FLORIDA
Vol. 2 No. 1
Where old news is good news!
January-March 1999
BLAZING GUNS IN BARTOW MANN BROTHERS LYNCHED!
Quiz 1. What was the name of the leader of Seminoles who attacted a theater troupe? 2. Who was the King of Crackers? 3. Why did O.D. catch the train? 4. What did Mary Jane say to the Yankee? 4. Who shot the marshal? 5. What kind of treatment makes chert workable? 6.What was the brand new discovery that sheds light on the prehistoric people of Miami? 7. When were cattle first brought to Florida from Europe? 8. Who opened an office in Havana in order to sell cattle and other goods consigned to them? 9. Who founded the Order of the Sacred Cow? 10. When did open-range ranching come to an end? Read the stories to find the answers.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Events …page 2& 3 Museums & Societies…page 3 Vaqueros to Crackers…page 4 When Hamlet was a Wildcat…page 5 O.D. Catches the Train...page 6 …page 7 Arrow Points…page 8 Mystery Exposed…page 9 Cow and Bully-vards…page 10 Whitaker Bayou…page 10 King of Crackrs…page 11 Books Reviews…page 12,13, 14 Editorials…page 12 &14 Classified Ads…page 15 Barbeque Recipes page 16 HelpFul Hints…page 16. Soda Water…page 16
©Hermann Trappman
When the South was as wild as the West, Dan Mann shoots down the town marshal on the Main Street of Bartow, Florida in 1886 over a dispute about money owed him and his brother. by Canter Brown, Jr.
It was said that Dan and Lony Mann had been drinking when on May 15, 1886, they journeyed from their Winter Haven home to Bartow. Their tempers exploded when the proprietors of the Johnson, Daniels & Co. saloon refused to pay them the money they were owed [for getting up signatures on a petition to authorize liquor license.] Dan yelled at the saloon keeper, you get the money up, because I’ll be back,” and the two brothers rushed from the saloon to a nearby store where they purchased a box of .32 caliber cartridges. Loading their guns, the men set out again for the saloon, Dan in a buggy and Lony on foot. Alarmed at Dan Mann’s threat, Johnson and Daniels hastily summoned the town marshal, W.S. Campbell, who intercepted the angry brothers on the street. Attempting to make an arrest, Campbell fell to loudly “remonstrating” with Dan when up rushed the town night watchman, Jack McCormick, who had a reputation as a “real tough character.” Spotting McCormick, Campbell yelled to him for help, and the night watchman lunged at the mule drawing Dan’s buggy and grabbed for its reins. In the excitement, Lony drew his pistol and jumped to his brother’s defense, his shot grazing McCormick’s left temple and ear. In the resulting “melee,” both Manns
apparently were wounded, and Dan shot Marshall Campbell through the heart and killed him. As Marshall Campbell fell, Lony Mann jumped into Dan’s buggy and the two brothers fled from town. Sheriff R.P. Kilpatrick, who “happened to be on the spot,” summoned a posse of fifteen from “fifty of the men on the street” and sped off in pursuit. Half a mile out of town the Mann’s buggy hit a stump and overturned, injuring one of the brothers badly. Dan and Lony made it only about another half a mile on foot before they were spotted by T.S. Hull, who held them “at bay” until the posse arrived. The brothers were returned to Bartow through crowds yelling “Lynch them,” “Hang then,” and “Shoot them.” It was about 6:00 P.M. when they were lodged in the county jail. As the Manns were being locked up, the crowd outside the jail grew violent when Marshal Campbell’s wife and young children were brought out to view “the dead corpse lying in the street.” Heads were cool enough, however, to notify the sheriff quietly that the Manns would be lynched, and at 8:00 P.M. a crowd estimated at two hundred descended upon the jail. After token resistance, the sheriff surrendered his keys and the prisoners were hauled to a nearby oak tree. While Dan was being strung up Lony, made a break for it and
took about thirty steps before being shotgunned, and then hanged. The deaths of W.S. Campbell and the Mann Brothers did not end the saga of the Johnson, Daniels & Co. Saloon, nor that of the night watchman Jack McCormick. Through the summer of 1886 the proprietors of the saloon struggled unsuccessfully to obtain enough signatures on petitions to renew their license. At two o’clock on the morning of September 22, 1886, eight days before its license was due to expire, the saloon burst into flames and a great deal of Bartow’s business district was destroyed in the resulting blaze. Six days later Churchill Johnson, H.B. Daniels and Bartow night watchman Jack McCormick were arrested for arson. The disposition of the charges is unknown, although McCormick was allowed to remain the city’s employ as marshal until January 1988 when he was “impeached and removed” by the town council.• Excerpt from Florida’s Peace River Frontier, University of Central Florida Press, Orlando, 1991. Copyright University of Florida Press. Dr. Brown, a native of Polk County, provides invaluable research about the Florida frontier. For other books he has written, contact the Tampa Bay History Center, where he is the resident historian.
EVENTS CALENDAR NORTH CENTRAL SOUTH
NORTH January
2-3 Fernandina Beach/Fort Clinch State Park, Union Grand Encampment, Civil War (904) 277-7274 9 Jacksonville, Winter Planetaium Shows begin at Museum of Science & History(MOSH) 1025 Museum Circle, Contact:(904) 396-MOSH 6-9 Tallahassee/St. Marks GEOpark, DeSoto’s 1539 Winter Encampment in an Apalachee Indian village. School Tours Wed.-Fri., Public Fri. 16th Century, 1022 DeSoto Park Drive, (850) 922-6007. 10 White Springs/Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center, Stephen Foster Day, special musical program and carillon recitals of fosters selections honoring this 19th Century composer.(904) 379-2733 15 Gainesville/Florida Museum of Natural History, Art of the Amazon, PowellHall, S.W. 34th St. off Archer Rd. Contact:(352)846-2000 or www. flmnh.ufl.edu. 16 Wakulla Springs State Park and Lodge. Fireside Stories, 14 mi. S of Tallahassee on SR 267- SR 61 (820) 224-5950 16 & 20 Gainesville/Paynes Prairie State Preserve, Prairie Rim Ramble, Follow the foot steps of famed naturalist.artist William Bartrum on this half-day 3.5 mile ranger led hike. (352) 466-3397. 18-19 Gainesville, Nannies & Billies spend a few days being a Florida pioneer kid, learning chores, hobbies, pastimes and crafts. Mini Camp: Full Day - $24 / Half Day $12 Morningside Nature Center, 3540 E. University Ave. Contact: Gary Paul (352) 334-2170.
February
Black History Month 5 Tallahassee/Museum of Florida History, Doll Collector’s Day More than 200 antique and contemporary dolls and their accessories, as well as consultation about doll repairs, will provide a special experience during this annual event. Free. 500 S. Bronough St., Contact: (850) 488-1484 6 Jacksonville, Black History Day, Museum of Science and History(MOSH) 1025 Museum Circle, Contact:(904) 396-MOSH 6-7 Point Washington,/Eden State Gardens, 7th Annual School of the Soldier, Civil War Living history, (850)231-4214 6-7 Fernandina Beach/Fort Clinch State Park, Union Grand Encampment, Civil War (904) 277-7274 6-7 Miami, International Miami Map Fair, Historical Museum of Southern Florida, for collectors, hobbyists & antique Map Dealers, Admission $5 or Full Program $45., Keynote Speaker: Philip Burden, author, The Mapping of North America, 101 West Flagler Street, Contact: (305) 375-1492 or mapfair@historicalmuseum.org 13-14 Lake City, Battle of Olustee Reenactment, Civil War, Battle on Sat. at 3:30 pm. P[eriod music, ball and suttlers. (904) 758-0400 15 Gainesville, Game Day - for kids only simple games of times gone by: hopscotch, jacks, hoops and tops. Mini Camp: Full Day - $24 / Half Day $12 Morningside Nature Center, 3540 E. University Ave.
Contact: Gary Paul (352) 334-2170 20 St. Augustine, Menéndez Birthday, (16th Century) celebration of founding father of North America’s first city- music, pagentry, dances, a Paso Fino horse paseo, “tapas” party of the cuisine of Menéndez native region of northern Spain. Nella Holton (904) 825-5088 E-mail: betmar@ aug.com 20-21 Dunnellon/Rainbow Springs State Park, 6th Annual Art in the Park, (352) 489-8503 20 & 27 Gainesville/Paynes Prairie State Preserve, Prairie Rim Ramble, Follow the foot steps of famed naturalist.artist William Bartrum on this half-day 3.5 mile ranger led hike. 23 Tallahassee/Museum of Florida History Children’s Day. The current “Pirates!” exhibit will provide a theme for the Museum’s annual event for families, which will feature crafts, activities, entertainment, and lots of fun! Free. 11 am - 4 pm. 500 S. Bronough St., Contact: (850) 488-1484 26-28 Micanopy, Knap-In & Primitive Arts Festival, Paynes Prairie State Preserve, 10 miles south of Gainesville on US 441 (Primitive Technology/Archaeology Daily Admission $3.25 per vehicle. Contact: (352) 466-3397. 27-28 Crystal River, Civil War Event 27-28 Hernando County, WW-2 Event 27 St. Augustine Beach/Anastasia State Recreational Area, Flight to Freedom, site of Ft. Mose, UsI and Saratoga Blvd., St. Augustine. Experience the journey to freedom taken by British enslaved Africans fleeing to Ft. Mose in Spanish Florida in 1738. Reenactments, stories , songs. (904) 461-2000.
March
6-7 Woodville, Natural Bridge Reenactment, (Civil War), Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park, Contact: Shirley (850) 922-6007 13 St. Augustine, Lighthouse Festival, return to Victorian era with games, arts & crafts, living history, 81 Lighthouse Ave. (904) 829-0745 Free. 13 Jacksonville, Health & Nutrition Day, Museum of Science and History(MOSH) 1025 Museum Circle, Contact:(904) 396MOSH 13 Gainesville/Paynes Prairie State Preserve, Prairie Rim Ramble, Follow the foot steps of famed naturalist.artist William Bartrum on this half-day 3.5 mile ranger led hike. (352) 466-3397. 13-14 Ocala,/Silver River State Park, Ocali County Cracker Days/Raid on Marshall Plantation, Civil War and crafts and food of Cracker Florida. Contact: Elaine (352) 236-5401. 13-14 O’Leno State Park, Leno Heritage Days, pioneer Leno in 1800’s Rope, soap making, blacksmithing, quilting, grist milling. (904) 454-1853 19-21, St. Augustine, The Sacking of St. AugustineFountain of Youth Park (two blocks from Castillo de San Marcos), being the 1668 taking of the town by English Corsair Robert Searles. Contact: Rupert’s Blewcoates, Capt. William Kunze (407) 438-8601 or E-mail willykunze@yahoo.com. Re-enactors and suttlers please R.S.V.P. 20-21 Orlando, Narcoossee Mills Civil War Event 20-21 Fernadenia Beach, Fort Clinch Spanish Amerivcan War (1898) (904) 277-7274. 27 Jacksonville, Woman’s History Day/ Spring Planetarium Shows, Museum of Science and History(MOSH) 1025 Museum Circle, Contact: (904) 396-MOSH 26-29 Inverness/Fort Cooper State Park, Annual Battle Reenactment. Second Seminole War, 2 battle reenactments on Saturday and Sunday. School program on Thurs. and Fri. 27-28 Fernandina Beach/Fort Clinch State Park, Confederate Garrison, Civil War 1864, (904) 277-7274
February is Black History Month
2
CENTRAL January
1-3 Bushnell/Dade Battlefield State Park, Annual Dade Battle Reenactment, Second Seminole War, Friday seminars on clothing, history. Battle at @:00 pm. Reenactors free. 1 mi. S of Bushnell on Battlefield Dr. between I-75 & US Hwy. 301. 1 - Apr. 11. St. Petersburg, Lost Culture - A Pre-History of Tampa Bay, Florida Holocaust Museum. 2 St. Petersburg, Downtown Walking Tours the1st Saturday of the month Nov. Apr. 1-1/2 tour departs from the Williams Park Bandshell at 10am($3 donation suggested).Contact: St. Petersburg Preservation, Inc. (727) 824-7802 3-11 Orlando, Rendezvous at The Fort, Pre-1840’s Frontier, The Fort, southeast of Orlando, off Moss Park Road. Contact: Cathy and John Street, P.O. Box 18404, West Palm Beach, FL 33416-8404. 6 Largo, Pinellas Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society, Pinellas County Parks: Major Changes, lecture by Diana Kyle, director, 7:30 pm. Cooperative Extension Service, 12175 125 St. N. (727)544-7341 9 Tampa/MOSI Fossil Dig - Vulcan Mine, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; Call for details (813) 987-6300. 15 Zephyrhills, Mickey Finn Show, old tyme piano & banjo & comedy Dixieland, Zepherhills Lions Club, ($10 advance - $12 at door Benefits Pioneer Florida Museum) (352) 567-0262 or (352) 588-3398 16 Tampa/MOSI. Visit the Kennedy Space Center, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. with a MOSI space expert. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; Call for details (813) 9876300. 16-17 Brooksville, Brooksville Raid, Civil War, no details. 18 St. Petersburg, Celebrate Martin Luther King Day. Feed you curiosity with our new exhibits. Pier Aquarium, 800 2nd.
Ave. NE ,2nd floor (727)833-9520 18 Tampa, MOSI What’s Inside the Computer Class, Brain Busters Interactive Class. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; Call for details (813) 987-6300. 16-24 Keysville (Plant City/Brandon), Alafia River Rendezvous, Pre-1840’s Frontier. Web Page http://home1.gte.net/ haddo/ Public Days-Jan. 22-23. 20 St. Petersburg, Surfing the Sound Waves - Come feel the waves and see the ocean. Experience what sound looks, feels and sounds like both in air and in water 10 am - noon, Donations. Pier Aquarium, 800 2nd. Ave. NE, 2nd floor (727)833-9520 21-30 Bradenton, Manatee River Fair 22 St. Petersburg, Art on Rye, Brown bag lunch with christopher Still, artist, historical and nature artist who painted the official portrait of the late Governor Lawton Chiles. Tampa Bay Holocaust Museum. 23 Kissimmee, Living History Day at Fort Basinger, along Kissimmee River. (Second Seminole War Fort Basinger was established by Col. Taylor as a camp and hospital after the Battle of Okeechobee on Dec. 25, 1837. Contact Doris Gentry, (941)453-6661 ext. 268 or (941) 453-5778. 23 Withlacoochee State Trail, Annual Reforesting Project, Plant native trees at the Inverness Trailhead and the SR 50 Trailhead. Call (352) 394-2280. 23 St. Petersburg, 3rd Annual PPS Classic Car Show (Gate Fee $3)- Pinellas Pioneer Settlement, 3130 31st St. So. (727) 866-6401 24-31 Dade City/Withlacoochee River Park, Fort Dade Rendezvous, Pre-1840’s Frontier/Second Seminole War. , 12449 Withlacoochee Blvd. 352-567-0264 or 352-583-3388. 26 Tampa/MOSI, How to Use a Telescope, 7 - 9 p.m. The Saunders Planetarium staff teaches amateur astronomers to become knowledgeable star gazers. Limited registration: 6 telescopes with a maximum of 2 people per telescope attending. Fees:
Vol.2 No.1 Jan. - Mar. 1999
Published Quarterly by Neily Trappman Studio 5409 21st Ave. S. • Gulfport • FL • 33707 Phone (727)321-7845 E-Mail tocobaga@gte.net Web Address http//home1@gte.net/tocobaga
“Understanding the past gives you the freedom to plan for the future.” Writers: Ken Anderson Cantor Brown, Jr. Mary Alice Gilcrist Robert Hawk Butch Hunt Elizabeth Neily Hermann Trappman Illustrations/Photography: Elizabeth Neily Hermann Trappman Intern
Sherry Valentine
Computer Service: specializing in Apple Macintosh George Watson (727) 321-7845
SPONSORSHIP RATES
We will be happy to send you information about how to become one of our many supporters. This is a fun and educational way to tell your customers about your business or organization.
