The Florida
Frontier Gazette invites you to join us at... January 1 & 2 The Dade Battle Reenactment January 21 - 23 Alafia River Rendezvous
Second Seminole War soldiers stand guard at the fort.
Photos taken in November at the Old Florida Festival at the Collier County Museum in Naples. Rated the best Living History Time-Line event in Florida by participants. February 10 - 11 Florida Frontier Days, Charlotte County Historical Society February 18-20 Collier Seminole Native American & Pioneer Fest February 21 - 23 Fort Foster Rendezvous February 25 & 27 Paynes Prairie Knapp-in & Primitive Arts Festival
Tiny “conquistador� tries on a chainmail coif with the help of Larry May.
Full listing of Exhibits & Events starting on page 26. March 5 Home Remedies at Cracker Country March 11 Camp Ucita at DeSoto National Memorial March 12 World War II Salute at Heritage Village March 26-27 Emerson Point Adventure
Claude VanOrder inspires awe with his knapped points.
CONTENTS
Page
Volume 2 Number 2 Winter 2005
The Florida Frontier Gazette is published quartely by the Historic Florida Mlitia Inc.
2.
HISTORIC FLORIDA MILITIA - Company of La Cruz
3.
FEATURE - The Road to Pilaklikaha - Abraham’s Story
7.
COVER STORY - The opening battle of the Second Seminole War.
9.
THOUGH WOMEN’S EYES - Odet Philippe, 1778-1869
12.
COMMUNITY SPIRIT PARTNER - Water Ski Museum/Hall of Fame
13.
JOHNNY’S CORNER - Fences
15.
COMMUNITY SPIRIT PARTNER - Dunedin Historical Museum
16.
CENTERFOLD - Naples- a gulfside gem in Collier County
18.
FEATURE - Where are the Indians?
22. 24.
This publication has been financed in part with historic preservation grant assistance provided by the Bureau FEATURE - Florida’s Changing Estuaries of Historic Preservation, Division of Historical Resources, Florida Department of State, assisted by the & the First People to Enjoy Them Florida Historical Commission. However, the contents and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Florida Department of State, nor does MAMMA’S KITCHEN the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Fresh Butter on a Hot Biscuit, Yum! Florida Department of State.
26 - 30. EVENTS & EXHIBITS 4 pages of fun filled weekends. 31 - 32. COMMUITY SPIRIT PARTNERS
STAFF Grant Administrator: George Watson Editor: Elizabeth Neily Graphics: Hermann Trappman and all our special volunteer feature writers with a special thanks to our Proof Reader: Lester R. Dailey Office Assistant/Writer: Jude Bagatti 1
HISTORIC FLORIDA MILITIA Company of La Cruz presents
The LOST COLONY at Philippe Park in Safety Harbor.......April 22 & 23, 2005 Open to School Groups on Friday a& the Public on Saturday
Gov. Menéndez de Avilés’ lost colony at Tocobaga in Tampa Bay will come back to life and you can be part of it!
In 1567, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, Governor of La Florida, established a Spanish colony among the Tocobaga Indians on the shores of Old Tampa Bay. It survived less than a year! This spring, with the approval of the Board of County Commissioners and the help of the Pinellas County Park Department, that lost colony and Indian village will come back to life. The Company of La Cruz, a chapter of the St. Augustine-based Historic Florida Militia, Inc., will reenact the ill-fated Spanish settlement. Nearby, at the base of a historic Indian mound, Heritage of the Ancient Ones will recreate an authentic Tocobaga village.
For further information, for lesson plans, and to arrange Friday tours, teachers may contact: Lester Dailey at DaileyNews@MyMailStation.com or call him at (727) 532-9676 Elizabeth Neily at tocobaga@FloridaFrontier.com or call her at (727) 321-7845.
• TEACHERS, here’s a unique ECE opportunity that has
something to offer to all grade levels. It will allow your students to actually live Florida history instead of just reading about it. Students can compare how people from those two very different cultures lived their everyday lives. In addition to strolling through the Spanish settlement and the Indian village, where they will get hands-on experience in 16th century living, they can watch demonstrations of various Spanish and Tocobaga weapons of the period, as well as see foods, clothing, tools, and Paso Fino horse drills on Saturday . • A LESSON PLAN meeting Sunshine State Standards will be available to participating teachers. • STUDENT PARTICIPATION - a limited number of students can also participate as either Spanish or Tocobaga reenactors for the entire day. But their teachers will have to contact the event organizers well in advance to arrange for those students to a training workshop and get period clothing.
16th century living history demonstrators needed.
Reenactor/artist Hermann Trappman tells a captivated audience all the gory details about his militaty life in 16th century New Spain. He portrays a Germann mercenary soldier who was shipwrecked in South Florida in 1549 and was rescued by the Calusa. NTS 2
The Road to Pilaklikaha (Pee-lak-lee-kay-ha) Abraham’s Story
Story and artwork by HERMANN TRAPPMAN, Gulfport
No one knows whether Abraham’s origins were in Georgia or Florida. Born in the late 1700s, he labored as a slave of Dr. Sierra in the Pensacola area of Spanish Florida. Apparently he saw an opportunity for freedom in the War of 1812. British Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nichols offered freedom to any slave who would join his fight against the United States. It is believed Abraham may have helped build the fort atop Prospect Bluff on the Apalachicola River. Many Africans found their way to the fort at Prospect point. The new fort had become a refuge for those fleeing bondage from Georgia and the Carolinas. This Negro Fort was eventually destroyed by the U.S. Military. Abraham may have been one of the survivors of that incredible night. (See The Florida Frontier Gazette, Fall 2004, Prospect Bluff, page 22).
Fluent in Spanish and French, Abraham learned to speak English and Seminole. A brilliant man, he understood the stakes. He would not, could not return to slavery. After the destruction of the Negro Fort on Prospect Bluff he made his way eastward. The hill country flattens out into bogs and swamps. At the time, the U.S. government pursued runaways withthe help of some very tough slave hunters friendly Indians. Abraham was haunted by danger. Traveling with the Seminoles afforded him a little comfort. He heard of African towns to the east, not far from one of the main Seminole towns on the Suwanee River.
This drawing of Abraham appeared in newspapers of the period. Courtesy of Florida State Archives.
Reenactor Ralph Smith, park manager at the Fakahachee Strand State Park, portrays Abraham at living history events around the state. This is an artist’s conceptualization of what Pilaklikaha may have been like. Courtesy of Hermann Trappman. 3
In early April of 1818 General Jackson’s troops moved out from the country around St. Marks. To the south of where Tallahassee is located today, the Spanish fort at St. Marks was surrounded by salt marsh. Welcomed as a friend, Jackson commandeered the fort from the Spanish. Now Jackson’s army was aiming at African settlements along the Suzanne River. Jackson was joined by Chief McIntosh and his Creek warriors. Along the way they surprised a Red Stick town. The fighting was fierce. The Creeks captured many women and children and many head of cattle. Jackson’s army liberated a white captive, Mrs. Stewart. Next, the Creeks stumbled upon a Seminole family. They killed the man and wounded the woman and her children. Weary of the U.S. attacks on their settlements, the blacks scouted the progress of Jackson’s army. Jackson pushed his
Negro Town
Pilaklikaha
Angola Settlement
army on through swamps and wilderness. Horses collapsed from exhaustion and the soldiers slogged through mud and water up to their waists. Always hungry, the 3,000 soldiers were tired and worn by north Florida’s dense vegetation. The blacks gathered their women and children and headed toward the Seminoles at Bowlegs’ town on the Suwanee River. In the lengthening evening shadows, Jackson’s weary army, first stumbled into these abandoned towns. Because of this, his tactics began to falter. The evening shadows turned gray and then dark with growing night. Jackson’s soldiers began to encounter serious resistance. Shooting from between the buildings, free African-American soldiers were driven back against the river. The African-American soldiers fought a desperate rearguard action, to slow down the U.S. Army while their women, children, and the Seminole Indians faded into the wilderness. The African-American soldiers stubbornly held their position. Some of the troops had once trained under Colonel Nichols and now they showed their mettle. Finally, almost overwhelmed, they turned and splashed across the river. From the opposite bank, they turned and pinned the American army down again. Every time their pursuers began to close in, they withdrew a little further into the cover of the darkness of the forest. There, they turned and fired back at their assailants. Abraham’s Indian name, “Souanaffe Tustenukke,” (Suwannee Warrior), may reflect that battle. A willing warrior, he became linked to the Seminole Principal Chief Micanopy. Described as a ward of Micanopy, he sought his protection. Abraham lived through these turbulent times and saw firsthand the plight of Africans on the Florida frontier. By 1819 the U.S. began serious negotiations with Spain for the transfer of Florida. Seminoles and African Americans made a desperate, lastditch effort to stop the acquisition. They traveled to the Bahamas to plead for English intervention. Because of their experience in the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, the British were in no mood to intervene. Florida became a territory of the United States in 1821.
