Florida Frontier Gazette Vol 3 No 4

FLORIDA

Vol. 3 No. 4

Where old news is good news! October - December, 2000

Rangers Have Rebels on the Run!

Quiz 1. What did the rebels do to Thomas Brown in Georgia?

2. Who were the East Florida Rangers?

3. What dud Jay Starkey vow to always remember?

4.How many living species of tapir are there?

5.What are its closest rrelatives?

6. What is a capybera?

7.What did Spanish sailors call their “home” on board the ship?

8. How old were boys when they joined a ship’s crew?

9.who were the men recruited into military service in Florida during the 1830’s?

10.What was the drink of the gods?

11. How are raw cacao beans processed?

12. Who held the monopoly on the chocolate trade during the 16th and seventeenth centuries?

Incident at Thomas Creek by Jackson Walker. From the Florida National Guard Collection

THOMAS BROWN AND THE EAST FLORIDA/KING’S RANGERS

by Robert Hawk

All of the history books talk of the Revolution of the ‘thirteen original British (North American) colonies.” There were not thirteen; there were nineteen but only thirteen rose in revolt against the Crown! Colonies fourteen through nineteen included Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Upper and Lower Canada, West and East Florida; all of which remained loyal to the Crown. And East Florida successfully defended itself against Rebel incursions throughout the war, its garrison troops even conquered and occupied much of eastern Georgia, largely due to the efforts of Lt. Colonel Thomas Brown and the East Florida, later the King’s Rangers.

Thomas Brown of Whitby, Yorkshire, England was a man of many talents but with bad timing. He came to America in 1775 armed with a King’s grant to

land with seigniorial rights in frontier Georgia. He quickly settled in made friends with several locals and with the leaders of several neighboring Indian tribes.

Unfortunately, it was the beginning of the active Revolution and others among his neighbors were not friendly towards this new, and Loyal, resident. Brown was seized, beaten, tortured, scalped, tarred and feathered. He escaped and sought sanctuary in East Florida. He established an immediate friendship with Florida’s governor, Patrick Tonyn. As Brown was from a good family in England, had a powerful and positive personality with obvious leadership qualities and abilities, Tonyn awarded him a King’s Commission as Lt. Colonel of Militia and authorized See Rangers page 9

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Events …page 2, 3 & 4 Editorial…page 5 In Memorium...page 5 Cattle & Turpentine…page 6 J.B. Runs for Office... page 7 Looking for Ancient Florida…page 8 East Florida Rangers…page 9 Sea Chest and Knots…page 10 School of the Soldier…page 11 Book Reviews …page 12 Food of the Gods…page 13 Goods and Services …page 14 - 15 Recipes ... page 16

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EVENTS

2000 - 2001

CALENDAR OCTOBER 2000

October 6-7 White Springs, FL 50th Annual Jeanie Auditions at STEPHEN FOSTER STATE FOLK CULTURE CENTER (Ball: October 1 at 8:30 p.m. Auditions: October 2 at 10:30 a.m.) A two-day event sponsored jointly with the Florida Federation of Music Clubs to select an outstanding Florida female vocalist as “Jeanie.” The winner will receive a $1,500 music scholarship.

(904) 397-2733 October 7 Brandon Fl 1st Annual Tampa Bay Highland Games & Celtic Festival William Owens Pass Park, Pipe & Drum Bands, Scottish Highland Dancers, Scottish Heavy Athletics, Harpist, Fiddler, over 30 clans, mass bands, live entertainment Off Kilter, Steel Bonnets, Standing Stones, Keltic Soul, Storytellers, antique fire truck display, sheep dog demo, Sheriff’s Canine and Aire demo, living historians, 42 nd Queens Highlanders, 79th NY, Marquis of Huntley, Scottish food, Crafts demo -glass blower, tartan weaver, sword maker, Face painting, celtic Retailers, March of the Clans.www.angelfire.com/ fl4/TampaBayGames

9 am – 6:00 pm Rob Hossack (813) 6510877 or Collin King (813) 988-1094 October 7-8 Indian Key, FL Indian Key Festival INDIAN KEY STATE HISTORIC SITE Once a thriving, wrecking community and the first county seat of Dade County, Indian Key was attacked in 1840 during the Second Seminole War. Join us as we commemorate this Key’s colorful past with tours, historic displays, food, souvenirs and more! Boat rides to the island depart between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. from Robbie’s Marina at Mile Marker 77.5 (Bayside). Reservations not required.

Special event fee. (305)664-2540 October 7-8, 2000 Fernandina Beach, FL Fort Clinch Federal (Union Army) Garrison and Living History Also check at gate for possible candlelight tour on Saturday night. Contact Fort Clinch State Park (904) 277-7274.

October 13-15, 2000 Dunnellon, Florida Goethe State Forest Living History You are invited to step back in time and learn about life in Levy County’s longleaf “flat woods.” Reenactors from different periods of history at their camps. The Tidewater Trailhead is located on Saddle Pen Road off County Road 337. This is approximately 10 miles West of Dunnellon, Florida. Come and help us celebrate Forest Awareness Month and enjoy our trails while you are here. Picnic tables and BBQ grills are available for your enjoyment. The living history exhibit offers you a chance to see Goethe State Forest as others might have during different periods of settlement.

Examples may include a Cracker Cow Camp with horses and cattle, Indian Villages, Civil War Camp, and Spanish Explorers. Period dress is encouraged!

Contact: Helen Koehler, (352) 447.2202 Goethe@Flahorse.com

Old Florida Festival A LIVING HISTORY PRESENTATION OF FLORIDA’S COLORFUL PAST

• Stone-Age Man • Calusa ~ Creek • Seminole Indian Camp • Seminole War Soldiers • Spanish Conquistadors • British Redcoats • Civil War Camp • Cracker Cowboys • WW2 • Blacksmith • Medicine Show • Food and Craft Vendors • Games • Demos and much, much more!

Saturday, Nov. 4th & Sunday, Nov. 5th, 2000 10 am- 5 pm Adults $5 Students $3 Children 8 and under 12 Free FREE PARKING Sponsored by Friends of

COLLIER COUNTY MUSEUM

3301 Tamiami Trail East, Naples (In the County Government Center)

(941)774-8476

www.colliermuseum.org

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October 7, 2000 Deleon Springs, FL Kids’ Cane Pole Fishing Tournament D E L E O N S P R I N G S S TAT E RECREATION AREA, Located at the corner of Ponce DeLeon Blvd. and Burt Parks Rd., off US 17 (9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon) Share the fun of fishing with your youngsters up to age 12 in this catch-andrelease event. Trophies are awarded for the largest, smallest and most fish. Ribbons for all participants. Bait will be provided, but bring your own pole. Parents are requested to supervise their young fishermen.

Register the day of the tournament or drop by the park to pick up registration forms ahead of time. No registration by phone.

Sponsored in cooperation with the Friends of DeLeon Springs (904)985-4212 October 14, 2000 Gulfport, FL Birthday Bash Celebrate the 90 th Anniversary of the founding of Gulfport. 10 am- 3 pm. Music, performances of “You Are There by Judy Ryerson, and Carol Valdes, children’s activities,“Then and Now” photo exhibit, food, birthday cake and more. Free.

Gulfport Historical Society Museum, 5301 28th Ave. S. (727) 327-0505 October 14, 2000 Deleon Springs, FL Pioneer Fiber Arts Guild D E L E O N S P R I N G S S TAT E RECREATION AREA Members of the Guild demonstrate how it was made in the old days... spinning, weaving, quilting.

Many beautiful fiber items are recreated using authentic period methods, tools, and materials. (904)985-4212 Oct. 14 Ormond Beach, FL Tomoka Remembers East Central Florida history comes to life!

Each month, discover a different piece of the past, from the Seminole and Civil Wars to weaving and quilting. As we focus each month on just one time period, you will have a chance to talk with knowledgeable interpreters in an unhurried way. Call for each month’s topic. (904)676-4050 October 17, 2000, St. Augustine, FL 16th Century Clothing Seminar Government House 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Noted historic costumer and clothing

consultant, Heidi Mosier, will speak on “How to assemble 16th Century Clothing Simply and Correctly. She will focus on silhouettes of the time period, correct fabric and accessorites. Wear yoyr creation to Menendez Birthday Festival Paseo (parade) and the 16th Century Masked Ball, Noche de Gala, on February 24, 2001. Contact Nella Rogero Holton (904) 825-5088.

October 21-22 Fernandina Beach, FL Fort Clinch Confederate Garrison and Living History Fort Clinch State Park, Contact the park at (904) 277-7274.

October 21-22, 2000 Manatee, FL The 6th Annual Civil War Reenactment The Battle of Hunsader Farms.

There will be battles both days, on going living history all day long. Camps open to the public at 9:00am both days. Medical displays and talks from 9:30-11:30 both days at the field hospitals both Union and Confederate. Ladies events on Sat. Directions. Take I-75 if from the South get off at exit 41 go east (right) 10miles to County Road 675 turn Left the site will be 3 miles ahead on your Right parking on the Left. If from the North use exit 42 go East (left) 10 miles to county road 675 turn right. The event site will be 3 miles ahead on the Right. Parking on the Left.

There should be plenty of signs to follow. msmaj@home.com October 21-22, Orlando, FL Pioneer Days Fiddlin’ for some Old-fashioned Fun? Sample pioneer lifestyle through crafts, music, demonstrations and reenactments.

And while doing so, treat yourself to BBQ. Also enjoy an old-fashioned ice cream cone. You can take your sweetheart on a horse and carriage ride through Pine Castle while listening to an old timer telling tales of the past. Featuring 250 exhibits. Pony rides and a parade on Saturday morning at 9 am. Community worship service at 8:30 Sunday. Admission $2 age 6 and up. Pine Castle Center for the Arts, 6015 Randolph Avenue. Contact Bettielee Sansone (407) 855-7461.

Vol.3 No.4 October-December 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 Writers:

Sheila Benjamin Robert Hawk Chris Kimball Elizabeth Neily Hermann Trappman

Illustrations/Photography:

Elizabeth Neily

Sheila Benjamin

Anne St. Charles

Hermann Trappman

Jackson Walker

The Waymans Computer Service: specializing in Apple Macintosh

George Watson

John Mariner

SPONSORSHIP RATES

We will be happy to send you information about how to become one of our many supporters. This is a fun and educational way to tell your customers about your business or organization.

Sponsorship/Sales:Elizabeth Neily (727) 321-7845

SUBSCRIPTIONS

1 YEAR/4 ISSUES - $8.00 2 YEARS/8 ISSUES - $14.00 Please send name, address and phone # with check payable to

Neily Trappman Studio

Writers, artists, photographers may submit articles to us for concideration. Subject matter must be written in style appropriate for all age groups from the 4th grade into the golden years. This is not meant to be a scholarly publication but one to increase awareness of Florida’s rich and varied heritage.We want to celebrate our past, not dwell wholely on our failures.

Copyright 2000. 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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Confederate soldiers on display at Pine Castle Pioneer Days in Orlando.

October 21-22, 2000 Big Cypress, FL Seminole Arts and Crafts Techniques Ah Tah Thi Ki Museum. A hands on workshop for Seminole War Reenactors.

Participants must pre-register.

Workhops: Seminole Woman’s Clothing

by David Blackard, Palmetto Basket Weaving by Pedro Zepeda, Moccasin Construction by David Mott, Men’s Coat and Longshirt Construction by Brian Zepeda, Applique Beadwork, Making Sofkee by Marty Bowers.