CLASSIFIED ADS
25¢ per word with 10 word minimum.
Sponsorship/Sales:Elizabeth Neily (727) 321-7845
SUBSCRIPTIONS
1 YEAR/4 ISSUES - $8.00 2 YEARS/8 ISSUES - $14.00 Please send name, address and phone # with check payable to
Neily Trappman Studio
Writers, artists, photographers may submit articles to us for concideration. Subject matter must be written in style appropriate for all age groups from the 4th grade into the golden years. This is not meant to be a scholarly publication but one to increase awareness of Florida’s rich and varied heritage.We want to celebrate our past, not dwell wholely on our failures. Copyright 1998. Articles may be reproduced with prior permission. Just give us a call and we will be happy to accommodate your request. Exceptions are logo, masthead and where other copyrights apply.
$15 members; $20 nonmembers. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; (813) 987-6300. 30 Largo, Pinellas Folk Festival, Heritage Village, music, crafts, food,vintage baseball, Contact: (727) 582-2123. 30 Tampa/MOSI, Island Adventure, 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Set sail for an adventure! Spend a day on the uninhabited island of Egmont Key, 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; Call (813) 987-6300.
February
1-8 Bradenton, Singing River Rendezvous, Pre-1840’s Frontier, contact: Bobby& Karen Lamb (941) 746-2399 3 Largo, Pinellas Chapter, Florida Native Plant Society, An Historical Reconstruction of the Green Swamp, lecture by Barry Wharton, HDR Engineering, 7:30 pm. Cooperative Extension Service, 12175 125 St. N. (727)544-7341 6 Petersburg,TUNE-A-FISH - A fun musical activity for all ages, 10 am - noon. Donations. Pier Aquarium, 800 2nd. Ave. NE ,2nd floor (727)833-9520 6 Tampa, MOSI Family Flight in the GTE Challenger Learning Center, 2 - 4 p.m. Join the crew of the GTE Challenger Learning Center as they Rendezvous with a Comet. 6 Tampa/MOSI, Fossil DigCargill Mines, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 4801 E. Fowler Ave. Call (813) 987-6300. 6 St. Petersburg, The Chuppa: The Wedding Ceremony, award wining documentary film about the impact of the Holocaust and the healing of present day family interactions/one-day workshop for children of survivors. Florida Holocaust Musem, 6-7 Dade City, 9th Annual Quilt & Antique Show and Sale, (Gate Fee $5.00) Pioneer Florida Museum, 1 mile north of Dade City off US301. Contact: (352) 567-0262. Website at http:www.dadecity. com/museum 6-7 Mt. Dora, Civil War “Townsend’s Plantation” 13-14 St. Petersburg, Great Engines of the Past (Gate Fee $3)- Pinellas Pioneer Settlement, 3130 31st St. So. (727) 866-6401 14 Bradenton, De Soto Camp, 16th C. Spanish, De Soto National Memorial 16 Tampa/MOSI, Manatee Encounter on Crystal River, noon - 5 p.m. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; Call for details (813) 987-6300. 20-21 Tampa, MOSI, The Back Woods Family Camp Out, Sat., 4 p.m. to Sun., 10 a.m. Join the MOSI crew for a Camp-Out in our 20-acre natural wooded area. Learn basic survival skills. View the wildlife and enjoy the great outdoors. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; Call for details (813) 987-6300. 21 St. Petersburg, Miracle at Midnight (8 and up) emotionally charged, brilliant film about the Nazi occupation of Denmark. Tampa Bay Holocaust Musem, 27-28 Tampa/Hillsboroough River State Park, Fort Foster Rendezvous, Pre-1840’s Frontier, US 301 N. 9 miles north of Fowler Ave. and 6 miles south of Zepherhills. Gate Fee $3.00. Ralph Van Blarcom (813) 9963847 or Ranger Station - (813) 987-6771. 27 Tampa/MOSI, Canoe Trip, Juniper Creek/Ocala National Forest, 8 a.m. - 5
Historic Web Sites
!
AUCILLA RIVER PREHISTORY PROJECT Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fl 32611. Contact:Joe Latvis. Phone: (352) 392-1721 www.flmnh.ufl. edu/natsc./vertpaleo/arpp.htm FLORIDA PALEONTOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC. Florida Museum of Natural History, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611. Contact:Eric Taylor Email: lilnbige@lc.gulfnet.com FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY Historic Roesch House 1320 Highland Ave., Melbourne, FL 32935 (407) 690-0099 Email wynne@metrolink.net www.florida-soc.org
p.m. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 336172099; Call for details (813) 987-6300.
March
6 St. Petersburg, Archaeology Month Family Day, Science Center of Pinellas County, Contact: Cindy Paquin, (727) 384-0027. 6- Apr. 11, Largo, Bay Area Renaissance Festival, Sat. & Sundays only plus Fri., Mar. 26 & Good Friday, April 2. - 400 Central Park Drive at East Bay Drive. Contact: Lynne Knight (800) 779-4910. 6 St. Petersburg, UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY - Join the Pier Aquarium and the St Petersburg Museum of History for an afternoon of fun and educational activities 10 am to noon at Spa Beach & Education Station. Donations. Pier Aquarium, 800 2nd. Ave. NE ,2nd floor (727)833-9520 6 Tampa/MOSI Cave Exploration/Geology Adventure, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Discover underground caverns and amazing sinkholes in the Withlacoochee State Forest. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 336172099; Call for details (813) 987-6300. 7 Ellenton/Gamble Plantation State Historic Site, 40 mi. S. of Tampa, 5 mi. NE of Bradenton on US 301. 39th Annual Open House, 1850’s ante-bellum mansion, period clothing, music, folk demos.(9421) 723-4536 7 St. Petersburg, Escape From Sobibor, Film, Sent to the Nazi extermination camp Sobibor, a Russian Army officer confronts the Holocaust. Florida Holocaust Museum. 9 Tampa/MOSI Fossil Dig - Vulcan Mine, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, FL 33617-2099; Call for details (813) 987-6300. 13-14 Bradenton, Hunsader Farm Civil War Event 20 St. Petersburg, Bay in a Bucket - fun for all ages. Collect and examine the seawater of Tampa Bay. Learn how to test for salinity and pH. Get a microscopic view of all the itsy-biTsy critters of Tampa Bay. 10 am to noon at Spa Beach & the Pier Aquarium Education Station. Donations. Pier Aquarium, 800 2nd. Ave. NE, 2nd floor (727)833-9520 27 Tampa/MOSI Visit the Kennedy Space Center, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. with a MOSI space expert. Sunset Sail from Apollo Beach , 4 - 8 p.m. for a lovely sail into the sunset with MOSI’s President, Wit Ostrenko. Bring your own food and drinks! Directions will be sent to those who register. For adults only. 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Call for details (813) 987-6300. 27 Wekiwa Springs State Park, Florida Then and Now, Living historu time line from Timucuan Indians, Spanish explorers, British plantation period, American Territory, Seminoles, Cowhunters and more. March 24-25 School Groups. Wekiwa Springs Rd. off SR 434 or 436 near Apopka. (407) 884-2009 27-28 St. Petersburg, Pioneer Jamboree (Gate Fee $3) Pinellas Pioneer Settlement, 3130 31st St. So. (727) 866-6401. 27-28 Emerson Point Park, Manatee Co., History Time Line (tentative). Call Tim Burke (941) 953-7723 or email caldron@ gte.net SECOND SEMINOLEWAR - F.I.R.E.S. Florida Indian Reenactment Sociery E-mail okhmpkel@ix.netcom.com www.geocities.com/yosemite/1743/seminole.html AMERICAN CIVIL WAR www.cwc.lsu.edu/civlink.htm FLORIDA FRONTIERSMEN homel.gte.net/haddo/frontier.htm SPANISH AMERICAN WAR http://pw2.netcom. com/~rhichoxsaw1898.htm
3
January
SOUTH
23 Windley Key Fossil Reef State Geological Site, Windley Key Day, highlighting the geologica;, historical, and natural history of this unique site. Guided tours take you back to the time of Henry Flagler’s Railroad. Windley Key at Mile Marker 85.5
February
6-7 Clewiston/Big Cypress Indian Reservation, Kissimmee Slough Shootout & Rendezvous, Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum, Brian Zepeda, (941) 902-1113 19-20 Naples/Collier-Seminole State Park, Native American & Pioneer Heritage Days, Crafts and Food. (941) 394-3397. 27-28 Key West/Fort Zachery Taylor, 12th Annual Key West Heritage Festival, 1830-1870 Second Seminole & Civil War reeactors includes skirmish with 3 masted schooner, crafts, suttlers, Union Army Music School, food. end of Southard St. On Truman Anex. (305) 292-6713
March
6-7 Fernandina Beach/Fort Clinch State
Park, Union Grand Encampment, Civil War (904) 277-7274 6-7 Ft. Myers Civil War Event 19-20 Koreshan State Historic Site, 8th Annual Flywheelers: Antic Engine Demos, 1930’s and beforee antique engine owners from all over the US gathering, on US 41 at Corkscrew Rd. (941) 992-0311 27 Koreshan State HistoricSite, 4th annual Archaeology Fair, reknowned archaeologist and artists interpret the past. US 41 at Corkscrew Rd.,(941) 992-0311 27-April 2, Kissimmee, 1st Annual Kissimmee Valley Trail Ride, Dedicated to the Heritage of Florida’s Pioneers, Cattle Drives, Hog Hunting and Horse Races and more! over private ranches to Okeechobee. Bring horses and campers. “End of Trail Ride” Dinner & Dance. Contact Cow Boss, Jennnings L.Overstreet (407) 846-6184
RENDEZVOUS AT FORT FOSTER February 27th
- 28th
WANTED: Army, Militia, Navy, Civilian, Native Americans, Sutlers, Blanket Traders, Demonstrators - Pre 1840’s. Skirmishes Both Days • Breakfast Lunch Dinner FREE to volunteers. For registration & information call: Ralph VanBlarcom (813)996-3847 For modern camping, contact Ranger Station (813) 987-6771 Sponsored by the Hillsborough State Park Preservation Society, Inc.
Fort Foster Historic Site is located adjacent to Hillsborough River State Park, Us. 301 North, Thonotosassa, Florida 33592
The 28th Annual
ALAFIA RIVER RENDEZVOUS
Public Days January 22-23, 1999 Friday: 9-4 & Saturday: 9-3 the Southeastern’s LARGEST pre-1840’s Historical Interpretive Encampment • Over 1000 Frontier Men, Women & Children living in camps
Portraying Different Cultures and Regions of Early America
• Over 200 Craftsmen and Shops
demonstratin’ & sellin’ a huge variety of Historical Reproductions for Hobbiest & Homes Shootin’ & Hawk Throwin’ & Archery Contests Storytellin’, Frolickin’, Some of the best Country Cookin’ you’ve ever wrapped yer mouth around. • FRY BREAD • BARBEQUE • TACOS • ROOT BEER & • SODIE-WATERS
ADMISSION
$5 adults/13 and Up, $3 for ages 3-12, Little Critters under 3 Free. No Dogs or other Varmits permitted on Property
NEW LOCATION!
Booshways Tim & Necue Jenkins (813) 737-3819
1876 COW CAMP
Lake Kissimmee State Park
Florida Cow-Hunters & Cracker Cattle Taste coffee“strong enough to float a bullet” Bring picnic lunch - Sat. Sun & Holidays. (941) 696-1112.
®
http://home1.net/haddo/alafia98.htm
4
From Vaqueros to Crackers 4 Centuries of Cattle in Florida by Elizabeth Neily
Life for the first Spanish settlers in Florida really tested their metal, to say the least. When they first settled in St. Augustine in 1566, livestock was brought over from Europe but in those first lean years of the colony, small herd ended up on the dinner table rather than allowed to increase in size.. While more cattle was being imported and the settlers had to rely upon the hospitality of the native people for food. Like the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth in 1620, Spanish farmers had a lot to learn from the native people about cultivating crops in their new home. Starvation was a daily threat in the colony. Pedro Gonçalez, a soldier and citizen of Escalena, Spain arrived in Florida in 1566 with Captain Miguel Enriguez. He described the hardships of life in early St. Augustine in a deposition given during the investigation of corruption of governors left in charge while founder, Pedro Menéndez, was away trying to secure a continuous flow of supplies to the neophyte town. He testified that there were “about forty farmers and soldiers, married and single” at the fort. The farmers cultivated the land apportioned to them with maize [corn], and other vegetables. When asked what “cattle” the governor brought to the country, he said that about two years after he arrived there [1568?], as many as twenty horses and mares were brought, and twelve cows, forty hogs, thirty goats and a few sheep, which was all eaten because of the famine and want that occurred; and the Indians killed the hogs.” It seems that the Indians were partial to pork for several witnesses testified that they killed and ate the hogs. The settlers, however, ate the cows and horses and when their rations ran out they resorted to eating “shellfish and oysters” considered “scum and vermin” by the finicky Spanish. At least one woman succumbed of hunger rather than eat foods that had not been approved by the Roman Catholic church. When Governor Menéndez finally restocked the herds with eighty cows, one hundred hogs, and about twenty goats he insisted that none be eaten until the herds had time to increase in number. [He] “divided them up among the farmers, on condition that no one, within ten years, was to kill any of the increase of the head of cattle; and that the time having elapsed, the increase the ten years following was to be divided in half between the citizens and the Adelantado, without him putting in any expense; for which reason neither this witness nor the said farmers were willing to receive anything thereof, because the division did not suit them, nor was the land adapted for cattle raising. And the farmers begged the Adelantado to take the cattle away from there, because they ate the maize in their fields.” The “Adelantado again brought to the country a quantity of cows and hogs, and they multiplied and there was stock raising in the land, especially in hogs.” While Menéndez was away, the some of men that he left in charge tried to line their own pockets at the expense of the
A Spanish vacarero, chases down a wild cow in the Florida scrub. Cattle were first introduced into Florida in the mid 16th Centruy by the early settlers of St. Augustine.
settlers. One, Juan de la Vandera, caused an unholy scandal by not only selling the supplies and food meant for the settlers and soldiers but, also, by his dalliances with the women of the town. “And every time that Juan de la Vandera wanted something for his benefit from the houses of the settlers, and they did not give it to him, he treated them very badly by word and by deed, and he beat them, and took it from them against their will. And in addition to that, this witness saw that the said Juan de la Vandera, in order to appropriate a married woman, sent her husband to Spain; and without orders from his general he left the fort and built a blockhouse near the houses of the settlement, and took the woman to the house. And her husband was in Spain; and after he had kept her a certain time, he cast her out of his house before the husband returned, and went off with a woman neighbor of his; and after the husband came back, and knew of the case, he led her a very hard life.” Despite the hardship the settlement of St. Augustine continued to survive. Eventually cattle from those small herds would be grazed as far away as Paynes Prairie. The legendary Florida “scrub cow” is the hardy descendent of those early Spanish herds. “Although they are small and skit
tish, scrub cattle subsisted on forage so sparse that heavier blooded cattle literally walked themselves to death trying to find enough to eat. During the brief winters, when blooded stock required supplemental fodder in order to survive, scrub cattle browsed in the hardwood stands. “They’d eat [live-oak] acorns…. A lot of people don’t think cows eat acorns, but they do eat acorns. And, of course, they ate the [Spanish} moss and air plants and things like that. “(Otto). Naturalist, William Bartrum reported in his diary during his “Travels” in north Florida from 1773 to 1778 that Seminole Indians ranged large herds of “cattle [that] were as large and fat as those of the rich grazing pastures of… Pennsylvania.”