This 1837 map of West Central Florida shows some of the prominent African-American communities on the frontier. 4
The Archaeology of
Pilaklikaha
Abraham stands guard outside a wattle and daub style house.
Courtesy of Hermann Trappman.
Wattle and daub fragment from a Pilaklikaha home.
This silver earring may have been worn by Abraham Artifacts from the collection of the Florida Museum of Natural History. NTS.
A handleful of pottery fragmemts is all that remains of the settlement lcated about two miles east of present day Bushnell. 5
By early summer of 1821, a war party of Coweta Indians transport the bricks this way which may attest to the wealth surprised the Angola settlement of African-Americans on of this early African-American community. the Manatee River. The Cowetas captured 300 people and As the community grew, Seminoles, Black Seminoles, returned them to slavery. The Cowetas then raided the Spanand African-Americans from the nearby Negro Town stopped ish fishing ranchos to the south and then other African and by. Gardens were planted and the town began to prosper. Seminole communities on their return northward. But a threatening storm drifted south. Rumors flew like In 1826, Micanopy, Abraham and a group of Seminole fallen leaves before the storm. The numbers of soldiers at leaders traveled to Washington, DC. Upon his return, the Fort Brooke (Tampa) and Fort King (Ocala) grew in strength. Principal chief Bowlegs Cow Keeper appointed Abraham Slave hunters roamed the countryside. The presence of the “sense-bearer” (wise man), and granted him freedom. Cow U.S. Military was becoming very apparent. Keeper died soon after the Washington trip. The other Florida’s Territorial government demanded the removtribal leaders gave Hagar, Bowlegs Cow Keeper’s widow, al of Seminoles. The fate of Florida’s African Americans to Abraham. Hagar may have been African-American or and Black Seminoles was woven into that issue. For the of mixed blood. Abraham was considered an honored man African Americans, to surrender meant returning to slavery. among the Seminole people. Abraham listened and watched. Osceola frequently visited Abraham collected his African-American and Seminole companions and traveled Abraham. One of Osceola’s wives lived southward. Driving a herd of cattle, in Pilaklikaha. Osceola and Abraham they drifted through the dark forests shared a deep understanding and an along the Withlacoochee River and urgent desire to protect their people, but the hill country. They turned away the two men had very different means of from marshy ground toward the achieving their goals. beautiful rolling green pastures In the early 1830s the peace at Old to the southeast. The 1837 map Abraham Town was shattered. Bvt. shows a place named Negro Town Major Francis Langhorne Dade, a U. S. in that area. He lingered there for Army officer who led a raid on the town. a while, but something drew him on. The menfolk were out hunting when Abraham and his companions the raid occurred. It is suggested that moved southeast to another Abraham lost his wife in the raid. When African American settlement on a the men returned they faced grim scenes knoll just west of the modern of the fallen bodies of their loved-ones, community of Bushnell. Most of the their homes in ruin, and their provisions people there had fled the oppressive gone. slavery of Georgia. This town was The Seminole Indian fortunes were called Pilaklikaha (Pee-lak-la-kay-ha) also taking a turn for the worse. By the by the Seminoles. The early history of end of 1835, the Seminoles were told NTS Pilaklikaha is still a mystery. The name they would have to make arrangements appears on a 1823 map of Florida. to leave the Florida Territory for the The Dade Battle Later, it became known by whites as Old Oklahoma Territory. One of the Seminole January 1 & 2, 2005. Abraham’s Town. leaders, Chalo Emathla sold his cattle in preparation for the move west. Along with The houses here were made of “wattle and daub.” First, a wooden frame was built. Vines Osceola and his warriors, Abraham rode out to meet Chalo. and supple sticks were woven through the frame to make When he discovered that Osceola’s plan was to kill Chalo, a wall. Then clay and grass were mashed together worked Abraham tried to stop him and his warriors.He argued with into the wall of vines and sticks and allowed to dry. The Osceola to spare Chalo’s life. Osceola refused to listen and whole house was topped by palm thatch roof. they killed Chalo Emathla. ❂ Some of the homes had a brick foundation. Because there were no roads in those early days, bricks had to be imported from distant markets. St. Marks would have been the closest port. Then the bricks had to be packed in to Pilaklikaha on small horse-drawn carts. It would have been expensive to
6
Cover Story
The opening battle of the Second Seminole War.
Many of the soldiers in the U.S. Army of the early 1830s were immigrants enlisted as they arrived in port cities. Predominately Irish and German, these new immigrants arrived with few prospects for finding work in America. The country was going through tough economic times and jobs were difficult to come by. Immigrants joined the Army as a temporary alternative until a better opportunity came along.
They knew they would arrive at Fort King in a couple of days. The soldiers relaxed their guard a little. Major Dade rode his horse along the column cheering his men along with, “Have a good heart; our difficulties and dangers are over now, and as soon as we arrive at Fort King you’ll have three days rest and keep Christmas gaily.” Little did he know that at that moment, behind the pines, laying on the damp ground beneath the palmettos were 160 Seminole and 50 African-American warriors. Silently, they watched the army march past. Seminole
Seminoles attack at the Dade Battle reenactment. At Fort King, (Ocala) many of the troops were nearing the end of their enlistment. Once their enlistment ended, most returned to civilian life. Pressure for war in Florida was building and the officers at Fort Brooke (Tampa) worried that Fort King would be attacked. It was decided that a relief force should head toward the fort. On Wednesday, December 23, 1835, 108 men marched out of Fort Brooke to proceed along the Fort King Road, Major Dade in command. An African American man, Louis Pacheco, acted as their interpreter and guide. Wary of an attack, soldiers called “flankers,” drifted through the forest to either side of the column. To their relief, the bridge crossing the Hillsborough River was still standing. They marched across. Farmsteads along the road stood deserted in anticipation of a Seminole attack. At the next crossing, the bridge had been burned. Christmas day came and went in the cheerless, seemingly endless Florida wilderness. On December 28 the soldiers awoke to a gray, dreary day. The men slung their muskets over their shoulders, upside down under their great coats to keep the powder dry from the cold drizzle, as they marched along the narrow path that took them through palmetto carpeted pinelands.
leaders Micanopy and Ote Emathla (E-math-la), also known as Jumper, watched them. At the sight of Major Dade, fear and anger must have swirled through Abraham’s mind. It is said that he jumped to his feet and shouted, “Dade! Dade!” In his saddle, Major Dade turned to look. Too late. With a whisper from Jumper, Micanopy pressed his finger against the steel trigger of his musket. A sharp crack smashed through the tension and with a moan, Major Dade slipped from his saddle to the ground, a thumb-size hole piercing his heart. In those paralyzing seconds before the soldiers could realize what was happening, the Seminole and African American warriors rose up and fired point-blank into their column of sky-blue uniforms. Gunfire exploded like a thunder clap. In those briefest of seconds, before they realized what was happening and managed to pull their muskets from under their great coats, a hail of bullets tore through their ranks, killing half of them. Smoke rolled over the surprised troops in a cloud. Meanwhile the Seminoles and Africans-Americans hurriedly reloaded. Only three U.S. soldiers survived the battle. One of those three was killed on his way back to Fort Brooke. 7
Another, Ransom Clark, riddled with bullets, lived to tell the tale. Thus, the Second Seminole War had begun. Throughout the Second Seminole War, Abraham acted as interpreter for both the Seminoles and U.S. Army. During the next four years Abraham fought hard and spent every effort to protect his people. By 1837 he saw the Seminole cause was hopeless. Abraham’s Old Town had been razed by Federal soldiers, their cattle driven off into the wilderness. Like the Seminoles, Abraham’s people were reduced to a few rag-tag fugitives hiding out in the wilderness and swamps, desperate to stay alive. Abraham continued to fight for the freedom of his people. His struggle was punctuated with loss and difficulty. Yet, he followed his vision. Finally he agreed to resettle with his family at Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. There was only one condition—that the free African Americans should be secure in their persons and their property. On February 25th, 1839, Abraham and his family watched Tampa Bay slip over the horizon from a ship headed for the Mississippi River. In his possession, was a document which spelled out freedom for those remaining African-Americans with him. Abraham visited Florida for one last time in 1852. The U.S. Government brought him back to negotiate
IN MEMORIUM Billy Cypress 1942-2004 By Elizabeth Neily, Editor I remember well the first time that Billy Cypress stepped onto the battlefield as Jumper to narrate the Dade Battle from the Seminole point of view. In previous years we only heard the grizzled voice of Frank Laumer, narrate the tale. The loudspeakers whined and scratched, then Billy began to speak. We could see Frank mouth the words but his side of the sound system had mysteriouly failed. So for the entire production that afternoon, we heard only Billy’s voice. It was as though the Great Spirit had decided to make up for all the years that the Seminole’s side of the 8
the end of the Third Seminole War, more widely known as the “Billy Bowlegs War.” A newspaper of the period wrote, “have made a wreck of Abraham. Yet he is straight, and active, and looks more intelligence out of his one eye than many people look out of two. He is in full costume of the Seminoles Turban, á la Turk, and hunting shirt, leggins, etc. Abraham must be 70 or 80 years old.” Abraham is thought to have died not long after, in 1857. He is buried in Oklahoma, at Brunnertown, west of the Little River settlement, near Hazel. ❂
NTS
Soldiers hurridly throw together a barricade of pine logs at the annual reenactment of the Dade Battle.
