FLORIDA
Vol. 3 No. 3
Where old news is good news! July - September, 2000
THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY! Quiz 1. Who were the mysterious southwest Florida people who developed their culture around a fishing industry? 2. What did the Narvaez expedition find wrapped up in a fishing net? 3. Where did the Spanish fishermen ship their catch? 4. From what kind of material is the Castillo de San Marcos made? 5. How did women create an “hour glass” figure in the 1890’s? 6. How many pounds of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides are applied to lawns each year in the United States? 7. How much money did Alcee Taylor make processing fish as a boy? 8. What happened to the light at Egmont Key during the Civil War? 9. What famous Confederate was rescued by an Egmont lighthouse keeper? 10. When and why was Fort Dade built? 11. What song was sung at St. Augustine’s first Fourth of July celebration? 12. What is whey? 13. What puffed out like a “pouter pidgeon”? 14. What was George Gauld doing in Florida? 15. What kinds of pictographs were left by America’s first people?
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Events …page 2 & 3 Drake’s Raid…page 5 Egmont Key... page 6 & 7 Down Like Lead…page 7 Alcee Taylor…page 8 St. Augustine’s First 4th…page 9 Faces of Florida Folk …page 10 Florida Fiddle Contest...page 12 Book Reviews...page 12 & 13 La Belle Epoche…page 14 & 15 Games for All Ages …page 15 Fashions On Line...page 15 Recipes ... page 16 Home Remedies...page 16
© Hermann Trappman
The Cuban fishermen on the bays and bayous along Florida’s Gulf Coast carried their catch to Havana markets in these great beautiful schooners. all along our seaside. For thousands of by Hermann Trappman
We may never know who the first human fishermen in the Americas were. Somewhere out there, under the tossing gulf waters is their evidence. Down below the sparkling surface, down where the light grows dim, 300 feet down in the silent whisper of Gulf currents lies the sleeping ghosts of Florida’s first fishermen. During the last glaciation, that was Florida’s ancient coast. If there were fishermen during that distant time surely that’s where we’ll find their story. The people who lived in this State’s dry interior were the big game hunters. Those were the hunters of giant sloth, mammoth, horse, and bison. But, out there, along that ancient coast...? The story of the Native American fishermen isn’t entirely lost to us. Folks fished along our beaches after the glacial tides came back. They left their evidence
years they turned to the rich coastal zones to feed their families. Fish hooks, as well as, net gauges and fragments of nets, turn up at ancient sites. Fish hooks were carved of bone. The toe bone of a deer was carved into a curved fishhook, instantly recognizable as much like our own. In southwest Florida, the Calusa people developed an entire civilization on the fishing industry. When the Narvaéz Expedition Landed in Boca Ciega Bay, beside present day St. Petersburg, in 1528, they found a gold rattle laying beside the drying fishing nets. They went off looking for the source of that gold. The real gold hinted from the drying racks, but it required effort to get it. As the Conquistadors faded into history, Spanish fishermen from Cuba arrived. At first they fished with the native people. As time went by and most of the Florida Indians faded from the landscape, the Spanish became
the largest part of the fishing industry. They built seasonal fishing ranchos. Much of the catch from the ranchos was carried to Cuba. From Cuba it was packed aboard ships sailing for the European marketplace. Fish from our coasts nurtured families, from Spain to Italy and to France, and even Northern Europe. For a long time our gold gleamed from the sides of fish and those riches fed nations. The Spaniards who ran the industry commonly located their fishing camps on the mounds built by their Native American predecessors. Successful fish camps grew. Carpenters and boat builders came. Blacksmiths arrived to produce and repair the variety of iron fittings and tools necessary to make an industry work. Coopers came to build the barrels to hold the fish. The catch was dried, salted, or smoked depending on the market. At the height of See Got Away page 4
EVENTS
CALENDAR PREHISTORIC FLORIDA
September 19
St. Petersburg
Tocobaga Festival Science Center of Pinellas County 4-8 pm. Program to interpret lifestyles of Florida’s ancient people. A 16th Century Spanish Camp will also be set up on site. Primitve technology demos, storytelling and hands-on activities in Garden. FREE. Reenactors contact: Elizabeth Neily (727)321-7845 or E-mail: tocobaga @gte.net or Cindy Pacquin at (727) 384-0027.
16TH
~ 18TH CENTURY Spanish/French/English/ Native American
THE ST. AUGUSTINE GARRISON A a group of re-enactor that portray the life and times of Spanish soldiers and their families in the Presidio de San Augustine in 1740. Their goal is to provide living history to visitors and to preservethe Spanish history of St. Augustine. The unit provides military demonstrations consisting of cannon and musket firing, drill and ceremony, flgging and soldier camp life. In addition they provideother 18th Century living history crafts such as blacksmithing, fire making, leathercraft, cooking, pottery making, spinning and weaving, and woodslore. Contact: Jon Williams, 108 Pelican Rd., St. Augustine, Fl 32086 (904) 797-7217 (H) (904) 825-2240 (W) (904) 823-3858 (FAX) SARJUAN@AOL.COM ST. AUGUSTINE GARRISON EVENTS 2000 July 15 CHANGE OF FLAGS Sept 9 MENENDEZ LANDING October 21 MUSKET SCHOOL- at the Castillo November 4-5 FT. MATANZAS November 10-11 FT. KING GEORGE - DARIEN December 2 BRITISH NIGHTWATCH December 9 UNION ENCAMPMENTCASTILLO January 6, 2001 12TH NIGHT BALL
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CIVIL WAR
October 2000. Dauphine Island, Alabama 7th Annual “Colonial Isle Dauphine.” A living history weekend exploring life on the Gulf Coast before the Fort was built. Re-enactors in pre-1840 dress bring the Fort to life. Hosted by the West Florida Republic Volunteers. For more information contact Fort Gaines Historic Site, 109 Bienville Blvd., Dauphin Island, AL 36528; phone (334) 861-6992; Website http:// www.dauphine.net/fortgaines. November 4-5, 2000 Dauphine Island, Alabama 7th Annual “Ladies Encampment.” See the women go about their daily lives during the Civil War period. Open-hearth cooking, soap adn candle making and much more ... Hosted by the 21st Alabama Ladies Aid Society. For more information contact Fort Gaines Historic Site, 109 Bienville Blvd., Dauphin Island, AL 36528; phone (334) 861-6992; Website http://www.dauphine. net/fortgaines. December 2-3, 2000. Dauphine Island, Alabama 16th Annual “Christmas at the Fort.” Experience an 1861 Christmas with the Confederate garrison. A living history weekend for the whole family. Hosted by the 21st
Glory Weyman below asks, “Now do you see it my way?” She’s one of the few women who has trained to fire a cannons with the National Park Service. Comes in handy when you need to make a point don’t you think?
SPANISH~ AMERICAN WAR November 11, 2000 St. Petersburg Ft. De Soto Park. Dedication of the rebuilt Quartermaster StoreHouse. More information later.
MEDIEVAL & RENAISSANCE July 23-28, 2000. St Johns, Newfoundland, CANADA. Viking Sail. 10 to 12 Viking Boats from around the world will southern coast of Labrador and undertake a 6-day voyage to L’Anse aux Meadows. Arriving as part of the kick off to the Grand Encampment. The flotilla will be led by the Islendingur. For more information contact: Vikings! 1000 Years, Tourism Newfoundland and Labrador, P.O. Box 8700, St. Johns, Newfoundland, Canada A1B 4J6, 1-800-563-6353, Email info@tourism.gov.nf.ca, Website public.gov.nf.ca/tourism. November 2000. Dauphine Island, Alabama. 17th Annual Renaissance Festival “GATALOP 17.” See Knights in armor as they storm the castle, view melees and sieges, watch the Lords and Ladies, and visit a Medieval merchant. A very colorful event. Hosted by the Society for Creative Anachronism. For more information contact Fort Gaines Historic Site, 109 Bienville Blvd., Dauphin Island, AL 36528; phone (334) 861-6992; Website http:// www.dauphin.net.
October 21, 2000 Augusta, GA De Soto 1540 As part of the A Day of Language Event at Augusta’s Riverwalk, they are looking for up to a dozen 16th C. Spanish reenactors to portray members of the Hernando de Soto expedition that passed through or near the area in 1540. This will entail setting up a living history encampment and conducting demos throughout the day. 2-6 of men to be horsemen, they’ll provide the mounts. The honorarium has been quoted at $200 per person for the day. Contact: Robert M. Hall, 42 Spanish Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084 (904) 829-9792 Jacksonville Fort Caroline 50th Anniversary Fort Caroline is very interested in having a large number of quality 16th C. living history types on hand at the Fort for the fiftieth anniversary of the park. They promise fresh bread baked from the the field oven located just outside the main gate of the fortress. Contact: Alexander M. Whitten - Interpertive Park Ranger National Park Service, 12713 Ft Caroline Rd, Jacksonville, FL 32225 Office: (904) 641-7155 (904) 641-7111 AlexManly1@aol.com Le Poulet Gauche a reenactment oriented guide to the history, culture, and daily life of 16th C. France. Florida Military History Preservation Society Inc. - French Huguenot 1560’s at Fort Caroline http://pelotes.jea.com/leMoyne.htm http://www.magicnet.net/~dac/ft.htm
Alabama Infantry Company D. Enjoy the magic of Christmas with a Guided Candlelight Tour on Saturday at 7 p.m. For more information contact Fort Gaines Historic Site, 109 BienvilleBlvd., Dauphin Island, AL 36528; phone (334) 861-6992.
Vol.3 No.3 July - September 2000
Published Quarterly by Neily Trappman Studio 5409 21st Ave. S. • Gulfport • FL • 33707 Phone (727)321-7845 E-Mail tocobaga@gte.net Web Site http//www.floridafrontier.com
“Understanding the past gives you the freedom to plan for the future.”
MULTI-PERIOD TIME LINES
Sept. 30, 2000 Tallahasse, FL “Point in Time” at Lake Jackson Mound State Archaeological Site. 10:00AM until 4:00 PM. This will be a “Time Line” portraying Florida’s history. We are looking for volunteer living history interperters to interpret the various significant events in Florida history. Contact: Bill Kellerman, Assitant Park Manager, Tallahassee/St.Marks GEOpark Florida Park Service bkellerman@nettally.com
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Writers: Sheila Benjamin Robert Hawk Elizabeth Neily Karl Sommer Hermann Trappman Illustrations/Photography: Elizabeth Neily Sheila Benjamin Anne St. Charles Hermann Trappman Computer Service: specializing in Apple Macintosh George Watson (727) 321-7845 John Mariner (727) 823-0933
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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.
Copyrigh t2000. 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.
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PIONEER DAYS August 26, 2000 Barberville, FL Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts 6TH ANNUAL NEIGHBOR DAY CELEBRATION. 2 pm Old fashioned family fun, music, contest of skill and endurance (watermelom eating, seeed spitting, hog calling, storytelling, liars contest, more... Old Fashioned Box Lunch bid. Adults $2.50. Contact: (904) 749-2859.
July , 2000. Barberville, FL Pioneer Settlement for the Creative Arts CHILDREN’S SUMMER PROGRAM / APPRENTICESHIP PROGRAM. Intensive but fun program where children can learn folkarts and folkways. Each day brings new learning experiences in pioneer and ethnic folkarts, nature, science and trafditional cooking. Call for details: (904) 749-2859.
September 2-3, 2000 Dade City, FL Old Pioneer Florida Festival Old Time Music, Civil Wa skirmish, Antique Engines and Buggies, Hand Made traditional Crafts sale and demonstrations. Pioneer Museum, Museum Rd off SR 301 October 21 & 22, 2000 Orlando, FL 27thAnnual PIONEER DAYS FESTIVAL, Pine Castle Center for the Arts, Saturday 10am-6pm - Sunday 10am-5pm. Starts with a parade to celebrate arts, crafts, music and tradition. Located at 731- East Fairlane Avenue, Olando. Contact: Bettilee Sansone (407) 855-7461.
This late 1890’s gown shows off the 18” wasp waist poplular a hundred years ago.