In 1851, Dr. Howell Tyson Lykes, bought 500 acres of land at old Spring Hill, west of present day Brooksville. He then brought his wife, Margaret here from their family estate in South Carolina. Lykes believed his wife had tuberculosis, and Florida was considered a good place for invalids to recuperate. He first turned his hand to cedar logging for pencils which we were very much in demand both in the US and Europe. He then invested the proceeds in more land and in cattle. He had launched a multi-million dollar empire that still carries their name. During the decade between 1868 and 1878, the Cuban insurrection against Spain set the stage for a boom in the cattle See Vaqueros page 5
FT. DOWNING TRADING CO. Pre 1840 Clothing & Supplies Tents, Tipis, Marques “Quality clothing at an affordable price”
HC 04 BOX 472 OLD TOWN, FL 32680
(352) 542-9025 Email: frances@inetw.net
Where Ancient Skills Survive
LEATHER • LEATHERCRAFT SUPPLIES • BOOKS • CLASSES (813) 286-2172 (800) 668-5172
4534 W. Kennedy Blvd. Tampa • FL • 33609
Living History through Music and Song • Cassettes • Music Books
Kevin Patten, a park ranger/cowhunter at Paynes Prairie State Preserve, attends historical events around the state, reenacting the time when cattle ruled the land. He is riding Puc Puggy, the Indian name for William Bartrum, meaning “the flower hunter”. Patten says his brother has continued the family tradition with a small herd of about 250 head and has raised yet another generation of Florida cow-hunters — his three cowgirls. What can we say? Family traditions die hard.
• C.D.’s •Song Books
of various periods of history! Send $2.50 Check or Money Order to (NO CASH PLEASE!) to:
FORT BROOKE QUARTERMASTER
Brandon B. Barszcz, Owner, PO Box 1628, Brandon, FL 33509-1628
5
WHEN HAMLET WAS A WILDCAT by Robert Hawk
During the middle of March 1841, colonel W.J. Worth and several other officers of the U.S. Army serving Florida, was scheduled to meet with one of the rebellious Seminole war chiefs, Coacoochee or “Wildcat.: As the officers took their places in the parley area, they were stunned then amused to see Wildcat approach dressed as Hamlet from Shakespeare’s play of the same name. It was a very strange sight but not entirely unexpected. In the spring of 1840. the war in Florida between the Seminoles, the settlers and the US Army had been in process since the end of 1835. It had been a long and brutal war for both sides, but, by 1840, most, but not all of the Seminoles had accepted defeat and agreed to remove themselves and their families to the new Indian Territory on the far side of the Mississippi. But there were still a few bands of hostilities who refused to surrender and they continued their depredations at a number of locations throughout Florida. One of those bands was led by Wildcat or Coacoochee and it was his raid into northeast Florida during May of 1840 which resulted in the strange attire worn by him and several of his followers to the historic meeting the following year. During the war, St. Augustine was a headquarters and garrison town, not even directly threatened by the Seminoles but several skirmishes had taken place in the surrounding territory. Mostly, the citizens and soldiers stayed within the city walls and waited for the war to end. However, long confinement to the city did create tension, and well, boredom. But relief was on its way! In the spring of 1840, the well-known theater troop of W.C. Forbes completed an engagement in Savannah, Georgia and the decision was made to proceed to St.
After a raid on a theatrical company Coacoochee and his friends find a treasure trove of costumes which would influenced their clothing styles for years to come.
Augustine and present a short season of performances of selected p[lays by William Shakespeare for which the troop was famous. Besides, in an isolated town like St. Augustine with few distractions beyond strong drink, they might make a nice profit from the boredom of the local population! The theater troop proceeded by ship from Savannah to Picolata; the alternate port to St. Augustine on the St. Johns River approximately fifteen miles west of the city. The members of the troop traveled by wagon and horse to St. Augustine but lacked sufficient wagons and animals to bring their costumes, scenery and props with them at the same time. These had been left in storage at Picolata for retrieval and transport later. A day of two later, several members of the company, including one of the minor actors, along with some locally hired wagon drivers and a few citizens volunteered to return to Picolata with wagons to get their equipment. They loaded up the wagon’s and headed back towards St. Augustine.
Several miles from Picolata, a large band of Seminoles, lead by Coacoochee, ambushed and attacked the group. During the melee that followed, five white men were killed and the remainder managed to find protection in one or another of two small log and earthen stockades called Forts Steadman and Searle. Although referred to as the “Massacre of the Theater Troop” in which some accounts insist several of the actors were slain, actually only the one minor actor from the troop mentioned above was killed in the skirmish along with a member of the stage crew, one of the drivers and two of the citizen volunteers who had accompanied the expedition. In spite of the tragedy and the loss of their props, costumes and scenery, the Forbes Theater Company opened its brief local season of Shakespearean plays two days after the “battle” right on schedule. As tradition insists, the show must go on but one wonders how they managed to recreate all those costumes and props so quickly!
North America’s most outrageous festival.
Send $14.95 ea. plus 41.24 shipping charges to: Max Mendoff Films • P.O. Box 1231, Dept. P, Dunnellon, FL 34430 Vaqueros continued from page 4
industry in south Florida. Most of the cattle in Cuba were distroyed in the fighting and there was a constant demand for restocking the herds. Lykes and other cattlemen seized this opportunity, and began running cattle to Cuba. In time Lykes’, seven son’s and one daughter were sent off to college. As each son returned home after graduation, they entered the family business. After the Spanish American War ended in 1900, the two eldest sons, Fred and H.T., then aged 22 and twenty one, respectively, were sent to open an office in Havana in order to sell cattle and other goods consigned to them. On Feb. 1, H.T. Began doing business in Havana as Lykes. Bros. which when it merged with the Florida company in 1910, grew to be one of the largest exporters of cattle, citrus and phosphates in the country. It also would bring shiploads of sugar from Cuba to refineries along the Gulf Coast. By, 1903, Jim Lykes was making cattle buying trips to Galveston Texas, and by 1906 he had moved there to stay. He opened an office there and started shipping
cattle to Cuba. This was the first office of what would become the Lykes steamship line. Lykes Bros., Inc. still operates their cattle ranch today, has divested itself of its shipping line, but millions drink its Floridagold and Sunkist juices. And even though it sold its meats division in 1996 to Smithfield Foods, deli meats still bear the Lykes’s brandname. Until 1949, Florida cowmen ranged their beef cattle free on unfenced public lands. Individual families purchased small homesteads but would round up their cattle one or twice a year to brand the calves and to select steers for the market in Florida and in Cuba. When the Florida legislature finally passed legislation in 1949 requiring the cattlemen to fence in their property many small cattlemen were forced out of business. Only those with enough fencedin land to continue range their cattle were able to follow the long tradition of their forefathers. Many families had to sell off their herds, because there was no place for them to keep them and so the ancient tradition of the cattle industry was changed forever.. •
Q
Chris Kimball, Seminole War historian and Re-enactor, offered this comment oabout Coacoochee’s raid on the theatrical troupe: It is claimed that he refused a trade of 100 cattle for the turban of Othello. Check out this site on the Florida Territory: http://www.GeoCities.com/CollegePark/ Stadium/1528/
Custom Accents
MAX WENDOFF FILMS
has the following FLORIDA films available “THE DUNNELLON STORY” — complete history of Dunnellon” “THE CEDAR KEY STORY” —complete history of Cedar Key “KEY WEST FANTACY FEST” — (adult content)
The Seminoles of Wildcat’s war party were extremely pleased with their booty, hauling away virtually all of the costumes and props they found in the wagons. In addition to the strange and colorful meeting of Wildcat and the Army the following year, bits and pieces of this treasure trove of colorful clothing continued to show up as part of the Seminole Indian garb for years to come. It must have been disconcerting in the years that followed when someone suddenly came face to face with a bronzed skinned Henry the Fifth or Prospero on the desolate plains of the Indian Territory or the swamps of Florida’s Everglades!
• Picture Framing Gallery
• Originals and Prints of Florida Artists 14115 7th Street • Historic Dade City (352) 567-3482
Don’t forget your Sweetheart on February 14th.
Spotted Pony Traders Featuring quality handcrafted.clothing made from deer and elk leather. Frontier Shirts Pants, Bead Work, Hats, Moccasins, Bags, Tomahawks, Arrows, Native American Love Flutes, & lots of Supplies to make your own.
1-800-875-6553 (orders only) Winter Address (Nov - Apr.) P.O. Box 68 Hawthorne, FL 32640-0068 (352) 372-4875
Catalogue $1.00
Summer Address (May - Oct.) 7373 St.Frances Street Louisville, Ohio 44641 Visa/MC/Discover (330) 875-3064 AmericanExpress
6
O.D. came to us with the longest lariat that I’d ever seen tied to a saddle that looked as if it’d been drug from Punta Gorda to Georgia. That rope must have been sixty-foot long. He’d worked for Lykes Brothers last, on those saw grass prairies south of here, down Fish-eating Creek way. If you’ve ever been down there along highway 441, you know there are places where outside of an occasional cabbage palm island, there are thousands of acres of nothing. There’s just that— nothing, except north toward Lake Okeechobee (a high dike now) and the Cow Creek reservation. Now Florida cowboys were never that— they were cow hunters, so called from earliest times, perhaps because unlike the west with its unending plains and limitless vistas, Florida is as apt to be jungle or hammock as wetland prairie. you spend a lot of time just hunting cattle here and of course it only starts with the finding. These used to be woodswise cattle that could fade away like the deer that shared their grazing in hidden glades and pocket prairies. The sixty-foot rope was a necessity if you’d worked for Lykes back then— you packed enough grub for a week when you left headquarters on your pony knowing you might not see a man for days. There might come times when you’d be glad of that rope’s length when you tied onto a cow fighting for her calf, half eaten by screwworms. You couldn’t pass one up in those days. Everyone newborn seemed to have it. The barest hint of blood and the fly laid its eggs that hatched soon enough to eat an animal alive if a ranch hand didn’t come along to treat it. Common sense dictated that you tote more than one rope. One for the calf, and one for the cow—who spent her time really wanting to “eat your lunch” while you dug those worms out of her calf and squirted that nasty black stuff into the wound. You have to remember that you’d be along except for your pony of course, and trees were a scarce commodity. When you got down treating the calf and loosed it, there was mamma, mad and mean on the end of a rope. Now there are a lot of ways to get a rope off a cow that has horns and wants nothing more than to stick one through your liver and lights. However, every way that has ever come to my mind has its drawbacks and hinges on something between skill and luck in equal parts. The sixty-foot rope is only an edge in that situation. First of all you have to realize that for a Florida cow-hunter to lose his rope is not only a financial disaster but a social taboo of long standing. Many a cowhunter never came back- rather than come back without his rope. Unlike some western cowboys, Florida men tie hard and fast to the saddle horn- no dallys, and until death do us part. Like many ill-planned marriages, this on can have dire consequences for all concerned. Now it was several months before O.D. and I became well enough acquainted for him to tell me the story of how he left Indian Country, and since he was such and awful liar, I’ll never know if things happened quite the way he told them. But it sounds right and as a friend of mine has said often enough, you should never let the facts stand in the way of a good story. Well, he was pretty drunk the night he began his tale and that fella could hold more beer than many a man twice his size. He stood 5’4” and never weighed over 150 lb.. long as I knew him. But sober, he was one of the best cowmen I’ve ever known, pound for pound. Seems he’d been out about four days, had doctored a slew of calves and had ate most of his grub and what salt pork he had left was getting pretty rank. He had a couple cans of beans and a little coffee left in his sack and that was about it. Pretty soon he’d have to turn north, head toward the creek and meet up with the grub wagon
O.D Catches the Train by Butch Hunt
Lykes sent out now and then and either stock up again or make the even longer ride back to headquarters to draw some pay and kill a day or two in Immokolee. He didn’t want to leave the area yet. There was an old cow with twisty horns and she had a new calf. He’d seen her a couple times but she was slick and seldom got far from Church House Hammock. She’d come out on the prairie now and then, but usually only early or late when the deer flies got too bad in the trees. The calf was a week old, its navel infested with screwworm. No one but he would ever know if he bypassed that one calf, but he’d know. You take a man’s money to do a job and he takes your word you’ll do it and that’s enough. Its been enough for centuries and means more to a certain breed of man than all the money in the 1st National Bank and all the fame and pride of being President of these United States. There will always be men like that, God willing. Not all of them are cowmen.
girth, looked to that sixty-foot rope and felt his right pocket. All cowmen carry a knife of some sort; usually a pocketknife that is kept razor sharp for a variety of reasons. Often it’s needed to perform field operations on livestock. If small horn buds are excised carefully that calf will never have horns in maturity. Every cattle owner had a registered brand and a registered earmark as well. Those earmarks are made with a pocketknife; sometimes long before the general roundup, during which the animal will be branded properly. Often the knife is used to castrate bull calves. In plain fact, the same sharp knife can and has saved many a cowman’s life. The tales are apocryphal perhaps; the cutting of the stirrup leather after being dragged for miles of freedom from and entanglement of horse, rider, and cow that would certainly have ended in death to the man otherwise. Whatever the reason, if for no other than the fact that O.D. frequented bars on his rare trips to town seemed to warrant it, he kept his knife sharp and he kept it close. O.D. heard the train coming. It was still a mile or two away. He mounted up and eased the piece of split leather that secured the long lariat off his saddle horn. He shook out a loop and transferred the bulk of the rope’s length to his left hand. As the train came closer, he kneed the horse forward. All depended on timing
O.D. had an idea where that cow was and how to get her. He’d lost her last time because she’d dove in a thicket just as he’d flung his rope. The old Seaboard Railway had a line that bisected that hammock and a train came through there once a day, just before dark that time of year. Woods cows are like deer in that they can hear you coming a half-mile away and smell you too, if the wind is right. O.D. had been hunting cows long enough to know their habits and after losing this one a couple of times, he’d spent some time quartering the hammock until he’d learned her trails; where she watered, and where she bedded down. Most often she was close to the tracks when night came. He determined to be close to the tracks when night came. He determined to be close himself this last afternoon. He figured the noise from the train’s passage would enable him to get near enough to get his rope on the cow, snub her to tree and then catch the calf. Then he could go to Immokolee and do what any fella his age with thirty or forty dollars in his pocket could do in town. He felt that the possibilities for committing nuisance were limitless. He tied his horse two hundred yards from the tracks, even though the wind was in his favor, and crept the remaining distance to that area that all his cow-sense told him old twist-horn called hers. Sure enough, he hadn’t settled in good before he heard the calf bawl and felt rather than heard the low grunt of the cow’s reply. He wanted a cigarette badly but put it out of his mind. The cow would certainly smell it if the wind quartered. In ten minutes he was rewarded by a flicker of movement on the far side of the railway embankment. It was the calf, tormented by flies, its tail whipping. It bawled again. The sun was low. O.D. didn’t own a watch but with the certainty of a man who spent his days under sun and stars, knew it was close to time for the train. He eased out of his hidey-hole and made his way back to his horse. He tightened the saddle
now. Cow and calf were on the far side of the tracks. Too soon and the cow would see or hear him and be off into a darkening thicket with the calf. Gauging the train’s approach he rode faster, hoping to catch a glimpse of the intended prey just before the locomotive eclipsed his view. With luck, the cow wouldn’t see him and as the last car passed, he’d be over the embankment and on her before she knew it. As the engine roared into view, he made his approach. His timing was off! The cow sensed or heard him. A split second before the locomotive passed between them, the cow raised her head and saw horse and rider headed her way. Up came her tail, and O.D. had time to realize that she was running, on the other side, going flat out racing the train. Then giving one moment to eye the length of the train, O.D. found himself in a dead run on his side, heading in the same direction. His only thought was to be in the same place as the cow when the train passed. After the engine and a couple of cars had roared by, O.D. caught a fleeting glimpse of the cow through the gap between a couple of freight cars and could see that she was still on course, hugging the railway embankment, as if trying to outrun the train. Who knows what goes through a cow’s mind at the best of times? O.D. figured either she was using the train as a blind, the same way he’d tried, or she was making a dash for open prairie and alongside the tracks was the quickest and most open ground for her to get there. He found that he couldn’t center all of his attention on the gaps between the cars because the terrain demanded he keep and eye out for obstacles as well. The myrtle thickets along the right-of-way were patchy, but unpredictable. Some grew close enough to the tracks to force him to detour to the outside. As he risked a look back, a limb took his hat. His horse leaped a discarded crosstie. Horse and cow couldn’t keep this up much longer. Seemed as though they’d already come a mile and wide open all the way. There were only a half dozen cars left, still to pass.