story had not been heard. Sadly Billy Cypress passed on, a true inpiration to those who knew and loved him. His place will remain empty this year in silent tribute to this man who had a big heart and a love for life that endeared him to all that knew him. The Billy Cypress legacy lives on at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki museum at Big Cypress, where he was executuve director. As the first Florida Seminole to obtain a four-year degree, he graduated from Stetson University in Deland in 1965. He went on to earn a master of arts at Arizona State University, and only lacked a dissertaion for a doctorate at Penn State. He was a Headstart teacher for the tribe in 1965, and an English teacher at Driftwood Middle School from 1968 to 1971. He served as Education Officer, then Education Specialist, for the Bureau of Indian Affairs for 18 years. He contributed his vast knowledge in books and magazines including Native Americans and Archaeologists, 1997, and Anthropologist and Indians in the New South, 2001. With kudos too numerous to mention, Billy Cypress will be remembered as one of the most important, respected, and dearly loved Seminoles of his era. ❂
Through Women’s Eyes Odet Philippe, 1778-1869
by Marie Charlotte Florance Fontaine Philippe, 1801-1846 Odet Philippe, was the very first settler on the Pinellas Peninsula. Over the years many stories have been sown as to his origins—some of them by himself. It is said that he was of noble birth, a count; consorted with pirates, and was Napoleon’s personal physician. He has even been called a “quack”. Tres bien. Like myself, Monsieur Philippe was born in France...in 1778 at Lyon ...although some have suggested that because of his dark complexion, he may have been an affanchis from St. Dominique. The affanchis were the very rich and powerful class of free mulattos who were educated in Europe. Monsieur claimed that he had been the head surgeon in Napoleon Bonaparte’s army. Considering the circumstances of war, he may well have been called upon to assist his dying comrades. And as for his being a quack... he sometimes attended to the ailments of the settlers on the frontier. If the patient survived...he was a good doctor. If the patient did not... Eh? What doctor can claim 100% success? I became acquainted with Monsieur Philippe in Charleston, South Carolina, where he had a cigar-making business. But poor Odet fell on some very hard times... what with all those girls to support from his first marriage to my best friend, Dorothée Desmotte. His eldest was Louise Poleanna, then Mary Elizabeth Octavia, Charlotte Septima Marie, my goddaughter, and finally...little Melanie...born in 1825. Much later we adopted, the apple of our eye, le petite Henrietta Florance. She was born in Georgia in 1841. In 1828, Odet Philippe decided to leave Charleston once and for all. The continuous harangue of his creditors was too much for him to bear any longer. He left his property and slaves in trust to me, while he traveled to Key West in the new territory of Florida. There a world of opportunities greeted the businessman ready for a challenge.
NEW RIVER SETTLEMENT
Odet homesteaded in New River (North Miami). There he operated a salt works to supply the Cuban fishing ranchos that dotted the coast of South Florida up to Tampa Bay. His neighbor, Monsieur Cooley, kept a coontie plantation. Coontie root is very interesting for it is very poisonous. But with a few washings with clean water it can be made into the finest of all flours. Like many people
a.k.a. Elizabeth Neily, Gulfport who settled along the coast, the Cooleys kept a turtle crawl at the mouth of the river. At Key West, Monsieur Philippe established a salon de café and a billiard hall with a bar. He continued to ply the tobacconist trade which afforded us many delightful voyages to Havana for supplies. Ah, the Cuban people are much like the French. They have le joie de vive! I enjoyed staying there for nice long visits away from the roughness of frontier living. Odet had business dealings with pirates and wreckers. A man had to do what he could to survive. Wreckers were the same men who were to guard the ships from coming to close to de coast. But instead they would place lights where the ships were sure to go aground. Then they would pretend to rescue a ship and salvage all that was aboard. Life in Key West society was colorful, to say the least. Then tragedy stuck. The Seminoles began to rampage along the coast. On January 6, 1836, our dear friends and neighbors at New River, the Cooleys, were massacred! Madame Cooley and her baby were felled with one bullet. Monsieur Cooley was away on business at the time and he luckily escaped being scalped by the Indians. He bravely continued on after the death of his little family, acting as a scout for the army because of his intimate knowledge of the Everglades. In fear for our lives, we abandoned our homestead at New River. Odet turned his attention to business opportunities at the garrison at Fort Brooke on Tampa Bay.
A little history of FORT BROOKE Fort Brooke had been struggling as a wilderness outpost for a few years. Odet’s solicitor, William Hackley, was one of many who encouraged my husband to expand his business ventures to Tampa Bay. His brother, Richard Hackley, claimed that the land at the mouth of the Hillsborough River, had been granted to him while he was serving as the United States consul at Cadiz, in 1818. The year before Florida would become a territory of the United States, Hackley capitalized on the 9
negotiations that would give Florida away. He convinced acted as such for troops. Later, he would lead his highly his friend, the Duke of Alagon, to petition the King of disciplined men into battle as... Osceola. Spain to grant him 20,000 square miles of La Florida. Of Then there was a long-legged fourteen year old kid course, the king agreed. who sold the same gopher tortoises to Colonel Brooke The deal did not progress as quickly as Hackley would every day for ten days. After he was discovered, he was have liked and it was canceled the following year by de called Gopher John. He too had learned the lessons of the signing of the treaty. Hackley was outraged when the military. He became a leader of the free black men... along United States military “stole” his land to build a fort, callside Osceola. When he was finally transported him to the ing his claim null-and-void because it had been completed West, he became known as the valiant John Horse, who after to the signing of the treaty. Nevertheless, Hackley continued to lead Florida Black Seminoles in the struggle pursued his claim to the Florida lands. As a friend of Presifor survival in Oklahoma, Texas and Mexico. dent Munroe, he became the Surveyor and the Inspector of COLONEL BROOKE LEAVES Revenue at St. Augustine. Bien, that amounted to letting Col. Brooke was the fox into the chicken coop. visited with tragedy. While in First thing you knew, Hackley had the Virginia visiting family, his Tampa Bay area surveyed. Then he quickly daughter and eldest son died dispatched his son to set up a homestead. He of a violent bilious fever. built a house and had livestock delivered up His wife fought for her life, the bay by ship. Then his men began to cut giving birth to a dead son. timber to make some quick money. Col. Brooke’s old friend, The story does not end here. Colonel the newly elected President James Gadsen, the Indian Commissioner Andrew Jackson, helped appointed by the provisional governor of him obtain a promotion to de Florida, Andrew Jackson, also had designs brevet brigadier general and on this beautiful site at Tampa Bay. He transferred him to where he quickly dispatched Colonel George Merser could be near his wife. Brooke to expel the Hackley’s and to es Before leaving, Col. tablish a fort there in order to keep an eye Brooke did what he could to on the Red-Stick Creeks and free Africanmake the military quarters Americans that had settled in the area. at the fort comfortable. He In those early years between 1824 and designed the buildings to 1832, Colonel Brooke did his best to keep maximize the natural beauty civilian settlers out of Fort Brooke. Still, of the area around them. As squatters moved nearby to sell what governhis parting gesture, he had ment traders were prohibited from selling... NTS the log houses covered in rum and whiskey... and cut wood. Then durSeminole Woman in camp at the cypress shingles and white ing Col. Brooke’s leave of absence, William Dade Battle reenactment. washed. One of the officers Saunders convinced Col. Clinch, the temposaid that this was his idea of rary commander at the fort, to allow him to the Garden of Eden. open a store on the bank of the Hillsborough River. Upon A U G U S TU S Brooke’s returned, he is said to have thrown up his hands in disgust. He said, “It is out of my power to prevent it.”
STEELE OCEOLA & GOPHER JOHN Augustus Steele arrived on de scene in 1830. Like During those early years, the fort received some interesting guests. Indians would be invited to join the officers and the men at dinner to endure long speeches. They drank many toasts and enjoyed the fine dinners. African-American and Indian children were allowed to play at the fort in those days, including the likes of Billy Powell.......... and John Cavallo. Before he threw off his mask of friendship, Powell was considered an excellent drill officer, and often 10
Odet, he too was sued for his debts, and moved to Tampa Bay to hide out from his creditors. Political friends arranged for him to be appointed the post sutler and deputy collector and inspector of customs. The new fort commander allowed him to build a house and store at the river. In June, Steele began publishing the very first newspaper in Tampa. He called it “The Gouger”... and its motto was— “I gouge...Thou gougest...He gouges!”