Florida Folk Music
October 20-22, 2000 Camp Crystal Lake, Keystone Heights, FL FSFA’s 20th Anniversary FIDDLERS CONVENTION 2000 Come help celebrate this great event with special guest fiddler BRUCE MOLSKY. Workshops, Concerts, String Band contest, Dances, Cloggers, Old Timers Showcase, Chili Contest, Camp Jams, Tall Tales and more. July 16, 2000 Daytona Beach at the Florida American Festival, FREE. 6 TO 9 p.m. Fiddlers andBluegrass Bands. ALL Concerts are Downtown Daytona Beach. (next to City Island Library and Jackie Robinson Ballpark) Take Rt. 92 East off of I-95. Go to Beach Street. Turn right. Make Left at next traffic light: Magnolia St. City Island Park is at end of Magnolia Street. 6p.m. - New River String Band, 7 p.m. - Green Grass Revival Band featuring Elan Chalford, 8p.m. - George Custer Trio, Sharon McGinnis Hartmann, winner of the Rustic Class at the 2000 Florida State Fiddlers Contest will perform during setups. This concert is sponsored by Friends of the Bandshell, a non-profit group dedicated to programming & preserving the Daytona Beach Bandshell. Concerts are being held at City Island while the historic Bandshell is being restored. For a list of other upcoming concerts, visit their website at www. bandshell.org or call Vinton Fisher at 904673-2080. Friends of the Bandshell 420 S. Beach St. - Ormond Beach, FL 32174 July 29, 2000 White Springs, FL FIDDLE WORKSHOP & CONCERT Stephen Foster State Folk Culture Center with Lloyd Baldwin. Fiddle workshop on the morning of the 29th, and concert in the afternoon. Details to follow. For more information contact Lloyd Baldwin, dome@alltel.net Monthly Largo, FL The Bay Area Fiddlers Association (BAFA) meets on the second and fourth Friday every month at the Largo Cultural Center in the Feed Store. From 6:45 - 7:15P.M. there is a learners’ session, then the big group convenes to rehearse for the upcoming concert. To top things off, at 8:45 to 9:30 we have a fiddlers’ circle jam. About 25 members have been coming to the meetings each time. All fiddlers, folk musicians and guests are sincerely invited to show up for an evening of high spirits and fun tunes. Largo is in Pinellas County. Call Elan at 727-938-1417, or Joel at 727-321-2379. October, 21 2000 Lady Lake Lake County’s 3rd Annual Folk Festival 10amtil ‘Whenever P.M.” at Uncle Donald’s Farm, off Hwy 27, 441 near The villages in Lady lake. Featuring Florida’s
MUSEUMS Camps, Exhibits, Lectures & Workshops
Finest Acoustic Musicians, storytellers, workshops, pony rides, petting farm, JAM SESSION, crafts, Florida wildlife, magicians, clowns, Door Prizes, Bring Camera and Lawn Chair. Call (352) 753-2882 or (352)357-1379. November 10-12, 2000. Polk City, FL WING & STRINGS MUSIC FESTIVAL Fantasy of Flight aviation attraction. A variety of performances by accomplished acoustical musicians of considerable national and regional renown will present the finest in Texas Swing, “New” grass, Cajun, Folk Music and traditional Bluegrass. The music will begin on Friday at 5:00pm and continue through Sunday evening. WINGS - Throughout the festival, attendees will be entertained by an assortment of aviation antics like hang gliders in competition, hot air balloons, kites, ultra light airplanes, parachute jumps, and much more. Festival goers may tour over 40 historical aircraft . Come see a World War II Bomber and register to win a flight on an ultra light or a vintage aircraft. Click on Fantasy of Flight to see more on our location. STRINGS - With multiple stages presenting diverse musical performances, this music festival is not to be compared to others. Multiple entertainment stages will run simultaneously with smaller stages for individual performances.Tickets will go on sale August 1, 2000. Tickets will go on sale August 1, 2000. P.O. Box 759 Polk City, FL 33868 E-mail wingsandstrings@aol.com Wednesday Tunes Old Time Fiddle Jam If you play the fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, bass, bodhran, etc. and enjoy “old time” music, this support group is for YOU! “Old Time” southern dance tunes with a few Irish tunes thrown in now and then. We jam every Wednesday night. Often the group is asked to do a pre-concert jam before Leu Garden’s FOFF concerts which we happily do. Over the years many performing groups have formed from the Wednesday Tunes jam session. 7:00 p.m. Florida Living Center Nursing Home - 3355 E. Semoran Blvd. (Hwy 436) Apopka, FL. Contact: Peter Easton: 904774-6951 or Dan Nichols: 407-644-6052. LOOKING FOR FIDDLERS . . . The Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science (formerly the Jr. Museum) is looking for fiddlers to play on a volunteer basis on weekends, and at special events at the Museum. If you’d be interested in playing at the Museum, contact Marian Hester, Tuesday through Saturday, at 850575-8684, or email her at marian@tallahasseemuseum.org. Marian is the Program Coordinator at the Museum.
July 1 - December 31, 2000 Tampa Circa 1900: Absolutely Fabulous Fashion The Henry B. Plant Museum Throughout the millennium year, the exhibit will feature Victorian clothing from 1890 -1910. This very special exhibit features exceptional fashions of an era when privileged guests journeyed from around the country to the Tampa Bay Hotel, bringing with them trunk loads of fashionable finery. Drawing from private sources and the museum’s own collection, examples of the endless variety of visiting dresses, walking suits, “at home” dresses, bathing costumes, and evening attire are on display. Accessories such as hats, fans, jewelry, and hair jewelry are also exhibited. Fashions for this exhibit will change periodically to best reflect the seasons and to protect the fragile fabrics. July 8 - Sept. 30. Punta Gorda FL JEEPERS — CREEPERS! FLORIDA INSECTS, AMPHIBIAN, AND REPTILES, Florida Adventure Museum. How many eyes do spiders have? What’s the difference between and frog and a toad? How long can cockroaches hold their breath? From colorful frogs to pesky palmetto bugs, this exhibit takes visitors of all ages inside the world of insects, amphibians, and reptiles, exploring the way the live and their place in Florida ecosystems and history. —a variety of Florida insects, amphibians, and reptiles,—special displays, including a turtle burrow, ant farm, butterfly house, a collection of insect specimens from Truly-Nolen, and items from the Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center —live specimens —hands-on activities —videos of interest to both children and adults —dress-up outfits (children can dress up as a butterfly, lady bug, or fly) (941) 639-3777 August 4, 2000 Micanopy. FL Sixth annual celebration of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings’ Birthday by Micanopy Historical Society Museum. 7:30 p.m. at Micanopy Town Hall. Program by Jackson Walker, renowned artist, with exhibit of portraits of Rawlings and others. Also Rawlings memoriabilia on display. Event is free. Contact museum between 1-4 pm, (352) 466-3200. August 11, 2000 Punta Gorda, FL FREE Family Fun Night hosted by Florida Adventure Museum and Family News Network. Along with the exhibit, visitors can enjoy special activities for the whole family, with give-a-ways. The Museum is also planning some summer programs for children in conjunction with the exhibit. Please call (941) 639-3777
PRE 1840’S
SEMINOLE WARS & RENDEZVOUS
Nothing to report at this time. These two Florida pioneers were found enjoying some old time music at last year ’s Pioneer Festival in Dade City.
Thru August 18, 2000 Pensacola, FL Escambia County 2000 HISTORY FAIR “Best of Show Exhibit” This years theme, “Turning Points in History; People, Ideas, and Events.” J. Earle J. Bowden Building, at 120 Church Street, reopens as the part of the Wentworth Museum and Historic Pensacola Village. the building was severely damaged by Hurricane George in September 1998. Historic Pensacola museums open 10 am - 4 pm, Monday thru Saturday. Admission $6 adults, $5 seniors/ active military, $2.50 children ages 4-16. Contact (850) 595-5985 e-mail penshpb@ dos.state.fl.us. Sept. 16 - Nov. 19, 2000 Daytona Dali over Daytona The Museum of Arts and Sciences will feature various works by one of the most famous and influential artist of the 20th century. As an artist, Dali was not limited to a particular style or medium. The Museum will showcase a variety of Dali’s work including his “classical period” that spanned from 1943 to 1989. Imaginations and objects of the future by Salvador Dali from the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. Salvador Dali, the impresario of Surrealism, is the subject of this exhibition, which focuses on his suite of 10 colored lithographs completed in 1975. He has produced some of the most outrageous and imaginative art as evidenced in this collection. The prints demonstrate his skill at drawing, as well as the fantasies and emotions in the artist’s mind. The Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1040 Museum Blvd., Daytona Beach is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. 904.255.0285, www.moas.org
Sept. 23, 2000
Punta Gorda, FL
LOBSTER BAKE at the Punta Gorda Boat Club. Enjoy a 1 lb. Maine lobster, served with steamed clams and mussels, corn on the cob, baked potato, and eggs. Watch in fascination as the bake is prepared in beds of seaweed and cooked to perfection over a hardwood fire — an age-old method developed centuries ago by Native Americans on the coast of Maine. If you are not a lobster lover, you can choose sirloin steak, chicken breast, or stuffed zucchini for your entree. All meals include cole slaw, rolls, hot drawn butter and strawberry shortcake, as well as two glasses of wine or beer, and light beverages. Tickets will be available August 1. This unique event is being held to kick of Florida Adventure Museum’s upcoming exhibit, A Light in the Night: A History of Florida Lighthouses, opening October 7. Contact 639-3777. Sept. 13-14. 2000 West Palm Beach FLORIDA ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND EXPO Contact FAM (850) 222-6028 Email - fam@flamuseum.org Website www.flamuseums.org
FLORIDA HUMANITIES COUNCIL
Speaker’s Bureau 2000/2002. Qualifing non-profit organizations may now schedule up to three programs per year. There is a $50 registration fee for each program. Registration waivers are available for needy organization. Invite Zora Neal Hurston...Golda Meir...H.B.Plant, Eleanor Roosevelt, Mary Barr Munro, Marjory Kinnab Rawlings, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Sarah Orne Jewett, James Weldon Johnson, Rose Weiss, Papa Hemingway to appear live at your community. Or listen to folklorists, mucians, storytellers and lecturers about Florida or on a broader scale...the world. Contact: Dave Reddy (813) 272-3473 or E-mail dreddy@flahum.org. Website - www.flahum.org
Got Away from Page 1 the season in autumn and winter, the bays and bayous of Florida were busy with skiffs and the spreading wings of great sails. Summer had settled in by June of 1765. Two British ships drifted over the shallows at the mouth of Tampa Bay. The 32 gun man-of-war, H.M.S. Alarm and the little schooner Betsey carried a crew to map the area. The sailors noted the shanties of Spanish fishermen on Mullet Keys. George Gauld came to survey much of the west coast of Florida. As the summer months spread into autumn and the survey moved south along the coast, the crew actually came upon a working rancho. “They begin by pressing the fish with a great weight after it is split and salted, then hang it up to dry,” he wrote. “The last operation is…to pile it up in the huts ready for loading.” A year later, another British expedition explored the coast. Bernard Romans was described as a universal genius. He was a botanist, engineer, mathematician, artist, surveyor, engraver, writer, mapmaker, linguist, soldier and seaman, and he came to describe Florida’s west coast from the Keys northward. He estimated that between 300 and 400 Spanish fishermen arrive around September and stayed until March. “Their first care,” he wrote, “is to prepare their nets, and build a hut or refit the old one; then they new furnish their slakes[frames] or stages with new string of silk grass to the wooden hooks by which the fish is hung up to dry; their nets and other apparatus of lines, etc. are all made of silk grass likewise.” Slowly, Spanish fishermen settled along Florida’s Gulf coast. They raised the typical Spanish colonial crops of sugar cane, peas, corn, melons, pumpkins and citrus. And of course they harvested the bounty of the sea from the rich coastal waters. José Caldez had been living out of the Charolette Harbor area since the late seventeen hundreds. He was around 70 years old in 1831 when the U.S. customs collector, William Whitehead met him on present day Useppa Island. As Whitehead climbed the path through the mangroves up toward the heights where the village stood, he was greeted by five barking dogs. When Caldez arrived he took Whitehead on a tour. The heights or hills, where the village was perched, was an old Indian mound. As they walked Caldez told him that he had wanted to become an American citizen but the language barrior kept him from it. The houses were about 15 feet square, roofed and walled in palmetto thatch. “They reminded me,” Whitehead wrote, “of Ichabod Crane’s School House (from the Tale of the Headless Horseman). He noted that the door fastenings made the houses easy to enter but difficult to leave. Caldez employed about twenty men. The men had all married Indian women. While in the Charolette Harbor area, Whitehead visited three fishing villages. He ate fish and potatoes, drank their fine coffee and slept in their beds. “A few stakes driven into the ground, with one or two cross pieces for the bedd,” is how he
described them. These small houses contained a loft for corn, a hanging shelf with one or two pieces of crockery and two or three small stools. It was the fishing industry which provided much needed revenue to the state. The four Charlotte Harbor fisheries alone paid customs $5,000 duty on salt, provisions, and cured fish in one three-year period. With the acquisition of Florida by the United States, North American fishermen begain to move into this frontier. Those same fishermen helped supply Florida’s frontier with needed supplies. William Bunce sailed out of Philadel-
young man and I believe that his insights are important.”Ya know,” he gestured the point, “It wasn’t the professional fishermen who were the problem, the guys who worked at it every day. The professionals knew how to protect the fisheries. They were in for the long haul. It was the guys who came in for the season just to make the money. The seasonal fishermen didn’t understand the environment and they didn’t care. I believe that an inteligent solution could have been reached,” his eyes were penetrating, “but you had to want it.”