He caught another glimpse of the cow as a flat car overtook him. She was only a couple of lengths ahead, head low and stretched out for all she was worth. The calf had probably been left far behind, but no matter, he’d attend to the cow and go back for the calf. His horse’s labored breathing was audible even over the noise of the wheels on rails, the clickety clack and popping of ballast stone. He saw the cow again and for a moment they were neck and neck at the gap between the last car and the caboose. Slobber streamed from her open mouth and from the glazed look in her eye, he knew she’d run until she dropped. In another moment he saw the startled face of a brakeman at a window and O.D. was whirling his loop, the horse heaving and clawing obliquely up the left side of the embankment as the tail end of the caboose drew near. Now O.D. told me that parts of what happened next have never been too clear to him since. Having had my luck take some bizarre turns once or twice, I can well understand. As the end of the caboose swept by his right shoulder, he could see that the cow had cut to her right and as the railroad emptied out onto a flat prairie, she’d be so far ahead in two more jumps that he’d never catch her on a played out horse. All in a split second, two things occurred which although they didn’t spoil his aim, must have affected his judgment. The rear door of the caboose was opened by the brakeman who lunged into view, his mouth wide in query. O.D’s horse stumbled as he flung the rope. In the seconds that followed, O.D. was unaware that his loop settled perfectly over the twisty horns of that old cow. His horse had indeed buckled at the knees and had started a forward somersault down the embankment. O.D. said that he only had a second and all he could think of was that he’d probably end up under those caboose wheels and that damn cow would get clean away. In the next second, horse and rider were arrested in their fall with a jerk and surge upward. the rope had tightened in time to help. His horse, however, seemed unable to stop moving forward. His front legs were braced, feet scotching, sending up showers of ballast rock as he proceeded down the track in a series of leaps. To his horror, O.D. realized that somehow he’d either thrown his rope on the wrong side of the back-porch guardrail, or through it, or something. At any rate, horse, rider and cow were hitched to the ass-end of Seaboard freight that was picking up speed now that it had gained the long straightaway out on the flats. O.D. said that it all happened a lot quicker than he could ever tell it. He saw that the cow had been thrown when the rope tightened up. In fact, she had done a back flip high enough for the brakeman to see daylight under her. Now it was a good sized cow, and O.D. was on one of those small cracker ponies, but the pony was on his feet (more or less) and the cow was sliding along on the keel of her backbone, so pretty soon, the cow fetched up at the edge of the caboose, at the guardrail. Well, O.D. said that even a fella with no more schoolin’ than him could see what had to happen next and he was trying to claw that pocket knife out to cut the rope and damn what anybody thought about it. Sure enough, when the cow bottomed out on that railing, the pony took off like a big bird and when they hit the rocks, O.D. dropped the knife to hold on. I asked him why he hadn’t already bailed off that horse before things got that serious. He just looked at me awhile and said that although he’d been thrown many a time, he had never let it happen on purpose and besides, it never occurred to him. Why, to go back without a rope would be bad enough, but how to explain a rope, a saddle and a horse, not to mention that damn crooked horn cow?
Anyway, as soon as the horse hit the ground, the weight of the cow began to tell, and soon, horse, rider and cow were paralleling one another, still on opposite sides of the tracks. O.D. said it was dreadful the way that cow bellowed with half the hair worn off her and getting worse with every yard down the track. Him and the horse weren’t doing any better and the only good thing was, his leg wasn’t trapped underneath, but the bad thing was, the other foot was through the stirrup and he was married to the saddle, like it or not. He had one hand on the rope, hoping the horn would pull right out of the saddle and was grappling with his boot and the stirrup, but the way those railroad ties had them porpoising up and down, it was about all he could do to hang on. They were gaining on the train, thanks to the heavier cow. The brakeman was hanging over the railing, but O.D. couldn’t tell what the guy was yelling. If he hadn’t dropped his knife “Cut the damn rope!” O.D. yelled. “Whaaaat?” yelled the brakeman back. “Cut the damn rope!” screamed O.D. “Caaan’t heeear you,” yelled the brakeman. O.D. was desperate. He didn’t think either he or his pony would live long enough to be pulled to the railing. And it they were, then what? He found the girth strap with his fingers and fumbled one handed at the knot. the saddle was already pulled over the pony’s withers, forcing his front legs forward, pressing the neck down. Suddenly the saddle slipped free! O.D. said it addled him some when he fetched up
against that guardrail and likely he’d of been jerked clean on around it and off the other the other side. (at least most of him) but somehow or other that idiot brakeman got in the way and got all tangled up in the rigging of the saddle and there they both were hanging onto the rail for dear life — screaming away with a half ton of cow trying to pull them off onto a twilight prairie. Suddenly the wrenching pressure was gone! O.D. levered himself up painfully on an elbow and looked back into the gathering dusk. Several hundred yards down the track stood his pony, head down. As he watched, the cow much closer, gained her feet. There was enough light to see that the old twisty horn had only one horn left. Suddenly, in silhouette, he saw twisty horn trot across the tracks, toward the pony, shaking her head in rage. The pony fled, apparently on four good legs. O.D. gathered up his lariat, its now empty ended knotted and trailing. “Shoot!” exclaimed the brakeman in undisguised awe. “Where’s this train stop?” asked O.D. “Don’t stop ‘til Jacksonville.” was the reply. “§^©#!” said O.D. The whistle blew and the train rattled on into the night. Well, they found O.D.’s horse eventually, but it wasn’t until months later that any of Lykes Brothers’ hands found out what had happened to O.D. Cowhands move around some and they’re always drifting from one job to another. O.D. was at the Ocala stock market one day
7
and found one of those fellas he’s known down there staring at him. “O.D.! We thought you was dead!” “Naw, I ain’t.” he replied. The fella shook his head. Your pony showed up one day lookin’ like he’d been clawed by bears and all the hair wore off one side. We looked some, whenever we had a chance — but never found a sign of you except a hat and a pocket knife down there near those myrtle thickets by the tracks. “See anything of an old one horned cow and her calf?” O.D. asked. “Yeah. We found her. Looked worse than yore horse — four hairs on one side and three on the other. She was so stove up she was easy to catch. Probably freeze to death this winter. Slick as a monkey’s butt all over.” The cowhand grinned. “Serves her right.” O.D. nodded. “What happened to you? It was mighty mysterious. Figured if the train had run over you there’d be parts left on the tracks; more sign than we found.” “ I reckon you could say I caught the train. I don’t want to talk about it.” said O.D. The cowhand shook his head in bewilderment and left. In a year or two there were hands ready to swear that they had been riding with O.D. when he took the notion to spur up his horse up and swing up on a freight car headed north. Hairless horses and cows only tend to complicate an admiring tale told by firelight. There wasn’t a one of them hadn’t at some time or other wanted to ride a lonesome whistle out of there.•
2ND ANNUAL
KNAP-IN & PRIMITIVE ARTS FESTIVAL
PAYNES PRAIRE STATE PRESERVE MICNAOPY
February 26 and 27 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
See how ancient Florida people worked stone into points, tanned deer hide, and carved bone, wood and antler. Demontrations of early basket weaving and pottery techniques. Watch atlatl and primitive bow demonstrations. Daily Admission $3.25 per vehicle. Prairie Web Site http://www.afn.org/~pprairie
Reprinted with permission from the Prairie Press, published by the staff of Paynes Prairie State Preserve, Micanopy.
DUNEDIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY Andrews Memorial Chapel c. 1888 National Register of Historical Places An early Florida Victorian Church available for Weddings, Concerts and Tours
TAMPA BAY HISTORY CENTER
Museum Programs 1890’s Vintage Baseball Games at Otten Field, Dunedin VINTAGE FASHION SHOW Dunedin Country Club Saturday, February 6, 11:30 am $25 per person includes lunch For reservations call 733-5751
Dunedin Historical Museum Railroad Station c. 1922 341 Main Street, Dunedin, FL Exhibits related to Dunedin and Florida History Museum Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm (727) 7361176
Pinellas Folk Festival a Family Event! Don’t “fiddle” around! Make plans now to attend the Pinellas County Historical Society’s 6th Annual “Pinellas Folk Fesival” at Heritage Village Saturday, January 30, 1999 10 am - 4 pm FREE and open to the public.
HERITAGE VILLAGE
(Suggest a donation $1.00 per person) • the Best Traditional Folk, Country, Gospel and Bluegrass Music around • Quilting, Weaving, Spinning, Rug Hooking, Basket Making, • Chair Caning, Woodworking and Enbroidery Demonstrations. • Special Children’s Sin-along with Jack Hartman, • Storyteller Windell Campbell and a Petting Zoo too! • A Vintage Baseball Bame played by 1890’s Rules. • Historic House Tours & a Day-long Jam Circle for interested Visitors *Vendors Selling Traditional Florida Food—Smoked Fish, Barbequed Pork • Black Beans & Rice and Greek Food • Hot dogs & Cokes and Gourmet Pie & Coffee.
The “Pinellas Folk Festival” is sponsored by the Pinellas County Historical Society, the Board of County Commissioners, the Heritage Rughookers, the Pinellas Weaver’s Guild, the Largo Cracker Quilters, the Woman’s Club of Tarpon Springs, and WFLA News Channel 8. For further information, Call Heritage Village at 582-2123
ARROW POINTS
by Hermann Trappman
Arrow points are one of the most common artifacts from our ancient people. Over hundreds and thousands of years, hides, weavings made from plant fiber, and wooden artifacts tend to disappear without a trace. Occasionally Archaeologists are fortunate enough to find cloth or wooden remains buried in a bog. But pottery and arrow points make it through, lasting millennia. Archaeologists are very thoughtful folks. Because the shaft behind the arrow point has disappeared, Archaeologists can’t tell if a bow was used to send the point toward its target. The points could be spear points or from darts used with a throwing stick, atlatl. For that reason, archaeologists lump them together as projectile points. Clovis points are the earliest point recognized by most American archaeologists. They seem to date from somewhere around 11,500 years ago. Clovis points come in a wide variety of lengths. Very distinct in their blade-like shape, they range from an inch and a half to over 4” long. A shallow depression or flute runs from the base toward the point. Running neck and neck, more Clovis points have been found in Florida and northern Alabama than anywhere else in North America. Florida archaeologist, Randy Danial, has suggested that this earliest style of point may have originated in this State. Why would Florida be the origin of so many worked stone points? Our state seems to be sandy and mostly flat. The sand is a layer covering a limestone base. About 25 million years ago, Florida began to bulge down its middle. This bulging is called the Ocala up lift. Up until that time, this landscape had been a series of islands surrounded by an inland sea full of sharks, whales, and manatees. At least it seems that way from the fossil record. Time and weather eroded the softer limestone, leaving fields covered with the harder chert nodes. For the earliest people, these chunks of flinty stone were a treasure throve. Made up of the microscopic skeletons of tiny ocean born plants and animals, chert is fine grained, silica based, very hard, and breaks almost like glass. Some nodes are made out of ancient corals and might have come about in the same process as petrified wood. Full of marine fossils, these lumps of marine rock have a tendency to be unpredictable when chipping a stone tool. The earliest Clovis-like points seem to lack the defining flute. Early hunters had to learn how to heat treat the chert to make it truly workable. Firing chert requires some real skill. The block of chert has to be split open. Long thin slabs are split off. The slabs should be set upright and covered in a mound of sand. A fire is built on top. The problem is that when limestone or chert is heated, it has a tendency to explode. The temperature has to be raised very gradually. Once the heat has reached a point which tempers the chert, the heat has to be maintained long enough to penetrate the entire piece. Than the temperature has to be slowly reduced. If the temperature drops quickly, say in a rain storm, the chert will fracture into unworkable little pieces. There is an added problem, each kind of stone has its own best temperature. Too much heat and the rock is ruined. Too little heat, it is still difficult to sculpt. It takes between four and five days to fire chert properly. Florida’s ancient hunters had to have a full understanding of this process. Once the chert has been properly fired and cooled enough, the hunters scooped the sand away from the rock slabs. Often, an amazing sight greeted their eyes. The stone had changed color. Once gray or blue gray, or whitish gray, the slabs were now marbled with translucent orange, red, greens, and blues. Corals became glassy, the edges of the polyp defined like a honey
comb. From the quality and variety of the workmanship, this was the definitive moment. For the best craftsmen, judging the crystalline beauty and pattern became a story in stone. For those needing tools for the hunt, the stone was adequately worked into a thin, sharp form. I imagine kids joining the process, knocking out some of the rough points which have been left behind. When the hunters set to work, they knocked out a series of roughed out points, blanks. Usually oblong, blanks are ready for the next step. Entire caches of blanks have been found. Sometimes, it is assumed, that the maker may have buried the blanks for later use. At some stage in the manufacture of a Clovis point, the flute must be struck out. This is the most difficult time. Modern manufactures leave a little platform hanging out the back. Each one has their favorite method of holding the work. The platform must be slanted down and the sculptors stroke must be more pushing than snapping. If it is done correctly, a long blade of chert will fall away from the bottom face of the point. If their is the slightest error, the maker will be left holding three pieces. With the stroke, there is an accompanying sound. The sound which is music to the ears has a clear sliding snap. The sound least pleasing is a sharp, glass snapping, crack. The sound that chert makes as it’s being worked tells much about the material and the correct use of tools. For the long sleek Clovis, three pieces is the usual result of a mistake. Later triangular points are usually left in two. I believe that one of the reasons for the cached points is weariness. Fluting and certain finishing touches requires the most focused attention. After working for a while, the senses seem to dull and percussion becomes far less reliable.