By the end of the year Steele had assumed the job as postmaster as well. This was a lucrative position as it was the only place for hundreds of miles where letters could be received or sent.
TAMPA’S BIRTH
The army deserted the fort in 1832, with the signing of the Treaty of Payne’s Landing. This was President Jackson’s final solution for the “Indian problem”. They would all be removed to the West. Comfortable that the territory was under control, Fort Brooke was left in the hands of a couple of caretakers. At last, there was no military brass to disturb their schemes and so the businessmen, who had longed to lay claim to this lovely land on the bay, were free to pounce.
to keep the Indians from making breastworks of them. Colonel Brooke’s beautiful post on the Hillsborough River lay in ruins. The garrison and settlers withdrew to the fort’s southern most end. They tried to conceal their defenseless position by erecting a small fortification of bushes. Then the men moved quickly to build a stockade fence. There they waited. The Second Seminole War had begun. Soon volunteer groups from around Florida, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama poured into Fort Brooke to pitch their tents north of the stockade. Once again, a shantytown began to take shape. By 1838 it had grown to include sutler’s, carpenters, quartermaster’s office, jail, officer quarters, barracks, commissary, warehouses and many other buildings. There was a hospital and good stables for more than 300 horses. It was the best that the U.S. government could provide. This was the Tampa where my husband would expand his enterprises. On December 7, 1838, Augusta Steele finally filed a plat that would revive the town of Tampa. He encouraged my husband to purchase Lot 4. As time went by, Odet added more property. He opened another billiard hall, a ten-pin alley and an oyster shop. His oysters were in demand as far away as St. Augustine. He also operated NTS Tampa’s very first cigar-making establishment. All this, while continuing his businesses at Key West. Despite the fine quarters at de post, there were many problems. Supplies were hard to come by. Water, it was so foul, it caused de diarrhea. To make the water taste better we added de molasses. Of course the menfolk preferred to drink whiskey and rum sold to them by the sutlers. In 1839, de yellow fever struck like a mad dog killing at least two dozen of de soldiers and many children. Added to this were fleas, ants, chiggers, mosquitoes, cockroaches and worst of all - those almost invisible tiny flies that bite... no see ‘ems. But there was money to be made... and other people move to the Bay. Fishermen found the waters of Tampa Bay teaming with schools of fish so thick that it would
Living history demonstrator, Deb Carbonne cools her homemade soap. Hackley made a small fortune. He and his friends organized de Florida Peninsular Land Company and de Hackley’s began to sell de land at Tampa Bay. He was the most prominent slave and land auctioneer in Tallahassee. Steele begged his friends and political supporters in Tallahassee to create de new county. In January 1834, the council granted his request and Hillsborough County came into being. Despite the fact that most of the population consisted of Cuban fishermen, Indians and free blacks, Steele was determined to create a county seat. He pulled together the few white male settlers to provide basic law enforcement. Steele was promptly made county judge and with that Tampa became the county seat.
MORE INDIAN ATTACKS
Other events intervened to prevent the development of Tampa. The Indians and free blacks resisted removal to the West. The Red-Stick Creeks under Osceola began to attack the settlers around Fort Brooke. Colonel Clinch returned to Fort Brooke. Then came the horrible news of the massacre, just after Christmas in 1835. Virtually all 100 men, with only one exception, under the command of Mjr. Francis Dade, perished on that dreary day on the road to Fort King. Badly injured, Corporal Ramsey Clark, crawled all the way back to Ft. Brooke to warn of the attack. In Key West we heard that the settlers and soldiers living around Tampa Bay were ordered out of their homes and into the fort. Homes, stores and even Augustus Steele’s court house were pulled down and burned
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Community Spirit Partner Water Ski Museum/Hall of Fame By JUDE BAGATTI, Gulfport
Sometime between 1954, when the first man skijumped a record 100 feet, and 1964, when the first woman did the same, I learned how to water ski. My boyfriend, Charlie, had a snazzy ski boat and could slalom like a pro. Somehow, I managed to get him and his buddy to devote a Sunday to teach me to, at least, get lift off. Again and again, they brought the boat around to our chosen launch site on the banks of the Intracoastal Canal between Dania and Ft. Lauderdale, as again and again I sunk or flopped awkwardly into the water. Disappointed and tired, I was ready to quit, afraid Charlie’s patience was stretched thin, but he continued instructing me calmly. I had to persevere. Two skis poked out of the water as I crouched over them holding the slack rope handles. The boat picked up speed, the rope grew taut. This time, I just leaned back without trying to hoist myself upright, and allowed the rope to do the work. It did, and I was skiing! Leaning back. It was that simple. I was elated. Like riding a bike, once a body feels how to do it, it doesn’t forget. I never slalomed, but though I can jump wakes, you will not see my name among the 46 experts inducted into the Water Ski Hall of Fame.
Polk County, long recognized as the “Water Ski Capital of the World,” is home to the Water Ski Museum/Hall of Fame, which also houses the USA Water Ski and the nonprofit American Water Ski Educational Foundation. Go to this shrine for a nostalgic trip into the history, tradition and evolution of water skiing. On display are skiing paraphernalia, equipment, apparel, trophies and photos from the 1920s to the present. Its extensive library contains books, films, and audio-visual resources accessible to all. Remember Corky the Clown at Cypress Gardens? His famous costume is in the Museum’s Pioneer Hall. There is even an old mahogany boat designed for trick skiing. An interactive kiosk organized by “Banana” George Blair is devoted to barefoot skiing. At 89, he’s still “footing.” Who knows, after immersing yourself in water ski lore, you might want to try “leaning back” too. Get your feet wet at this pleasant site Monday thru Friday,10 a.m. to 5 p.m. , at 1251 Holy Cow Rd., Polk City, FL 33868; Phone: 863-324-2472❂
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impede the progress of ships. Game and fowl were plentiful. Everyone had hunting dogs. Speaking of dogs—they were everywhere. The Indians being sent to the West had to leave their dogs behind. It was a mournful sight to see those abandoned dogs lined up on the shore, howling for their masters when the ships put out to sea. Sarah C. Kilgore and her husband, Rufus, opened the Tampa Hotel on January 8, 1839. It was to become a landmark for the next few years... a place for weary travelers to rest. Other businesses included a cobbler, a harness maker, de laundress, de blacksmith and de boat repair shop. There was a brickmaker from Quebec and a wagonmaster from Austria. And of course there were slavers...free black men captured by the army and sold into slavery. Gamblers and drifters followed to relieve de soldiers of their hard earn wages. Ladies fallen virtue set up shop in their shacks along the waterfront. A theater attracted a hodgepodge of Tampa’s finest—soldiers, sailors, dogs, Indians, free blacks, and of course, women. Whiskey sold for 50¢ a gill. Viva la guerre! 12
Armed Occupation Act of 1842 By 1842 the war was bogging down in the swamplands to the south. Northern states found that protracting it was digging too deeply into their pockets. With the enactment of the Armed Occupation Act, designed to bring about the end of hostilities, Odet filed a claim for 160 acres on the northwest side of Tampa Bay at Worth’s Harbor. Soon our family was settled on our plantation at St. Helena at head of Tampa Bay. Here Odet began to cultivate his dream. At St. Helena, he was the first settler to introduced limes, oranges, and even grapefruit to the area, planting the trees around the slopes of an old Indian mound. He witnessed the marriages of his daughters and watched as they too established themselves as leaders in this new community. His tombstone at Philippe Park in Safety Harbor stands as a silent sentinel to his pioneering spirit. ❂
Johnny’s Corner Born in Washington D.C. and raised in the Maryland suburbs, I seldom saw a cow or horse except for an occasional trip to a family reunion in West Virginia when I was a small boy. As a teenager I only rode a horse once by myself (well, sort of). That’s another story. Shortly after I got married, we moved to the country in Virginia. It changed my life dramatically but I was still a “big-city” boy. I once took my family of three children and wife to Colonial Williamsburg. I thought that living history would be fun but forgot all about it until almost twenty years later. Well, in time, I married Jackie (another story) and we discovered living history. It was either waiting for us or we were waiting for it. Our lives haven’t been the same since. Florida’s cadre of reenactors/living historians is a wonderful bunch of folks. We are a big family with all kinds of experience and backgrounds. We love to share what we know and learn a lot from each other.