Celebrating the Art of the Mound Builders through Reproductions, Interpretations and Original Work
✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧✧ Cuban fishermen freely intermarried with the native Indians of Florida. They teased each other and laughed as they worked mending nets and splitting mullet for the smoking racks. Children hang from the fish presswhich pressed excess moister from the fish before it was smoked. The fishwas shipped to Spain to feed the Catholic nation.
Hand Built & Pit-Fired CLAY • Pottery • Miniatures • Pendants • Beads Contact us for Catalogue or visit our website at www.surfsouth.com/~ahands/
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phia and Baltimore originally. After selling his business in Key West, he moved into the Tampa Bay area. Much of the trade was with Havana, Cuba. In 1834, as the master of the sloop Enterprise, he brought three barrels of brown sugar, four of molasses, Cuban fruit and vegetables, four turkeys and 170 pounds of coffee, for beginning of that fishing season. The sloop made the run about once a month for the entire season. He employed 10 Spaniards and 20 “Spanish Indians.” During the freezing winter months in the north, fishing ships from New England and Nova Scotia fished these bountiful Gulf waters. The fishing industry was integral with Florida’s beginnings. Our human industries are made up of men and women. Some are caring and some arn’t. Many of the old time fishermen had the skill learned over many gererations. It was a skill which targated a specific resource. That skill was learned over many generations and reguarded the system. It was not to their best interest to harvest fish which were not of use. Nets and skills came together to avoid the harvest they didn’t want. But, we’re the story of the one that got away. Once the skills are lost, we will never be able to go back. As a part of the story we may ask ourselves how this happened? Fritz Wilder is a historian out of St. Petersburg. He fished when he was a
MICANOPY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
MUSEUM
Explore over 200 years of Micanopy’s colorful past at the Thrasher Warehouse Open Daily 1-4 p.m. Groups by appointment Wheelchair accessible
(352) 466-3200
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Chief Micanopy 1-75 at Exit 73 or 10 miles Head Chief of the Seminole Nation south of Gainesville on US 441. 1835-1842 Visit us On-line! www.afn.org/~micanopy/
Visit Romancing Florida’s Natural History online at http://FloridaFrontier.com
Piper Mike’s Flute Works Handcrafted
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Living History through Music and Song • Cassettes • Music Books
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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
Florida Frontier Gazette was there!
Drake’s Raid, 2000
Awash in a sea of sand, Drake’s men looked like they may have stepped out of an N.C. Wyeth painting.
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The Case of the Missing Event by Elizabeth Neily
In 1586, Sir Frances Drake and his merry crew of over 2000 men, dropped by St. Augustine. At that time the tiny town, had a council house, a church, several stores and homes for its 300 of citizens. The Governor, Menéndez Marqués, having been warned that there might be such an attact, had slaves build a fort and made plans to evacutate the townsfolk in the event that one should one come. This was not a permanent structure, but one which had been repalced three times by 1586. “It was built of timber, the Walles being none other but whole mastes or bodies of trees set up right and close together in the manner of a pale, without any ditch as yet made....The platform whereon the ordinance lay, was whole bodies of pine trees, wherof there is a great plentie, layde a crosse one another, and some little earth amongst. ”Drake’s men, the scourge of the Spainish Main, were not your ordinary tourists. They behaved more like crazed sports fans after a game. His men put ashoreon Anastasia Island across from the mainland. There were only eight armed men left behind to defend the town against Drake’s overwhelming force. Late in the day the English moved in and the defenders fled their highly tenuous position. They left behind several brass cannons and the King’s coffers meant to pay the troups and townfolk. Timucuan Indians also moved in to loot the homes and buildings. Drake ordered the town burned. The little village in northeast Florida lay in ruin. Crops had been distroyed as well. Food had to be sent from Santa Helena, and San Mateo to relieve the shocked town.. Every year on the first Saturday in
June, this drama has been acted out in the streets of St. Augustine. this year was different. Due to alleged lack of support from St. John’s County Tourism Development Council the reenactment withdrew from Aviles and St. George Streets to camps at the Fountain of Youth Park and to Anastasia Island. This move left city leaders with egg on their face for the reeactment had been promoted as usual in the media. While visitors came to the city to see the event, the Men of Menendez and Drake’s Men happily feasted and told war stories beside the fire in camp. I haven’t heard how many complaints from disappointed visitors flowed into the Mayor’s office, but rumor has it that the City may take over the event sponsorship next year. We’ll see... Someimes bureaucracies forget that their city’s reputation lies in their cultural heritage. While condos and golf courses, lovely beaches and shopping malls have their attraction, history is a resource that is often overlooked in the rush “to keep up with the Jones” of urban development. Statistics show again and again that visitors to our state are interested in our history. After the sparkle of the major attractions begins to fade, most tourists rush to find “the real Florida”. This is why eco-tourism has become the industry buzz word in recent years. With over twelve thousand years of continuous human occupation, Florida has a lot to brag about. St. Augustine is the oldest city in North America since the conquest. Let’s hope that next year, we can bring our pride back onto its streets.
Lee (left) rests on a fallen log in the mid-day sun as some of Drake’s crew stand watch over their claim to Anastazia Island. Below) Turtle Woman donned an assortment garb that would have reflected thof e Spanish influence on late 16th century Timucuan clothing styles.
HOT! Sir Francis Drake on the right is played by Willy Kunze
Looking more like Huck Finn, Talks to Trees, says he has been hanging out in the Timucuan camp since he was a kid.
It’s the only way to describe the searing heat at the English Camp on Anastazia Island. 98 0 reflected off the endless sand dunes. The Spanish Camp at the Fountain of Youth park across the inlet was cool by comparison. An occassional dip in the ocean helped those who portrayed Timucuans. As for the soldiers who had to suffer it out in their steel helmets, they touched the real feelings of 16th Century life.
Fire!
(Left) Scouting parties walk the dunes looking for Spanish spies.
(Right) Gentleman seated is preparing shot for the cannon and arms.
REAL HOT!
6
Turning the Tide on a Florida Lighthouse Naturalist guide, Karen Fraley, of Around the Bend Nature Tours looks over the landscape at Egmont Key. She routinely takes groups out to the island on the Cortez Cat a charter boat out of Cortez. The trip takes less than 30 minutes. Fraley conduct several Nature and Historical tours in the Bradenton area including the village of Cortez, Manatee Historical Village and Emerson Point Park Native American Temple Mound. Look for current tours on the Website at www.aroundbend.com
EGMONT KEY Beacon of History
Photos and Story by Elizabeth Neily As the catamaran skimmed the surface of the waters out of Cortez, the sun was already beginning to dip towards the horizon. In twenty minutes we would be setting foot on Egmont Key, a small island at the mouth of Tampa Bay. My mind drifted back in time, wondering what the original natives to this bay must have thought when they saw the first sails of Spanish caravels push into their bay. At first they welcomed the strange men with bearded faces as traders would. Then they learned to dread the sight of them as the quest for gold and the alien diseases began to dessimate their loved ones and their traditional way of life. After seven days of good sailing, on the holy day of the Festival of Espiritu Santo —Sunday, May 25, 1536 — Hernando De Soto’s fleet sighted Florida shores. The bay had been named the Bahia de Espiritu Santos — Bay of the Holy Spirit. Because of the shallow bars, the ships anchored two leagues offshore about four fathoms deep in the southwest channel, most likely near present day Anna Maria Island, Passage Key and Egmont Key. Pedro Menendez, the first Governor of La Florida, brought Carlos, the paramount leader of the Calusa to the south, to rescue his intended wife who had been captured by the Tocobaga. The earliest known chart of the bay appears in 1757. ASpanish Surveyor named Celi, first charted the Bay. Then in 1759, a British officer, Bernard Romans, the Deputy Surveyor of East Florida, surveyed the bay and named the island Castor Key. Arriving in Tampa Bay in June 1765, thirty two year old, George Gauld set out to survey the area under the orders of British Admiral Sir Willian Burnaby. Gauld’s survey team of twenty-two men sailed aboard the H.M.S. Alarm, a 683 ton, thirty two-gun man-of-war. The ship’s crew of 129 men lstruggled for two days to get the
The lighthouse (left) has guided ships through the dangers at entrance of Tampa Bay for generations.
great ship, which drew sixteen feet, to pass over the twenty-four foot bar in the north Egmont channel. He named the island after John Perceval, second Earl of Egmont, first lord of the admiralty from 1763 to 1766. From the island you could see the seasonal ranchos of Cuban fishermen who plied the rich waters of the bay. “The Spaniards resort to Mullet Kays for the purpose of fishing, and have built huts on the principal of them, where there are likewise wells of fresh water.” The survey team also noted that water could be obtained at Egmont by digging, and that a fort strategically placed on the key’s higher north end could command the entrance to the Bay. In 1783, another Spanish expedition arrived at the mouth of the Bay. Jose de Evia, a second generation naval officer, was sent to correct errors in earlier charts. He recorded Egmont Key, as Cabo de Cruz. Evia not only corrected navagaional errors in prior Spanish charts, but he also altered those he discovered in English coastal charts made during the previous twentyyear British rule. After Spain tranfered Florida to the United States, John Lee Williams, a U.S. surveyor, visited Tampa Bay in 1837. He wrote, “Many islands are scattered over this [Tampa] bay, especially the on the western part. Among the most pleasant [is] Egmont, in the mouth of the harbor. Fish and turtle are abundant; in the S.W. part in particular,
Red brick stretch out in all directions, the old boulevards along which military familes made their homes on the island.
such numerous and extensive shoals of fish are met, as almost to impede a boat in the shoal waters. The Spanish fishermen keep a schooner here, to carry fish and turtle to Havana. From fifteen to twenty men are constantly employed in curing them and in conveying them away to market. Seafowl are also exceedingly numerous; the beautiful flamingoes, in particular, appear in long files, like bands of soldiers in red uniforms.” By 1846, traffic was significant enough in the Bay, that the U.S. Congress authorized funds for a lighthouse on Egmont Key. It would become the only light between Key West and St. Marks. When it was completed in May 1848, Sherrod Edwards and his family moved to the island to keep the light. By September it was swept away by a hurricane. It is said that the family road out the storm in a rowboat tied to a palm tree. After the winds and water subsided, Edwards rowed to Tampa and quit! However the true story is that he resigned in August 1847,over low wages...$400 per year. The lighthouse which signals mariners at the mouth of the Bay was completed in 1858. During the Second Seminole War, you would have seen every kind of ship of the day pass by Egmont Key. TheVandalia, 127-foot, thirty-five ton sloop of war under the command of Commander Thomas Webb, swept by to protect the citizens of Fort Brooke. Merchant ships carried supplies to settlers. Military vessels carryied new recruits from New Orleans to Fort Brooke. Navy blockades hovered off-shore to prevent the rancho people from taking supplies to the Seminoles. Key West revenue cutters, Dallas and Washington were anchored off Egmont’s shores. Lieutenant Levin M. Powell, U.S Navy, lead a rescue mission to Charlotte Harbor after the Spanish fisheries had sustained a Seminole attack. More ships came to help the refugees. They quickly grounded and the Indian pirogues had to be pressed into service to transport families to Tampa Bay.