Contact: Brian Zepeda, (863)902-1113 Website: www.SeminoleTribe.com October 20-22, 2000 White Springs, FL Suwannee River Quilt Show and Sale STEPHEN FOSTER STATE FOLK C U LT U R E C E N T E R ( 9 : 0 0 a . m . 5:00 p.m.) Quilters from around the Southeastern United States gather to display their magnificent quilts. Quilt mall, demonstrations and many other features.

Sponsored by the Stephen Foster Citizens Support Organization. (904)397-2733 October 27- 29 Cottondale, FL Knap - In & Primitive Arts Festival Come join us for our 1st Annual Knap-In and Primitive Arts Festival. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily See how early man lived and worked.

Observe demonstrations on flintknapping (making stone points), pottery, bow & arrow construction, atlatl throwing, buckskinning and more! Learn the ancient ways - participate in the primitve bow shoots or just come to watch master craftsmen at work. Fun for all ages! Eagle Trading Company, Hwy. 231 North, Cottondale (Between Marianna and Chipley) Contact: Billy Johnson (850) 663-2798 or Jeff Whitfield (850) 482-8122, whitfieldjs@ digitalexp.com Terry Mercer (850) 593-6098, amtl@digitalexp.com or The Eagle Trading Company (850) 352-4156.

October 28 - 29 Lake Wales. FL 25th Anniversary Pioneer Days Celebration. ) the shores of Lake Wailes lake.

9am-5pm. Sat.t 10 Pioneer of the Year ceremony. Noon Antique Car Parade.

Architecture Carriage Tours. On Sun. the festivities begin at noon - 4pm. At 4pm we will have a Community Worship Service at the nearby First United Methodist Church, food vendors, petting zoo, pony and elephant rides, childrens activities, entertainment, re-enactors, politicians, and more. Depot Museum (863) 678-4209.

October. 27-31 Tallahassee, FL Fear Knott 2000 Knott House Museum 7:30-9:30pm Admission Fee This 157 year old house

holds the memories of many lives. This year there will be a special investigation of the Knott House’s mysterious “ghost“ photograph. The public is invited to speculate who the specter might be.To determine the identity of our incorporeal being, tour the house and learn the tales of the house’s former residents. You will see several likely candidates amongst the apparitions as you wander the dimly lit rooms. Madam Darjeeling will also be available to reveal your future via a tea leaf reading and our gift shop will be open as well. Contact Joan or Lisa (850) 922-2459 for more information. Email: JMatey@ mail.dos.state.fl.us

Contact a museum or park near you for

Halloween Gobblin Adventures NOVEMBER 2000 November 3-5, 2000 Naples, Florida Old Florida Festival (see ad page 2) Living history event at Collier County Museum, showcasing individual camps each portraying a different period of Florida history, Prehistoric Florida Indians, Spanish Conquistadors, Civil War, Second Seminole War, British Soldiers, Florida Crackers, Spanish American War. This year we are dedicating/naming our 2nd Seminole War Fort. We would like to have a good showing of 2nd Seminole War reenactors. Friday is School Visitation Day and reenactors are encouraged to participate those days. Saturday and Sunday are public days. Contact: David Southall, (941) 774- 8476 E-mail November 4-5, 2000 Fernandina Beach, FL Fort Clinch Federal (Union Army) Garrison and Living History Also check at gate for possible candlelight tour on Saturday night. Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, FL. Contact the park at (904) 277-7274.

November 11, 2000 Ormond Beach, FL Tomoka Remembers East Central Florida history comes to life!

Each month, discover a different piece of the past, from the Seminole and Civil Wars to weaving and quilting. As we focus each month on just one time period, you will have a chance to talk with knowledgeable interpreters in an unhurried way. Call for each month’s topic. (904)676-4050 November 11, 2000 Gainesville, FL Veteran’s Day Memorial Service Alachua County Veteran’s Memorial Park at Kanapaha Park on Tower Road (125th Street),.

Pay tribute to the veteran’s of all the wars that have helped keep our country free. Living historians will depict the service men and women of different periods in our history.

November 4 - 5, 2000

Pioneer Art Settlement

P.O. Box 6 Barberville, FL 32105-0006

(904) 749-2959

24th Annual Fall Jamboree & Arts & Crafts Show NOVEMBER 3RD AND 4TH, 2001 Pioneer Settlement Grounds SPACE FEE: $50.00 + $5.00 Nonrefundable Processing Fee SPACE DIMENSIONS: 10X12 JURY by 3 Photos or 3 Slides of work ESTIMATED PUBLIC ATTENDANCE 20,000 Ribbons PLUS $1,575 in Aawards 100% OUTDOORS. CONTACT: JOAN EGAN

General Admission: $2.50 adults • $1.50 Children up to 12 • Under 6 Free

Come to the Pinellas County Historical Society’s

23nd Annual Country Jubilee at Heritage Village

Saturday, October 22, 2000 9:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Something for everyone, including: • Unique, high quality handcrafts!

• A Flea Market

• Book Sale and Plant Sale!

• Petting Zoo • Clowns • Face painting for the kids • Food by Alessi and The Pie Factory • Beverages • Entertainment throughout the Day •Antique Craft Demonstrations

COME TO THE VILLAGE

11909 125th Street North, Largo FL Phone (727) 582-2123 Free Admission

Donations Accepted

Fort Foster Historic Site Rendezvous

Pre-1840’s ~ Second Seminole War Period Hillsborough River State Park, 15402 US Hwy 301 N., Thonotosassa, FL 33592 February 8 - 11, 2001 Early Check In: February 5 - 7 Lots of Room!!! Historic Site has been expanded to double our capacity for campers and sutlers as well as our battlefield area.

Second Seminole War Skirmishes Saturday & Sunday.

Please Copy this Form to Pre-register by January 1st, 2001

Name:__________________________________________________ Address:________________________________________________ City:_______________________________ State_______________ Zip code:______________ Phone Number_____________________ E-mail Address: _________________________________________ Impression: Army_____ Navy_____ Marine_____ Militia_____ Native American_____ Civilian_____Demonstrator_____ Blanket Trader_____ Sutler_____ Medical_____ Food Vender_____ SORRY NO TIPI’S & FIRES MUST BE OFF THE GROUND REGISTRATION FEES: Post and Garrison Volunteers ~ No Fee. Sutlers on Traders Row.................. $25.00 Non-Reenactor Period Campers.... $ 5.00 Friday Night With a Trading Blanket.................. $10.00 Chili Pot FIREWOOD, WATER, PORT-O-LETS PROVIDED NO PETS ON SITE, ONLY IN PARK. HORSES: All horses must be registered with the Ranger Station, then the Quartermaster before arrival.

SCHOOLS INVITED ON THE 8TH & 9TH.

Make checks payable to C.S.O. c/o RALPH VAN BLARCOM,

Fort Foster Quartermaster, 23120 Dover Drive, Land O’ Lakes, FL 34639 Phone (813) 996-3847 E-mail: rvbl@mindspring.com Modern camping reservations and accessibility accommodations must be made with the Ranger Station: (813) 987-6771 Florida State parks are in various stages of accessibility. Park staff members and volunteers are working to improve access services. Should you need assistance to enable your full particpation, please contact the individual park as soon as possible.

NovemberEvents continued....

November 17-19 Palatka, FL Battle of Horse Landing Rodehever’s Boy’s Ranch, 9.7 miles south of on Highway 19. Friday is Living History Day and students from all schools in the area are invited to this outstanding educational event. Period battles take place on Saturday and Sunday.

Contact the Boy’s Ranch at (904) 3281281.

December 9-10, 2000 Pinellas Park FL Battle of Huntley’s Farm, at Pinellas Park Fair Grounds, St. Petersburg). Contact Burt Quinn at (727) 528-9332 after 6 p.m.

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Heritage of the Ancient Ones

November 18 Safety Harbor, FL 4th Annual Sweet “Chair-ity” Auction, 6:30 - 9:30. at the Safety Harbor Resort and Spa. Nicholson House manager, John Ward and Linda Aristead, assistant manager, will co-chair the event. Auctioneer Dan Waters, member of the national auctioners association,There will also be a silent auction as well. One of a kind chairs created

by Tampa Bay artists will be auctioned off. Other luxury items include get away weekends, furnishings, antiqueSafety Harbor Museum.Tickets $25 each Contact Betty Quibell of Gail Geraci at museum (727) 726-1668.

November 23 Kissimmee, FL 11th Annual Buffalo Junction Living History Disney World’s Fort Wilderness Resort.

This fund-raising event for Civil War projects is sponsored by Disney World and the 17th Connecticut Volunteers. The living history depicts life on the frontier immediately after the Civil War, with period vendors (food and crafts) joining the infantrymen of the 17th Connecticut.

Reenactors should contact Jeff Grzelak at (407) 295-7510 for details.

November 25-26 Fernandina Beach, FL Fort Clinch Union Garrison and Living History Experience a Union Holiday with a decorated fort. Reenactors will enjoy a big Thanksgiving/Christmas meal and celebration on Saturday night.

Contact (904) 277-7274.

DECEMBER 2000 December TBA Tallahassee, FL Holiday Teas Knott House Museum Enjoy a lovely catered meal in a 1930s home, adorned with beautiful Victorian furnishings, and traditionally decorated for the holidays. Hear vintage tunes, chat with friends at your own table and shop in our wonderful gift shop, “Nostalgic Notions” By reservation only. $18. per person. Dates to be announced. (Two teas will be scheduled in December, one on a Wednesday and another on a Saturday) contact Joan or Lisa (850) 922-2459 for more information. Email: JMatey@mail. dos.state.fl.us December 2-3 Fernandina Beach, FL Fort Clinch Federal (Union Army) Garrison and Living History.

Union Christmas at Fort Clinch State Park, Fernandina Beach, FL. Contact (904) 277-7274.

December 9 Ormond Beach, FL Tomoka Remembers East Central Florida history comes to life!

Each month, discover a different piece of the past, from the Seminole and Civil Wars to weaving and quilting. As we focus each month on just one time period, you will have a chance to talk with knowledgeable interpreters in an unhurried way. Call for each month’s topic. (904)676-4050 December 9-10 Fernandina Beach, FL Fort Clinch Confederate Garrison and Living History Experience a Confederate Christmas with a decorated fort. Reenactors will enjoy a Christmas meal on Saturday night. Fort Clinch State Park (904) 277-7274.

Ancient Natives Return!

www.ancientnative.org

Visit the recreated Timucuan Native Village of Ucita Living History Musem at Camp Bayou Nature Preserve on the Little Manatee River in Ruskin Now Accepting Reservations for School Groups and private tours (813) 641-8545 or (904) 824-3325

4202 24th Street SE, Ruskin, FL 33570 Take I-75 Exit46 West on SR674

The lovely Sharon Centanni promenades past the log cabin at last year’s Hunley’s Farm Civil War reneactment December 10 Bradenton, FL Camp Ucita Living History Demonstration.

De Soto National Memorial, Spanish Conquistadors of Calderon Company on the Manatee River demonstrate arquebus, crossbows and other lifeways of the period. Contact: Tim Burke calderon@ home.com (941) 953-7723 December 30-31, 2001 Bushnell, FL Dade Battle Reenactment Second Seminole War at Dade Battlefield Historic Site Reenactment of the 1835 surprise attact by Seminole warriors on U.S. troops lead by Major Francis Dade, along the road from Fort Brooke (Tampa) to Fort. King (Ocala). Skirmish Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. Period Arts and Crafts. Food Vendors on Site.

