Sonuk Mikko
Sonuk Mikko (unknown—ca. 1864), commonly known as Billy Bowlegs and also known as So-Nuk-Mek-Ko, was a Seminole who gained recognition as a captain in the American Civil War. Mikko adopted the name of Chief Billy Bowlegs from (Holato Micco), who had fought in the Second and Third Seminole wars, following Holato Micco's death in 1859. Civil War With the secession of eleven Southern states in 1861, both the Union and Confederacy vied for control of the Indian Territory. Old tribal rivalries were renewed, with some aligning with the North and others with the South. Sonuk Mikko sided with the Union. When a Confederate force under Col. Douglas H. Cooper attacked Unionist tribes in the Indian Territory, Mikko aligned his followers with Opothleyahola's Upper Creeks and resisted. Together, they fought Cooper in a series of losing battles in the winter of 1861–62 that led to the withdrawal of the Union sympathizers to Kansas in a bitter trek known as the "Trail of Blood on Ice." Mikko's band covered the rear after the Battle of Chustenahlah against Cherokee chief Stand Watie. They eventually settled near Fort Belmont, where a number of his Seminoles perished of exposure and starvation during the winter. Mikko