Safely off Egmont by nightfall, the Dallas shot a flare and lit two blue lights aboard as a beacon to guide the trailing transports. Another ship, the Concord, could be seen anchored off Egmont. By day the ship’s carpenters worked ashore with a guard of marines. They cut timber and live oak along the Manatee river to replace a spar and to construct a gallows aboardship to install the new spar. The sailing master McKinstry went ashore to raise a spar for a landmark on the island. The men on the ship tarred rigging and scrubbed the gun carriages. The U.S. Schooner Grampus, sailed past to protect William Bunce’s fishery
on the shore of the Manatee. Bunce wrote that the lives of the fishery residents were “owed to the Energy of the officers and men alone.” Eventually Egmont would see ships carrying hundreds of Seminoles out of Florida. In May 1858, after formal ceremonies and iced champagne,the steamer Gray Cloud left Egmont Key with Chief Holata Micco. Also known as Billy Bowlegs, he was grandly dressed “in his red leggings, silver crown, and feathers.” The following day Col. Gustaves Loomis declared the prolonged War in Florida closed. With him went thirty eight men, eighty-five women and children and forty-one captives from the jail at Egmont. Amongst these disposessed people, was Polly (who would later press for back pay for her services as guide during the war.) When her husband learned she had agreed to leave, he scolded, “ O Polly go to hell for money!” The Indian agent had offered the Chief Holata Micco a hundred dollars for each woman and child who agreed to emigrate, $500 to each man, and $7,500 to the chief—$5,000 for emigration and $2,500 for his cattle losses. In 1856, during the transportation of the Indians jailed at Egmont, the lighthouse keeper was Captain Frederick Tresca. When the Grey Cloud arrived from Fort Myers to check out the island for a prisoner of war camp, Tresca invited all aboard the ship to partake of a watermelon feast. Tresca was said to be a man of “cool courage and daring.” A native of France, he had sailed the Gulf Coast since 1836 and during the Civil War, won a reputation for successfully slipping past the tight blockade to get to Nassau. He also harbored a special guest, known only to his childeren as “Mr. Howard”. Tresca’s wife, Louise, sewed pleats into the man’s vest and waistband to conceal gold coins. Finally, a two wheeled spring wagon was loaded. Hidden under a pile freshly butchered beef covered with palmetto leaves was no other than Judiah Benjamin, the confederate Secretary of State, a.k.a. Mr. Howard. Tresca and friend Hiram McLeod, risked their lives and liberty to deliver Benjamin to Bimini in an open boat called the Blonde. Union ships set up a blockades around the Gulf during these troubled times. Local sea captains became known as “blockade runners” as they tried to keep their nearly destitute communities supplied with goods. Union soldiers described the condition of the locals as “desolate in the extreme”. For a time, Confederate marines were stationed at Egmont to keep an eye on the blockaders. Once a sympathizer informed
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Ancient Natives Return! Visit the recreatedTimucuan Native Village of Ucita Living History Musem at Camp Bayou Nature Preserve on the Little Manatee River in Ruskin
HERITAGE OF THE ANCIENT ONES
Now accepting reservations for school groups and private tours. For Information or Reservations call (813) 641-8545 or (904) 824-3325
www.ancientnative.org 4202 24th Street SE, Ruskin, FL 33570, I-275 Exit 46 the Union commander where the lanterns, oil, and machinery of the Egmont lighthouse were hidden. The Second Florida Calvary with three companies of Second U.S. Colored Troops and thirty seamen —landed in Tampa in nine small boats from the Union gunboat, Honduras. They captured several locals, taking cannons, horses, and $6,000 in Confederate and state money but the failed to find the Egmont lens and machinery. The little key at the mouth of the bay soon fell into Union hands. By 1862 it became a refugee camp for former slaves from the plantations along the coast. “Contrabands [as black refugees were called] six in number arrived this morning,” typically noted one officer at Egmont Key. At the camp they received some supplies but relied mostly on fishing. At times, men arrived first, leaving their wives and families on the mainland where food was more readily available. “Sent for by the negros to go ashore and ‘see dem women’. some of demam sick,” another officer wrotein his diary. All dreaded “an attack by the rebels.” Blacks were angered over the transportation of whites to the relative safety of Key West before the black families. When the Civil War ended, the lighthouse at Egmont Key once again shone its guiding light across the waters. As the years rolled by, storms battered it’s beaches but it stood its ground. In 1872, it became a bouy depot and eventually it all the bouys used between Key West and St. Marks were stored and maintained there. Then the Tampa Bay pilots began operating in the Bay. Prior to that, incoming ships would stop by the Egmont to borrow a chart
which they would have to return on the way out. There is a pilot settlement on the south side of the island. The pilots towed a boat behind the ship they guided and once offshore, they would sail back to the island. The pilots guided ships into the Bay as well. Not until the summer of 1898 did the island attact attention again. This time the island witnessed thousands of men sail past her on the way to another war, the war that would set the United States of America on a world stage. Through the political lobbying of one of the country’s richest railroad barons, Henry B. Plant, Tampa was choosen as the staging area for the Spanish American War in Cuba. When the transports returned home in August with its sick and wounded soldiers on board, they would spend several days at the Quarantine Station on the island. Sprinkled among them were the nurses of Clara Barton’s Red Cross. But it was multi-millionaire John Jacob Astor, who kicked up the most sand over spending the required internment out in the Bay.
By then, Egmont Key was finally recognized for its stategic importance. Fort Dade, named for Second Seminole War, Major Francis L. Dade, was built to protect Tampa Bay from Spanish battleships bent on retaliation for America’s “liberating” one of its long time possessions. The Spanish ships never came but the population of the island continued to grow. By 1910, there was a town of over 60 buildings, several hundred soldiers and artillery batteries. Families moved into slate roofed homes along red brick streets. As you walk along the never bending paths that stretch out in every direction, you see only shadows of the foundations of the homes where those folks lived. Here and there a flower bed peeps out between the weeds and you realize an army wife left something of herself behind on this sunbleached bit of land. In 1923, the fort was abandoned, never having fired a shot in the defence of our county. The village on Egmont
Reconstruction of the Guard House at Fort Dade awaits completion.
Key returned to the ghost crabs that haunt its beaches. Hosts of gopher tortoises do battle along the pathways. The strong currents that flow in its dark waters still pull unsuspecting sailors into its shallows where the sand swallows up their pride as they try to free themselves from its grip. All that remains today is the broken skeleton of the fort — a puzzling fixture to the thousands of pleasure boaters who happen on the old cement walls and wonder the empty streets. The lighthouse beacon has been automated and the Florda State Park service manages this Federal Wildlife Refuge. The Egmont Key Alliance, have obtained grants to refurbish the guardhouse. To keep the last of the old batteries from dipping further into the sea, a grant for $300,000 to shore up the area is awaitng the final approval of Governor George Bush. This is one of the most significant landmarks in the country. Let’s hope it will always remain a beacon of Florida’s heritage to future generations of American’s.
For more information about Egmont Key State Park 4905 34th St. S., Box 5000 St. Petersburg, FL 33711 (727) 893-2627 http://dep.state.fl.us
Visitors examine the crumbling walls of Ft. Dade which are perilously close to being swept into the sea forever.
Florida Frontier Gazette was there! DOWN LIKE LEAD
Photo courtesy of FMNH
The Florida Museum of Natural History, in Gainesville, FL opened their Shipwreck exhibit at Powell hall with a timeline outside the museum. Timucuan Indians, Spanish colonists, pirates, civil War Soldiers and WWII reenactors showed up to demonstrate during this event March 25th. (Far Left) Elizabeth Neily answer questions about 16th Century life aboard Spanish ships. (Left) John ryder a 17th Century pirate visits merchant wench Nanct Robinson. (Right) Hermann Trappman shocks and amazes visitors with his impersonation of a nasty German mercenary soldier who joined the Spanish to conquer and steal from the indiginous people of the America’s.
Photo courtesy of FMNH
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ALCEE TAYLOR A Community of Fishermen
by Hermann Trappman Like cowboys of the “Old West”, the folks who once fished Florida’s bays and bayous for a living, celebrated a freedom of the open range. They too were partners with the natural world. They lived on the knife’s edge of bounty and want, wonder and terrible danger. Anyone who has worked on the seas will tell you that it is at once generous and forgiving, or treacherous and totally unforgiving. And just like the wild west, the coming of development has been unkind to those who once roamed free across its wide open spaces. Cortez was a rugged frontier village when the hurricane hit in 1921. About 300 folks lived there in those days. Shacks, docks, and net spreaders were all busted apart. Wreckage lay scattered across the landscape. Although the storm did terrible damage, it ushered in a big change. New docks were built to haul the fishermen’s catch right to the waiting trucks for loading. Fishing had become profitable enough to lure some local farmers into the business. Ice came from Bradenton. Fish were layered between ice, burlap, and paper and then put aboard the trucks which would haul them to markets in Tampa. The roads were so bad, that at times, drivers had to take to the woods to get around washouts. Alcee Taylor was born in 1923. The midwife who was brought in from Arcadia had a brother named Alcee. He was born in a small house beside the bay. Cradled in his mother’s arms he could hear the screech of gulls and the whisper of the waves along the shore. He grew up with the smell of salt spray, with nets spread out on racks to dry in the strong sunlight along the bordering mangrove islands. Soon smacks, sailing boats about 26 feet long, were replaced by scooters. Scooters had inboard motors. In 1928, Nerih Elijah Taylor, Alcee’s Dad, pulled the motor out of the family car, a Star model, to put in their fishing boat. Folks made up grocery lists and banded together to get needed supplies from Bradenton. The motor was never returned the the car. Like kids everywhere, they imitated adult tasks. Alcee and his friends, used ragged out nets, nets the older men had tossed out, for fishing. The boys poled a small flat bottomed skiff over the flats, catching what they could. That’s how it all began. He could make a little extra money by cleaning fish for a local fish house. He had his own knife and stool. By the time Alcee was 13 years old, he was making 10¢ for every hundred fish he cleaned out. He was bringing in 6 to 7 dollars a week. For many, the money wasn’t enough. He joined them in 1936 to go on strike. By 1937 they were making 15¢ a hundred. When the Second World War broke out, fishermen were exempt from the draft. They were helping feed a nation. But, as the War clawed its way over the frontier horizon, Alcee and four other boys decided to join up with the army. Before he could go, he had to drive a truck load of fish to Atlanta. His friends agreed to wait until he came back. But they were swept away by fever to fight. Upon his return, Alcee found that the other guys had joined without him.
He went right down and tried to get in. Turned out, that he had a “week” eye and the army wouldn’t take him. Alcee went back to fishing, but he didn’t give up on the idea of serving his country. As the war dragged on medical restrictions were lifted. Alcee tried again. At last, he got his chance to go fight for his country. He was sent to the Pacific to be a part of the CB’s. Serving in the Philippines, he experienced cultures very different from his own. But, those far away places had no hold on him. Upon his discharge he returned to Cortez, the wide sparkling
On nights when bioluminescent algae was at its seasonal height, the water competed with the heaves for the show. Fish, startled into a hasty departure, left a trail of yellow-green sparkles glowing in their wake. When the fishermen pulled the net, it glowed like a magical spider web beneath the waves. The motion of the pole exploded like fire in the darkness of that fluid world. There were times in the midnight hush when they could hear porpoise driving mullet into shoal water. The water danced with desperate flight and hungry jaws. Sometimes the noise seemed mysterious and left the hair standing up on their arms. They always had to keep one eye on the weather. And the weather in Florida can change very fast. There were times when summer squalls caught the men at their work. Lightning ripped the heavens open. The tossing bay splashed into spray under the driving rain. Losing sight of the cork line stretching out behind the boat, they
their neighbors. Men and women came together in the hunger which builds futures. Of course Alcee is the real museum. He knew the tools intimately. He knew the hands who polished the handles with wear. He counted the faces in the faded photographs as his friends and he has a bond with the landscape which only time can forge.They used each other, this man and his landscape. Alcee’s keen eyes study the water. “The commercial fisherman didn’t cut down the mangroves,” he says with an earnest resolve to set the record straight. They knew that the mangroves spawned their livelyhood. “We didn’t build breakwalls to cut off the ocean from the coast. We lived within nature’s system. Sometimes we did good and sometimes we didn’t. Now pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers come right off lawns and flow into the bay. Kicker boats coat the water’s surface with a scum. Trash lines the shore and folks
Alcee Taylor (left) and “Goose” Culbreath (below) were fishing partners for years until the net ban forced them into early retirement. Alcee will talk to anyone with time to listen about the demise of the commercial fishing industy on Florida’s Gulf Coast. He maintains a small museum in the old boat building shed under his home. Goose” is one of Florida’s best old-time fiddle players. He delighted the audience with his unique style at the Friends of Florida Folk Festival held at Stephen Foster State Park on Memorial Weekend the end of May. In this photo he cuts up by fiddling with the horse hair of his bow wrapped arond the fiddle. “Goose”and other family members play at Cortez community dances and annual festival.