Recent events, the hurricanes roaring through my neighborhood, have made me appreciate the hardy frontiersmen and women we came from. Once the power went out, and water had to be boiled to drink, we experienced a little something like our ancestors. It made me consider my choice to understand a more rugged lifestyle. I raise some critters so that I can get the real feel for pioneer life, and they’ve taught me a lot. I want to share some stories about my experiences with barnyard animals, family and living history. Some stories may strike you as funny or invoke an emotion of some kind. I’m not an expert at anything, so you’ll have to decide for yourself on the importance of the details. I will say this. I don’t make up stories. This is the truth. Really! If you have a question that you’d like to ask or an experience to share, please contact me through the Florida Frontier Gazette.
So, anyway, there I was….
Fences
When you start talking about putting up fences to keep in your live stock and someone asks how you plan to stretch the fence. Take note! I have fenced in chickens, peacocks, goats, a miniature horse, a donkey and cattle. ALL of them have escaped at one time or another. No wonder those farmers work so hard. They’re always trying to keep something in and some other things OUT! Our first farm creatures consisted of chickens and turkeys. Chickens are probably the most fun and easiest to manage. They provide eggs to eat, sell or give away. Provided of course that you have some hens. Roosters sometimes come in larger quantities than desired and they,
by JOHNNY SHAFFER, Havana
for some reason, don’t provide many eggs. They also tend to fight and create other problems around the hens. Go figure! Turkey eggs aren’t as plentiful. They are curious creatures and sometimes get to be a handful, but that’s another story. Keeping chickens in isn’t that hard. Keeping predators out though, is another subject. It seems that everything in the woods love to eat chickens. Possums, raccoons, snakes, foxes, dogs, cats, owls and hawks (neighbors?) are just a few that come to mind. Other creatures just like to eat their eggs or their food. A good house with a sturdy door that is small for them to enter through will go a long 13
way to keep them safe from the weather and dogs. However the smaller creatures will just come on in if there isn’t some sort of sturdy fence. I built what I think is a predator proof chicken coop. Jackie seems to think that my chickens live in the “Tahj-ma-hal”. The fencing around our chickens consists of chicken wire all around and over the top. The sides are covered with old chain link fencing to hold off the larger animals. For the peeps or baby chicks, another layer of smaller mesh like half inch hardware cloth will keep them in and other animals or birds from pulling them through the fence. I’ve had hawks and possums pull a chicken right through the fence. Darlin is our miniature horse. She’s small. But her mind works on a larger level. I feed most of the menagerie twice a day. Except for when something moves to another pen for some reason, the routine is nearly always the same. I come out at a certain time and start the rounds. Occasionally, I’m a little late. Well, to tell the truth, I’m often late. A neighbor told me the other day that he knows that I have a donkey because he could often hear him bray. (Boy, is that a gentle word for such an obnoxious noise!). I said, “Yeah, he lets me know when he’s hungry”. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah— Darlin. I went out to feed her one morning and the gate was open. Golly. Did I leave the gate open last night? I’m sure I closed it. I looked around and sure enough, she was gone. I went into the house and told Jackie that we had a problem. Well, she took off one way and I, another. After bumbling around for awhile, I suddenly realized that a good tracker would follow the footprints. Duh!!! There they were in the dirt road. I found her right next door behind the neighbor’s fence. She apparently opened the gate by pulling the inside string to the latch. The gate has been double locked ever since. I also learned that it’s not a good idea to start a search without something to lead them home with. I have a wide sweeping learning curve. Goats are fun and they have especially cute babies. Some like to jump and climb. Good luck keeping them in. They love to be on top of their shelters. If the shelter is too close to the fence, of course they’ll use it to launch themselves to the other side of the fence. And YES, the grass is ALWAYS greener on the other side. They climb easily on saggy fence. They will also find a spot to go under if they can’t go over. There are two solutions. Either or both will help. STRETCH the fence or surround the enclosure with electric wire. A wire on the top will keep the best climbers in and a low one on the outside will keep out most critters from crawling under. Of course there will be a number of accidental deaths. I’ve seen birds, frogs, snakes, squirrels and geckos lying across the lower electrified wire. Some fence chargers are stronger than others. I have one old unit that is so hot that it made me see total white when I accidentally touched it. It’s not real
pleasant to get tangled in. Keep your fingers and toes away. Even cattle can be a bit mischievous if the grass looks better elsewhere. I threw up a temporary fence to keep my two oxen in when they first arrived. That worked well for several weeks until the spring grass came in. I was out in the edge of our small meadow when I suddenly realized that Raymond, one of the oxen, was out of his pen. I was shocked and fearful that I wouldn’t be able to get him back. I didn’t panic. I’m learning. I went off to get a bucket of feed. They nearly always respond to food. I decided to use an empty bucket (he’ll never know the difference). That didn’t fool him for even a few seconds. I didn’t think he’d run off far because he seldom gets out of sight of his sidekick, Red. Luckily, Red was far enough away from the gate that I could leave it open. I was able to maneuver Raymond through the gate and back to safety. I found the spot where Raymond stepped over the fence. I used some old barbed wire at the top to prevent any further episodes. There was one section that I didn’t bother to put barbs on because I was tired and it was taller fence anyway. A couple of days later they were both out! So much for the taller fence theory! But, that’s another story as well. Billy, the donkey always stands near the gate when I arrive. He usually follows me to his feed bucket. One day as I entered with my granddaughter, I left the gate ajar for Hayley and headed for his bucket. He seized the moment and bolted for the outside. He didn’t slow down either. I grabbed his halter off the nail nearby and tried to head him off at the pass. I didn’t make it! I am learning something at least. I followed his footprints until they ran out and checked out a neighbor’s yard. So, there he was! I let him graze for awhile and he finally ALLOWED me to put the halter on him and lead him home. Of course I have a large sign painted on my back that says “City Sucker”. I swear I hear snickering behind my back from time to time. ❂
Billy, safe behind his fence.
NTS
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Community Spirit Partner What’s old is new at the Dunedin Historical Museum By LESTER R. DAILEY, Largo
With its Highland Games and its sister city relationship with Stirling, Scotland, Dunedin is probably the most Scottish city in Florida. But it’s also a Preserve America city, one of just 169 U.S. communities – and the only one in the Tampa Bay area – recently awarded that honor by the White House. Its restored downtown is a delightfully eclectic mix of antique shops, boutiques and eateries. And the Dunedin Historical Museum is the centerpiece of the historic area. The museum is housed in the 1923 red brick Atlantic Coast Railroad station, at 349 Main Street. Out back, the Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail, part of the national Rails to Trails program, follows the route that trains took northward to Tarpon Springs or southward to Clearwater and St. Petersburg. The museum is owned by the Dunedin Historical Society, a not-for-profit organization that works closely with the city. The old freight house, on the south end of the depot, was rebuilt with a state grant in 1996 and now houses exhibit spaces, offices, a library and climatecontrolled artifact storage. The permanent collection displays railroad artifacts and memorabilia from Dunedin’s pioneer days and citrus industry. One room has displays that are changed annually. But the main exhibit space features commemorative displays or traveling exhibits that are changed every six months. “We’re booked through the end of 2007 on our exhibits,” said Vinnie Luisi, the museum’s director. “We put a local spin on them and incorporate Pinellas County history as much as possible.” The World War II home front, Honeymoon Island, the Civil War in Tampa Bay, baseball in Pinellas County and space exploration are some of the topics covered in previous exhibits. The history of sailing in the Dunedin area is the subject of the display that will run for the first half of 2005.
“We’ve got an aspect of something for everybody,” Luisi said. “It gives everybody something to enjoy.” The museum is now in the third phase of the four-part accreditation process of the American Association of Museums. And it has big plans for the next five years.
The old railroad station is home to the Dunedin Historical Musem. The space exhibit below, was on display through December 2004. Courtesy of Lester R. Dailey.
“We want to put more quality in the exhibits and make the rooms more exhibit-oriented,” Luisi said. By reconfiguring the exhibit rooms, he expects to gain 50 percent more display space. The museum isn’t the only historic property the historical society owns; it also owns the 1888 Andrews Memorial Chapel in nearby Hammock Park. The deconsecrated, non-denominational Victorian chapel is a favorite place for local couples to hold their weddings. It’s open to the public from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. The Dunedin Historical Museum is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, although school classes and adult groups can make appointments to tour it at other times. A $2 per person donation is suggested. Call (727) 736-1176, visit www.ci.dunedin.fl.us or e-mail dunhist@ compuserve.com. ❂ 15
Feature
by CHARLES BEARS ROAD DUNNING, St. Petersburg
Where are the Indians ?
