awards Semi-Finalist 2024

Hollywood International Indie Screenplay Awards Selected 2024

Scriptmax Screenwriting Fellowship Semi-Finalist 2024 

New York Film and Actress Awards  Winner 2024 

New York Independent Cinema Awards  Winner 2024

Los Angeles Film and Documentary Awards Selected 2024