8
Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History Over 10,000 Years of History
Pay us a visit during Florida Archaeology Month in March A Florida History and Archaeological Museum
329 Bayshore Blvd. S., Safety Harbor, FL
(727) 726-1668
Breaking the large chert node into workable pieces. The thinner slabs will then be placed in a fire.
The fire will enhance the glass-like quality of the chert making it easier to work.
Often the broken tip of a point is found at archaeological sites. Simetimes it is assumed that these points were broken in use. Clean sharp breaks may be the result of manufacture instead.
Clovis point broken into three pieces. Clovis points are commonly recognized as North Americas most ancient points. Beautifully designed, they have a flute or shallow hollow running from the base toward the tip. The short step left on the back of the point For modern flintknappers this flute is the most difficult aspect in its sculpting. The usual method is leaving a short step on the back end of the point.
The stroke must be more pushed than hit. If the swing and its connecting point on the stone are not just perfect, the point will break into three pieces.
On later period points, it is usually just the tip which is snapped off by a wrong stroke to the base.
Citrus point Knapping chert is just like playing with broken glass. It can be very dangerous. Eye protection is a must. Cuts will result. This is an activity which requires adult supervision.
Mystery Exposed by Hermann Trappman
Bob Carr, Archaeologist for Metro Dade, described it as it was slowly and carefully unearthed. It was an ancient circle cut into the limestone bedrock upon which Miami rests. Day-by-day, features were revealed beneath the exasperatingly exact efforts of the archaeologists working on the project. A pit on the due-east side of the circle was shaped like an eye. A stone was wedged in to form a pupil. On the west side an exact replica was found. In a pit beside the eastern eye-like cut, lay a chopping tool called a celt. Beautifully carved from greenstone, is closest point of origin seems to point toward Central America and the world occupied by the Maya. A second greenstone celt was found on the surface. Slowly twenty four cavities were excavated describing a perfect circle. Elizabeth
expecting you,” he held out a hand. Above us, the Miami skyline loomed. Sculpted Tequesta Indian figures on the Brickell Bridge were a powerful reminder of their presence. Smudged by his efforts in the dark artifact rich layer, John’s tall frame was animated with excitement for the excavation. He pointed out the holes defining the circumference. On the east side he pointed out the bed for a footer from the building which most recently occupied the site. “It didn’t destroy the continuity of the circle,” he getsured. “The holes carved into the bedrock by the Indians are still deeper and maintained their summitry.” Indeed, recent history had been very kind to this mystery from the past. Up until recent construction, The site had remained virtually intact with about a foot of overburden protecting it. As Elizabeth started to take pictures
The eastern portion of the ring with volunteer Mary Knapp working in the background. The circle is 38 feet in diameter and is ringed by 24 holes. Plastic tarpaulins (lower right) protect the site from the recent rains which have doused the area.
and I hurriedly packed the car and left for Miami on Sunday. November 15th. Bob Carr had invited us down to take a look. After a five hour drive we found ourselves submerged in the ocean of Miami’s urban sprawl. We were going to stay in Everglades National Park for the night and enjoy the splash of stars from Anhinga Trail. But, we arrived late and decided to stay in Homestead instead. Since its destruction by Hurricane Andrew, Homestead has made some radical changes. The hurricane seems to have cleared the land for the construction of growing subdivisions. At ten at night, we had difficulty finding the city. We stayed in the Green Stone Motel and ate at a very authentic Mexican restaurant and then fell exhausted into bed. Bob had given us excellent directions. We did not attempt it in the morning rush hour. We arrived at the site a little after ten in the morning. The sky was gray and a veil of mist shrouded the tall buildings of the main city. Located on the Miami River, the site was covered by the rubble of building destruction. In a fenced compound we saw the archaeologists working. The gate was open and we let ourselves in. John Ricisak, Miami Dade Historic Preservation Specialist II, cordially greeted us. “Bob told me to be
it began to rain. “The backhoe operator thought it was some kind of celestial calendar like Stonehenge,” John pointed to the carved eye. “That’s perfectly due east. Most of the other pits seem kind of random. Over here a pile of rocks seem to have encircled a post. Maybe the framework for a building. We wonder if it was some kind of a circular building. The circle is 38 feet in diameter. Could it have been a council house?” William Keegan, in his book The People Who Discovered Columbus, mentions at least two astronomical observatories on the islands of the West Indies. On its southeastern side, the stony platform was broken by a large natural hole. In order to keep the area flat, the hole seemed to have been filled with rock rubble in prehistoric times. The interpretation of a new discovery is always associated with the hazard of great error. Years of study will help put the circle cut into the rock of the Miami waterfront into its proper perspective. But the ancient circle should point to the wonder and mystery which preceded us on these shores. All people are complex and wonderful. The ancient people living here were no less so. As I stood there in the rain, I couldn’t help but feel a kinship with the ancient
This eye motif is located on the east side of the ring. An identical eye is located on the west side, leaving little doubt that this feature was intentional.
9
Dade archaeologist John Ricisak and English archaeologist Andrea Parsons from Surrey work with Mary Knapp, Cuban born volunteer and enthusiast. people who made this ring. They must have felt the rain much as I did. But, when they looked across Biscayne Bay how did they feel? Did they consider the stepping stone island chain which stretched toward Cuba? Were the island chains like our Milky Way Galaxy sprawling across the night sky, a chain of star islands leading to a different place? Did Mayan travelers entertain them in the glow of campfires with stories of distant lands? Did they marvel at the great Ocean just beyond and the islands of the Bahamas in the direction of the rising sun? Did they look west, up the Miami River and thank the great mystery for its source of fresh water? An eye to the east and an eye to the west and the whole wonderful and dangerous world to explore stretching in between. Geologic Note: Miami and the southeastern half of the tip of Florida is made up of
oolitic limestone. The western tip of our State is called the taimiami formation. Like raindrops from a cloud, oolitic limestone is usually the result of calcium carbonates coalescing in a shallow inland sea. The lime building material forms tiny beads which are glued to gether as they are packed down as sediment. The formation of the beads requires a special kind of gentle but constant wave action. The rock formed in this fashion has a tendancy to be eroded into solution holes. Acid produced by roots or rotting vegitation seeps down into the rock eating a hole. Sometimes archaeologists in the area are faced with perfectly round holes which are not man made. The western tamiami formation is a limestone made up of ancient seashells in a concret like mix with sand and calcium carbonates produced by sea plants and microscopic animals.
Tampa Bay Fossil club
COWS AND BULLY-VARDS ‘The vital issue is de-fence’
by Ken Anderson
Uncle Elmer and Aunt Sadie were spending the winter in a tourist court in Bradenton. One Sunday night they were zipping along State Road 80 in Elmer’s brand new ’36 Chevy, on the way home from a weekend jaunt. Suddenly, just outside La Belle, Elmer came around an unlighted bend and, to his horror, saw a long-horned range cow placidly returning his gaze through the windshield. The Chevy was badly bent. Aunt Sadie’s dignity was injured (took eleven stitches to repair it). Elmer had a broken leg...and, to add insult to injury, a Cracker rancher soon appeared beside Elmer’s bed in the Clewiston hospital, with the sheriff in tow, to successfully demand payment for the demise of this beloved bossie. A tourist trap? A con game? Not back then, because for many years Florida had no fence laws. Cattle were as free to roam as if they were on the Great Plains, and anyone who interfered with their freedom was liable to find himself up in front of a judge. After years of unsuccessful attempts, a “good humor campaign” by newspaper publishers and editors in the state finally succeeded in getting a fence law to protect motorists from cows. A more serious, frontal assault by the forces wanting such a law probably would have failed. In 1941, the members of the Florida Press Association had decided that tourism was a pretty good thing. Visitors not only spent money while they were here, but some stayed on to invest in the state and help Florida grow and prosper. But a fly in the ointment was the cows. One journalist reported that everywhere motorists went, they were confronted by the “Sacred Cows” of Florida, “singly, in groups, and sometimes entire cow conventions, often entirely blocking the right of way” and frequently causing accidents. And all tending to discourage the visitors. And earlier attempt— in 1925— to get a fence bill through the Legislature had failed miserably, for these were the true halcyon days of the porkchop gang, when a few rural landowners (most of whom raised cattle) controlled the Legislature, and no slick-haired johnny from the city was about to get a bill out of committee without the express approval of the porkchoppers. No rancher wanted to spend money for barb wire and fence posts. And, collecting for your cow from an unwary motorist was a lot easier than butchering her and taking her to market. Too, prying eyes might look a little too far. In 1925 Florida ranchers reported to their county tax acessors they owned a total of 2,617 cows valued at four dollars each, a taxable total for the entire state of $10,468 considerably less than the Department of Agriculture census report which said $12-million The intrepid newsmen decided that even if they lost the battle, they could hav a lot of fun. And, they reasoned there were probably few ranchers who could stand ridicule for long. The grand strategy called for organizing the “Florida Order of the Sacred Cow: at the Winter Haven meeting of the Florida Press Association. The tongue in cheek “order” was deemed appropriate since Florida already had “orders of Elks, Moose, Eagles and other fine and noble animals.” A skit initiating new members, odes written especially for “Her Majesty, the cow,” special editorials praising the animal, and a sly recerse public relations ploy that would have given Madison Avenue triple ulcers were planned.
To open the campaign designed to cut the cowboys off at the overpass, Chief Bullion, accompanied by Venerable Short Horn and Venerable Long Horn, accepted into the order a miscreant who had had the temerity to dent his fender against one of the sacred ones, by who had seen the error of his ways and had pledged (with a milk toast) to uphold the rights of the cow on Florida roads and to do his utmost in the future to inculcate respect for her Majesty on the part of tourists and residents alike. The ceremony also included speeches and poems—all dedicated to Her Majesty. The sacred cows who love to browse Along our public highways; To slumber sweet upon the street and in the lanes and byways. By night and day they block our way. We never make a complaint. The Sacred Cow, she rules the roads As Florida’s patron saint. My friends,” one of the speakers began, “the vital issue before the people of the State of Florida is defence — whether ’tis to fence our bovine friends off the highways, which are their favorite pasture, or to leave them in freedom to rom the great open spaces as has been their custom for generations past... The liberty of our Sacred Cow is at stake...there are fifth columnists amongst us who seek to throttle the freedom of our bovine friends, to deny their constitutional right to life, liberty and happiness of grazing and slumbering along our highways and byways.” Following the speeches, a resolution honoring the cow was drawn up and sent to Tallahassee to be dropped in the legislative hopper. It provided for the following “priority rights of the sacred cow”: 1. The cowslip shall be designated as the state flower. 2. The state road grazing the most cows shall be renamed the Milky Way. 3. Funding shall be provided to care for the orphans of cows killed on the highway. 4. The State Road Department shall be required to plant more nutritious grasses along Florida’s Bully-vards. 5. All Florida cows shall be required to blow their horns at night to alert approaching motorists to their prescence. The final proposal adopted was for distributing lapel buttons showing a jaunty cow with a halo over one crooked horn and welcoming the wearer to the “Order of the Sacred Cow.” A supply was passed out to tourists, in hopes they would wear them back home and draw comment in the Northern press ridiculing Florida on its worship of the Sacred Cow. And since no tourist-state legislature, no matter how rural its members, can long stand up to that sort of pressure, it wasn’t long before the cowboys were digging fence posts and stringing wire around pastures. The extra buttons disappeared into the backs of desk drawers, and someday, no doubt, a collector of nostalgia will pull one out and ponder what sort of mystical rites certain early 20th Century Americans indulged in.•
10
News from Whitaker Bayou, December 1880
Dear Friends, I am sitting in my parlor awaiting guests for the holiday soiree that our family hosts each and every year. although I am not one to indulge myself in idleness and dat dreaming, I just cannot help reminiscing aout my life in days gone by. My life began in 1830, when I was born to William Wyatt and Nancy Wyatt Stuart. My Christian given name is Mary Jane. . Sadly, I was quite sickly as a child, and as my parents were early settlers, coming all the way from Maryland to Tallahassee, I was forced to spend my tender years with loved ones in Indiana. By the time I was fifteen, the whole family, myself included, moved to Southwest Florida to the manatee Settlement on the Braden River. I am no longer crippled and confined to a wheelchair because my aunt in Indiana took an interest in me and my future. she made me wear shoes with steel braces and forced me to walk each day, if only a few shakey steps. I also made good use of my time and learned to handstitch, embroider, do buttonholes and darn. Now it is not my way to boast but I must say that I am highly regarded for my fine needlework. The ladies in society un north would be most shocked to know that I also learned to ride horseback, shoot a gun, manuver and herd livestock along the river, all before I turned twenty. I met Chief Holata Micco on more than one occassion when he passes through and at one time rowed the famous Holata Micco across the bay in a boat. A new and joyous chapter in my life began when, in 1851, I was betrothed, and then married to William Whitaker, a cattleman and planter. I was twenty and the first bride listed on the Manatee Methodist Episcopal Church register. We made our home on Whitiker Bayou where I bore eleven healthy children. Our life has been a fine one, although we’ve had everyman’s share of ups and downs. We were kept, by our dear Lord, from harm’s way during the Indian wars and the war between the States. During our years on the Bayou, we have kept nearly one thousand five hundred herd of cattle with the loyal help of our slaves. These workers and I have made the most of every day granted to us; spinning our yarn, weaving cloth, putting up preseves, besides cooking the daily meals. We tanned deer
skin for the children’s shoes and coonskins for baby shoes. I’d listen to their lessons while I churned butter or mended or spun. We’d stuff the mattress tickings with split palm fronds, using a fork to split the fronds into many fine strips and cutting off the hard stem. On the frontier there is little time for idleness. Mr.Whitaker, “Pa” to our own - a finer man is not known to anyone - was always away for long periods at a time, working the cattle ranges from spring to the end of summer. All the our cattle bear the mark “47” and they are large with broad horns and close hair, not the type suited for milking, but beef cattle well suited to the open range of Florida. Mr. Whitaker is as rugged as can be expected from a man who has spent his life on the open range, replying upon his wits and courage to survive and prosper. Some of our herd were kept close to home in a in a cow-pen to provide our family with meat and milk. They also fertilized our vegatable gardens and their hides were put to good use as well. But the majority of the herd was allowed to roam free and wander inland to creeks to the Myakka River valley to graze and get water. A man from the county counted the herd and taxes them 20 or so cents per head, I believe. When the cowmen come into town, there is such excitement, what with all their hollering and whooping. Sales from the herd comes from the Cuban trade or the army corps. Why I remember during those awful raids during the war, when some of those Yankee raiders collected up all our chickens, hogs and cattle outside our home then they barged right into the house! When one of the soldiers took my little Furman’s gun and I complained toto the commanding officer. I got the gun back. On another occassion during one of their infernal raids, an officer ordered me to supply him with matches to burn my house. Oh got the matches alright and I told him. “Sir, I want to look into the eye of a man who can stoop so low as to burn the home of a helpless woman and her family.” That stopped him. One of the sailors discovered a bag of Spanish doubloons along with my husband’s Masonic gown and regalia. When the officer in charge spotted the Masonic regalia, he ordered the man to return the gold and called off the raid. However, it didn’t stop ‘em from taking the livestock. Whitaker continued from page 10. After the war, Pa worked hard to make our lands pay. He started a pineapple See Whitaker page 11.