Cortez residents called the eastern shore of Sarasota Bay, south of the village, “The Kitchen” as its wealth of fish fed their families in hard times. bays, and the sense of his own destiny. It was good to be home. The salt in his veins returned to familiar rythms. He and his partners fished mullet, redfish, and trout. About once every three weeks they’d turn the skiff over on the beach and scrape away all the tiny new barnacles which had taken hold . They’d head out in the scooter with a couple skiffs in tow. On hot nights the open water usually stayed cool. Once they agreed upon a place they would climb into the skiffs and pole toward the waiting fishing grounds. The skiff glided across the dark water beneath a sky tossed with stars. In the summer, a breeze whispering off the salt marsh, brought clouds of mosquitos with it. Sometimes, as they pulled at the lead and cork line, angry crabs clattered to the deck. Sting rays lashed their dangerous tails and catfish tangled themselves in the net. If you grabbed the struggling catfish wrong, it stabbed a bony fin into your hand. It was hard work, but sometimes nature’s wonders were overpowering.
bailed like crazy just to keep afloat. Good fishing depended on the moon, the tide, the wind, and the temperature of the water. These were strong independent men using their intelligence and instincts to pull in a harvest from the sea. Every season has a net size which is best suited for it. Every season has its own catch. In 1948, a bad red tide finially drove Alcee from the bay waters. He headed up north to Jacksonville and St. Augustine. There he took work in fish houses. He worked in the shrimp industry as a shipping clerk. That’s where he met Betty Taylor and a new life began. On April 26th, 1952 they were married and Alcee settled down. Alcee moved back to his family home in Cortez in 1980. He fished until the net ban. Now, he has a little museum beneath his home over looking the bay. It has the familiarity of a well used garage. Tools lay on the tables lining the walls. A couple of old skiffs take up the center. There’s a line of old photographs, the past staring out from them. It was hard in those days, and yet the human spirit found community with
run wave runners in the shallows where the newly hatched fish are trying to make it. The fertilizers feed the algae which shade out the eel and turtle grass leaving the bottom a desert. The noise from the kicker boats and wave runners keeps the fish constantly frightened.” I follow his gaze out the window to an old stilt house, to nets drying in the sun and fishing boats swinging to the tide. This is a world I have never known nor appreciated. Something which was once merely colorful and quaint takes on a far more meaningful perspective. In my heart, I hope that there will always be a place in this world for folks like Alcee Taylor. They are not the past. They are the future, using resourcefulness to build the dynamic stuff of life in partnership with the world around them. The toll they took from the environment fed their families. Is the greater toll for the sake of appearances and just for fun?
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St. Augustine’s First 4th
the first floridians no longer live here…
…but we know quite a lot about them, thanks to scientific examination of the mounds and other artifacts they left behind. This book is fascinating for all ages, has lots of sidebars, photographs and illustrations, and is organized by county. Do you live on an old Indian mound?
@ Size 51/2” x 81/2”, 320 pages, paperback, $14.95 at your local bookseller.
by Robert Hawk
St. Augustine was late in having it’s first fourth of July Celebration. That’s not surprising as Florida not only remained loyal to King George throughout the American War of Independence but was headquarters for a large British and Loyalist military garrison. Further, the province was full of Loyalist refugees who had been forced to flee their homes in the colonies to the north. and, since Florida went to Spain as part of the war settlement, the delay might have been longer, had it not been for British policies toward certain rebels near the end of the conflict. British authorities in Charleston, South Carolina were rightfully nervous about the large number of rebels living in that British occupied city. To alleviate their anxieties, the British decided to deport the more prominent local rebel leaders to St. Augustine for safekeeping. Consequently, during August and September of 1780, they shipped a total of sixty-six rebels and their servants to that East Florida city. The group included three signers of the declaration of independence...Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward and Christopher Gadsen, Lt. Governor of South Carolina and a delegate to the First Continental Congress. Amongst the deportees/hostages was one Josiah Smith, merchant, whose diary told the story of their captivity, and of the first 4th of July celebration in North America’s oldest city. Once in St. Augustine, the patriots were ensconced in several houses south of the city plaza. Governor Gadsen refused to sign a special parole and was subsequently incarcerated for it in Fort St. Marks. The rest of the unwilling visitors to the Ancient City settled down to wait out the fortunes of war. Although some of the local British officials, were hostile and mildly unpleasant to the hostages from South Carolina, their period of captivity was not a difficult one. They had to attend the evening “gunfire and flag” ceremonies, and were subjected to morning roll call. Otherwise, they had the freedom of the city. They were invited to attend Anglican can Church services but as those services
included a prayer for King George III, the patriots declined. As a consequence, the small minded British Governor, Patrick Toyn, prohibited church services of any kind for the prisoners, even though the group contained its own minister, the Reverend John Lewis. Some local Englishmen were positively friendly. One, the town commissary, William Brown, made sure the prisoners received a few “extras” such as beer, in addition to their weekly food allowance of “7 pounds of salt beef, 4 pounds of salt pork, 7 pounds of flour and 1-1/2 pints of oats or rice.” They were allowed to buy fresh vegetables at the local market. As these men were from the mostly wealthy and famous segment of Charleston society, this latter provision ensured they could live comfortably indeed. In July of 1781, the hostage patriots decided to have an Independence Day party. To do so was both illegal and dangerous. If they were caught, it would certainly complicate matters still more. British guards were positioned outside their principle residences, in truth, more to protect the patriots from Loyalist violence than to guard them. The party proceeded as scheduled. The patriots collected together the ingredients for a great feast, including a huge plum pudding. As the party drew to the close, the plum pudding was brought forth, decorated with a miniature American flag. The men sang a song whose words were written especially for the occasion. The word, beginning with “God save the Thirteen States, these United States...” did not reach the ears of the British guards. But the tune itself did. It was the familiar tune “God Save the King.” Perplexed the guards went to the Officer of the Day and asked for instructions. Probably perplexed himself as to why the patriots would want to sing Britain’s national anthem, he told the guards to pay no attention, as long as the rebels were behaving in an orderly manner. And so, captive or hostage American patriots celebrated St Augustine’s first 4th of July in 1781 with the unknowing cooperation of the British Army. Americans still sing that same anthem today, only now it is called “America”.
Hands-On Fun!
• Why were the Florida
pioneers called “Crackers?”
• What did the local Indians use fish bladders for?
• Where was America’s first free black settlement?
S BY BOOK AC M I. RY PER
who was the first black man in america?
Estevanico, a Moorish slave, was perhaps the most lively, charismatic member of the 16thcentury Narvaéz expedition, but he’s completely unknown to most people. Read this historical novel to learn how he prevailed over early Florida’s hazards (and captured the hearts of Indian maidens!).
Size 51/2” x 81/2”, 256 pages, paperback $9.95 at your local bookseller E CALL 727-525-6609 FOR A FREE CATALOG OF FLORIDA BOOKS
British Officers relax outside their tent during last November’s timeline at the Collier County Museum in Naples.
Bagpipes • Harps• Flutes Drums • Tapes & CD’s Crystals • Metaphysical Books Gold & Siver Jewelry
OPEN TUES. - SAT. 11 AM - 7 PM
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Spring Break Camps April 17 - 20
previously Historic Villages of St. Augustine Same ownership. Same great fun.
254 D San Marco Ave., St. Augustine, FL 32084 (800) 813-3208 • (904) 824-8874
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✦ Specialized curriculum available for school groups.
Summer Camps Monthly Astronomy Viewing and Lazer Shows • Telescope viewing Laser shows ($2) • Planetarium Show ($1)
June-Augusy Call for brochure of fun activities at our day camps.
7701 22nd Ave. N. St. Petersburg, Florida 33710 (727) 384-0027
The
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Faces of Florida
Seminole seamstress, Madeline Tongkeamha, demonstrates the intricate patchwork designs for which her tribe is famous.
Story by Hermann Trappman • Photos How much do you love music? For me, music is an unresolved power. It’s like looking at the Grand Canyon and wondering what in the human spirit draws us to it. Music is magic. The rhythm of the human heart, the mating song of the world around us, the joy of laughter shared with a friend, from its beginnings music is spun of pure human charm. The FLORIDA FOLK FESTIVAL is full of that magic. It was hot, I mean really hot. The temperature hovered around 98° for most of each of the three days of the event. But, the heat just fades into the background of your mind as your attention is drawn to these sparks of the human spirit. Twenty stages were scattered throughout the Stephen Foster State Folk Cultural Center. Shaded by magnolia, hickory, oak, and pine, stories are woven together with skill, music, and personality. There is a distinct flavor on the hot breeze, a feeling that encourages you to slow down, to take the time, to let your humanity reach out. Have you ever tried Seminole pumpkin fry bread? Do you like real country barbecued chicken? Could you stand in line for a tall rootbeer float? I watched visitors drift from stage to stage. Walking by, you catch a sound which catches your ear. You float on the out side for a while. If its charm tugs at you, you find yourself sitting in the shade, leaning forward, sharing something special. All day long, folks wander this feast of stories, flavors, crafts, and music. But, as the evening shadows lengthen beneath the tall pines which surround the main stage, people trickle in with their folding chairs. Slowly the hillside fills for a night packed with entertainment. A short distance away the Suwannee River flows past. A breeze brings natural cooling. Cicadas, hidden in the shadows, pulse from the broad leafed trees.
Folk
Ann Thomas (left) and her husband Frank (above)have delighted festival goers for years with a big helpin’ of Buttermilk Kids young and old aloke are spellBiscuits. They encourage young, un- bound by Shelly Harshbarger’s, finger known mucians to keep up the tradition. puppet stories like There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and The Three little Pigs. by Elizabeth Neily
Then the spirit of the place takes over. These are some of Florida’s best performers. Their shine reaches out to throw glow over the audience. I sat almost breathless as the group “Inca Spirit” played Peruvian music. I recognized many of the pieces, but the band brought a special quality to it. Like delicate threads woven into Inca cloth, each instruments spun its tantalizing sound. As a whole the separate instruments developed a power. The sweep of the Andes seemed to spread out before me. Like the great heights and depths of the mountains, I could feel deep roots of that culture. On Saturday night, Native-American Master Flutemaker, Sonny Nevaquaya wove his spell. The deep echoing notes of his flute seemed to summon the Spirit of the river and the trees. The audience sat hushed beneath a sky splashed with stars. Then, Seminole Chief Jim Billie led his band onto the stage. The music of “Sounds of America,” were filled with modern vigor and vitality. The spectators couldn’t keep still, they rocked, they clapped. It was music filled with pride and the skill of success. Billy Dean, the Nashville country music recording artist, came out next. Florida born, Billy Dean brought the joy of love songs into that halo of light. Comfortable with the mike, he talked about growing up in Florida and sang music to our hearts. Each musician brought out their best. Each musician filled night’s shadows with the wonder of the human spirit. But, it wasn’t just great music, it was a celebration of Florida, the heritage of this incredible State, and the pride we should all feel for this unique landscape. I sat spellbound as Velma Frye, led a choir of twenty women from Tallahassee. Their voices came like from the very earth and rose into the heavens. My eyes were filled with tears at the
The Suwanne River was made famous by songwriter, Stephen Foster way back in the 19th Century. An occassional plunge into its tannin stained waters, helped keep festivals goers cool.
emotional power in their song. I would like to thank all those talented musicians for their dedication and for their gift to the people of this State. Thank-you to the women who signed for the hearing impaired. They did a grand job. Thanks to the Friends of Florida Folk who put the Florida Folk Festival together. They have a great heart and strong will. Thanks to the Secretary of State, the policy makers, and the men and women working for the State for a vision which helps us celebrate Florida’s heritage. Especially thank-you to Ken Crawford for the tremendous task of producing the festival. An let us not forget the park rangers,police, maintenance crew and volunteers who helped to make the event run smoothly. With so many people newly arrived from other places, it is essential that we help them love and respect Florida as a home. The Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center is located on U.S. 41 at White Springs. There are a lot of things happening there. For more information please them call at 904-397-2733
INTERESTING FOLKS Florda Folklore Society Encourages the identification, documentation and preservation of folklife. The Society publishes a quarterly newsletter that features information and news pertaining to folklife research and programming. Annual Meeting includes lectures, field trips, concerts and discussions. Contact Phyllis NeSmith, P.O. Box 466, Bocatee, FL 34268, (941)494-1564, Email- phistory@sunline.net Florida History & the Arts Magazine A full-color quarterly devoted exclusively to historic and cultural sites and events in Florida. published by Florida Division of Historical Resources, 500 S. Bronough St. Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250. (800) 8477278. Website www.flheritage.com.