January,10-13, 2001 Tallahassee, FL De Soto ‘s 1539 Winter Encampment 16th Century De Soto’s 1539 Winter Encampment at Hernando de Soto State Archaeological Site, 1022 De Soto Park Drive. School groups will go through the encampment Wednesday through Friday. On Saturday the camp is open to the general public. Contact: C.W. Smith/ Shirley Deal, (850) 922-6007.

January 6-7, 2001 De Leon Springs, FL De Leon Springs State Park Living History Visit with Union Army pickets on patrol.

Sponsored by Florida State Parks and the 17th Connecticut Volunteers. Contact park (904) 985-4212.

See Events 2001... page7

DUNEDIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Dunedin Historical Museum Railroad Station c. 1922 349 Main Street, Dunedin, FL Exhibits related to Dunedin and Florida History

Remember

The Dunedin Historical Society Gift Shop During the Holiday Season • Images of Dunedin • Images of Pinellas County • Dunedin...Thru the Years -Museum will mail book orders-

Andrews Memorial Chapel c. 1888 Sunday Tours 2 pm - 4 pm Available for Weddings, Concerts, Tours.

1899 San Mateo Drive, Dunedin.

Museum Programs 1890’s Vintage Baseball Games at Otten Field, Dunedin 60th Anniversary Exhibit of Honeymoon Isles June 24, 2000 - January 5, 2001

Dunedin Thru the Holidays, The Origins of Santa Claus November, 28, 2000 - January 5, 2001

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 Oct. 28, 2000 Florida Artists: GUY LABREE AND BRADLEY COOLEY Nov. 18, 2000 5th Annual Sweet “Chair”ity Auction - call for info Nov. 22 thru Dec. 31, 2000 Symbols of the Season - local holiday collections Opening Jaunary thru March 2001 Florida Folk Art Painting 329 Bayshore Blvd. S., Safety Harbor, FL

Phone: (727) 726-1668

Tuesday -Friday 10a.m. - 4p.m. Saturday & Sunday 1p.m - 4p.m.

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

Bob Westerfield, armorer, discusses the merit of 16th Century armor with Turtle Womana.k.a. Wynne Tatman and Hermann Trappman at the Ancient Native Village.

(352) 466-3200

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/

Editorial:

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CLEANING UP THE LESSONS

by Hermann Trappman

George Santayana said that “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Within that simple, frequently quoted, idea is a powerful kernel. St. Petersburg has waddled into that debate with a statue commemorating a local promoter and his advertising gimmick. Although the connotation on the word gimmick is less than pleasing, good gimmicks often win our hearts. The Evening Independent newspaper used to advertise free papers on any day that the sun didn’t shine by 4 p.m..

Although, most of the cost of a newspaper is made up by the advertisers, it was something that drew attention to the paper and the City that could brag of its a wonderful climate. It helped promote St. Petersburg as the “Sunshine City.”

A statue was to be erected to the memory of the man who owned that paper, Maj. Lew Brown. When Brown passed away in 1944, he was considered a City father. The statue was to be of Maj. Brown sitting on one of St. Petersburg’s famous green benches reading the paper.

Turns out that Lew had very strong notions when it came to celebrating racial diversity. It seems that Maj. Brown may have been an out spoken racists. Folks came together on both sides of the contraversy and even a few tried to crowd the center. The City of St. Petersburg, that wholly crazed bureaucracy, did a dance that should be best left at a zombie jamboree.

They said that it was a private project and that the location for the exhibit was on land leased from the City. The obligation went to the tenant. In the end, everyone opted for the sculpture a newspaper boy. It’s okay.

In Austria, they’ll have a little parks tucked in between houses or businesses.

The green space is inviting and a person can usually discover a bench with a relaxing view. Normally there is a statue tucked away in one corner. They’re called a “denkmal.” It means “think a while.” You are being invited to contemplate the life of a famous person, an artist, a musician, or a thinker.

All of us are made up of notions. We work some out and sometimes we just don’t get it.

Beethoven traveled up into the mountain country. He rented a room at a delightful little chalet. Sitting in his room with the beautiful countryside all around him, he contemplated suicide. In many ways his life had been a bitter disappointment. He was in pain and going deaf. He despised the governments surrounding him, the monarchies and imperialism. Many of his beliefs lay shattered at his feet. He sat at a little desk and wrote a suicide letter. The letter was so good that it actually dissuaded him.

He went on to write the 9th Symphony.

Every human has a mean side. All of us say something we wish we could take back. We hurt others around us for a multitude of reasons. In fact we are all human. The important thing is to evaluate, to grow, and to recognize mistakes for their sometimes terrible result and

possible lessons. When we have sanitized the human perspective, we leave little or nothing to evaluate. You can’t learn the lessons of history if they’re all cleaned up or erased.

The folks, mulling over the statue controversy, had an opportunity to make something which would reach out into that wonderful and terrible future.

Here was the chance to look into the life of a real man and understand his tragedy as well as our own. We are all caught in the issues of our moment. Crime and punishment, pollution, corruption in government, corporate social indifference, racism, the quality of corporate welfare considered against welfare to a private citizen, we all live in the same world with Lew.

I don’t quiet buy the notion that his time was so different than our own. There were folks who reached up for a society which offered enfranchisement and equal opportunity. There were people who were repulsed by racism. Lew may have made an all too human error. He may have judged the whole stream by his tiny vision of the rock he lived around.

It’s important that we learn to see history as a story. And as a story, all its characters are just like us— sometimes weak and sometimes strong. A good work of art should make us think. It should help us reflect on our actions. It’s important to face historical problems and develop an honest discussion of how we see the world and why we feel the way we do.

We should recognize that there are many kinds of intolerance. What is the doctrine behind the TV program “Survi-

vor?” But, it’s such a popular program.

What could be wrong with it? Witch burnings were a popular form of entertainment too. Throw away people in a throw away society. “Survival of the fittest…” The death sentence… God smiles on the rich…

People in power are more deserving…

Have things really changed so much since Rome?

These friendly notions have a good dollop of social Darwinism mixed in. Elitism… racism… the notion of “the chosen people” didn’t die with Hitler in that bunker beneath Berlin. Those ideas are well and alive as entertainment in the good ol’ US of A. Social Darwinism wasn’t good in 1930 and it’s still not good today. But, ya know, I wouldn’t be writing this stuff right now if it hadn’t been for controversy over Lew’s statue.

The lessons of the past. Ah, the lessons of the past. A promoter who was a racist?

Political correctness hides how people really feel. Do you think the next generation will have to wrangle with those hidden truths.

I don’t believe in apologist history. I believe in realizing that the past is the lesson and the present is the moment in which we either get it or don’t.

History isn’t so much about yesterday as its about what we do with tomorrow.

Thanks Lew.

In Memoriam

This page is dedicated fellow reenactors and their loved ones.

If there is someone you would like to honor please contact us.

Zeona “Jeanie” Barszcz

My wife, friend and fellow camp-mate, “Jeannie” passed away on June 17th, after a very lengthy illness. I wish to deeply express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to all who have sent me cards, letters, and who have called me upon learning of her passing. I especially with to thank those who have sent monetary gifts to assist mr with her hospital and medical bills, and to those who have sent gifts to LIFELINK TRANSPLANT INSTITUTE in Tampa. Col. Don Bowman of the Department of the Gulf can tell you what such gifts can do for many people, as he is a liver transplant receipient.

Most of you who knew Jeannie, knew that in 1980, she had a kidney transplant. This did not slow her down. In fact, it was while she was working at Honeywell, Inc. in clearwater, that she joined some of her co-workers, who had built an artillery piece. She attended her first event in 1981 at the Battle of Grubb’s Farm in Brooksville, and attended every Brooksville event since. Her last event was this year’s Brooksville.

Thus since joining Ron fornof and his Honeywell crew she had been active in artillery, being proud and honored to have served on this and other artillery crew, including Peace River, Gamble, Third U.S., Milton Light, Marianna Light, First U.S. and Scott’s Tennesee!

Naturally as a woman on the field, Jeanie ran into problems, but I am proud to state that EVERY member of the above artillery crews would stand beside her, for her right and honor to be a REENACTOR! In fact, before he died, Ed Mercer of Georgia, gave Jeanier the HONOR to command his crew at the last Olustee he attended. That was the proudest day of my wife’s life.

Even Col/Gen Rambo had to admit that she was a hard fighter, as she took the field on two separate occassions at Selma.

She will be sorely missed. We were married short of fifteen years. We were married on July 13, 1985 at Hewritage Park in Largo. At this years Heritage Park event, She was given a salute by all reenactors present and a special salute from her fellow members of the Third U.S. and the Milton Light Artillery. Following the salute, she was “piped home” by memberers of the 79th New York Pipe Band playing “Amazing Grace”.

Other units and friends are planning special tributes and memorials for this fine lady and fellor reenactor. For information, feel free to write or call me!

Brandon B. Barszcz, Fort Brooke Quartermaster P.O. Box 1628 Brandon, FL 33509-1628 (813) 681-8388

 Gene Weston This was a very nice memorial service with more than 20 muskets and other firearms and of course our half pounder “Bubba”. Reeneactors covering 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries were present. Spanish Garrison members, British 60th Regiment of Foot, Confederate cavalry, British 19th century colonial service and even WWII United States infantry...Gene’s family & other close friends were present and the number attending ...on such short notice... reached in excess of fifty. Tim Fleming delivered a beautiful reading from

the gospel and Frank Suddeth gave a sweet eulogy. Then Heidi Mosier offered some thoughtful comments on Gene’s many kindnesses.

“A sailor of opportunity,” who said his specialty was “the transfer of cargo at sea”, a.k.a. Jonn Ryder, shared Gene’s hilarious story about Sheila Benjamin and her endless quest for copper cooking utensils for Gene to tin for her. Sheila just kept finding more and more copper utensils...some were not actual “cooking utensils” but rather COPPER PLANTERS...sealed with epoxy! Gene would have to TOTALLY grind off the epoxy sealant before he was able to begin the tinning process...always, he said, a true labor of love. I don’t think any of us who know this true story will ever be able to look at Sheila’s impressive collection of “period” tin-lined copper vessels with out thinking fondly of Gene’s loving contribution to Ms. Benjamin’s fine traveling exhibit !

Farewell Sweet Souls

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Adventures in Paradise

When Cattle & Turpentine Ruled the Range

By Elizabeth Neily and Hermann Trappman

nificent eastern diamondback rattlesnake.

Again we stop, to peer out from the safe distance of the vehicle. The beadwork on the snake’s back glows in the patches of sunlight. There is a sense of power to such a creature. With disdain for these tourists who had interrupted its nap, the snake calmly slides off into the seclusion of the palmetto thicket.

As the bus continues to wind through the untamed wilderness, Sandy stops from time to time to show us a loblolly bay in full bloom or cuts off a saw palmetto frond to show us the serrated edges from which it gets its name. She points out the old heart of pine fence posts that run through the property all the way to the Georgia border. The fence was mandated in 1923 to eradicate the Texas deer tick. The fence posts acted as markers for the cattlemen to lead their cattle take the to dipping vats e very 21 – 28 days for about 3 –4 months

We scramble out of the bus to explore the heart of a cypress dome from an elevated boardwalk. The boardwalk is as good as any you’ll find in the best parks. From its

safety, we search the shadowy environment for an alligator hole or a hairy woodpecker or a golden orb weaver. During the season of bird migrations, this secret forest must be filled with the songs of warblers and the thin piping of gnat catchers and titmice.

