Slaves often took refuge in the swamps of the American southeast during the early decades of the nineteenth century (I would presume further back into the eighteenth century as well, though I know less about that history). It was not easy for slaveowners/catchers to track runaway slaves into Florida's swamplands, and groups of slaves often set up their own "maroon" communities there.

At other times, they might join an Indigenous community in the region. Most famously, the Seminole--one of the five major Indigenous groups in the southeast often referred to as the "Five Civilized Tribes"--had significant numbers of "maroons" as members of their community, but runaway slaves also joined up with groups like the Creeks.

In the late 1810s, American forces under the command of Andrew Jackson staged a campaign against both maroon and Indigenous communities in the southeast. They were forced to cede territory to the United States, and many of them were eventually removed to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears. Maroons were often resold into slavery. As the region was brought under American control, it became more difficult for slaves to run away to the swamps and join Indigenous communities. However, not all of these communities were stamped out, and some of them managed to avoid persecution for decades.

For this comment, I primarily drew upon Daniel Walker Howe's What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848. The first three chapters or so have some information on this. However, his book is just a summary of what other scholars have said about this topic--his bibliography and notes will be able to point you toward more in-depth works on the subject, if you're interested.