The Florida State Fiddlers Association (FSFA) Musicians and music-loving friends who have organized for the purpose of holding a yearly convention and fiddle contest, and to increase communication among fiddlers and other old-time musicians in the State of Florida. Your membership helps support the Annual Florida State Fiddlers Convention. In addition, you will receive the quarterly newsletter which covers main events, jams, house gatherings, special events, workshops, and other items of inBanjo, guitar and bass keep toes a-tappin’ terest. Yearly membership in FSFA is $10. during the Sunday evening performance Make checks payable to FSFA. P.O. Box 713 Micanopy, FL 32667 Web Site - www.nettally.com/fiddler
Mmmm... Homemade ice cream!
Friends of Florida Folk (FOFF) A statewide organization that identifies, protects, preserves, encourages and promotes traditional forms of entertainment and the folk arts to the public. FOFF sponsors festivals, concerts, recordings and other educational activities. The monthly newsletter features articles, extensive concert and dance listings, festival news, and recording reviews. Contact: Jean Hewitt, 1625 Vereda Verde, Sarasota, FL 34232. (941) 377-9256.
Sun bonnets and afternoon siestas, long sips of ice cold lemonade and a movin’ re-e-e-al slow, also helped to beat the heat.
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Inca Spirit (right) drew crowds to their haunting melodies of Peruvian folk music with pan pipes, flute, drums and guitars.
THE PIER AQUARIUM
August
Carlos Aquirre (left) allowed “master fiddler”, J. Roberts (above), to sit in to blend his steel drum with thePeruvian sounds. Strolling along the paths you might discover, Sonny Nevaquaya (right) conducting a workshop on Native American flutes or Elfonso Jennings (left) weaving baskets of split oak, the same way his grandmother did before him.
The enchanting strains of Lisa Lynne Franco’s harp whispered between the pines and magnolias. In another corner, Lucille Francis Fuller, fascinated listeners with tales about her childhood in Jamaica and how iron filleda with she used heavyhot coals to press her school uniform.
12th Tampa Bay Walks the Talk (pt 1): Perform water quality tests in Tampa Bay, compare it to the Gulf of Mexico, and find out how pollution enters the Bay, affects its health, and what we can do to prevent it. 10am-12pm at Spa Beach and the Education Station. $2.00/participant. 26th Tampa Bay Walks The Talk (pt 2): Join The Pier Aquarium for a day of “Catchin’ Critters Knee Deep!” Learn about the animals that call Tampa Bay their home. 10am-12pm at Spa Beach and Education Station. $2.00/participant.
September
16th Tampa Bay Walks The Talk (pt 3): Join The Pier Aquarium for a coastal
clean up of Spa Beach. Learn what the most common and unusual items of marine debris are found along our beach, and how they affect our marine environment. 10am-12pm at Spa Beach and Education Station. Donations appreciated.
30th Fossil Find: Go beach combing for naturally occurring fossils deposited on our shores. Discover marine life that inhabited Tampa Bay millions of years ago. Start your very own fossil collection! 10am-12pm at Spa Beach and Education Station. $2.00/participant.
Questions? Call the Pier Aquarium at (727) 895-PIER. See you there! 800 Second Ave. North East • Suite 200 • St. Petersburg, FL 33701
Andrews Memorial Chapel c. 1888
Florida Fiddler’s Contest This year’s Fiddle Contest at the 48th annual Florida Folk Festival once again demonstrated the diverse heritage of Old Time and Contemporary fiddling found in Florida, as fiddlers paid homage to Old Time traditions, shared current renditions of old favorites, or offered up lost gems. Thanks to all those who took the challenge and shared their skills and their musical interests with strangers and friends. You are all winners for doing so. Be sure to see the results of this year’s FSFA Fiddle Contest in this issue, and men take note: the ladies ruled. The morning kicked off with guest performances from Sawgrass Fiddle Contest winner Trent Watkins and Master Fiddlers Eddie Keeney who demonstrated Irish fiddling, and Wayne Martin who demonstrated Western Swing as well as Contemporary fiddle styles. Other Master Fiddlers performing during morning registration and judging breaks were Julian “Goose” Culbreath accompanied by his nephew Richard Culbreath, Lloyd Baldwin and Willie Jones demonstrating Old Time or Rustic fiddle styles. Also, Joe Nelson shared some old time singing and then accompanied Leo Pitt who demonstrated French Canadian fiddling. Special thanks to Tom Staley who accompanied many of this year’s Showcase and Contest fiddlers. Finally, thanks to our three judges: Bobbie Jo Finer, Bob Parsons and Mike Stapleton for persevering through the long hot day, and to Deb Gilman for the equally
4th The Amazing Pier Aquarium Fish Hunt: Go on a wild fish hunt, finding interesting tidbits of information about our aquarium inhabitants. All successful “fish fact finders” get a prize! 12pm4pm at The Pier Aquarium on the 2nd floor of The Pier. Donations appreciated. 22nd Touch Tank Time: Get “in touch” with Tampa Bay’s marine life at The Pier Aquarium’s very own touch tank. 10am-12pm at The Pier Aquarium on the 2nd floor of The Pier. Donations appreciated.
DUNEDIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
It is impossible to share all the moods of the Florida Folk Festival, but if you haven’t experienced it, we hope that next year, perhaps, you will join us. from Allen Hood, FSFA president.
July
important work of tallying scores. Also, thanks to Fay Baird for helping with newsletter subscriptions and contest ribbons, Annie Orlando for contest registration and payment of prizes, and to Rosemary Jones for helping all day with the judges tune evaluation sheets. Many many thanks to Kate (tireless) Taluga for being our M.C. all afternoon and for her help with the Masters Showcase.
FSFA Fiddle Contest Results
May 27, 2000 - White Springs, FL RUSTIC DIVISION 1) Brett Watkins, 2) Kin Hum, 3) Ian Malinowski, 4) Sean Colledge, 5) Andy Thomas, 6) Jim Robertson, 7) Tom Van Treese, 8) Kay Van Treese, 9) Rich Crew, 10) Hank Taylor, 11) Paul Carr, 12) Gary Mellen, 13) Cynthia Moore,14) Walter Webb, 15) Bob Ellis, 16) Dea Browney CONTEMPORARY 1) Denise Peterson, 2) Treat Watkins, 3) Josh Hedley, 4) Cyrus Carannon, 5) Judd Taylor, 6) David Langston, 7) Lynnsey Smith, 8) Debbie Zanders. JUNIOR 1) Sharon Hartmann, 2) Emma Harbert, 3) Lee Staley, 4) Stephanie Bregow, 5) Karlie Harrell, 6) Catherine Turner TWIN 1) IanMalinowski/Kathie Aagaard 2) Sharon Hartman /Andy Thomas 3) Debbie Zanders /George Deedhan 4) Josh Hedley/Jim Robertson
Sunday Tours
2 pm - 4 pm Available for Weddings, Concerts, Tours. 1899 San Mateo Drive, Dunedin.
Dunedin Historical Museum Railroad Station c. 1922 349 Main Street, Dunedin, FL Exhibits related to Dunedin and Florida History
Museum Programs
1890’S VINTAGE BASEBALL GAMES at Otten Field, Dunedin 60th Anniversary Exhibit of HONEYMOON ISLE June 24 - December 30, 2000 • CHILDRENS RAILROAD CAMP Ages 9-12 August 1-4, 2000 $75.00
Museum Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10 am - 4 pm For information call (727) 736-1176
Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History
A Florida History and Archaeological Museum
Thru July 29, 2000 VINTAGE PHOTOGRAPHICA Daguerrotypes...ambrotypes...tintypes..cartes de viste... Civil War era cameras...Stereographs... and much more!
August 15 thru October 28, 2000
Florida Artists: GUY LABREE and BRADLEY COOLEY
Sunday, August 20, 2000 at 2 PM • Meet the Artists Reception • Artists discuss Seminole Indian theme paintings and sculpting. $2 with Reserved Seating 329 Bayshore Blvd. S., Safety Harbor, FL Phone: (727) 726-1668 Tuesday -Friday 10a.m. - 4p.m. Saturday & Sunday 1p.m - 4p.m.
BOOK REVIEWS
Inheriting the Revolution:
The First Generation of Americans by Joyce Appleby Harvard Un. Press, ©2000 ISBN 0-674-00236-9 Hardcover $26.00 This original book, captures the world of the first decades after the American Revolution. Joyce Appleby argues that the revolution freed the human spirit and that the formative years of the new nation gave us the infrastructure which we now recognize as modern America. She vividly portrays the shifting relationship of citizens with their government. Freedom from old European political structures, values encouraged the younger generation in particular to brake away from the patriarchal control of their fathers to strike out on their own. Business opportunities, a capitalist economy and the vision of a brighter future became the “American dream’. This was not just a revolt from oppressive government control but a revolt from the establishment as well. Those who inherited the Revolution came of age at a time when they saw opportunities never before open to them under the old system of apprenticeship and servitude. About the emergence of the self-made man, Appleby writes, “The motives of self-making among Americans were wondrously broad, comprehending as they did the drive for self-liberation among enslaved Americans, the yearning to reform an erring people, frequently sharpened by an evangelical revival, or the desire for a new beginning on the frontier. Americans had metamorphosed the continent into an empty canvas upon which explorers, settlers, and missionaries could limn their pictures of the future, despite the steady and often violent expulsion of native people. almost all in this cohort were born in the country-that grand designation that encompassed the areas outside the American’s dozen cities with more than ten-thousand people. Most of them grew up in rural penury, for the long and costly War of Independence depleted resources, with farming families paying their share in sons and fathers killed, goods confiscated crops neglected, and savings lost in depreciated “continental” money. “ Appleby points out that Americans fashioned their unique political structure. “Money, reputation and social prominence would never be negligible factors in American electoral politics, but no political party would ever again gain the presidency by arguing that the families of established wealth and social prominence formed the nations natural leaders.” And yet political battles took to the streets. They adopted a no-holds barred attitude to resolve political differences. Appleby discusses the role of the press in giving voice to power struggles. “ Published accounts of various disputes carried politics into the parlor, where women joined in the general discussion of popular issues. The intense politicization of
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public life from political and institutional controversies accustomed Americans to public disclosure... It ...move policy debates from the closed and obscure to the open and transparent. The boundaries between private and public came to rest upon what was and was not known. The arcana of government no longer formed a protective seal around the public figure.” We recommend Inheriting the Revolution to anyone wondering how we got to be the way we are today. It also gives insight how other emerging democracies must work through their growing pains.E. Neily
Just around the corner.