As we round a bend a meadow opens up to reveal a flock of wild osceola turkey mingling with more deer. As the noon sun rises high overhead the cattle hover in the shade of the cypress domes.

Again and again we returned to the topic of Jay Starkey Sr., J.B.’s father, and the pioneering spirit which brought him to this place. Like many frontiersmen, Jay Starkey Sr. applied himself to a wide variety of occupations with success in each field. But, at heart he was a rancher. The wide-open wilds of Florida called to him and he always returned.

Today, the loss of that wilderness is a very real threat. What J. B. Starkey, Jr. is doing is seriously important for Florida and its future generations who will have to come to grips with its dwindling resources.

Sometimes we forget the “cow” part of “cowboy.” Sometimes we forget that the entire New World notion of cowboys started here in Florida with the Spanish. At times, Florida has been the biggest cattle producing State in the union. It was hard country. But, the pioneers came to try their hand at the freedom it offered and a chance to make something of themselves. The term “cracker”, our name for a Florida native, came from that cattle industry. Steer could disappear into Florida’s scrublands almost without a trace. Florida cowboys used the crack of their whip to drive cattle out of the thicket.

When artist Frederick Remington visited in the late 1890s, range war surged across the countryside. Like the west, colorful tales grew up around our cowboys and their independent lifestyle. Cattle were driven through the scrub where our shopping centers now stand. Recently, we had the fortunate opportunity to visit a hunk of that wonderful story.

Jay Starkey once owned 16,000 acres of west central Florida wilderness sprawling over the headwaters of both prongs of the Anclote River and a length of Pithlachascotee River. The ranch has shrunk to 3,400 acres, but that’s still a beautiful piece of landscape. J.B. Starkey’s Flatwoods Adventures is located 9 miles west of U.S. 41 on State Road 54. A couple of open air J.B. Starkey Jr., (left) explains how turpentiners used a hack to cut a “catface” in pine buses, covered with a large shady trees to collect the sap.. Above we take off with Sandy Burnham on our Flatwoods canopy, welcome tourists.

The summer morning clung Adventure. Right she demonstrates a cattle whip and explains how the old Florida to some of the night’s coolness. A settlers came by the name “Cracker” breeze played with Spanish moss from the sound it made when it was hanging from the oaks in the parkcracked. the sound was used as a form ing lot. The air was sweet with the of comminication as it would carry for scent of grass and pine trees. As we walked toward the office, J.B. a couple of miles.

Starkey, Jr. stepped out to meet (Below) Sandy guides the tour into us. A tall man, Starkey maintains the interior of a cypress swamp along the build that suggests an active the450 foot boardwalk while pointing ranch life. out features of the Florida environ Starkey first gave us a quick ment. This year’s drought has left the old ‘gator hole high and dry. tour of the front part of the property. We saw Florida scrub cattle Water in Pasco County is scarce...most of it being sent southward as well as horses both descenin to Tampa Bay communities. dants of the ones brought from Along with lots of “free roaming” wildlife, the ranch boasts an Spain in the 16th century. Starkey alligator pen. Alice (bottom) suns herself on the bank of her hole talked about importance of the while waiting for her next meal. No she doesn’t eat tourists. She turpentine industry and how pine pitch was used in ship building. prefers chicken bits. Don’t worry - a chain link fence keeps her He demonstrated how the trees separated from her adoring public. were “cat-faced” or scared to collect the sap.

Curious cattle are as interested in seeing visitors as the

Starkey’s sense of history visitors are in seeing them. A “Cracker” horse called J. B. Starkey Jr. received the Departcomes from having lived it. ment of Agriculture Environmental Opie munches on hay as the bus passes.

That’s the truly important thing Leadership Award for good stewabout this tour. It’s very genuine. ardship of the land by Governor From the moment the tour beLawton Childs in 1997. Much of the gins, the feel is honest and hardy. ranch remains in its natural state as Flatwoods Adventures takes you it has since prehistoric man hunted through a real working cattle this wilderness. ranch.

Once underway, with our guide Sandy, the bus skirts a pineland and then the trail opens into open range. Cypress domes and corkscrews frame the pasture where cattle range. As we near a forest glade, a herd of deer stop grazing and look up. We stop to watch a spotted fawn in the pine shadows. In a moment, white tails shoot up like a flag as the deer disappear into the thicket.

We come to what may have been the relic of an ancient island, crowded with sand pine and turkey oak. Stretched across the road, sunning itself, is a mag-

J.B. Runs for Office

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From an interview with J.B. Starkey, Sr. in 1979 “Things I Remember” 1899-1979

“The year was 1922.

A young man with, some said, more audacity than brains, decided to resign his comfortable $1,800-a-year Post Office positionin St. Petersburg to take up cattle ranching.

“Can you afford to resign?” the Post Master asked.

“No, sir, I have a wife and five-month-old baby at home and a 90 percent morgage on our home. But, if I wait until I can afford to quit, I’ll never have a chance to get into ranching.”

Soon Jay B. Starkey bought his first tract of land: 10 acres south of Largo. the down payment: one horse, one cow, and $50 cash.”

Hydroscope, 1975 SWFMD newsletter.

In late 1935, I talked to Dave Cunningham about his reaction to me running for Tax Collector in 1936. We had been partners since January 1, 1927, and I did not want to run if it was not agreeable to him, as I never wanted to get out of ranching.

We had a long talk and agreed on certain things that we both lived up to. In 1935 I made up my mind to definitely be a candidate in the Democratic Primary in June, 1936, if I could satisfy myself by January 1 that I had a chance of winning. I did not have a dime to throw if my prospects did not look good.

I remember making a list of 400 names of men and women from Tarpon Springs to Pass-a-Grille who I would contact within a few weeks in late 1935. I believe this list was different than most candidates would select. My observation of men seeking election for any office was that they went to see their friends first, knowing in most cases what their friends would tell them.

In my list, I tried to come up with people who I believed would tell me their honest opinions. My approach was the same. I told them I was thinking of running for tax Collector in 1936, please tell me what, in your opinion, are my chances for winning the Democratic Primary and if I did what were my chances for winning in the general election, Knowing the Republican incumbent had beaten his Democratic opponents in 1928 and 1932.

I did not get to see all the 400 people, but did contact most of them. I never asked a person if he would vote for me, during that time. In fact, I never did that in the 12 years I was in office.

By January 1, 1936, I felt as though my chances were real good, and in February I announced and got busy. At this time there were four other men who had shown interest in the same race—two County Commissioners, one man in the courthouse, and one in City Hall, St. Petersburg.

However, when the last day to qualify for the primary arrived, I was the lone candidate. A lot of my long-time friends had gone to work for me from the day of my announcement and I know their efforts discouraged the other potential candidates, even though they were all in politics, and had been for some time.

I will always remember many of the things people told me when I asked advice about getting into politics. I will not try to list my many memories of answers of nearly 400 people. One thing I will never forget was talking to Oscar Gilbert, who was president of the old West Coast Title Company, located at Fourth Street and Central Avenue, now the Florida Federal corner. Oscar said, “Jay, if you run I will support you, and I believe you will be elected, but I hate to see you get into politics. You have a lot of friends and when you get out, you will not have near as many.”

I know that Oscar was sincere in his statement but when I walked out of his door, I resolved to always remember his

J.B. Starkey Sr.

statement, and try to prove it was possible to hold a public office without becoming important in one’s own mind. I had known some men who had overlooked that.

I remembered the deadline, for qualifying to run in the Democratic Primary. I do not recall the date, but of course I wondered what the other four potential candidates were thinking. An old friend of mine told me that I had enough friends to discourage any opposition in the primary. I am sure he was right and I was grateful for their help.

Winning the Primary election without an opponent was a little unusual in that time in Pinellas County and a big help in the General Election. My $375 qualifying fee and a few cards were my only expenditures.

I had served a few years on the County Democratic Executive Committee, and I remember a few candidates, who were real nice to committeemen during a campaign and then forgot them. I was grateful for the Democratic nomination without any campaign expenses. After discussing the subject with Dave, we decided to give a barbecue on July 4. That I will never forget.

I will not go into details as to preparation, program, etc., but a few figures I remember. We killed six grown steers, and six 225-pound hogs. The colored man in charge of barbecuing the meat was Heenan Alexander who lived in Dunedin.

He came from Sumter County and was recommended by some old-time friend’s.

At that time pits were dug in the ground for the fire. On July 2 we dug a pit 40 feet long, four feet wide, and 32 inches deep. The beef was put in the pit about 7:30 P.M., July 3. The pork was put in the same pit about 2 A.M., July 4. It was all thoroughly done by 10:30 A.M.

Eight friends of mine had volunteered to help with the carving. We had no list of guests to be invited, that was done by word of mouth, such as, “Bill, we are having a barbecue at our ranch on the fourth, come and bring your family. If you see John before I do, tell him the same thing.”

We bought 2,500 paper plates and they were all used, and we were short. Another figure I remember was 40 one-gallon cans of baked beans. We heated the beans in an old cast-iron kettle that had a hot fire under it for several hours. We put the cans in about ten or more at a time.

Another thing I remember in particular was a coffee-boiler furnished by another long-time friend, Sheriff Ernest Cunningham. He had a copper kettle that had been part of a moonshine still, about three feet in diameter and one foot deep. He had a hole cut in its side near the bottom, with a spigot welded in. There was a brick furnace of the same size and shape as the kettle, with a stack about six feet high. Coffee was placed in one pound bags several at a time. Adding water, adding coffee, and drawing coffee out of the spigot almost continuously, was a smooth operation, and good coffee.

More Events 2001

January 12-14, 2001 Brooksville, FL Brooksville Raid Held at the Sand Hill Boy Scout Camp on US Hwy 19, 2 miles East of Brooksville on Hwy 50. Living History and Battle Reenactments Call (352) 7960697 for information. Includes modern day craft vendors.

January 21 - 27 Riverview, FL Early Set-up Jan 17 - 20 Alafia Rendezvous - Pre1840’s The Florida Frontiersmen invite you to join us for the southeast’s largest pre-1840 historical interpretive encampment. Over 1000 participants living in camps and portraying many different cultures and regions of early America. Participants can set up early,starting on Jan. 17th, for an extra fee. Break down on Jan. 28th.

Everyone is welcome, but please no pets.

The Florida Frontiersmen are a group of men and women who have banded together to preserve the skills of our first settlers, pioneers and mountain men in their use of muzzle loading firearms and the equipment and accouterments that accompanied such use before 1840. We endeavor to promote and maintain high standards of safety, sportsmanship and good fellowship, together with the historical appreciation of the era and equipment.

Participants: all participants are expected to be in appropriate historic period dress (16th - early 19th century) and have period camps in which all characters, campsite and merchandise portrays the geographical location and desired time period (16th to early 19th century Florida). This includes period habits, social graces. No modern wear. Contacts: Booshways Charlie and Susan Hager suzmaci@aol.com Pre-registration or for further information: Ron Clark e-mail: RonClark@compuserve. com January 29-30, 2001 Ruskin, Florida.

School of the 16th Century The School will be held again at the Ancient Native Village site Camp Bayou Nature Center. Lots of fun and wonderful information about the cultures of Spanish and Florida’s first people. Camping on site. $15 fee for the weekend. Lunch is provided as you learn to cook over an open fire. 4202 24th Street SE, Ruskin,

FL 33570 Take I-75 Exit46 West on SR674Contact: Wynne Tatman (813) 641-8545 or (904) 824-3325 firstnative@ aol.com

The best estimate as to the number attending was about 3,000 people. I know it was the largest real old fashioned outdoor barbecue ever held in this county at that time. If there has ever been a larger one since I do not know about it.