Artist’s interpretation of mound building. Courtesy of Hermann Trappman A young native couple of our acquaintance living here in Pinellas County found their way into Indian Stuff last November. They seemed relieved and excited to find us. They asked, “Where are the Indians?” This young couple told Kay and me that they had moved here from Ohio a little while before that and despaired of ever finding other Indians in Florida. They were happy to have stumbled into our little Indian store. Where are the Indians? I moved to Pinellas County, Florida in June, 2000. I left an old country house, a range of mountains, the Adirondacks, green valleys, and rivers that ran white with ice water in the spring behind me. I had lived in a tiny village that swelled to maybe four thousand in the summer, and the next town was twenty three miles away. That little place was home. Florida seemed to me to be the most alien spot I had ever seen, and even though I was a grown man, I was homesick. It seemed to me as if all the trees were hard and pointed. Plants were barbed, and hid toxic spiders and snakes and 18
alligators and all kinds of other animals I knew nothing about and didn’t want to know anything about. This was in June, and it was hot, hotter than almost everywhere I had ever been. Worse, the land was flat. There weren’t any mountains to break the horizon. The only things that pointed toward the sky were lines of condos on the beaches and the bank buildings downtown. There were people everywhere here, but I only knew one person in this city that seemed to me to cover the whole county. I found some solace in walking on the beach as the sun slipped past the western horizon. I would have been happy to talk to anybody and especially other Indians. Where were the Indians? I was lost in Florida. Then we met two artists-historians named Hermann and Elizabeth (the editors of this magazine). Hermann and Elizabeth taught us where the Indians had been (and where they still are.) The Indians are everywhere. This area was populated for at least 14,000 years and
some historians believe for more than 30,000 years. The Gulf Coast of Florida, particularly the Pinellas County peninsula, was the most densely populated, the most urban, and one of the most sophisticated regions in all of North America before 1528. Then everything changed – forever. The Spanish conquistador, Panfilo de Narváez, sailed up the western coast of Florida and up Tampa Bay. But first, Narváez landed near the beach in front of where the Saffron restaurant sits today. This place, which is now the epicenter of twenty-first century Gulf Coast, Florida, was a trading crossroads for all of Turtle Island (which is what we call this continent, North America - I know a story about how that came to be and maybe I’ll tell it another day) east of the Mississippi, north to sub-arctic Canada, across the Gulf to Aztec Mexico, south to the Caribbean, and southwest to Chaco Canyon and Pueblo Bonito.
A great Tocobaga city was built here. Just look at that city with your heart’s eye. Can you see it? Pinellas County was ringed with fishing villages, and cities built on shell mounds served by broad paved streets. There were soaring temple mounds, glistening white in the sub-tropic sun. And on the top of those shining mounds there were priest-kings dressed in robes of woven macaw feathers greeting the sun as it rose in the morning and walked across the land. And on any day, in what is now downtown St Petersburg, you could have passed Chippewa traders from northern Michigan trading rough chunks of float copper pulled from Lake Superior; there were Mohawk, Abenaki and Huron traders from the northeast who ran on long centuries old paths through dark forests and on down the eastern seaboard: Cherokee and Muskogee traders from North Carolina and Georgia sat and bargained for egret plumes and conch shells while Aztecs covered with spirals of blue tattoos from preColumbian Mexico made deals in the huge open-air markets that crowded the waterfronts. Can you see them? Can you hear them? Listen; their voices are still hanging on the Florida breeze. There were fishermen with mullet, flounder, and grouper pulled fresh from the Gulf. There were farmers with baskets full of fresh produce and fruit from the acres of gardens that crowded north and inland from the urban center. Seven temple mounds stood where Bay Front Medical Center stands today. These were healing mounds where doctor-priests who understood the way human beings were designed worked healing miracles long, long before European
doctors learned to wash their hands to prevent sepsis. These priests did brain surgery with obsidian scalpels, and archaeological evidence indicates that their success was as least as great as western doctors until very recently. Now, all that remains of this healing city of mounds and doctors is one last mound. It’s that little hill you climb as you walk up the main stairs into Bay Front Medical Center. The six other mounds which stood there until as recently as the 1950’s were leveled. The shells and sand that those early people carried inland from the bay were used to make roadbeds that now thread across downtown St Petersburg. Ancient Floridians lived in extensive villages along today’s Park Street on the west and up Fourth Street going east. Whole subdivisions are built on their shell foundations. The privately protected mound at Sacred Lands, the county parks at Jungle Prada and Abercrombie Park, and the Veterans Administration Hospital at Bay Pines are all remnant pieces of a great preColumbian megalopolis that continued up both the Gulf coast and the west coast of Tampa Bay on up to Philippe Mound north of Safety Harbor and then further on up the Florida peninsula from there. The people who lived here were called the Tocobagas. They are gone now. Whole Tocobaga villages died from European diseases introduced by Narváez’ and his Spanish knights. Tocobaga children, grandparents, warriors, and caciques, (the honored men and women) died beneath the weight of Spanish steel or were torn by the teeth of Spanish war dogs. Tocobagas were carried away as slaves to work in Cuban sugar cane fields. They died there in exile and their names were lost. There are no living Tocobagan people; only their memories are left and their passing voices which you sometimes hear in the breeze. But now and again their artifacts are found - and because so many people lived here for such a long time, ther e are many pieces of their lives waiting here for us to find.
We have walked along the beach at Maximo Point. There are long middens (shell mounds) there. After hard rains, pieces of the middens wash out and sometimes there are ancient tools to find in the detritus on the beach. There are often shell tools – cups made from conch shells, and garden hoes that tilled green vegetable patches where there is now a county playground. On occasion there are bits of pottery. Once, we found scattered shards of a Spanish olive jar, but most often we’ve found pieces of Tocobagan pottery – worked clay held together with grains of sand. And sometimes we find grooves in the pottery pressed there by fingers that were stilled a long time ago. But when we place our fingers in those old grooves time doesn’t matter and we hear those Tocobagan grandmothers patiently teaching their granddaughters to make pottery and how to mark it with those designs which we continue
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to find both graceful and unexpected. We have found chert knives turned blue from long immersion in saline mud and projectile points sitting next to McDonalds’ cups in building sites. We have found shell net spacers and once a fisherman’s anchor stone next to the treads of a big yellow construction machine. One day, the day before my birthday two or three years ago, we were walking along Pass-a-Grille Beach looking for shells. There had been a storm, a near-miss hurricane, and there was at least a ton (probably more) of shells carried in from further out in the Gulf. Kay reached down into the surf, and she pulled up a piece of stone. She asked if I thought it was anything good. At first, I didn’t think it was anything but a stone washed in with the shells. But as I hefted the stone to pitch it back into the waves I was struck by it its angular symmetry. I looked at it again and it dawned on me that it was a stone tool (in excellent condition) washed in from the Gulf by the storm. I learned later the stone tool was a gouge. I showed Kay how the stone had been shaped into a tool and how it fit into her hand when she held it just so. She gave the stone back to me and she said, “Happy Birthday then. I found it for you.” It is a precious stone to me. It reminds me of the beach that day, of Kay pressing it into my fingers, and I remember the people who laid it down last before it was washed in from the Gulf and Kay picked it up. Where are the Indians?
Philippe Park Mound and Middens in Safety Harbor . 20
They are everywhere. Wherever we walk, wherever we look that’s where the Indians were in that “once upon a time” time before Narváez sailed north from the Caribbean and washed up here in what was the Tocobagas’ Eden. Those worn stones and shaped shells keep secrets for those of us who take time to listen and to feel the wonder at what those old people built here and what they lost. Where are the Indians? Just like the scattered remnants of the Indian nations today, the Indians are everywhere in Pinellas County. I have come to feel very much at home here. I have climbed Tocobaga temple sides and watched the sun dip into the Gulf way behind the western horizon. I have been a part of two weddings at Philippe Mound, and I felt those Tocobaga grandparents join the press of wedding guests gathered on top of their sacred place. I think they approved. One Saturday afternoon in late fall I sat on the western slope of the mound at Jungle Prada (called ironically “the Narváez site” as if he had anything to do with it.) and looked at the inland waterway that connects to the Gulf. As I sat there, the wind told me a story of how there was a time when the Children of the Sunlight were chased into the Ocean Sea. Led by a cacique’s daughter named Less One Pearl, those people dove into the water and swam away as dolphins. They left the land to the pale-faced men who rode on horses and who wore steel armor to protect themselves from stone arrows. But the Tocobagas left me this story of their passing so I could tell it, and I do tell it when I can. There are mounds and middens and village sites up and down Pinellsas County. Here are the names of some: • Madelaine Key Midden • Mullet Key Bayou “Arrowhead” Middens • Tierra Verde Burial Mound • Maximo Point Mounds and Middens • Pinellas Point Temple Mound (Sometimes called Princess Hirrihigua Mound – though there never was a Princess Hirrihigua) • Pinellas Point Midden • Sacred Lands Temple and Burial Mounds and “Narváez” Mound at Jungle Prada • Weedon Island Complex at Weedon Island • An unnamed village site at the Vinoy Hotel • Bayshore Homes Burial & Temple Mounds • Bay Pines Mounds • Safety Harbor Mounds – Philippe Park Temple Mound and Middens • Abercrombie Park
There are others and a more complete list with directions and descriptions can be found in the indispensable Indian Mounds You Can Visit by I. Mac Perry. I find a sweetness there, and time stops for me when we visit these places and walk where the Tocobagas walked and listen. Sometimes pieces of stone and shell and pottery call to us and we pick them up and carry them along with us. Those old pieces the Tocobaga people left behind tell us stories. Sometimes, we find nothing at all, but then, and maybe especially then, we feel the memories of the people who were here before us – no matter the time that has come between now and then. Time remembers everything. So we tell the stories. We tell people where the Indians are. The people who lived here before us believed that they would remain on this land as long as their names were remembered, but when their names were forgotten the Tocobagans would become drifting ghosts and leave the land behind. Before their memories are forgotten, we tell the stories they tell us, and we remember. The question remains, where are the Indians? The Tocobagas were gone from Florida before the United States became a country. The Seminole tribes moved into Florida and struggled to maintain their lives as free Indian people early in the nineteenth century. They were displaced Creek, Choctaw, and disparate refugees from the broken Five Civilized Tribes which had been exiled to Indian Territory in Oklahoma before 1840. That process continues today. The Indians are everywhere. In the past four years I have met re-settled Mohawks, Inuit, Navajo, Lakota, Dakota, Winnebago, Chippewa, Cherokee, and Apache people living here in Florida. Some of these modern-day Native people look just as stereotypically Indian as the chief’s profile on the face of the buffalo nickel. Some of these Indians have blue eyes. Some have black skin. Others have curly blond hair. Some are sober bikers. Others are artists. Mostly these Indians are grandparents, and parents, and sons and daughters. They all love being Indian. Indians are not defined by the way they look or by BIA endorsed tribal ID cards. Indians are defined by their hearts and the Red spirit in their blood and not by the DNA markers present in laboratory blood samples. Those Indians are everywhere, and they live Indian lives in twenty-first century Tampa Bay, Florida. Just like the Tocobagas, Indians are here. We remember the temple mounds, the garden plots, and the names of our Tocobaga grandparents, and we pass their names on.