Gold Doubloon replica’s and other unique gift items are available from
Forida’s Romantic Past
1-800-317-8881
11
Jake Summerlin
King of Crackers
jkjkjkj
Discover Gulfport “Gateway to the Gulf” in South Pinellas County
Plant Tropical Trees and Plants in Philippines Contact: Bataan Eco Project Box 53055 Gulfport, FL 33747
This story was compiled from The Story of Southwestern Florida (Covington), The History of Polk county (Hetherington), and Florida’s Peace River Frontier (Brown).
Pre-owned paperbacks and more… Hours 10:30 - 5:30 Tues. - Sat.
(727) 347-8732 Fax 347-8732*57 E-mail JanBookLady@webtv.net
3107 Beach Blvd. • Gulfport
ggggggg
old blue trousers and my check shirt suits me, and a good pair of stout galluses. Rain or shine, I don’t want any more. My boys can dress up in store clothes if it suits ‘em_ go to college- and talk big; I’m going on this way until I drop in my tracks. I’m going to work when I please - and play when I please - nothin’ under the sun but a native born, sun-baked, old Florida Cracker.” Jake Summerlin lived alone in Punta Rassa, with two servants, his family lived elsewhere. With ships frequently coming in to his wharf, and with cattle drovers constantly coming and going, he was seldom without company. Punta Rassa was a desolate, stormswept, sandy cape, which with neighboring islands, formed a very good harbor. In 1860, Summerlin, in partnership with Capt. James McKay, erected a wharf of unpeeled pine saplings, which extended eight hundred feet into the water into a deep channel. One writer who passed through wrote, “On its inner shore are built a wharf and several plain buildings. It would seem that no one would live on such a spot from choice; yet, here in this deserted place, in that old ugly building with the bare necessities of life around him, lives one of the riches men in Florida. Owning as he does, the wharf at Punta Rassa, and a thousand acres of land adjacent, houses and orange groves elsewhere and tens of thousands of cattle, I could not realize that the little old man, whom I found engaged in cutting up a slaughtered beef, was the King of Crackers.” In 1867 Summerlin purchased a 120 acre farm from Riley Blount which he then presented to the people of the area as a site for a town and the county seat of Polk County. The proceeds from the sale of forty acres was to be set aside for county purposes, twenty acres each for the Baptist and Methodist churches, and forty acres for the erection of a school. When the streets were laid out, the village was named Bartow in honor of General Francis F. Bartow, a Confederate hero who was killed in the first Battle of Manassas. Within a few weeks Bartow had several homes, a courthouse, a school, a store, and a Masonic lodge meeting hall. To manage the Summerlin Institute, Summerlin appointed a board of trustees composed of himself, Henry Frier, and Frances A, Hendry, The board, in turn hired, Adam Hille and hired as his assistant young Stephen M. Sparkman to teach two five-month terms a year. For one term students were charged ten dollars for “Spelling, Reading, and Writing,” with an additional two dollar fee for “Arithmetic, Geography, English Grammar, composition, Philosophy, Chemistry, Botany, Geometry and Geology.” Jacob Summerlin died on November 4, 1893.
Just around the corner.
Eco-Vacation
And read Plundering Paradise University of California Press
Jacob Summerlin, the founder of Bartow, and one of the riches cattlemen in Florida; one of its most eccentric characters; and the first American to be born in Florida after the State was ceded to the United States by Spain in 1819. His father lived in Alachua county, close down by the Indian line. The Florida Cracker is a cow-boy, cattle owner or dealer and some of these men attained considerable wealth. They take their name from the art they have of cracking a long leather whip, which sounds like a gun-shot at a half-mile distance. Jake, who could ride a horse and crack a whip when he was seven years old, could crack a whip eighteen feet long, only eighteen inches in the handle. One story says that his father gave him some calves when he was a lad. Another says he got into the cattle business when he traded twenty slaves for six thousand head of cattle. By 1861, his herds produced annually from five to eight thousand head. His herds grazed along the Caloosahatchee River. From April to October about six hundred head of cattle a week were driven to the railhead. He was regarded as a wonder - a man who couldn’t be cheated, who never gambled ,and who never drank. He bought land and built wharves, he came to own houses, and lakes and groves of orange and lemon trees. Stories of his riches became legendary, and he came to be called the King of Crackers - an name which mightily pleased him. For he was proud of his early hardships and dangers; he dressed, lived, talked and trades as a poor man night, but he gave to the poor, and defended the cause of the fatherless against the landsharks, as only a rich man could. Strange stories were told of him and of other rich cattle dealers in South Florida. Credible witness said that in the rude log cabins of these men, uncounted wealth lies unconcealed. Many had seen the King of Crackers, in his blue shirt and rough trousers, paying out money from a peck of gold pieces, heaped on a rude pine table. Fat, yellow Spanish doubloons, each piece worth $15 [over $100 today], were bundled into a corn sack and left to lie in a corner, or stuffed into a sleeve of an old homespun shirt, or given by the tinful for a child to play with. Old cigar boxes, tin meat cans, old woolen socks, were favorite money holders for the Florida cattlemen. They were probably safely placed on a rafter, of poked behind a door frame. Noone seemed to care for mere money. They knew that some men were mean enough to steal calves, and put on the wrong brand, but who would be mean enough to steal dollars and cents? Like we said, the King of Crackers was prouder of his name than his money. He worked his own garden and watered his pet mule, with perhaps an ostentatious humility. “ “I am nothing but a Cracker, don’t you see?” he would say as he lead his old white mule. “I don’t try to ape the quality. I ain’t wore a coat in twenty year; I ain’t settin’ up for a fine gentleman; my
jkjkjkj
EVERY 1ST FRIDAY GALLERY WALK
GULFPORT HISTORICAL SOCIETY 5301 28th Ave. So • Gulfport • 33707
6:00 pm - 9:30 pm Museum Hours Monday - Friday 2:00 - 4:00 Saturday 10- 12
(727) 327-0505
Menu Features: Fillet Mignon Oscar with Asparagus & Bernaise Sauce Proscuitto spinach with Fontina Cheese & Linguine with Portobello Mushroom Marinara BACKFIN (bak’fin) n.1. the elusive jumbo lump of crabmeat found behind the rea swimfin of the blue crab and in our crabcakes.
HOURS (Closed Tuesdays) Mon - Sat 11AM - 10 PM Sun. 11 AM - 9 PM HOURS M-TH 11am to 9pm Fri & Sat. 11am to 11pm
2913 Beach Blvd,. Guflport 33707
(727) 343-BLUE (2583)
Winner!! Voted Best Cuban Food In 3rd Annual “Best of the Beaches” Contest
Traditional Hand Prepared Cuban Favorites Including:
Chicken Picata • Picadillo-Palomilla Steak • Roast Pork Chicken & Yellow Rice • Cuban Sandwiches • Shrimp Ajillo Shrimp Boracho • Grilled and Fried Fish ving Ser s for • Black Beans and Rice Salads a l ! l s e y Pin 00 da And Many Freshly Prepared Desserts 6 r ove All Entrees Include
Reservations & Take-Out Welcome
White Rice, Black Beans, Plantains & Cuban Bread
Beer/Wine/ Sangria Catering/Private Parties Totally Smoke free Se Habla Espanol Upstairs Dining in our locally sponsored Art Gallery
Caldwell Realty
plantation with our friends the Abbes. All in all, Pa provided a good life for me and our children. I was eventually able to hire a live in tutor for the children . We now have a modern home with many modern conveniences. Why, I even have a new lamp which uses whale oil to light the dark night. Our dinner party for family and friends will include delicicies from the Sarasota Bay such as oysters, clams and smoked mullet. I have worked some fancy needlepoint to give as keepsake gifts. The tiny candles on the tree are being lit so I must go supervise the laying of the table.
I thank you for listening to some of my memories of my life and wish you and yours a healthy and prosperous New Year. Godspeed in 1881. Sincerely , Mrs. William Witaker Whitaker Bayou, County Manatee Decenber 25, In the Year of Our Lord, 1880. Mary Alice Gilchrist prepared this story from research and information in Edge of the Wilderness, a Settlement History of Manatee River and Sarasota Bay, by Janet Snyder Matthews, Coastal Press, 1983.
BOOK REVIEWS
12
that you had an Augusta in your life to take charge and whip you into shape. Marjory Stoneman The following description of the egaliDouglas, tairian quality of a Florida tropical storm best Edited by Kevin M. Mccaptures the style of Douglas’ writing. Carthy “ It was raining on the municipal pier Un. of Florida Press, at Miami. It was raining, in black and tropic 1998 gusts, on winter fishermen, teetering on ISBN -8130-1623-1 the Gulf Stream. It was raining on the more $17.95 paper often sunny sands of Miami Beach. It was
A River in Flood
Whether standing on the edge of the Florida wilderness, or strolling down the “Art deco” avenues of Miami, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas captured every nuance of life in the 1920’s and 30’s. Make a pot of herb tea, curl up in a shady spot to luxuriate in every carefully crafted morsel of Douglas’ stories. Keep a box of tissues handy just in case you are swept away, like I was, by her deeply moving tales. Douglas is a masterful wordsmith, who offers you a special intimacy with characters. Her women are strong, independent, wonderful people, or if they are not, will become so, by some stroke of fate. Her men run the gamut from utter cads to silent heroes to boys coming of age. Douglas digs deeply into her character’s psyche to unfurl their fears and their desires. Her deep connection to the land is intricately woven into the fabric of her stories. When Douglas decided to write stories for the Saturday Evening Post, whose editor was George Harris Lorimer, She first sat down to analyze what kind of story would sell. She explained in her autobiography: “At Home on the Marcel Waves” was the beginning of Douglas’ career as a writer for the Saturday Evening Post . “Waves” play’s on the words which tie it to its maritime theme. The story leaves you wishing
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
‘FLORIDA’S FORGOTTEN GENERAL’ A BIOGRAPHY OF
W.W. LORING
$21.95 paper $35.95 hardback (+$2.50 shipping and handling)
Sunflower University Press 1531 Yuma • Box 1009 Manhattan, Kansas 66505-1009 Orders: 800-258-1232 FAX: 913-539-2244 www.sunflower-univ-press.org
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
also raining on Biscayne Bay, on the white yachts gleaming ghostly against chopped gray waters, on the shiny black beetles of automobiles scuttling furiously on the Causeway and through the smitten streets, on the shutter of houseboats, on the lashed palm fronds and on the waterfront hotels. The rain was showing the winter season just what a September tropical gale was like. It was a rainy day for real-estate men, chauffeurs, bathing girls, golfers, movie actresses, tea dancers, bootleggers, newspaper reporters, psychologists, grocery men, visiting authors, truck drivers, aviators, photographers, sign painters, and the rest of the ninety thousands. It was raining on Augusta McCann.
Douglas’ stories beg to be shared. I found myself reading them out loud to myself just to hear how the words flowed across the page, to hear how well she captured a bored Yankee’s tiresome whine or a brusque seawoman’s bawl. I thank Kevin McCarthy, for once again, bringing an eloquent collection of Douglas’ short stories together for us to enjoy. This is a masterpiece, a classic. Give it a place of honor in your collection of Floridana books. It deserves it. •
Wiregrass Country Herb & Muncy Chapman Pineapple Press, Inc. 1998 ISBN - 56164-156-1 $16.96 Hardcover $9.95 Paper
While we are avid readers of Floridana fiction and non-fiction, sometimes a book comes in the mail which is very different from those which we might ordinarily choose to read. “Cracker Westerns” are a genre which have sprung up recently. Wire Grass Country fits into the genre of entertaining, easy reading, cowboy adventure, played out in the rugged frontier of the Florida Territory The story is about Treff Ballowe and the Dover family, who struggle to keep their ranch going while faced with all the challenges of Frontier living; fighting the elements, rustlers and Seminole Indians. The story also addresses the importance of the cattle trade with the Cuban market and the determination of rustlers to carve out a share of that market. These challenges are met in the face of lack of law enforcement and with an every man for himself attitude. Wiregrass Country is a stereotypical pot-boiler story; lots of action, lots of violence with a mild dab of romance with the lovely heroine. This is a good read for a youthful or general audience. • For more Cracker Western fare read Lee Gramling and Rick Tonyan..
EAT THE RICH
by P.J. O’Rourke Atlantic Monthly Press. 1998, ISBN 0-87113-719-4, $24.00 Hard Recent events in the world’s market places have focused the interest of many folks on economy. A lot of people have watched their retirement investments evaporate before their eyes. People who have never wondered before, are suddenly asking “How does economy work?” History and economics have both been made extremely boring and vague by much of the academic community. P.J. O’Rourke seems to be making an attempt to change that. He brings a kind of David Letterman, slightly sophomoric, approach to the subject of supply and demand. For most folks, economy is the study of money. According to Mr. O’Rourke, that’s something we never have enough of. Although the book’s perspective is tightly focused, it contains interesting descriptions. Traveling the world over, the author analyzes everything against his narrow definition of plenty. Mr. O’Rourke’s description of the New York Stock Exchange is the easiest lesson you’ll ever get. It’s even fun. Comparing the NYSE to the social conditions in Albania, Sweden, and Cuba is impossible. Comparing the NYSE to man on the street attitudes, politician control freak images, and wacked out social views, is like comparing a beautiful tree lined creek running through your neighborhood to clouds. They have water in common, otherwise they shouldn’t be compared. The description of Albania is entertaining but verges on images from Lebanon’s recent unpleasantness. There is an apparent meanness toward the human conundrum which stems from a smugness
of answers already found. Estimates of the number of weapons
loose in the country ranged as high as 1.5 million. And the Albanian defense ministry admitted than a whopping 10.5 billion rounds of ammunition had been stolen– more than 3,000 bullets for every person in the nation. The landscape was the Mediterranean usual, a little too sunbaked and scenery‑filled for its own good. But the fields only half‑sown in midsummer, and out in those fields and up along the hillsides were hundreds of cement hemispheres. Each dome was about eight feet across and had a slit along the base All the slits faced the road. It seemed to be a collection of unimaginative giant penny banks. These are self‑defense bunkers. Elmaz said there are 150,000 of them in the country. They’re everywhere you look. They are Albania’s salient visual feature. The shop at the Hotel Tirana sells alabaster miniatures as souvenirs– model igloos, though the gun slots seem to indicate flounder‑ shaped Eskimos. In the cities some of the bunkers, have cement flower planters molded onto their tops, a rare conjunction of war and gardening. Larger bunkers appear along the beaches and at other strategic spots. The mountains are riddled with fortified tunnels and even the stakes in Albania’s vineyards are topped with metal spikes so that paratroopers will be impaled if they try to land among the grapevines.