In the morning we branded about 60 head of spring calves. In the afternoon we had some horse races, pony races, and mule races. Otis Beard, Carl Willy and Louis Smith flew their airplanes and landed on the lower end of the prairie, which was a first at that time.

J.B. was a fat nine-month-old baby at that time with a black cowboy hat. If someone did not have him on a shetland pony, someone else had him in a saddle in front of the rider. One old cracker friend of mine told me later, that he did not know who was a candidate for office, but he knew who that nine-month-old cowboy was. Being up most of the night before, I believe I was as tired as I have ever been when I finally got to bed.

Jay. Starkey “Things I Remember” 1899-1979 is available from SWFMD for free. Contact Technical Librarian Chuck Tornabene at (352) 796-7211 or 1800-4321476 or Email: chuck.tornabene@swfmd. state.fl.us

February 8 - 11, 2001 Thonotosassa, FL Fort Foster Historic Site Rendezvous (See Ad pg3) Pre-1840’s ~ Second Seminole War Period. Open to public on February 10-11 Reenactors contact: Ralph Van Blarcom, Fort Foster Quartermaster, 23120 Dover Drive, Land O’ Lakes, FL 34639 Phone (813) 996-3847 E-mail: rvbl@mindspring.com Hillsborough River State Park, 15402 US Hwy 301 N., (813) 987-6771 February 16-18 Lake City, FL Battle of Olustee and Living History Saturday Battle - 3:30 P.M. Sunday Olustee Battle Reenactment 1:30 P.M. Hours 8:00 A.M. - 4:00 P.M. Visit with thousands of Civil War reenactors, tour the camps and see demonstrations during the southeast’s largest Civil War reenactment.

Best gathering of authentic Civil War sutlers of any Civil War event in Florida and possibly the entire country. Color Ceremonies: Infantry, Calvary, Artillery, and Medical Unit Demonstrations; Authentic Camps; Memorial and Period Church Services, Sutlers; Period Crafts; Exhibits; Food and Much More...

Admission: Adults - $4, Children - $2 The Olustee Battlefield State Historic Site is located on U.S. 90, 15 miles east of Lake City, Florida. For additional information call (904) 758-0400 or sfoster@alltel.net.

Visit the Battle of Olustee WWW site at http://extlab7.entnem.ufl.edu/Olustee/ February 18-19 Tallahassee, FL Tallahassee Trade Faire 1700 - 1799 Historic Florida Featuring: 18th Century wares, period music and dancing, colonial craft and demonstrations plus encampments for military, civilian and Native Americans, British, Spanish, American - -Participants - all participants are expected to be in appropriate historic 18th century period dress and have period camps in which all characters, campsite and merchandise portrays the geographical location and desired time period (18th century Florida)- This includes period habits, social graces, and no public drinking No modern wear — the decision of the Faire Master is final! ! Pre-Registration is due before November 1,2000 For registration or further information on the Tallahassee Contacts: Jan Winans, Faire Master, 2945 Spinnaker Court, Tallahassee, Florida 32303 E-mail: janleroy@aol.com Rick Haven, Mayor, HCI - Box 386, Cresant City, Florida 32112 E-mail: 5elves@gbso.net

Climb aboard our specially designed “Range Buggy” and immerse yourself in nature at the Anclote River Ranch. It’s an adventure on a working cattle ranch that you will never forget! Our highly trained guides will take you back in time through pine flatwoods, sand pine ridges and pasturelands to the simpler life of the “Cracker Cow-hunter”

Wheel Chair accessible Gift Shop Reservations required: 813-926-1133 Toll free: 1-877-734-9453

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An artists reconstruction of a Florida Tapir living in a cypress swamp.

Tapirs seek water as a refuge. A nearby stream would provid daytime a hiding place.

Today there are 4 living species of tapirs, one in Southeast Asia and the rest living in Central and South America. Tapirs weigh between 350 and 800 pounds. Around 6 feet long, tapirs live between 25 and 30 years. They live on vegetation.

Tapirs make a chirp-chirping sound which can almost be mistaken for a bird.

A single young is born after a 13 month gestation period. All modern tapirs are endangered by habitat loss.

escaped our attention either. Even a casual trip through that countryside would offer us views of some bigger critters. Let’s tale a look.

Giant tortoises roam the landscape with other large armored creatures. Glyptodonts are much larger than the most ample tortoise. Giant armadillos live here too.

In season, the grasslands of prehistoric Florida team with animals. Herds of bison are mixed with horse. Gangs of paleo-llama graze on the pasture beside the sand ridges.

But there are many animals which are hard to see. The animals who hunt at night. Florida’s ancient nights are punctuated with the struggle of life and death. It is the time for lions and dire wolves. Bats pour out of the throats of sinkholes. As though summoned by the last violet rays of daylight, their fluttering flight, a million dancing specs, they are strewn across the night’s cloak.

Away from the scrub and grasslands along the forest’s edge, hidden in the tangle between tree trunks, stand wary deer. Their ears alert for any sound which might give away a stalking puma. Here too, along the forests edge, slipping through patches of moonlight, sniff a pack of wolves.

Leaving the pine and palmetto margins behind, the sonorous buzz of cicadas grows more insistent. The call of a barred owl, “Who, who cooks for me?” added an eerie edge to the night.

Where oaks mix with sabal palm, a huge short-faced bear snuffles around a tree trunk where a rabbit has disappeared.

It rakes the roots with its long claws.

Nearing the river, the mix of trees

include hickory, sweetgum, and American hophorn bean. On silent wings, an owl drops out of it’s tree onto a hapless cotton rat. The rat’s young will starve. Their pitiful cries may attract a rat snake. On the other side of the equation, the owl’s chicks will eat tonight.

The tapir is in a family with the horse and the rhinoceros. Tapirs are shy creatures of the night. About as large as a tubby pony, they wander out of the river’s or lake’s safety in the shrouding darkness to feed on the tender shoots of shrubbery. Their long snout is like a very short elephant trunk in its ability to turn and twist. The tapir uses it to bring tasty leaves to its mouth. At the slightest noise it freezes. Its pig-like eyes search the darkness. In the distance, a cough alerts the night.

Jaguars live in this ancient Florida land. Their great paws carefully paced along deep forest paths. They hunt the breathless shadows. A territorial cough and then silence. They hunt the shy tapir. They hunt the animals who risk coming to the river at night for a drink. They search the banks of islands in the river for the large rodent, the capybara. Raccoons skitter up a tree to wait out the passing shadow.

The frogs don’t seem to care. Their chirping, croaking chorus fills the river valleys and hollows in the landscape which embrace the lakes wide slow flowing streams. When the jaguar passes, they plop into the envelope of water and with a few kicks they disappear.

For further readings about Florida’s ancient past visit our web site at http://.

FloridaFrontier.com

Looking for

Ancient Florida

by Hermann Trappman

The landscape we ride out our lives on changes as we live it. Folks want something they can rely upon. They want to go back to the place where they grew up and see it the way it was. But the seasons come and go, trees grow up or die, weather works on the soil, and floods and droughts make their changes.

No matter how much we want the world around to remain reliable, it’s as busy as we are. Florida has seen incredible changes. What was it like in 1900? Florida was a frontier like the American West. If anything, it may have been a little more wild. The fishing was fantastic, lots of mosquitoes, few roads and fewer cars to use on them. Cattle was king.

What was it like in 900? Along the coasts, forests stretched from horizon to horizon. It was broken only by Native American villages, farms, and cities peaking out from the blanket of trees. Paths were overshadowed by great spreading

oaks, pine, and hickories. The landscape provided the ancient people with a good life. But their lives were mostly dependent on what they could produce with their own hands. I believe, that there was a lot of trade going on. And, that commerce was satisfying. But, exchange was gratifying to immediate needs and senses. Colorful feathers to wear, food which sparked up the daily fair, medicine and body paint to heal and enrich, were some of the trade items.

Greenstone from North Carolina found its way all the way down to Miami. The people from Haiti and Cuba traded north, deep into Florida.

As we peal the years off, we can watch the people change. We can see the scars from great fires which swept through. We can watch the forests abrupt return and the changing animal life. We wouldn’t fail to notice the elephants, mammoths, and mastodons. They were too big to miss.

The giant ground sloths would never have

A family of Florida Capybara graze and play just left of bottom center. Today’s capybara are the worlds largest living rodent. Between 3 and 4 feet long, they stand about one and a half feet at the shoulder. They still live in Central and South America. Like tapirs, they use water as an escape from preditors. They eat mostly grass. Their gestation period is about 150 days and they average 5 to a litter.

Capybara live up to 10 years in the wild and can weigh as much as 170 pounds. Their webbed feet make them excellent swimmers.

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Rangers from page 1 him to raise, equip, train, pay and lead a regiment of militia rangers for the defense of East Florida.

In June 1776, Brown began soliciting men for his regiment of rangers. No one was rejected because of race, religion or country of origin. Thus his ranger companies contained British Loyalist settlers from Georgia and the Carolinas, Florida settlers, Blacks – both free and newly liberated, Minorcans, Greeks and Italians from the failed New Smyrna settlements and a fair number of Seminole and Creek Indians. Governor Tonyn offered to provide whatever uniforms, clothing, equipment, accouterments and weapons that the newly enlisted rangers might want or need. All accepted some items; clothes, weapons, equipment, but only a few Black recruits and most of the Indians accepted British Redcoats for uniform wear. Most of the others were uniformed in hunting shirts in a variety of styles and colors as more properly befitted their activity as rangers.

Their only distinguishing “uniform” part was a red cockade worn on their hats.

Most, but not all, of the new rangers had some experience in backwoods scouting or hunting. The others quickly learned. Their active campaign and combat careers were to begin almost immediately.

By the fall of 1776, East Florida Rangers were patrolling the Georgia border and making occasional forays into Rebel territory to seize food supplies, especially cattle, and to harass Rebel militias. These activities provided experience and on-thejob training for the new Rangers.

In the spring of 1777, a force of Georgia Regulars and Militia invaded East Florida. Scouted by the Rangers, a detachment of Georgia Militia under Col. Baker, were ambushed by the Rangers along Trout Creek just north of the St. John’s River. The Georgians were badly defeated and some of the captured wounded Georgians were killed by Brown’s Indian Rangers in retaliation for the scalping and disfigurement of an Indian killed earlier by the Rebel Georgia Militia.

During the winter of 1777-1778, Brown’s Ranger’s continued their active patrolling of the border and incursions into Georgia. In March of 1778, his rangers captured the Rebel fort on the Altamaha River. In the early summer of that year, a Rebel force comprised of both Militia and Continental Regulars, once more invaded Florida. The Rangers harassed the Rebels as they advanced and managed to draw a large number of their militia into an Ambush at Alligator Creek just south of the St. Mary’s River where elements of the British 60th Foot provided volley musket fire to help defeat the Rebels. The Rebels retreated back into Georgia and never again during the war posed any threat to East Florida.

But the war was certainly not over for Thomas Brown and his Rangers or for the British Regulars and Loyalist Infantry Regiments which comprised the Florida Brigade, including the East Florida Rangers, invaded Georgia and by late January, 1779, all of eastern Georgia, including its principal city, Savannah, were in British hands. Later that year, a combined Rebel force of Continental and French troops that tried to re-capture Savannah, was successfully defeated by the Florida Brigade.