And that’s where the Indians are. ❂
SUGGESTED READINGS on FLORIDA’S INDIANS
Archaeology of Pre-Columbian Florida by Jerald T. Milanich Florida’s First People by Robin C. Brown Florida’s Indians from Ancient Times to the Present by Jerald T. Milanich Indian Mounds You Can Visit by I. Mac Perry Journeys With Florida’s Indians by Kelley G. Weitzel Pre-Columbian Architecture in Eastern North America by William N. Morgan The Spanish Missions of La Florida, edited by Bonnie G. McEwan Sun Circles and Human Hands by Emma Lila Fundaburk
To keep informed on what is happening in Florida archeaology and anthropology visit the Florida Anthropological Society at www.fasweb.org Join the FAS and your local chapter.
Henry Greene of St. Augustine portrays a Calusa Indian at the Old Florida Festival in Naples. Stand still long enough and just like the ancient ones of long ago, he will paint you. 21
Feature
Florida’s Changing Estuaries & the First People to Enjoy Them By HERMANN TRAPPMAN, Gulfport When the first Europeans landed here, in Florida, they had entered a greater system than just a peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. The west coast of Florida was a tapestry woven into the fabric of the Gulf of Mexico. This was a system of estuaries woven into estuaries. Wandering along the shore, where fresh water meets the salty Gulf, those first Europeans were confronted with one of the richest environments in the world. Here, along white sand beaches strewn with colorful seashells, life is both abundant and diverse. The timeline which points to the first human occupants grows longer every year. When the first people splashed into the crystalline waters of the Gulf of Mexico, it was smaller than it is today. The last great glaciation, the Wisconsin Glaciation, had pulled vast quantities of water out of the ocean and locked it up on land. The ocean level was more than 300 feet lower than it is today. Florida was twice its present size. Still those ancient waters were rich in life. Those first people would have wondered at clouds of seagulls, at shorelines dancing with shore and wading birds, and at a crush of migratory birds including ducks and geese. Here, the abundance of food could easily slake the appetite of hunters who could hurl spears or bolas to ensnare. Whether they arrived here 20,000 or 14,000 ago, we may
The Mastadon Hunt.
Courtesy of Hermann Trappman 22
never know. Their story is lost out there, 300 feet below the shimmering waves. Certainly they used that rich estuary. Here, where you live, a very different culture developed. This landscape you see every day, was high and dry. This was the home to the big game hunters, the hunters of mammoths, mastodons, giant sloths, bison, and horse. Evidence suggests that Florida was the last refuge of the great animals. By thirteen thousand years ago, the last great glaciation was breaking down. First, as the ice turned into melt water, it broke through the St. Lawrence River. Finally, as mountains of ice melted along the glaciers southern edge, the water broke out, down the Mississippi Valley. In the seasons of greatest melt, the river flooded a hundred miles wide. Gray with silt and churning massive blocks of ice, the Mississippi River gushed out into the Gulf of Mexico. All that cold, fresh water must have brought intense changes to the Gulf. Entire environments must have died out and been replaced. Whole populations of shellfish would have vanished. Every year the ocean waters rose. Trees once growing in shallow freshwater swamps, would have been left standing as bleached skeletons surrounded by salt marsh, and still the oceans rose. Islands would have been inundated by the tides rushing in.
Then, suddenly the freezing weather returned to the north—a glacial spike named the Younger Dryas, sent cold winds probing south about 12,900 years ago. Saltwater marshes, cloaked in black sedge, moaned beneath scudding dark clouds from the north. Still, the estuaries held abundance. The Younger Dryas may have been caused by the flow of so much very cold fresh water into the Gulf Stream. The global climate would then have become locked into the new state until freezing removed the fresh water “lid” from the north Atlantic Ocean. By 11,550 years ago the process had reversed itself again. The warming trend and the rise of the oceans continued. Humans, like you, would have witnessed all this. As intelligent as ourselves, they would have had to adjust to these changing systems. The huge environmental changes were spelling out the last days of the great animals. 2,000 years later, the Clovis culture which had invested so much in the lifestyle of hunters would pass away too. With the passage of years, mammoths and mastodons were lost to memory. Forests, once mown and fertilized by the great herds, became a tangle. Hunting patterns changed with population density. Wide, freshwater lakes, in what is now Tampa Bay, were flooded by the gulf 6,000 ago. Old river bottoms were filled in by silt. New islands grew along coastal zones and disappeared again. Generation by generation Florida grew to resemble the shape it is today. Generation by generation the people of this place changed with it. Florida had become a powerful, dynamic but fragile environment. Along Florida’s southern margin, trees from the tropics, mixed with the mangroves. Further north, in the west-central zone, mangroves dominated the intercoastal shoreline. North of that, coastal marshes dominated by sedges spread out to the horizon. Florida had become a landscape best adapted to a maritime lifestyle. A vital fishing industry grew up, complimented by the gathering of shell fish. The interwoven estuaries filled the west coast with opportunities, and slowly over time, cultures adapted to take advantage of them. Those ancient Floridians were made up of people much like ourselves, intelligent and resourceful, they explored their environmental potential and its far reaching economic trade benefits. As part of the larger systems provided by the Gulf of Mexico, they were well aware of alternative cultural perspectives. Some modern scholars have tended to focus on a specific aspect of Florida’s original people causing the picture to have a regionally compartmentalized feel. In the 1950s it was said
thatthe coastal people lived mostly on oysters. Slowly a variety of other shellfish were added to their diet. Then, the fishing industry was discovered. Each new discovery offers an additional piece of the puzzle. Many students haven’t reckoned “milpa” gardening into the formula, nor fire ecology. The Milpa method of agriculture mimics nature. Plants are planted in their naturally occurring habitat, planted next to beneficial plants which would normally share that habitat. Certainly deer, freshwater turtles, alligators, fowl and other non-estuarine animals added to the harvest. Were the remains of the fish harvest used as fertilizer for their gardens? Many edible plants and animals were part of the coastal landscape, but the greatest focus was on the rich estuary. Nets were stretched out to gather in migrating schools of mullet and mackerel during the winter months. The winter winds brought ducks and geese by the thousands. These food resources could be dried, salted, or smoked. In the summer months, shoals of minnows provided wholesome nutrition. Caught in smaller meshed nets, minnows could be dried on mats in the sun. Shellfish, crabs, and game fish would add to the overall health of the community. Mound building culture has deep roots in Florida. The cleaned shell waste from a shellfish industry was recycled into building materials. Waste dumps, often referred to as middens, were mined for foundation materials perfect for an environment that cycles between drought and flood. Shell fill allows water to drain through it. The shape of the shells allows them to be interlocking, making a stable structure. Mounds made of shell have lasted hundreds of years, some for thousands. For the native people, humankind was viewed as being part of the natural world. The concept of man against nature didn’t really exist. That is not to say that these early residents didn’t impact their environment. Certainly their reliance on shell as foundation material changed local environments from slightly acid soils, to soils which were more alkaline. In cycles of plenty, populations increased, only to become stressed in times of drought or poor fishing. Certainly the dependency on wood as the only fuel for cooking fires also posed a problem. Cities, villages, fishing ranchos, and farms sprawled along the Gulf coast. Streams and rivers, bays and bayous, and the inter-coastal waterways between the barrier islands and the mainland were the highways that connected these settlements. This must have seemed an amazing place to those first Europeans. ❂
23
Mamma’s Kitchen
By JACKIE SHAFFER, Havana
Fresh Butter on a Hot Biscuit Yum!
