During a storm in 1799, the schooner Fox ran aground off the eastern end of St. George Island with William Augustus Bowles aboard, a British citizen and self-styled leader of the Creek-Cherokee nation. Carrying gunpowder and bullets, he hoped to re-establish his prominence among the Creeks, drive the Spanish out of Florida, and create an independent Muskogee state under British protection. The Creeks were the most organized of the southern Indians and still controlled much of their territory, and because of Florida's strategic location, the U.S., Spain, Britain, and France were all interested in Bowles' actions. Using supplies salvaged from the wreck, Bowles paddled up the Apalachicola River to reunite with his Creek family and begin rallying native support, while the ship captain and crew camped on the island until rescuers returned them to Jamaica. Bowles and his Creek, Seminole, black, and white followers captured the Spanish fort at St. Marks in 1800 and held it for over a month, embarrassing Spain and exposing its fragile hold on Florida. After Britain's peace with France and Spain through the Treaty of Amiens in 1802 removed any hope of British support, Bowles lived among the Creeks until his recapture in 1803 and died in a Cuban prison. Though his plans failed, he plagued the Spanish for almost two decades and prevented them from maintaining complete military control of Florida.