For the remainder of 1779, Thomas Brown and his East Florida Rangers took part in raids and several minor skirmishes alone and with other Loyalist troops in Georgia and South Carolina. In early 1780,

Waiting for the raid, Fort Morris, 10/95;

In June 1776, Brown began soliciting men for his regiment of rangers. No one was rejected because of race, religion or country of origin. Above are a couple of enlistees you wouldn’t want to find in your back woods Of course the rangers had their sweethearts and wives tucked away safely at home.

The ladies were extemely loyal and devoted to their couragous menfolk.

Change of Flags: British hand over Florida to the Spanish at the end of the Revolution.

East Florida Rangers ride again! Historical reenactors help to keep this fascinating Photos courtesy of The Weymans, Jacksonville, FL moment in Florida’s history alive. Photo below was taken the bulk of those rangers whose homes and families were in Florida, returned to at DeLeon Springs Time the province. The Rangers filled its ranks Line, 8/97. There would not with new recruits from the Carolinas have been a ranger group and prepared to participate in Britain’s in this area, but they were “Southern Campaign” which would prevalent a bit further north. ultimately end at Yorktown in Virginia.

The East Florida Rangers became the King’s Rangers and were issued new green jackets with red collars and cuffs as normal uniform wear. They saw considerable combat and campaign service in the Carolina’s throughout 1780 and 1781. In early 1782, the regiment was returned to Florida to serve as the principal military force for the defense of East Florida when the British Regulars were withdrawn.

The East Florida Rangers remained on active duty until the last of the British Loyalists left the provinces a consequence of the treaty ending the war which awarded East Florida to the Spanish. Thomas Brown, their founder and still their commander, was among the last to depart. Later, he was awarded lands in the West Indies for his services to the Crown and he remained there the rest of his life. He had been a successful and spectacular, if unorthodox, military career, marred only by his having been on the loosing side. Otherwise, he might have become a major American hero!

Happy Holidays!

Vinegar



Vinegar was part of the soldier’s kit for mouthwash, deodorant, hair tonic, and prevention of scurvy. For cooking housewives sometimes used grapes, oranges, blackberries and pineapples were used instead of apples.

The living quarters of Spanish soldiers during the Revolution. Taken at the Castillo San Marcus during an evening Candlelight Tour. A rather surly, belligerent & ill-keptcrowd, but considering the conditions they were living under and the supplies they didn’t have, they were still a fiercesome force.

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Sea Chests & Knots “A knot is never ‘nearly right’; it is either exactly right or it is hopelessly wrong”.

-The Ashley Book of Knots

When early sailors put to sea they carried with them most of their worldly belongings in a wooden sea chest. Sailors on Spanish ships traveling to the Indies gathered together on deck, usually with fellow countrymen, the closest they could come to family for ships hired on men from all ports over Europe. These groups became “commeradas” and the space where they put their chests became known as their “rancho.” At mealtime a large platter of food was brought to the rancho for the men to share. Here they would sleep, and entertain themselves with singing, card games, and with plying knots. For most, it was the only home they ever knew.

Boys entered the service of a ship usually before they were ten years old. The West Indies trade had left many of them abandoned or orphaned on the streets of Seville or San Lucar de Barameda. Cabin boys of seven or eight year old were not unusual. To survive, the boys had little choice but to join the other street urchins in a life of crime or to put to sea to learn the seafaring trade. They were illerate and life was hard. To wile away the endless days at sea, they learned the art of tying knots with discarded rope. Knotting was the art form that belonged to the sailor.

Coastal sailors and fishermen never really developed the art of knotting. They were not way from their families long enough to find the time and their days at sea are spent with hard work. But a man or boy aboard a ship for months at a time had plenty of time to fill.

Merchant seamen and whalers “worked up” old rope into “foxes”, “nettles” and “twice-laid ropes”. The art became a source of pride and very competitive. Complicated knots were a source of secrecy passed on only to a trusted companion.. A sailor was judged by his chest beckets and lanyard knots. Knots crossed international boundaries...the merchant sailor never being too particular about which flag he sailed under.

According to The Ashley Book of Knots, the main reference for this story, “a knot is never ‘nearly right’; it is either exactly right or it is hopelessly wrong”.

The tools of the sailor, the sailmaker, and the rigger, the three craftsmen whos work is primarely concerned with rope, are the result of years of selection and refinement.

The rigger wore a leather belt from which he hung a steel marlingspike for opening strands, splicing and multi-strand knot tying. It had a bulbous head for pounding and a hole through it for a lanyard. He also carried a rigger’s knife which was square-tipped and thicker than the usual sailor’s blade. A small horn cup was his last piece of equipment. It held tallow for greasing strands.

The sailmaker had his own special tools as well. He would sit in a loft on a backless wooden bench with his tools stuck into various holes at one end. He used a small three-edged tool call a stabber for making eyelet holes. A pricker or bodkin, a small metal tool with a handle made of wood, bone, or leather. The sailmaker’s knife was pointed and the back was used for rubbing seams. For heavy seams a seam-rubber was used. His needles were three edged and of different sizes. Instead of a thimble the sailmaker used a palm, which is a checkered metal disk mounted in a soul-leather or rawhide band. To hold his work ing place he used a sailhook.

The sailor may be required to use both the riggers and sailmakers tools. Frequently. he sailor’s knife had a blunt point.

He used it for work and for his only eating utensil. A wise ship’s master’s would lead his crew aft to snapp off the tip of each knife in the carpenter’s vice. Few problems that way.

An avid knot tier aboard ship kept his own miniature tools stowed away in his ditty bag.a ditty bag itself could be an artistic project with fringes and knots.

Beckets are first formed by sewing a covering of canvas over the rope.A leather washer with pinked edges is slipped over the ends and a turkshead is worked at each end.

Knives of men of the sea. Each had their place. the sailor’s knife mught have its tip cut off by the captain to ensure that it wasn’t used as a weapon.

The sailmaker’s bench was carefully laid out with all his tools near at hand.

Fibers for practicing fancy knots was cotton clothesline but Manila rope was most common on board ship. Satin cords are available at fabric stores for colorful knotting projects

The chest pictured above are samples of old sea chests that once belonged to men of the sea. As a rule, an officer’s chest could be much large than a sailor’s. As time went by a sailor’s chest was limited to 36” long as it had to be stored end to end with the next chest in front of each tier of berths on the ship. But the plain wooden boxes were almost always decorated with ornately knotted handles called beckets. They were attatched to the ends of the chest with a handcarved wooden cleat. Sometimes the cleats were made of teak, or inlaid with ivory.

A sea chest was kept lashed most of the time by its owner to discourage prying, especially when a lock was untrustworthy. To tie the lash, a noose with an eye splice is passed around one end of the chest and the rope end is rove downward through the becket at the same time.

A crossing knot is added at the bottom and the end was roved up through the opposite becket.

A hitch is passed around the second end, with a crossing knot at the bottom and the end is then secured to the eye splice. This method is also used to tie up long bundles for carrying such as tents, rolls of leather,

Greg Centanni portrays an early 19th Century sailor aboard a ship in Tampa Bay. Photo courtesy of the Centannis

The Crossing Knot. In a proper lashing two parts do not cross each other with out being engaged.

Florida FRONTIER GAZETTE was there!

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Fort Foster School of the Soldier 2000

THE PIER AQUARIUM

SEMINOLE INDIAN WARS 1830’S TO 1850’S

Jesse Marshall,(above) shares information about cannon safety at the School of the Soldier. Lectures on ordinance, artillery, uniforms, backpacks and foods carried by the soldiers were just some of the fascinating information shared at the School.

The struggle to make Florida part of the United Sates took place after the Spanish exploration/mission/settlement period (1500’s-1740’s) in Florida. In the later 1700’s a new migration of Indian groups began arriving in Florida. The Creek, Choctow and the Cherokee along with free blacks, became lumped under the name “the Seminole” Remember too, Florida remained one of the “loyal” colonies to the Crown during the American Revolution.

During the period from the 1800’s to 1858, a series of Indian wars were fought in Florida. One of the major battles, called “Dade’s Massacre”, occurred at the same time as the Alamo in Tejos (Texas), For some reason, The Alamo, not the wiping out of an entire military command in Florida, caught the Eastern newspapers attention.

The Napoleonic fighting methods of war did not work well in Florida in the 1830’s.

This may explain why a number of officers met with mysterious “accidents” during the Seminole Indian war campaigns. A wise officer made sure his troops did not carry any concealed non-regulation weapons. The Florida military units of the time period were made up of mostly newly arrived

In 1820 Zachary Taylor would lament that the axe, plow and spade had become more the tool of the American soldier than the musket, sword or bayonet.

Sheila Benjamin (right) and Elizabeth Neily (below) prepare Chicken Pilau with Yellow Rice for an army of 50 men and their officers at the fort. A cabin watches with hungry anticpation as the cauldren of chicken sizzles over the coals.

Also on the menu... Hoe cakes and Bread Pudding with a devilish Brandy Sauce.

To beat Florida’s sweltering August heat and humidity, the ladies donned their 1809 style dresses.

This style may have been a little dated by 1835, but who’d care in the backwoods of Florida.

October

14th Shark Egg Hunt: 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 The Pier Aquarium on the 2nd Floor of The Pier. Donations appreciated.

28th Scope it out! With videomicroscopes, bug boxes, and mini-scopes in hand, we’ll take a closer look at the itty-bitty creatures that call Tampa Bay their home. 10am12pm at The Pier Aquarium on the 2nd Floor of The Pier.

Donations appreciated.

November

4th Annual Fish Head Ball: Proceeds to benefit The Pier Aquarium, corporate/family sponsorships available. Includes live music, food, drinks, games and more! Targeted audience - adults. 8pm until midnight on the 1st floor of The Pier in the Marketplace. Call (727) 895-7437 for tickets.

The VISIT FLORIDA Ecotourism Series

Program funded by the Florida Tourism Industry Marketing Corporation For more information, visit www.flausa.com.

18th Lowry Park Zoo and The Green Swamp Tour: Come learn about The Lowry

Park Zoo and its ecotourism activities, including its majestic Green Swamp Tour. Meet some of The Green Swamp’s “Animal Ambassadors!” 10am-12pm at the Pier Aquarium on the 2nd floor of The Pier. Donations appreciated.

December 9th Canoe and Kayak at Weedon Island: Find out how you can wander through the mangrove-shaded waterways of Weedon Island, a natural preserve located right here in Tampa Bay, that once served as home for many generations of Native American People.

10am-12pm at The Pier Aquarium on the 2nd floor of The Pier. Donations appreciated.

Questions? Call the Pier Aquarium at (727) 895-7437. See you there!

800 Second Ave. North East • Suite 200 • St. Petersburg, FL 33701

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ST. PETERSBURG MUSEUM OF HISTORY and take a journey back in time...

Discover the secrets of St. Pete’s oldest tourist

—a 3000 year old mummy!

Rest on one of the city’s famed Green Benches or, Travel across Tampa Bay on the Benoist Airboat Experience St. Peterburg’s rich past and re-discover the many fascinating people and events that have made “Sunshine City” a great place to live!

See Our New Exhibits 335 Second Ave. N.E., St. Petersburg, Florida 33701 Visit our website at: www.ij./net/spmh/

(727) 894-1052

Hours: Monday-Saturday 10-5 & Sun. 1-5 November 10-12, 2000

Ft. Washita, Oklahoma.

National School of the Soldier Pre-1840’s Mexican War Period. immigrants from a variety of countries with little or no English comprehension.