America’s Best Bass Fishing
by Steve Price Falcon Press, ©2000 ISBN 1-56044-775-3 Paperback $18.95 How does anyone describe “America’s Best Bass Fishing” by Steve Price without the use of superlatives? No pun intended, but this bass fishing book can best described as “Priceless”. Being no newcomer to the sport of bass fishing, with more than 60 years experience, I have fished from Canada to the Mexican border. I have personally fished in many of those lakes and impoundments chosen by Price. Price’s choice of the best 50 lakes for largemouth black bass fishing is really tops. The entire spectrum of USA best bass fishing spots includes 19 locations in the Southeast, 15 in the South Central, and 16 lakes, rivers, and impoundments throughout the West, Midwest, and Northeast. In describing each of these lakes, Price includes many of the “Honey Holes” most bass fishermen are always seeking. After reading this book, you’ll never be a stranger to any of the described 50 best bass lakes in the USA. Best of all, Price has personally interviewed thirty-seven Professional Bass Fishermen, all members of the Pro Bass Tournament Tour, together with many local resident fishermen. All shared their secrets and success stories regarding how to fish, where to fish, the most productive lures and techniques, and the best time of year for each respective lake and impoundment. “Americas Best Bass Fishing” is a lot more than a list of 50 lakes. The lakes and impoundments show the area of the waters in square acres and their proximity to towns and highways with route access numbers. Also included, is a detailed diagram of each lake and impoundment, showing the more productive fishing spots and boat ramps. For further convenience “Tourist Information Centers and Chamber of Commerce addresses and phone numbers are listed. Steve Price has offered the readers more than “just another book” “Americas Best Bass fishing” could best be called “a bass fishing directory and guide.” One of the best I’ve ever read. No serious bass fisherman should be without it, its “Priceless”! Editor’s Note: Because we at FFG have no experience in bass fishing, we wisely went to an inveterate Bass Fisherman, Karl Sommer, for this review.
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Painted Dreams
Native American Rock Art by Thor Conway North Word Press, Inc. ISBN 1-55971-213-9 Hardcover $29.95 I have walked on the edge of the world, alone, yet guided by the voice of the land. From earliest childhood—I always claim I was born an archaeologist—I have felt compelled to seek the lasting traces of Native American ways. Growing up in the Allegheny Mountains, I pursued archaeology as a means of making contact with past aboriginal wisdom. So begins PAINTED DREAMS. Like everything which has gone before, we humans leave our story on the face of this planet. That story is the legacy for all the children of the earth. Thor Conway truly understands this concept. PAINTED DREAMS is not just another book written for peers within a discipline of science or history, it is written for you. If you are even mildly curious about the ancestors of this land, this book will speak to your heart as well as your mind. “In the northern woodlands, the erratic distribution of rock art has perplexed anyone who has searched for the elusive pictographs. Why has it been so difficult to predict the distribution of rock art sites? The Ojibwa and Cree shamans obviously preferred to record their dreams on sheer lakeside walls, but why would so many seemingly ideal locations remain unmarked, while the same type of cliffs and ledges only a few miles away bear red ochre symbols? The solution becomes simple when we learn to recognize sacred space, and then complicated again as we ponder the clever metaphors so poetically spoken by tribal shamans. For a long time I, like many others, treated rock art sites as distinct phenomena—unique expressions of
native spirituality. My isolationist view was changed when the Elders revealed that pictographs and petroglyphs are a part of the detail woven onto the fabric of a spiritual landscape— a dream world filled with shrines, vision quest locations, animate rocks that spoke, immortals turned to stone and brought to life through mythology. Rock art sites suddenly became links in an entire spectrum of sacred sites.
LICHEN DRAWINGS
Lichen glyphs were rock art in its most perishable form. Only the short-lived sand drawings of medicine people in the southwest and southern California are more ephemeral. Lichen drawings remain one of the many mysteries about rock art—an entire, nearly overlooked group of sites. Since most of the dream images engraved onto vast, lichen-covered cliff walls disappeared from view nearly 50 years ago, we must rely upon descriptions left by observant travelers. The seemingly sporadic distribution of pictograph sites north of the Great Lakes might demonstrate more continuity if we could include the unknown lichen glyph locations. The descendants of Shingwaukonce, who held the secrets of rock art, also revealed the background behind images in lichen.” Genuine understanding takes a lifetime, it is a life time, and is worth a lifetime. Understanding the story of the world you live in is a path. Your story is unique and yet woven in to everything around you. Every plant which has ever lived is part of your story. Not one birth or death has disappeared from the fabric of this tale, no mater how brief. PAINTED DREAMS celebrates the threads of this great fabric. Thor Conway understands connections. I hope you enjoy his gift. -Hermann Trappman
Prehistoric bunny?
Gardening for Florida’s Butterflies by Pamela F. Traas Great Outdoors Publishing, St. Petersburg, 1999 Paperback $12.00
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Visit us at our Award Winning Web Site
FloridaFrontier.com currently UNDER CONSTRUCTION FLORIDA HISTORY EVENTS Complete and comprehensive listing of all
history related events in Florida, including maps, driving directions, and info request forms. You can even list
. . . YOUR EVENT ON-LINE ! The FLORIDA FRONTIER GAZETTE was there! Pages showing photos of events that we attend
Florida Butterfly Gardening by Marc C. Minno & Maria Minno Illustrations by Diane Pierce University Press of Florida ISBN 0-8130-1665-7 Hard Cover $34.95
Returning the Land to Flowers Our home is nestled under some stately long leaf pine trees. Because we live caotic lives, there isn’t much time left to spend gardening and mowing lawns. Pine needles litter the yard and in the spring Spiderwort springs up everywhere. Gulf fritillaries tumble over the bidens scattered here and there. I used to think...”I’d better do something about this mess before the neighbors complain.” But when new neighbors, Ed and Maria, moved in next door, they looked at our yard with visible relief. Since then we have started to look at our lots as a way of sending a message to others in our community. Hermann brings home native plants he has purchased from the park where he works as a ranger. We are designing a garden, a garden friendly to wildlife. Back Yard conservationists have taken wing, so to speak all over Florida. There is a growing fascination with attracting butterflies into our yards. When folks discover that putting in plants attactive to butterflies have the added bonus of low maintenance, then the idea becomes even more enticing. This year’s draught has also forced homeowners into looking into ways of beautifying their yards without impacting the water table. Voila! Butterflies. To meet the increasing demand for the care and propagation of native and specific exotic plants irresistable to butterflies, two excellant books are now available. First, Pamela Traas, has authored Gardening for Florida Butterflies. Traas says her interest was piqued by “a simple request from the PTA at my daughter’s school for campus beatifcation led to my being asked to install a butterfly garden there. I couldn’t wait to get started on my first butterfly haven. The excitment of the children only increased my enthusiasm.” After a hit and miss approach to creating her first garden, Traas discovered, “butterflies are a discriminating lot. Downright picky, in fact! “ Traas shares her dicoveries about which plants attract which butterflies. She encourages readers to provide a
throughout the year. Folks will want to come to our site to see pictures and reminisce. place for Florida’s dissappearing habitats, distroyed by persistent develpers, use of chemicals and over mowing. Along side Traas on your gardening reference shelf should be Marc and Maria Minno’s Florida Butterfly Gardening. The Minno’s write in their introduction, “What is your vision of a beautiful garden? Is it a peaceable kingdom of tropical flowers and exotic animals. Imagine a yard alive with colorful butterflies frolicking among red, yellow, blue and white flowers. This could be your yard, no matter if you live in the heart of Miami, or far from the bustling city.” They go on to explain the American craze for beuatifully manacured lawns. “Through educational programs and advertising from the emerging lawn care industry, Americans began to view lawns as a symbol of wealth and domestic values (Jenkins 1994). The new aesthetic took hold in a big way. Few Americans today would view their home as complete without a large grassy yard. The lawn care industry generates billions of dollars annually. but this mad scramble to have good looking grass isn’t necessarily healthy for people. More than 70 million pounds of chemical fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides are applied to lawns each year in the United States. That’s a tremendous amount of water, air, and soil pollution! Also, exhaust from lawn mowers is a significant source of air pollution.” The health benefits of butterfly gardening are also promoted in the book. “Butterfly gardening also serves a therapeutic function (Morris and Hertog 1995). Growing plants and butterflies is helping many patients recovering from injuries to relearn living skills and rebuild self-confidence and independence. Residents of nursing homes and other fascilities for the elderly receive joy and satisfaction from caring for butterfly gardens and watching the seasonal changes of the plants or the metamorphosis of the butterflies. Similarily, day care centers with butterfly gardens give children a chance to explore and inquire about our natural world.” It may be impossible to totally replace the English manner house concept of gardening with a disorderly array of splashy colors. However it would be wonderful to see Florida return to “the land of flowers” as first encountered five hundred years ago by Ponce de Leon. -Elizabeth Neily
STORIES FROM FLORIDA HISTORY & NATURAL HISTORY
We have many wonderful artists and writers who contribute on a regular basis. Join us for some of the more controversial issues that have somehow failed to make it into our history textbooks. Where was Florida during the Age of Dinosaurs?
Elizabeth Neily at the Fort Foster Rendezvous in February 2000
Florida History in the News
Coverage of current events and activities related to Florida History. This is the place to send us your latest discoveries . A new archaeological discovery, a forgotten book you have dusted for information, family insights, travel with Florida history in mind - share your adventures here!
The STORYTELLING TREE
RECIPES
Featuring food from throughout Florida history. Everything from Mastadon Stew to “Cabbage Palm Stew” and other delicacies to tantalize your palate. Johnny Shaffer , tells the story of the 16th C. Spaniard, Juan Ortiz, who was captured and tortured by Cheif Hirrahigua. Visit him at the Storytelling Tree. All storytellers are invited to link or place a page with us. It’s free!
THE COSTUME PAGE One of Elizabeth’s great loves, we have pages devoted to discussion of period costumes with patterns, LINKS, and chat room. Discussions about how to join a reenactment group and how to get started.
MANY MANY MORE FEATURES
Open a window to the past. Discover the World...
Butterflies on the WEB
Butterfly Gardening Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission http://fcn.state.fl.us/ fwc/viewing/articles/buttfly.html Florida Butterfly Gardening the companion website to Minno book www.afu.org/~afn10853/butterfly.htm Your Florida Backyard www.nsis.org/index.html
Castillo de San Marcos National Monument Closing for Repairs
Built from 1672-1695, Castillo San Marcos defended the city of St. Augustine until the middle of the 1700s. Made of coquina, a sedimentary deposit of sea shells, the fort’s walls measure 12 feet thick at
the base, 8 feet thick at the top and 33 feet high. A mote surrounds the fort. Designed for coastal defense by the Spanish, the fort also was used as a prison by the British and the Americans. In 1900, the United States decommissioned the fort. The Castillo will undergo repairs at the end of hurricane season this year (in the fall ). Due to the damages currently observed and repairs needed, the Castillo will be closed from six to ten months - The activities and demonstrations at the Castillo - cannon/ musket firing, military formations, arms demonstrations, and talks about early St. Augustine and the fort will be continued. These will be held on the Castillo green, without major changes in the events calendar . Check your calendars and come join us for the yearly events and on-going activities of St. Augustine. Looking forward to seeing you. 1 S. Castillo Drive, St. Augustine, FL. (904) 829-6506 http://www.nps.gov/casa
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The Smoke and Fire News
Fashions in La Belle Époque
Tells you where Living History Events are happening.
Excerts by Stella Blum, Curator, The Costume Institute, and by Norah Waugh in The Cut of Women’s Clothes
The International Newspaper about Living History Events Listings of Battle Re-enactments: Civil War, War of 1812, French and Indian War, Revolutionary War, 17th Century, Napoleonic Wars. Scottish Highland Games and Concerts, Rendezvous, BlackPowder Shoots, Pow-Wows, Native American Studies and Conferences, Medieval Events, Renaissance Faires, Museum Exhibits, Special Events and Classes Monthly Newspaper by Subscription $18 per year Send $2 for a sample of current issue Ask for Smoke & Fire Co. Free Catalogue Colonial Goods for Living History Visit our Store Front in Waterville, Ohio! We are now located just 12 miles S.W. of Toledo on US Rt. 24! We are now open to our customers and are enjoying your visits!
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FLORIDA FRONTIER GAZETTE
1890-1914
La Belle Époque was indeed a wonderful era if one was rich, powerful, or nobly titled. One would then be a part of the leisure class, whose sole occupation was the pursuit of pleasure. So exclusive was this circle that the only outsiders its members acknowledged were talented artists, writers, performers, beautiful women, or witty personalities — in other words, those who could best serve to enhance the lives of the elite. In Paris between 1890 and 1914, new wealth and technology flourished along with an exuberant cultural climate, bringing exciting challenges and fresh inspiration to ways of life that were breaking away from Victorian morality in favor of the freer spirit promised by a new century.
The tea gowns (left) are on display at the H.B. Plant museum in Tampa as part of the Circa 1900: Absolutely Fabulous Fashions exhibit. Frills and lace draped the s-shaped bodies of lovely young ladies in the early 20th Century. The fashion certainly suited sultry summers in Florida. (Below) Detail of the bodice of this tea gown shows the intricate the piecing of French laces with fine cotton lawn.