Sweden turns out to be a cold place with nice boring people who don’t want to work. Cuba comes across as confused plus a dictator. A very wealthy control freak, seems to best describe Castro. One man’s or woman’s vision is never good for a society or a business. But, as much as we love money, we all seem to love to be boss – no matter how mundane the result. The rest of the book is amusing definitions and descriptions of the money game mixed in with sportive images of Russia, Tanzania, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. If you can maintain the same state of seriousness as the author, this book is a good read and an excellent door into the study of economics. •
EDITOR’S COMMENT by Hermann Trappman Here are a few thoughts about economy from a historical viewpoint. I believe that economy is based on five major perspectives, macro, micro, personal psychology, the psychology of large groups of people, and finally a little luck or the lack of it. Judging the human condition doesn’t lead to a better understanding of your stock packet, but comprehension does. Human and environmental diversity offers a condition where something is growing while something is diminishing. Overuse of a resource leads to a bad investment as an end result. Investors arriving late at the feast will be eaten so to speak. That just happened. On the macro side, I’m sure that the universe has some sort of economy that we may not be aware – of just yet. Mixed into the same large picture is a landscape’s natural resources. Sometimes unrecgonized, the environment is full of plenty and scarcity. Like a major bank account, we withdraw from it on a constant regular basis. Added to that, is human resourcefulness in the development and use (or abuse) of those natural resources. Micro economy can get as small as how bacteria party in your body and the end results of their withdrawals. It can also be involved with your check book and your balance of payments. Although micro economy is essential in detail, it must be viewed within a greater perspective, within a local, national, and international marketplace. Much poverty is derived from a narrow economic vision. That’s why folks talk about a mentality of poverty. Your personal psychology is the social and environmental paradigm you interact with. How you feel about savings, employment, and how much money is never enough, has a lot to do with how you feel about yourself. Being involved in your marketplace on a participant level is exciting and rewarding. When you are the product, and you don’t believe in the product, it’s not such fun. Group psychology has a lot to do with whose hand you kiss (notice I wrote hand), which markets you are a part of, and how you will respond to them. Of course we all know what luck is or the lack of it. Nature is economy. Our planet is fairly rich in certain areas and poor in others. All our wealth comes from this planet / nature. Fairness is an agreed upon policy of dealing with each other. In Yugoslavia, Lebanon, Cambodia, Argentina, and Albania, social behavior lost almost all its agreed upon rules. Fairness lost all meaning. The only rule was the strength of one person over another. On the basis of modern weapons, that can have a devastating result. When American corporate investors became involved with Japan and Russia, they were playing with country’s who do not share our same cultural values. That ‘s OK as long as it’s understood. (Remember the comprehension part?) If fairness is based on the rules of play and we humans make up the games as well as the rules, then what role has business in a nation’s social organization? Should business be responsive to the needs as well as the desires of the general population? Should free enterprise be viewed as separate from the community of humankind? Should an enterprise be held accountable for its messy room spilling into the rest of our living quarters and making us sick? Should society pay for the clean up of the dangerous mess created by another player? Historically, human society has a tendency to develop toward power; power simplifies toward regulation; regulation simplifies away from diversity. Again, it’s growth and degradation. Should the entire planet be one Hong Kong? (Read the book) What does economic diversity mean? Is natural and cultural diversity as important as diversity in your portfolio? How does natural or human disaster figure into diversity? •
The ENDURING SEMINOLES From Alligator Wrestling to Ecotourism by Patsy West Un. of Florida Press, ISBN0-8130-1633-9 $ Hardcover Who are the modern Seminole people? How do we think of them in the perspective of recent newspaper articles and events? If you are even mildly interested in our Seminole neighbors, this book will clarify the muddy waters of innuendo and recent yellow journalism. Although written for an acedemic target, Patsy West offers us a thoughtful perspective of recent Seminole history. Rather than a single people, the folks we commonly call the Seminoles are made up of distinct peoples who entered Florida at specific times from different directions. As a demonstration of respect, Patsy West begins by introducing the names which these native people use for themselves. The i:laponathli (the l at the end of the word is silent) entered Florida as early as 1740, and are Miccosukee speakers. Many of the Muscogee-speaking Creeks, ci:saponathli, arrived after their defeat in the Red Stick War of 1813-1814. As a child, I visited a Seminole Village attraction allong the Tamiami Trail in about 1953. My parent’s concerned whisperes totally colored the experience. A product of their time, they saw the Seminole’s as desperately poor, alligator wrestling was exploitative, and the tossing of tips was degrading. The ENDURING SEMINOLES changed many of my preconceived images. Patsy West pulls the veil away from many prejudices. She develops the Seminole as a people of cultural diversity. Those who entered the world of tourist exhibits
Black Conquistador
by I. Mac Perry, Boca Bay Books 1998 ISBN 0-9663628-4-5 $9.95 Paper
One of the most amazing stories of human endurance in American history began in the little town of Azamore on the west coast of Morocco. The young man who had grown up in this tiny village, under the shadow of an Islamic mosque could have had no idea that he would end up leading an expedition into the interior of a new continent. He would never have guessed the strange turn of fate that would bring him to these shores and lead him to become one of the great explorers of this continent. Estevanico, a slave, a black-skinned Moor, traveled to America in 1527, with the Panifilo de Narváez expedition. This was a disastrous journey in which most of the travelers died. That Estevanico was one of the few to survive was probably a credit to his inherent ability to adapt to new customs and new circumstances. It is certain that most certainly that a sharp ear for languages. I. Mac Perry brings Estevanico to life in his action packed novel, Black Conquistador. He takes the young man through the markets and back streets of his native Morocco and into Spain. Perry introduces us to Estevanico as a young lusty man who has become a personal friend to his master, Captain Dorantes, just as they are to depart for the new world. Perry has modeled an exciting action adventure out of the patchy story of this obscure slave. He delves into the stories of the native people and of the cacique, Hirrihigua, the father of the original “Poccahontas”. This is an ugly story which is played out on the shores of Tampa Bay, the epitome of savage violence wreaked upon the Tocobaga people. “Degadik [Narváez] shouted for one of his men of to unleash the dogs. The dogs raced for the old woman. Saliva
13
usually did so knowingly. With a strong traditional support behind them, they acted with their personal intelligence and a desire to capture a resource, money. Like our own experience, the marketplace was sometimes kind and sometimes not. Sometimes we are good players and sometimes we really mess it up. It’s just being human. Her well presented research brings us a glimps into the Native Americam vision of the world around them. This comment from an alligator wrestler demonstrates paralle but divergent attitudes we all carry. A contemporary wrestler, William (Chubby) Osceola, grandson of William McKinley Osceola, told a crowd, “The Indian does not believe in abusing or teasing the animal. We respect the gator. The gator and the Indian go together as part of nature. That is what I have been told by my grandfather. If others don’t respect the animal, that is their problem.” The willingness for some of us to become involved in a larger market is a natural thing. The ENDURING SEMINOLES clarifies the maintenance of traditional values within a wider world of influences. Many people today fear the homogenizing effect of a world wide marketplace. This book answers questions about cultural diversity and how it continues even with an exchange of materials and social patterns. This book should give us hope and a model of understanding to work from. Although Patsy West uses a lot on reference notations and lists, she maintains the sense of adventure this kind of study should present. I read the book page by page. Often going back to pick out details. This is definitely a book which I would recommend. •
dripped from their jowls. a deep, guttural growl coming from their throats. The dog’s legs were long and their bodies rawboned. Before anyone could respond, the ravenous beasts leaped in the air. One hit the old woman’s throat, the other her belly. she fell backwards. by the time she hit the ground, her throat was torn open. Blood spurted into the air and bone snapped as it was ripped from her neck. The bottom dog pulled her stomach out even before the old woman passed out. She lay on her back, defenseless, her eyes frozen in horror, as the dogs ate the flesh off her body in an eating frenzy. Then she died.” While there are a few historical details which could have been better researched [pertaining to clothing styles, etc.], Perry has brought a difficult, yet fascinating story to life. I would recommended it as an introduction to this little known part of our cultural heritage.
March
Florida Archaeology Month & Women’s History Month Contact a Museum or Parknear you for Special Programs!
St. PeteMuseum
THE PIER AQUARIUM
DISCOVER TAMPA BAY!
JANUARY 18TH
Celebrate MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY Feed your curiosity with our NEW exhibits. FEBRUARY 6TH TUNE-A-FISH - A fun musical activity for all ages, 10 am - noon at the Pier Aquarium, second floor.
FEBRUARY 20TH
SURFING THE SOUND WAVES - Come feel the waves and see the ocean. Experience what sound looks, feels and sounds like both in air and in water 10 am - noon, second floor.
MARCH 6TH
UNDERWATER ARCHAEOLOGY - Join the Pier Aquarium and the St. Petersburg Museum of History for an afternoon of fun and educational activities 10 am to noon at Spa Beach & Education Station.
MARCH 20TH
BAY IN A BUCKET - Fun for all ages. Collect and examine the seawater of Tampa Bay. Learn how to test for salinity and pH. Get a microscopic view of all the itsy-bitsy critters of Tampa Bay. 10 am to noon at Spa Beach & the Pier Aquarium Education Station. Donations appreciated. 800 Second Ave. NE, St Petersburg, FL
(727)822-9520
FAMILY DAY FESTIVAL Saturday, March 6, 10-4 FREE General Admission
7701 22nd Ave N., St. Petersburg (727) 384-0027 ✩✩✩
Telescope Veiwing & Laser Shows January 23 (7 - 10 pm) February 20 (7 - 10 pm) March (8 - 11 pm)
Enjoy a celebration of Florida Archaeology Month
Re-enactors, pottery makers, flint knappers and more.
PLUS Grand Opening of our new Wetlands and Xeriscaping Project, PLUS the Science Center’s 40th Anniversary Festivities.
• Exhibits • Special Guests • Displays • Entertainment • Free Giveaways • Food • Music • Planetarium & Laser Shows.
Holocaust Museum
BOOK REVIEWS
14
W.W. Loring: tion in the battles of Vicksburg, Kennesaw Florida’s Forgotten Mountain, Atlanta, and Bentonville. In bringing Loring’s story to the pubGeneral by James W. Raab Sunflower Un. Press 1996. $35.95 Hardcback $21.95 Paper
Virginia has produced its share of Generals: but Florida? The answer is yes, and that man is William Wing Loring. Born in 1812, Loring was a natural soldier. Volunteering with the Florida Militia when he was 14 years old, he was a sergeant by 17. Loring would participate in the Great Seminole War of 1835-1842, practice law, and serve as a representative to the Florida state legislature. With the outbreak of the Mexican War, Loring re-entered the military service, this time for good. during the war, Loring would loose his arm during the fighting for Mexico City. Undaunted he would continue his service until the outbreak of hostilities in 1861 when he would resign and report to Richmond for service in the Confederate government. serving during Lee’s ill-fated western campaign, he would eventually be detailed to the Southern Theater and serve with distinc-
lic, author James Raab had to start almost from scratch. Although he survived the war, Loring died before he could write his memoirs, did not leave behind a diary, and has been mostly overlooked by previous historians. The result is commendable. Mr. Raab presents an interesting portrait of a man born for a soldier’s uniform. Although the book reads simply as a list of facts in some area, while being cursory in others, the overall result is informative and well done. Intermixed with Loring’s is a fine account of the relevant campaigns, the commanders of the region, and the battles that would shape the outcome of the war. For the novice historian, this is an excellent overview of the Southern war theater. The events are easy to follow and contain an adequate description without the use of technical strategy or in-depth analysis. Unlike many authors, Mr. Raab has done a wonderful job of providing detailed maps to guide the reader. Mr. Raab should be commended. His interest in Loring and devotion to his exposure and duly earned credit are apparent throughout the book. General Loring, may we not overlook you again. •
CITRUS, SAWMILLS, CRITTER & CRACKERS: Life in Early Lutz and Central Pasco County by Elizabeth Riegler MacManus and Susan A. MacManus University of Tampa Press ISBN 1-879852-58-6 $49.95 Hardback
Each one of our lives makes up a wonderful story. You really get it during holidays when friends and family come together. Busy lives settle down enough to share memories and weave their story for the next generation. Citrus, Sawmills, Critters, & Crackers has the very personal feel. These are the people whose stories make up the everyday world of our history, the real foundation of it all. The warmth of family and friends springs right from the pages. Filled with photographs, it’s a photo album of with folks just like you and I. The text acts as a glue creating a kind of, “Remember when uncle Harry,” familiarity. “Northerns Harry and Maria Smith
arrived with little other than their horse, wagon, and a few possessions. They didn’t have a place to live, so they stayed in the Myrtle schoolhouse for a while. Their first house, hurriedly built near Cow Pond, was a slab home with a dirt floor.” You get the frontier feel of hospitality. In 1917, The area was still country enough to take notice of naiveté. “When World War 1 broke out, Frank Newberger bragged to a group of oldtimers that he was going to Tampa to enlist. When they told him there wasn’t a recruting station in Tampa, he replied rather emphatically that there certainly was. They pressed him to identify the name of the station. He blurted out, “the Salvation Army!” Elizabeth Riegler MacManus and her daughter Susan MacManus have done a wonderful job of bringing the past of Lutz back to life. •
HASLAM’S
CLEARWATER BOOKS
Age of Reason
A Thought on a Review of the Impeachment Issue by Chaculakabay
In the wake of Congress’s vote to impeach President Clinton, PBS ran a review which featured William F. Buckley, Jr. In the discussion, Mr. Buckley refereed to the War of Jenkins’s Ear. I was struck by the comparison. The War of Jenkins’s Ear was between England and Spain in 1739. Jenkins had been Captain of the brig Rebecca. Homeward bound from a trip to the West Indies, the Rebecca was pulled over and boarded by a Spanish guarda costa off Havana, Cuba on April 9th, 1731. No one knows exactly what Jenkins said to the Spanish officer, but it must have had been something to effect of, wait until my king hears of this. The Spanish officer in an apparent fit of sarcastic meanness cut off Jenkins’s ear, and I suppose, suggested that he present it to his royal highness for a hearing. Once back in London, Jenkins carried
his ear to the king and demanded justice. Little notice was taken until England wanted to go to war with Spain in 1738, than Jenkins was called back with his ear. He was examined by a committee of the House of Commons. Jenkins and his ear became the proclaimed one, in a number of excuses to go to war with Spain. This historical reference by William F. Buckley holds a powerful and troubling reference to President Clinton’s problem and the House of Representatives. Mr. Buckley, a very intelligent man, is an insider and if his innuendo is based on real information, then shouldn’t the public be given the genuine reasons for the vote. It makes me wonder if congress is committing the same perjury which resulted in the S&L scandal, the dishonesty of omission. Oh Washington, let your people know.•
Pre-register now! PONY EXPRESS MAY 1, 1999 Gainesville/Florida Museum of Natural History, Pony Express, Family Day at Thomas Farm, world famous fossil preserve in Gilcrest County, Register Early! Limit 20 children and adults. Contact: Erika Simons, (352) 846-2000 x 255
722 Pasadena Ave. S. St. Petersburg, FL 33707 (7 blocks off Central Ave.& 66th St..) ((727) 345-2800
Bagpipes • Harps• Flutes Drums • Tapes & CD’s Crystals • Metaphysical Books Gold & Siver Jewelry
RED CLOUD
OPEN TUES. - SAT. 11 AM - 7 PM
15
MISSING BACK ISSUES? Florida Frontier Gazette Vol.1 NO.1, 3 & 4 at $2 ea. Vol. 1 No.2 at $5 almost sold out
CLASSIFIED ADS
In keeping with Florida State law no illegal, stolen artifact material may be sold or traded through this newspaper. Advertise here for only 50¢ per word - $5.00 minumum.