Most signed on for only one enlistment, happy to escape the Florida wilderness.

The state militias from Georgia, Alabama, Carolinas, were called in to help with the Indian “problem” in Florida. It was noted that the state militia’s military protocol and order were seriously lacking.

NOTE: The Spanish still living in Florida in the 1830’s on land granted rancheros and fishing villages were “classified” by the US military command as “INDIAN” The Spanish trade in fish, cattle and leather with Cuba and Puerto Rico was ordered stopped.

The outcome of the Seminole War was the removal of most of the Indian population out of Florida. but a peace treaty was never signed. The Armed Occupation Act, opened Florida up to new settlers and ranchers claiming land. The Seminole threat was removed, but the region was still plagued with mosquitos, malaria, yellow fever, snakes, alligators and tropical humid heat. Those who came would find life hard.

From The School of the Soldier - 1830’s, Fort Foster, Hillsborough River State Park..

BOOK REVIEWS

Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives

The Florida Reminiscences of George Gillett Keen and Sarah Pamela Williams, Edited by James M. Denham and Canter Brown, Jr. University of South Carolina Press ISBN 1-57003-346-3 Hardcover $39.95

The real stories of pioneer life can be as puzzling as a Zen brainteaser. Often we interpret them as quaint, but they are a study in the origins of our own beliefs and attitudes. Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives is a fascinating book because it is loaded with such a deep well of the human mystery.

Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives can be read on many levels. It features actual bigraphical sketches from the mid 1800s.

This is a book which can be purely enjoyed for its heritage of interesting stories. It can be read by those who have a historical bent for information on Florida’s frontier. It can also be read as a study of the nature of the people who settled the edge of American Indian owned territory in our nationalistic pursuit of ownership.

It is important to remember that at the same time as Cracker Times and Pioneer Lives there were many stable and sophisticated regions in the America’s and the rest of the world. The Native American culture which was being replaced by pioneer culture had its roots deeply planted in America’s diverse environmental systems.

The pioneers were new to this landscape.

They brought very little with them other than determination and aggressive baggage born out of the battlefields of Europe. This book offers entertainment as well as powerful insight in to the attitudes and culture on the frontier. Some stories like this one leave you wonering.

“Men in them days done their own tanning and shoe making. Deer skins when taken out of tan were relieved of the ooze, rolled up and placed in the shade till nearly dry, then they were dressed up ready for use. That was the way in this case. After breakfast, second Sunday in June, Daniel took one of the skins out and was picking the pelt [off of] it.

Brewer says, ‘Daniel to day is Sunday and I don’t work on Sunday, nor allow it done on my premises.’ Stewart says, ‘Mr. Brewer, I don’t call this work, but I will quit and put up the skin.’ Brewer says, ‘you have violated the Lord’s day and got to leave the place.’ Daniel offered an apology. Brewer says, “no excuse will do and picked up a hand spike took it in both hands, saying ‘leave at once, or I will kill you.’ (Could not have the Sabbath day violated, but could afford to glut the earth with human gore. Oh, consistency thou art a jewel.) Daniel took his gun, powder horn and shot bag and said ‘Nancy lets go.’ ‘Go,’ said Brewer, ‘or I will kill you.’

About twenty yards from the door there was a rail fence, about four rails high, that was the going out place from the house. Before they got to the fence Daniel saw Brewer was following him with the hand spike in a striking position, saying, ‘I will kill you if you don’t leave.’

Brewer was bare headed, Stewart told me afterwards that he took aim at Brewer’s

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forehead and the gun snapped. He lowered the gun and thought as I haven’t killed him I won’t do it, he crossed the fence about twenty feet and says, ‘If you cross the fence I will shoot you.’ Brewer knew Daniel to be a good shot and had just seen him snap the gun at him. Why he didn’t stop was a mystery to me, but he crossed the fence and when he did Daniel fired upon him, the bullet entering a little to the right of the center of the breast, passing direct through his body. To quote Daniel he said that ‘Brewer fell and hollowed very loud, ‘Oh, God, Oh, God, Oh, God,’ like his God was a long way off and if he did not call loud his God would not hear him.’ Daniel left.

Mrs. Brewer and Edward Mobly ran to Brewer. He couldn’t walk and they couldn’t carry him, so they dragged him to the house.”

The Archaeology of Useppa Island

Edited by William H. Marquardt Institute of Archaeology and Paleoenvironmental Studies University of Florida, Gainesville ISBN 1-881448-07-X Hardcover $35.00 Soft-cover $20.00 Available from IAPS Books, PO Box 117800, Gainesville FL 32611. Add sales tax for delivery in Florida, and $2 shipping.

Excellence, precision, and skill are enclosed between the cover of this book.

The authors of each chapter, each paper, are people who bring the pride of scientific accomplishment to this State.

If you are a student of Florida’s prehistory or you just love the subject, this book is very desirable. The methods of observation are as well presented as the exciting subject material. This book is well illustrated. The target is to a university level reader, but the quality is worth any effort.

Useppa Island is located in the northern portion of Pine Island Sound 5.6 km west of Pine Island off Florida’s southwestern Gulf coast…

Pleistocene Useppa would not be recognized by the modern residents of the region. The climate was then cooler and drier with a considerable amount of the earth’s water locked in the cryosphere… Sea Level was much lower, thus the Florida coastline would have been approximately 65-110 km further west… Useppa would have been inland, harboring upland animals and plants. At the end of the Pleistocene some of Florida’s earliest residents, PaleoIndians, probably hunted and gathered at Useppa.

From a material-cultural perspective, Middle Archaic deposits on Useppa and Horr’s Island are virtually indistinguishable. The strongest connection is in shouldered adzes. The uniformity of the shouldered adz specimens from Useppa and Horr’s Island suggest that these, the largest of the Middle Archaic cutting-edged tools in southwest Florida, were made by specialized artisans. By contrast, the smaller oval adzes show considerable variation in tool forms within site assemblages.

Useppa Island’s inhabitation continued past the final Calusa Ridge episode, but

Calusa Ridge itself was not occupied in any intensive way until the nineteenth century A.D. However, before ca. 1800 B.C. when Calusa ridge was abandoned, people had been accumulating a clam-and-oyster -shell midden for nearly a thousand years on Collier Ridge, the eastern dune that lies beneath today’s Collier Inn… The late Archaic (2000-1200 B.C.), Terminal Archaic (1200-500 B.C.), and Caloosahatchee I (500 B.C.-A.D. 500), and Caloosahatchee II (A.D. 500-1200) periods are also represented in Useppa’s precolumbian archaeological record. Each period is discussed in turn in this chapter.

Detailed Investigations of plant remains recovered from six sites in the Charlotte Harbor Area enable us to identify some of the plants that were used for food and fuel by the late prehistoric populations of the region…

Children Of The Sun

by I. Mac Perry, Boca Bay Books, St. Petersburg, 2000 ISBN:0-9663628-5-3 Softcover $12.00

If you are unfamiliar with the epic journey of the first Spanish Entrada into interior North America, Children Of The Sun is a good entry level novel. Author, I. Mac Perry, (Black Conquistador, 1998), bases his story on the Panifilo de Narvaéz expedition which started out from Boca Ciega Bay in April of 1528. Perry writes his story through the eyes of the Spanish

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(727)347-8732 Fax 347-8732*51 E-mail JanBookLady@webtv.net 3107 Beach Blvd., Gulfport, FL 33707 gentleman who accompanied the expedition one of the few who would live to live to tell the tale.

“Cabeza de Vaca felt sorry for them.

Most were young , inexperienced. They had followed a dream, followed the promises of the most vicious conquistador who had ever sailed the Main, a butcher of humans, who had promised them great wealth in the land of La Florida. A man who once sat like a marble statue upon his stallion while his soldiers chopped and mauled an entire Cuban village of three thousand.

Natives, whose only crime was being in Narvaez’ way. Now they were following him again, an insane man delirious with fever. They would not make it to Panuco.

Cabeza de Vaca knew it in his heart. the boats were still heading west. Panuco was south. Who knew how far west they must paddle before turning south? Then how far south they must paddle to get to Panuco?

Surely deat would come first.

Cabeza de Vaca knew it in his heart.”

The Narva´éz Expedition and the story it left behind as related by Cabeza de Vaca is one of the most incredible stories in America. An expedition leaving from Tampa Bay would wander forever through the pages of history. Only four men would survives to make it back to Mexico. Their experiences were a once in a life time moment. In their passage, in the passage of those eight years, between their stepping foot in La flirda and rejoining the Spanish in Mexico, would change the world forever.

The native people they met during their travels would be for ever changed, as well.

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Drink of the Gods

CHOCOLATE in the 16th-17th CENTURY

by Sheila Benjamin

Thomas Gage an Englishman travelling through Mexico and Guatamala in the 1620s wrote exhaustively about chocolate.

He reported that the Aztec drank a concoction of maize, chili peppers, cacao, achiotte and aniseed which was made into a thin porrage or gruel called atole - as a fortified drink or “pick-me up” when working. In the New World, chocolate was the prerogative of the aristocracy and high dignitaries.

The drink was made of water and cacoa with the addition of flavorings. It was prepared by pouring the liquid from one cylindrical container to another until a froth appeared. The froth considered the best part of the drink and was a sign of quality.

At breakfast, the wealthy Aztec drank a cup of cacao seasoned with chili peppers or sweetend with honey. Sometimes they added kernels of tender corn, vanilla, and fermented maquay juice. After a great feast they smoked, sang and danced, and finished the party at dawn with one last cup of aromatized cacao.

When East met West, chocolate almost immediately became the rage with European gentry as well. European designers started creating beautiful chocolate pots made of copper, porcelain and even silver.

The lid had a hole in it for the beater called a molinillo.

To process raw cacao beans is very labor intensive. The beans are wrapped in a sweet white flesh in side the pod. The ripe pod is gathered and allowed to ferment for a few days which causes chemical changes inside the seed. Then the flesh and pod is peeled away from the seed and allowed to dry. They they are roasted and peeled. The nut is then ground several times on a metate which had hot coals placed underneath it.

In fact metates were imported to Europe during the height of its chocolate craze to assure its correct preparation. After grinding, the chocolate is formed into small balls for storing or used immediately for making chocolate.

Chocolate Money

Colombus was the first European to “discover” chocolate. On his last journey to the New World, he met up with a great Maya trading canoe in the Gulf of Honduras. He saw some almond like objects drop on the deck and everybody scrambling to pick them up “as if their eyes had fallen out of their heads.”

Cacao beans were used as small change in Mexico and some even suggested that they be introduced to Spain for the same purpose. However, it was an idea who’s time had not come. Only nobility and wealthy classes used chocolate at first.

I rather like the thought of being paid in chocolate.

Chocolate Medicine

Chocolate products were also used as a medicinal in Central America. 16th century Spanish priests reported that the Aztecs used cacao butter for dressing wounds. Also, the Aztecs used a potion of

cacao mixed with ground exhumed bones of the ancestors was a cure for diarrhea. We don’t suggest you exhume great grandpa to try out this cure. Spanish colonists used a cocoa paste “which they say is good for the stomacke and against the catarre [catarrh general ill health]”.

Italian physician, Stephani Blancardi commented in the 17th century “chocolate is not only pleasant of taste, but it is a veritable balm of the mouth, for the maintaining of all gland and humors in a good state of health, Thus it is, that who drink it, possess a sweet breath.”