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The young, innocent ideal now was supplanted by that of the fully developed, mature woman. Bright colors gave way to neutrals, pastels, or shades of mauve. Soft silks, such as chiffons, thin crepes, and nets, replaced the heavier satins and velvets. Gowns were tucked, flounced, ruffled, beaded, sequined, or trimmed with silk braid. Even the summer dresses of white lace, eyelet embroideries, or elaborate cutwork were festooned with ornamentation. Nothing escaped fuss of frills. The accessories — millinery, parasols, fans, purses, muffs, jewelry, and neckpieces including boas, scarves, and tippets — also received a surfeit of decoration. This was a period of ultimate femininity both in form and embellishment, an era of conspicuous
Lots of cross straps give style to these white kid shoes. The first style, of 1890 to 1896, is clearly late Victorian. The fashion plates of the times show the ideal beauty as young and essentially innocent. Rigidly boned bodices with huge leg-of-mutton sleeves, nipped-in wasp waists, and full hips created an hourglass figure. The whole silhouette had an aura of opulent respectability. Much of the stiff formality of earlier Victorian fashions was still present in these clothes; little was casual about them. Even the garnitures — braids, ribbons, and laces — were tacked into position. It was in the area of color that adventurousness emerged. Sharp, vivid hues, popular for day and evening, were often used in striking combinations, such as lavender with bright citron yellow, blue with lime, scarlet with cerise, and orange with chartreuse and accents of olive green. For winter there were suits of handsome tweeds of silky broadcloths. Taffeta facings ensured a smooth, firm appearance for both the silks and the woolens. For evening, gowns were made of luxurious satins and velvets, plain or patterned. On summer evenings, ladies wore gowns of lightweight silks or fine muslins and for day dresses of crisp linens and starched cottons over layers of starched petticoats. The second style of La Belle Époque began in 1897 and continued through the Edwardian period, which ended in 1910. The large sleeves of the previous years shrank into vestigal epaulets. Bodice fronts swelled into puffed-out “pouter pigeons,” or “monobosoms.” Bell-shaped skirts skimmed the hips and flared from below the knees down to the hem. The entire silhouette assumed an s-shape, reflecting the curvilinear motifs of Art Nouveau.
consumption. Debutantes, mistresses, and wives alike vied through their finery for male attention and for fashion acclaim. Couturiers, among them Worth, Doucet, Paquin, and Redfern, happily accommodated the desires and tastes of their clients. Ruby Miller writes in “Champagne from my Slipper, that individuality was streesed in fashion at the turn of the 20th Century. “We Gaiety Girls led the fashion, trailung the lawns wearing gorgeouscreations of crepe-de-chen, chiffon or lace over petticoats of rustlling silk edged with hundreds of yars of Valeciennes lace threaded with narrow velve ribbon. Every stitch [was] sewn by hand. ”Our precious hats, graceful shapes of fine crinoline straw, trimmed with lancer plumes, wide rich satin ribbon from Paris, or real lace, were exquisite. Ocassionally we woresmall toques made entirely of fresh floweres to match our gowns. Our gloves, shoes and stockings always matched, and we carried dainty parasoles of rushed chiffon, feathers or lace with the most beautiful handls of carved ivory, mother of pearl or handpainted porcelain. We were not allowed to tan and we never used make-up so our natural pink-andwhite or cream complexions had to be protected by large silk sunshades. Ctnthia Asquith, complained that their clothes were “far from comfortable” Waterlogged skirts wrapped about their ankles when waking during a rain . Veils impeded sight and their hats which “took to the wind like sails, were painfull skewered to [their] heads by huge ornamental hatpins.” Asquith goes on to reveal that “feather boas were regrettably in fashion, and in those days id you couldn’t afford a new one you soon looked like poultry in very poor condition.”
Games for All Ages By Elizabeth Neily
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BLIND MAN’S BUFF
This ancient game was very popular by children in for centuries. It is very easy to play. One of the group is blindfolded and runs around to catch the others. They try to keep out of the way of the person who is “it” but try to stay close to “it” at the same time. When “it” catches a player, he or she must try to guess who it is. If “it “ fails then, he must let the player go. But if “it” is correct, then the player who is caught is blindfolded next.
JACK STRAW’S
on end so that they are all leaning on each other like a tent or hay-stack. Player takes turns to remove the straws one at a time. The player who removes the most straws with out collapsing the pile wins. Each straw is worth one point. To add more fun, three of the straws have different colored tips. One is called the King = 4 points, the Queen = 3 points, the Bishop = 2 points.
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These games were adapted from The Girl’s Own Book, first published in 1834 by Mrs. Maria Child. The facsimile edition, 1992, was made available by Old Sturbridge Village published by Applewood Book Publications, P.O. Box 365, Bedford, Mass., 01730. If ever you wondered what kids did before Nintendo and Soccer, this book offers lots of activities that can be played by both boys and girls. This is a great resource to organizers of children’s activities at museums and historic reeanctments.
LA GRACE
1686
A Dutch Lady of New Amsterdam with her dashing patroon husband. The other lady wears a jacket of red velvet trimmed with fur to give warmth to cold winter evenings. An underskirt of wool peeps out from under her amber satin gown. The gentleman sports a coat of flowered silk, cuffs of rich brocade, with full breeches which hang over the points which fasten his silk stockings.
Timeless Textiles Now Open in New OXford
This is a game for young ladies and it gets it’s name from the graceful movements that the girls make as they play. It originated in Germany but became very popular in America by the early 19th century. Two sticks are held across each other, like open scissors. The object is to toss and catch a small hoop upon these sticks. (12-18 inch diameter embroidery hoop will do.) The hoop may be bound with ribbon according to fancy. The game is played by two persons. The sticks are held straight about four inces apart, when trying to catch the hoop. Abundle of straws of sticks are set up A small cup is filled with sand to the rim. A small stick with a flag attatched is set in the middle of the sand. Each player takes turns thumping the cup on the table so as the sand spills out. The trick is not to allow the flag to fall over. The loser must stand up and bow or courtesy to each of the others.
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1903
1660
fabric...fabric...fabric...fabric
THE CUP OF SAND
And so it was these fashionable women who swept the corridors of the Tampa Bay Hotel in their fluid l’art nouveau styles. Even the most modest guest was required to bring a huge domed-trunk, sometimes called a “Noah’s Ark’...perhaps because it carried at least two of everything.., an immense hat-box and a heavy dressing case. A proper lady of her day might have to change clothes four or five times from morning to evening and it was necessary to keep everything looking fresh.
1640
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period patterns - not for novices because you will have to draft your own from drawings.. Fashion 1400-1939 in contemporary paintings, fashion plates, and photos of extant costumes. More than 1000 images.
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Outdoor costume. Le Journal des Modes
Great source for Swiss organdies, French lace, embroidered nets, vintage veiling and other milinery supplies including bonnet straw and buckram forms for making your own hats, lace, vintage flowerswith wrapped wire stems-not plastic, unusual patterns, and fabric kits, vintage buttons.
The straight-fronted corset began to alter women’s stance by throwing the upper part of the body forward. This was balanced by the deep curve at the back of the skirt being extended with a flounce to the ground.. visit the H.B. Plant Museum for their current exhibit - Circa 1900: Absolutely Fabulous Fashions.
1830
A summer walking dress of embroidered muslin with trimmings of blue ribbon. The gentleman is in a brown coat and waistcoat with drab trousers. Drab is a grayish or brownish olive color.
Open Seven Days a Week Monday - Friday 12-8 Saturday and Sunday 10-8
1835
A figured chintz morning dress is accented by a lovely apron of blue silk. The gentleman is wearing a green broadcloth walking suit and a drab color hat.
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ST. PETERSBURG MUSEUM of HISTORY
Comfort Food
“A fat kitchen maketh a lean will” -Benjamin Franklin
In the past families relied more on their knowledge of folk medicine than on what the doctor ordered. In 1834 a housewife tried to do her best to nurse loved ones back to health. Many medicinal herbs and remedies were passed down from one generation to the next. Yet, some potions made with “sugar of lead” and other poisons probably did much more harm than good. Opium based medicines such as laudanum, would get you arrested today. But there are a few surviving recipes that are timeless. Chicken Soup for instance, an old standby for convalescent patients, came with a healthy dollup of TLC. And it didn’t come in a can. Here some excerpts from The Family Nurse; or Companion of the American Frugal Housewife, by Mrs. Child, originally published 1837.
Chicken Soup
1 Chicken 1 C. chopped onion, 1 C. chopped celery 1. C. chopped carrots 1 C. rice 1 T. chopped parsley Salt & Pepper Water
Cut a chicken in quarters and place the pieces in a cooking pot. Add chopped onion, celery and carrots. Add tablespoon or more of fresh chopped parsley. S & P to taste. Cover with three to four quarts of water. Add a cup of rice while the water is still cold. Let simmer until the meat falls off the bone. This food is proper only for quite advanced stages of convalescence. While the stomach continues weak, it is best to separate the broth from rice and vegetables and take the liquid only. This is very salutary in cases of cholera, and protracted diarrhea, when the weak stomach rejects food and medicines.
Conserve of Roses
Bruise the red leaves{petals] of rosesin a wooden or marble mortar. To every pound, allow a pound of sugar. Mix the sugar well with the roses, in alternative layers, pack it tight in an earthenware vessel, and cover it very carefully from the air. It will keep a great while. Pleasant, slightly astringent, and considered very strengthening to weakly people.
Whey, the watery part of milk that separates from the curds, as in the process of making cottage cheese, was an important food for invalids in the past. It may not sound appetizing but some of these recipes may change your mind. Whey was used after, a fever turnedor when there was any inflammation of the bowelssuch as after diarrhea.
Wine Whey
Place half a pint of sweet milk at the fire in an earthenware vessel. When near the boiling point, pour in a glass [a cup] of Madeira or Sherry. Let it stand perfectly still in a cool place till it curdles. when the curds settle, strain the whey, and let it cool. A spoonful of rennet-water helps the process. Made palatable with loaf sugar and sometimes a grating of nutmeg - if your patient can handle it. Other flavorings used for making whey are cider, vinegar, molasses, orange juice, lemon juice, sorrel, rennet and mustard.
Stewed Prunes
Stew them very gently in a small quantity of water till the stones slip out. They are slightly laxative and cooling. Considered safe nourishment in fevers. Taken toolargely, when the stomach is debilitated, they occassion flatulence. The water in which they are cooked is pleasant to moisten the lips of an invalid.
Calf’s Foot Jelly
Boil four feet, nicely cleaned and washed, in a gallon of water, till reduced to a quart. Strain it, and when cool scrape off the fa. In taking out the jelly, avoid the settlings. Add half a pound of sugar, the juice of four lemons, and , if you please, the peel of one. Sone add the white of six eggs, to make it very clear. Boil all these together together a few minutes, and strain through cloth into glasses. In making blanc-mange, the jelly is obtained in the same way. To every quart of new milk, with sugar to your taste, and boil it ten minutes. If you wish to flavor it with sticks of cinnamon, or lemonade peel, boil them in it; if with rose-water, or peach water, add a cupful afterward. Strained it through a fine sieve; stir it till lukewarm, then turn into moulds that have been wet with cold water; and let it harden. This is very strenthening food.
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More or Less Home Remedies from The Frugal Housewife, 1833
Blackberries are extremely useful in cases of dysentry. To eat the berriesis very healthy, tea made of the roots and leaves is beneficial; and a syrup made of the berries is still better. blackberries have sometines effected a cure where physicians despaired. Loaf sugar and brandy relieves a soar throat; which seems a bit more palatable remedy than a stocking bound on warm from the foot, at night. A poultice made of ginger when applied to the cheek is good for the toothache. Water gruel, three or four onion simmered into it, prepared with a lump of butter, salt and pepper, eaten just before
going to bed, is said to be a cure for a hoarse cold.A syrup made of horseradish root and sugar is excellant for a cold.
Gruel
Have a pint of water boiling in a skillet; stir up three or four spoonfulls of nicely sifted oatmeal, rye, or cornmeal in cold water. Pour it into the skillet while the water boils. Let it boil for eight or ten minutes. Throw in a large handful or raisins it the patient is well enough to bear them. Pour into a bowl and add a little salt, sugar and nutmeg.