WANTED: SALES ASSOCIATES ALL OVER FLORIDA
We are G-R-O-W-I-N-G at an breath-taking rate. Ms. Elizabeth can’t keep up. She needs help! Our circulation has exploded to cover most areas of Florida. So if you love history, museums, parks and special events and would like to make a little extra cash here and there, we sure would like to meet you. Territories in Pensacola, Tallahasee, Jacksonville, Orlando, Gainesville, Miami, Naples… Please contact Florida Frontier Gazette, 5409 21st Ave. So., Gulfport, FL 33707 or Email tocobaga.gte.net. or call (727) 321-7845.
SUTLERS BRASS BUCKLES, BUTTONS
& other historically accurate replicas. Custom Castings: Roman - 19th C. Catalogue $1.00/SASE: Richard Lanni, P.O. 4174, DeLand, FL 32724.
Graybeard Trading Company
Sterling Silver & Celtic Jewlery, Civil War & Fur Trade Era Items, Scottish Swords Dirks -Targe, Panther Tent Dealer Knives, Firearms, Tomahawks, Axes Ken (Graybeard) Tate (813) 685-6408
CONFEDERATE ROSE Jolene B. Wiltsie, Proprietor Hair pieces • Accessories 1(800) 382 - 2752 www.zim.com/rose
Colonial Smith & Forge
Colonial Hardware & Blacksmithing Mike Luck, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (954) 434-0798 Beeper (954) 466-0071
BUCK’S SUTLERY
Art & Linda Buck 5198 Drew St. Brooksville, FL 34609 (352)544-5532 Fax (352)799-0041 Your Civil War Supplier
Peace River Sutlers
Georgia Woodard 12931 5th St. SE, Fort Myers, FL 33905 (941) 693-5743
BLUE GODDESS
Deepwater Trading Company, Dream Coats, Celebration Garments, Robes and Such Mango FL 33550 (813) 623-3267
O’Donnell’s Place
Purveyors of fine handmade goods for Civil War and Rendezvous Period. 3137 23rd St. N. St. Petersburg, 33713 Ed Reiter (727) 896-9164 muskokee@cftnet.com..
DRESSMAKERS/TAILORS THERESA MULCONRY CUSTOM SEWING
8508 N. Orlean Ave., Tampa, FL 33604 PH: (813)931-8394
STITCHES WOOD & MORE
Celestine Graham, Period Dressmaker 7641 Gordon Loop Brooksville, 34601 (352) 799-4500
TIMELESS TEXTILES Living History our Specialty 110 Mill Street, # 9,Middletown, PA 17057
Phone: (717)930-0928
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Nehr and Sexton Fine Images
Location Specialists, Sepia Toned Black & White Photos of Period Reenactors (407) 269-0233 e-mail gnur@gnc.net
FOOD STUFF
ADVENTURES
Olde Time Sugar Korn/Sutler for Period Events For info call (941) 488-2055
Plant Tropical Trees and Plants in Philippines Contact: Bataan Eco Project Box 53055, Gulfport, FL 33747
MISS MOLLY’S ORIGINAL KETTLE KORN
EDITH’S COOKING CLASS Learn the secrets of Carribean Cuisine at Saffron’s Restaurant, 1600 Park Blvd., St Petersburg 2nd Tuesday of every month. 6 PM Fee $15.95 (727)
FLORIDA FOLK MUSIC Bayou Breeze
Contact Bill Wasel & Gloria Levy to book for your special event or party.
(727) 823-2433
FAST MOLASSES Old Time String Band
(352) 495-2242 or 336-7689 or 371-4047 or 375-7734
EDUCATION HERITAGE OF THE ANCIENT ONES
Living History presentation honoring the culture, history and traditions of the ancient peoples of North America and promoting respect for Mother Earth. Contact Wynne Tatman, 625 Theodore St., St. Augustine, FL 32095 Phone: (904) 824-3325
STORYTELLING
“Five Amazing Florida Women”
Grandmother Mangrove, tales of prehistoric people • Maria Velasquez, conquistadora on Panifilo de Narvaez Expedition, 1528 • Marion Payne Quay, 1890’s gator-huntin’ tourist. • Memaw LeBeau, cow-hunters and life on the Florida frontier. • Kit Watkins, war correspondent stories of the Spanish American War in Tampa Bay and Cuba, 1898. Schools • Camps • Museums • Groups Call Elizabeth Neily, (727) 321-7845.
HANDS ON PLANET EARTH Wildlife Shows • Nature Tours Earth Camps Douglas Scull (727) 896-3801 FAX (727) 894-0528
KILCREASE LIGHT ARTILLERY
1863 Living History Re-enactments Allen Gerrell, Jr., 10750 Kilcrease Way, Tallahassee, FL 32311 (H) 850-427-9883 (W)850-922-6007
CUSTOMIZED HISTORIC TOURS & EVENTS (813) 247-6692
1320 E. 8th Ave. Ste. 3 • Ybor City
Eco-Vacation
And read Plundering Paradise University of California Press
FLORIDA ECO-HERITAGE
Guided nature and heritage walks on the extraordinary trails of Honeymoon and Caladesi Islands located off Dunedin and Clearwater. Contact: It’s Our Nature,Inc. for schedule and prices at 727-441-2599, out of state - toll free at 888-535-7448. Visit the web site at www. itsournature.com.
Can’t put it down? Subscribe to the Florida Frontier Gazette for only $8.00/1 yr or $14/2yr
4 great issues per year! Make check payable to Neily Trappman Studio 5409 21st Ave. So. Gulfport, FL 33707
VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER SWISS CHALET
GIFT SHOP TRAVEL AGENCY
• Sightseeing Tours • Discount Attraction Tickets Maps • Postcards • Souvenirs • Fruit shipping • Hotel/Restaurant Information
(813) 985-3601
OPEN 7 DAYS 9 AM - 6 PM
3601 E. Busch Blvd., Tampa Across from Busch Gardens
WE CAN SAVE YOU 10-40%
Betcha didn’t know… Jerky is meat cut into long strips for
drying. The word did not arise, as one might guess, from the settlers’ jerkin’ and tuggin’ to get the carcass. It was an attept by English speaking people to prounce the Spanish word Charquis, which was the Spanish for the word ch’arki, a word of the Quechua Indians of South America.
18th Annual
Florida Antiquarian Book Fair
March 12-14 , 1999 Friday, March 12 - 5:30-9:30 pm Opening Preview Admission $6 - Good for all three days Sat, - 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Noon-5 p.m. $4.00/day The Coliseum, 535 4th Ave. N. St. Petersburg Contact the Book Fair Manager, Larry Kellogg at: Flapr@ interserv.com
16
g BARBEQUE G SODA-WATER POWDERS. Surf & Turf over the Coals On a spit over a pit of hot coals slowly roast a side of beef or a good rack of ribs. Marinate frequently with your favorite sauce OR
Marinade
1 C. lemon juice 1 T. Crushed peppercorn OR seeds from the wild pepper plant 1 tsp. crushed garlic (optional) 1 C. olive oil, (substitute for rendered bear fat)
Roasted Fish & Potatoes
In a bed of hot coals place a whole cleaned trout, catfish or your favorite with skin and head still on. Around the fish place well washed white potatoes - with skins on - one each per serving. Cover fish and vegetables with more hot coals. These can be wrapped in foil but they will not have that crispy outer crust. Roast for 1/2 hour or until done. Remember that the larger the fish the more time it will need to cook. Arrange on a platter with slices of lemon. In a pot over the fire simmer fresh green peas and beans until tender but not soggy (Yuck). Add melted butter or olive oil with fresh green onions for flavor.
Sweet ‘Tater Puddin’
3 lb. sweet potatoes 1 C. honey 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 3/4 butter 1/2 C. raisins 1/4 C. chopped pecans Bake sweet potatoes til done. Cool and peel. Melt in butter and 1/2 cup honey, pour over potatoes and mash til mixture is smooth. Stir in raisins. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Bake in uncovered dish for 20 minutes or until top begins to brown.
Helpfull Hints from Godey’s Ladies Book
TO MAKE PRIME VINEGAR
Mix one quart of molasses, three gallons of rain water, and one pint of yeast; let it ferment and stand four weeks, and you will have the best of vinegar. Another Way.—To a gallon of water, put two pounds of coarse sugar; boil and skim it for about half an hour; put it in a tub, and when almost cold, add to it a slice of bread soaked in fresh yeast. In a week, it may be put into stone bottles or a cask, and kept uncorked either in the heat of the sun, or near a fire, for six months. To keep out insects, paste a bit of gauze over the bunghole. L IP B ALM — An effective salve for chapped lips may be made by simmering together an ounce of oil of sweet almonds and a drachm[1/8 oz.] of mutton suet. A little bruised alkanet root simmered with them will give the salve a red tinge; and if you wish it to have a fragrant scent, use oil of jasmine or some other sweet flower oil instead of oil of sweet almonds.•
This is the way soft drinks were made before bottling plants like Coca-Cola took over the job. Put in a blue paper[?], thirty grains of carbonate of soda. Dissolve the blue paper in half a tumbler of water; stir in the other powder, and drink during effervescence. This is a drink well calcutated to allay the thirst in hot weather. In 1790 The world’s first carbonated beverage company was started in Geneva by Swiss entrepreneur Jacob Schweppe in partnership with Jacques and Nicholas Paul. The partnership dissolved within a few years, and Schweppe moved to London. He opened a shop at 11 Margaret Street, Cavendish Square, to sell pharmacists his Schweppe’s soda water in roundended “drunken” bottles so made in order to keep their corks damp and thus prevent the gas from escaping. The English must have liked it because in 1851, Schweppe & Co, sold nearly 200,000 bottles of soda water. In 1833 bottled carbonated was first sold to New York shop keepers by an enterprising Englishman, John Matthews. He manufactured a compact apparatus for carbonation—the first soda fountain. Ice-cream sodas became the rage in Philadelphia whe Robert Green started selling a mixture of syrup, sweet cream amd carbonated water during the semi-centennial celebration of the Franklin Institure. Green ran out of cream after making $6.00 per day selling his new concoction and by the end of the exhibition he was averaging more than $600.00 per day. On May 8, 1886, Coca-Cola first started being sold as a headache and hangover remedy invented by John S. Pemberton. The ingredients included dried leaves from the coca plant from South America and an extact of kola nuts from Africa. He advertized the syrup as an “esteemed Brain Tonic and Intellectual Beverage. A soda fountain man, Willis E. Venable added caronated water an a new drink was born. Pemberton sold 25 gallons of the syrup that first year but as he spent nearly three times that in advertising, he sold two-thirds of his sole ownership to an Atlanta, pharmacist, Asa Chandler the following year. Asa Chandler organized the CocaCola Co. in 1892. He acquired ownership of Coca-Cola for $2,300 and eventually bought up the all stock in the firm. Chandler achieved his greatest success only when he changed Coca-Cola advertising to end claims such as “Wonderful Nerve and Brain Tonic and Remarkable Therapeutic Agent” and “Its beneficial effects upon diseases of the vocal chords are wonderful.” Candler made Coca-Cola syrup the basis of a popular 5¢ soft drink which heboasted was being sold in every state of the nation by 1895. Coca-Cola was bottled for the first time by Chattanooga, TN, lawyers Benjamin F. Thomas and Joseph B. Whitehead who had persuaded Asa Candler to let them try bottling his beverage under contract. At 68, Asa Chandler sold his interest in1919 for a cool $25 million!•
Bon Appétit!
Florida - the land ofhollowed-out Milk and Honey cypress knees used for bee-
The barbeque is as much a part of the Florida heritage as it is in other parts of the South. During his travels from 1773 to 1778, Seminole Indians honored WilliamBartrum at a sumptouous dinner in their capital city of Cuscowilla. From his description it seems that their cooks could compete with any gourmet chef today. You can almost taste the mouth-watering “ribs and choisest fat pieces of the bullocks” that were “excellantly barbequed.” For the next course, “bowls and kettles of stewed flesh and broth were brought in. A very special dish called tripe soup was the highlight of the meal. It was made from the “belly of the beef, not overly cleansed of its contents, cut and minced pretty fine, and then made into a thin soup, seasoned well with salt and aromatic herbs, but the flavoring was not quite strong enough to extinguish its original flavor and scent. “ This dish was relished by the Indians, but Bartrum was a finicky guest calling it the least ageeable they have amonst them. On “several hundred acres of cleared land about the village” they grew fruit and vegetables including potatoes, corn, beans, squash, melons and others. Ripe corn was squeezed for its “rich milk, as sweet and nourishing as cream.” The Indians also harvested honey as a sweetner from large
hives. “There was a large orange grove… the trees carefully pruned, and the ground under them clean, open, airy.” Bartrum observed ancient cultivated fields where all kinds of fruit and nut trees were cultivated. Black walnut, hickory and pecan nuts were harvested, processed into milk and butter, and used in cooking delicious hominy and corn cakes. Dried fruit was another product described by Bartum. The Indians would gather large bunches of grapes, first “sweating” them on a rack over a gentle fire then drying them in the sun. The raisins where then stored for later use in making cakes and as snack foods.. Fish like the alligator gar, trout, sunfish, bream, were often baked by covering them with hot coals. When ready the skin and scales would simply be peeled off, leaving the meat white and tender. Of course another delicacy of Indians and early settlers were the eggs of sea turtles. Of course we can’t eat turtle eggs any more cause they are protected by law. Venison cooked in bear oil with corn cakes and grits (hominy) was another favorite meal of the Seminoles.•
Open for BREAKFAST & LUNCH Mon - Fri 7:30 am - 3:00 pm Sunday 9:30 am - 1:30 pm We are also avaoilable for Holiday Parties • Weddings, Showers & Special Events.
BAY GABLES
RESTAURANT 136 4th Ave. N.E. St. Petersburg
(727) 894-7163
CAFE MONET
EXPERIENCED CUSTOM FRAMING • GALLERY MUSEUM EXPERIENCE • CUSTOM DISPLAY CASES Anything & Everything You Can Frame GOURMET DELI • OVEN BAKED SANDWICHES Fresh Daily Specials BRING IN AD FOR FREE DRINK WITH ANY ENTREE PURCHASE or 10% OFF ANY CUSTOM FRAMING OR GALLERY ITEM LIMIT ONE OFFER EXPIRES 3/15/99
1027 CENTRAL AVENUE ST. PETERSBURG, FL 33705
CAFE (727) 894-7379 FRAMING (727) 894-0384
Sweet Sage Coffee Café & Two Crows Garden Lite Bites Served All Day Seating in the Grey Fox Room or Garden Catering/Private Parties • Custom Gift Baskets 16725 Gulf Boulevard North Redington Beach, FL
Open Daily 7:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. Phone/Fax (727) 391-0453
Florida ’s Largest and Finest Antique Mall
Featuring over 150 dealers and 4 spectacular floors of antiques, collectibles, and nostalgia from around the world. Thousands of unique items suspended “somewhere in time” will greet and delight you.
Mon. - Sat. Sun.
10 - 5 12 - 5
(727) 895-0368
Across from TROPICANA FEILD/Downtown St. Pete 1246 Central Avenue • St. Petersburg • FL • 33705