The 16th century French historian, Bonaventure d’Argonne, shows evidence that the Cardinal of Lyon drank chocolate

“to calm his spleen and appease his rage and foul temper” and that he may have “had the secret from some Spanish monks who were brought to from Spain.” We women know how effective chocolate is to soothe our frayed nerves and elevate our moods.

Chocolate Curse.

Chocolate did have its detractors, though. A Jesuit, Jose de Acosta, wrote “The chief use of this cacao is in a drincke which they call chocolate, whereof they make great account, foolishly and with out reason for it is loathsome to such as are not acquainted with it, having a skimme or frothe that is very unpleasant to taste, if they be not well conceited thereof . The Spaniards, both men and women , that are

Cacao (teobroma) was considered by the Aztec to be the drink of the Gods. According to legend, Quetzacoatle stole it from his brother gods and took it to Tula, where he planted it, begging the god Tlaloc to feed it with his rain and the goddess Xochiquetzal to embellish it with flowers. Then he taught the Toltec women how to make chocolate.

Sheila Benjamin carries a basket ofchili peppers and copper chololate pot as part of her travelling museum. Need to know a detail about life in the 16th century?

Ask Sheila. She’ll root it out for you.

Aztec AA?

Aztec Indians prepared chocolate drinks with aromatic and hot spices. The Aztec state encouraged drinking it instead of alcoholic beverages which they thought degrading.

by the Gentlewomen of Mexico.”

Francesco d’Antonio Carletti of Florence speaks of the Spanish of Mexico being so addicted to the drink that that their strength failed them if they did not have morning chocolate. Spanish princesses took their chocolate habit with them to France when marrying into that royal family.

Chocolate! A-har Matey!

The pirates of the Spanish main consumed large quantities of cocoa for breakfast. Equimeling writes of a successful raid after which the pirates had “each morning a dish of that pleasant liquor, containing almost a pint.”

Chocolate Church

For chocolate or any other food for that matter to be incorporated into Eurpoean society, it first had to find its place in religion. Was chocolate a food or drink? An important issue when considering whether or not it could be used on fast days. Abstinence meant abstaining from meat. Fasting meant that one solid meal a day could be consumed. Rome had to come to a decision as to how to classify chocolate. Finally Pope Gregory XIII, 1572-1586 consulted the residents of Chiapas twice on this issue. both times they responded that chocolate was a drink and therefore did not break the fast. But many ecclesiastical scholars were not satisfied with this definition and wrote long tombs on the subject. But they could not impede its spread.

The “cloister churches” run by nuns and monks were “talked of far and near, not for their religious practices, but for their skill in making drinkes which are used in these parts, the one called chocolate and another atolle,” writes Thomas Gage in 1648. “ Chocolate is made up in boxes and sent not only to Mexico, but much of it yearly transported into Spain.”

In 1650 the Society of Jesus’ Jesuit school issued an act outlawing the drink to the Jesuits, but this was impossible to enforce, especially when students started to abandon the school because of it. The drink was popular with nuns and priests during their required lengthy fasts and were convinced of its health giving properties.

But the French Revolution set off the decline of chocolate as an aristocratic drink. It was considered decadent by commoners. Chocolate was tainted by its association with courtiers and the clergy, especially the Jesuits, who were accused of trying to monopolize the trade in cacao, for the greater glory of God and to line their coffers. Hot chocolate was shunned by the citizens. Their drink would be coffee!

accustomed to the country, are very greedy of this chocolate. They say they made diverse sorte of it, some hote, some colde, and put therein much of that chili.”

A 17th century French noblewoman traveling in Spain was not much impressed by the country’s noble and wealthy classes.

She says of the chocolate drink, “They take it with so much pepper and so many spices, that it is impossible they don’t burn themselves up” Nor was she impressed by their dental care and personal habits.

“Their teeth are good, and would be white if they took care of them, but they neglect them. Besides the sugar and the chocolate spoils them, they have the bad habit, men and women alike, of cleaning them with a toothpick, in whatever company they are”.

Despite his initial resistance to trying chocolate, Giramolo Bezoni, a 16th century Italian botanist, he finally had to give in to temptation. He says, “This mixture looks more fit for the pigs than like a beverage for humanity. I was in this country for more than a year, and never wanted to taste it, and whenever I passed a settlement, some Indian would offer me a drink of it, and would be much amazed when I would not accept, going away laughing. But then as there was a shortage of wine, and so as not to always be drinking water ,I did like the others. The taste is somewhat bitter, it satisfies and refreshens the body, but does not inebriate, and it is their best and most expensive merchandize, according to the Indians of that country.”

Chocolate Craze

But as chocolate caught on so recipes for its use became more and more creative. Sahagun, a Spanish historian, says that chocolate drinks for the lords included “ruddy cacao, brilliant red cacao, orange cacao, black cacao, and white cacao” Many of the early recipes for chocolate drinks of the 16th and 17th century included, depending on the lord’s taste could be very elaborate.

Chili, allspice, cloves, vanilla, black pepper, various flower petals, orange/rose water, jasmine, lemon peel, ambergris, musk and nuts were all used in the exotic recipes of that time. Spanish laA Spanish Colonial period kitchen is on dies started to making chocolate display at the South Florida Musem in sweets. “Little delicate Cakes of Bradenton, Florida.

Chocolate were served as dainties

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The Smoke and Fire News

The International Newspaper about Living History Events Tells you where Living History Events are happening.

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Florida FRONTIER GAZETTE recommends

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Recommended by USA Today Voted Best Cuban Food in Tampa Bay

HOURS M-TH 11am to 9pm Fri & Sat. 11am to 11pm

Traditional Hand Prepared Cuban Favorites Including:

Chocolate

Yes, it does grow on trees.

Cacao - an evergreen tropical American tree (Theobroma cacao) having leathery, ellipsoid, ten-ribbed fruits borne on the trunks and older branches. Also called chocolate tree.

2. The seed of this plant, used in making chocolate, cocoa, and cocoa butter. Also called cacao bean, cocoa bean.

Upon arrival in the New World, the Spanish added tomatoes, chilis and chocolate to their cooking . The use of spices was important. It was a show of wealth . The more - the better. In preparing this recipe for the first time, you may want to use only a dash of each spice rather than the 1/4 teaspoon suggested.

MOLE POBLANO DE GUAJOLOTE

(Serves 10-12) (16 Century Spanish Poultry) This is now the great festive dish of Mexico. It is served at any special occassion. Rice, beans, tortillas and guacamole are the traditional accompaniments.

8 dried muloto chiles 4 dried ancho chiles 4 dried chipotle chiles Chicken or turkey (10 pounds) 1/4 Cup lard 1 Cup blanched almonds 1/4 Cup sesame seeds 1 corn tortilla 2 crushed cloves of garlic 1 chopped onion 1/4 teaspoon of each - ground

cloves, cinnamon, anise 6 black peppercorns 1/2 Cup raisins 3 peeled tomatoes 1 Teaspoon salt 2 oz - unsweetened chocolate 2 Cup home-made chicken broth Arrange the dried chilies in a single layer in a clay roasting pan and soften in a hot oven for 2-3 min. taking care not to let them burn. Discard the stems and seeds and put the chilies in a bowl. Cover with barely boiling water . Let soak for 20 -30 min.

Divide the chicken into portions.

Heat the lard in a heavy flameproof clay casserole or copper pan or dutch oven. Add the chicken and fry until golden brown colour. Using a slotted spoon, remove chicken pieces from the pot and set aside.

Roast the sesame seeds and almonds in a dry copper frying pan over medium heat until golden color. Remove from pan. Cut the tortilla into strips and heat in the pan until brittle.

Put the almonds, tortilla and all but TH

1 teaspoon of the sesame seeds into a mortar and pestle and grind as fine as possible. Put mixture in mixing bowl. Add to the mixture - the garlic, onion, spices, raisens, tomatoes and salt. Drain the chilies, reserving the soaking water for later, add them to the bowl and puree until all the mixture is smooth . You can use a metate or a large mortar and pestle.

Add water when needed.

Add this puree to the fat remaining in the casserole, copper pot or dutch oven. Fry gently for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Return the chicken to the casserole or copper pot with the chocolate and enough stock to just cover it. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat. Cover and simmer gently for 45-60 min. until the chicken is tender, cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Move chicken pieces to a platter lined with greenery and garnish (very important in 16th century) by sprinkling the rest of the sesame seeds. Serve sauce in a gravey bowl.

NOTE: If you have difficulty finding Mexican dried chiles use the following combination. 4 oz fresh green chiles, 2 small dried chiles. Do not preheat them in the oven. Simply remove the seeds, tear the chiles into shreds and soak as above.

MEXICAN HOT CHOCOLATE

(Serves 1 God) 1 Cup water or milk or both.

1 1/2 ounce Mexican chocolate or any bittersweet chocolate.

Put the water or milk and chocolate in a saucepan and slowly bring to a simmer over a low hwat.

Stir constantly, until the chocolate has melted Pour the chocolate into a bowl and beat with a molinillo until frothy. If you don’t have a beater, a whisk or electric beater will do.

Pour the chocolate into a mug and serve at once.

Add spice to your hot chocolate with a sprinkle of hot pepper.

Note: The Spanish hot drink resembled a chocolate mousse in the 17th century. It was said to be so thick, a spoon could stand up in it.

Chicken Picata • Picadillo-Palomilla Steak • Roast Pork Chicken & Yellow Rice • Cuban Sandwiches • Shrimp Ajillo Shrimp Boracho • Grilled and Fried Fish • Black Beans and Rice Salads And Many Freshly Prepared Desserts

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Reservations & Take-Out Welcome

All Entrees Include White Rice, Black Beans, Plantains & Cuban Bread

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DINNER

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Across the Way from the Narvaéz Indian Mound.

Join Edith and Chefie for classes in the Caribbean culinary arts.

See Elizabeth Neily’s artwork on display in the dining room at Saffron’s.

MEXICAN LIP SALVE

1/2 teaspoon of cocoa butter from freshly roasted beans.Mix with sweet almond oil to make an ointment.

SPANISH EGG CHOCOLATE

(Serves 2 Conquistadoras) 2 oz of unsweetened chocolate 2 cups milk 1/2 cup of sugar, pinch of salt, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon of vanilla, orange or rose water.

1 egg Melt unsweetened chocolate into milk in a saucepan until thick and smooth. Stir constantly. Add sugar, salt, cinnamon and vanilla, orange or rose water. Beat egg in the bottom of a chocolate pot with a molinillo. Pour in the hot chocolate mixture and whisk until frothy.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS from the folks at the

Florida FRONTIER GAZETTE CAFE DE OLLA

(Serves 2 Commoners) In Mexico this coffee is made with local Mecican brown sugar, known as piloncillo. Dark brown sugar can be substituted.

4 Cups water 2/3 Cup dark brown sugar 2 inch cinnamon stick 3 cloves 2/3 Cup medium-grind dark- roast coffee.

Combine water, brown sugar, cinnamon stick and cloves in a saucepan. Slowly bring to a boil over low heat, stirring occassionally Stir in the ground coffee and boil for 1 minute more. Remove from heat, cover and let steep for about 5 minutes. Strain the coffee through a fine sieve into small cups or mugs.

References for Choclate Scholars

America’s First Cuisines by Sophie D. Coe, University of Texas Press, Austin 1994.

The Cook’s Encylopedia of Chocolate by Christine McFadden and Chistine France, Barnes and Noble, 1999 The Mexican Kitchen by Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, Anness Publishing, 1998.

America 1492, by Manuel Lucena Salmoral, Facts On File, New York, 1990.