Halpatter Tustennuggee (1795-c. 1857), also known as Chief Alligator was a chief of the Seminole people.
In 1817, Alligator founded Lake City, Florida. In that time period, there was conflict between the United States and the Seminoles, and Alligator had to fight against the American invaders. He signed the Treaty of Payne's Landing, which ended the war between the two, but never gave up his campaigns against the Creek people nor the US. In 1835, he opposed Indian agent Wiley Thompson, who tried to remove the rest of the chiefs from Alligator Town. The four other war chiefs successfully changed his mind. In 1837, he was one of the main leaders at the battle of Okeechobee, leading Abiaka's soldiers after another warrior fired the first shot. The United States troops were hacked at by Alligator himself, and the Indians made a stand against the troops.
After the Seminoles' defeat, Alligator was allowed on the land of the Cherokee people. Also, the chief refused to be accepted as a Creek or follow their beliefs. Though he insisted on Seminole, it was 1856 when the Creeks finally recognized their separation. One year after then, Alligator sent his children to learn the alphabet and spelling at a missionary. Afterwards, there was no further mention of him.
Halpatter Tustennuggee II