Jackie shares butter making techniqus with her granddaughter, Hayley Gordon. Courtesy of the Shaffers.
Growing up on the farm means that every family member does his or her share. Granny lived just down the road from us and although she was not on “our farm,” she was certainly considered an extension of it. We were expected to help her do her gardening, yard work and other chores. Her place was small, not nearly as large as ours, but the woman knew how to make the best of what she had. She always had flowers around the house, a nice size vegetable garden, and at the back of her 2+ acres she had a small pasture where she kept a cow. Bossy; not an original name for a cow, but a very appropriate one for this cow, for she was indeed bossy. I remember how Granny had to smack her on the rump to get her to go, and it seemed like she always wanted to take the L-O-N-G path back to the milking stall. Granny always put aside the milk early in the week and saved it for making butter and buttermilk. This was called her “butter (pause) milk”, not to be confused with “buttermilk” for drinking, I guess it was all in how she said it, but we always seemed to know what she meant. The milk from the middle of the week was called mid-milk; she left the cream on this milk, it was used as whole milk for cooking and drinking. I remember how you had to shake the jar before you drank it; it was soooo good when it was icy cold. Tuesday evening’s milk and Wednesday morning’s milk was always combined and given to the preacher on Wednesday evening after prayer meeting. The later-milk (pronounced ladder-milk) was milk gathered on the weekend. The cream was skimmed off it and the milk was given to the less fortunate in our church 24
on Sunday evening usually along with a couple dozen eggs. During “fattening season” the later milk was fed to the hogs. It was a real treat on Sunday mornings to have a bowl of cornflakes covered in cream freshly skimmed from the latermilk and sprinkled with sugar. What was even better was fresh fruit from the tree covered with hand whipped cream. And even better than that, on a real hot day, was a big churn of ice cream made from the fresh strawberries from the garden. But the very best thing about granny’s cow was that we got to share in the butter. Oh man, a pan of hot biscuits fresh from the oven, made with fresh lard and Granny’s homemade buttermilk, could fill the whole house and yard with an aroma that was sour like the milk yet sweet like the cream and could make you mouth water just to think about it. I would almost kill to have one of those old fashioned lard biscuits smothered in butter and heaping with fig preserves that Granny had put up the year before. It would “Make yo’ tongue slap yo’ tonsils right out cho’ mouf’”. UM! With all that we had to do to keep our farm, and Granny’s, going I sometimes marvel that I did not learn to churn early on. But that was Granny’s job and she seemed to enjoy it so much. I remember her sitting on the front porch in her old wooden rocker churning and singing, singing and churning, then washing the butter on the back porch in the beat up old dish pan with water drawn fresh from the well. Besides, I never took any interest. That is not until I was in the third grade. Our teacher, Miss Birdback, believed in getting parents involved in school. And so it was that my mother came to school armed with jars, napkins, salt, cream, and crackers, etc. We had five rows of desks with six desks to a row and all of them filled with little girls and boys from a rural community. Fresh milk and butter should have been no mystery to them. But for some unknown reason it was, and I was no exception. Momma put a little cream in a pint jar for each row. Each child took a turn at shaking the jar and passing it back. By the time the jars had been passed to each child a couple of times, the butter was made. She then took the jars skimmed the butter into a bowl, and added salt. Crackers spread with the fresh butter were given to each student. To
this day I believe that was the best butter I have ever tasted. Thrilled with the idea of making butter; that after noon I jumped off the school bus ran straight away to Granny’s house as fast as I could, and excitedly told her about shaking butter. “Well Honey if you liked that you are going to love churning”, and that is how it became my job to churn all of our butter. Granny would send the sour milk to me each week and I churned in an old churn that she passed on to me. I some times wonder, with longing, what happened to that old churn, it had been her mothers and I would dearly love
to have it now. But such things had a way of becoming flower pots as their usefulness waned. What a shame! Granny was sort of right. I did love to churn, at least for the first month then it became old. There were things I’d much rather be doing. Now that I don’t “have” to churn, if I don’t want to, I love it again. Mostly I love sharing the experience with my children, grandchildren, and anyone who wants to sit and churn a while.
THE JOY OF MAKING BUTTER CHURN THE BUTTER Shake the jar vigorously until the butter “comes”. You will know the butter is done when the milk portion is thin and somewhat translucent. There will be butter beads floating on the top of the milk.
Purchase heavy whipping cream from the supermarket. Place a pint of cream in a quart jar add enough milk to the jar to fill it full. Leave enough air space to allow for sloshing. • The kind of milk you use should be determined by the taste you desire. If you want sweet butter use sweet milk (whole, 2%, skimmed, etc). To get that old fashioned, fresh churned, country, sour buttermilk taste; use cultured buttermilk. A mixture of half cream and half buttermilk makes a tasty butter. • Cover the jar and sit the mixture out on the counter to come to “room temperature” (warning: a term devised before the invention of air-conditioning). The temperature of the milk is very important. Milk at the proper temperature will make butter quickly (about 15 to 20 minutes depending on the rapidity and constancy of shaking). It will be firm and in beads about the size if the little colored balls on the head of sewing pins. When shaking, the milk should make large bubbles that eventually get folded back into the milk. As the butter “comes” there will be a clump of thickened cream and eventually butter that settles on the top of the milk after just a few seconds of sitting.
WASH THE BUTTER After the butter is made strain it through cheese cloth and place it in a bowl of chilled (not cold) water. Wash it by repeatedly folding water into it. When the water becomes cloudy, change it often until you have the desired consistence you like. This is a step you will want to do carefully as you can wash the butter too much and remove all or most of the fresh flavor. On the other hand washing some of the milk out prolongs the life of the butter. DRY THE BUTTER Pour all the water off the butter and using a wooden spoon or butter paddle, fold and press the butter until it stops emitting little droplets of water (and or milk). Remove these drops by pouring them off or by blotting them with cheese cloth (or paper towel). Drying the butter is important because placing butter that is too wet in your hot biscuit will make the bread soggy. Don’t worry! You can’t over dry your butter. SEASONING THE BUTTER You’re on the home stretch now. It is time to season your butter. If you like sweet butter then you may or may not want it salted. Just plane old fashioned unflavored salted butter, now that’s my favorite. Table salt works just fine. Other flavoring agents can be added before use. ❂ 25
N.E. , down the approach to Pier building. The Pier Aquarium is on the 2nd level of The Pier. Phone: 727-895-7437; Fax: 727-894-1212; Education Station: 727-822-9520; Web site: www.stpetepier.com; E-mail: pieraquaseasmarine.usf.edu Adults $2; Children with adult, no charge. Free on Sundays.
Events & Exhibits JANUARY 2001 January/February/March LAKE KISSIMMEE 1876 Cow Camp. Saturdays, Sundays, Holidays. Living history on the life of a cow hunter. See Florida Cracker cattle; taste coffee “strong enough to float a bullet.” Bring a picnic lunch. About 40 miles south of Orlando; 15 miles east of Lake Wales, off Camp Mack Rd. Park entry $4 per vehicle. 863-696-1112 January/February/March OCALA Cracker Village Tour. Discover life at the turn of the century in Florida’s “piney woods.” A ranger will show you a Cracker homestead and kitchen. Meet at the Village across from the Museum. Silver River Park is east of Ocala off C-35, two miles south of State Rd. 40. Park entry: $4 per vehicle. Call for dates and times. 352-236-7148 January NEWBERRY Dudley Farm Plow Days Experience farming before mechanization. Men , draft horses and mules will plow and disk fields for spring planting. Dudley Farm is four miles east of Newberry on State Rd. 26. Domestic skills & Crafts programs Wednesdays year-round 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Events free with park entry of $4 per vehicle. Call park for plow dates: 352-472-1142 January 1-2 FERNANDINA BEACH Fort Clinch Civil War Garrison. Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Sunday, 9:00 a.m.-12.00 p.m. Soldiers will be manning the fort. NO PETS. Candlelight Viewing: 1st Saturdays at sundown: Civil War life recreated in the infirmary, blacksmith shop, jail, laundry and kitchen. Fort Clinch is Off A1A on Amelia Island. Park admission is $5 per vehicle, plus $2 per person fort entry fee; $3 for Candlelight Viewing. NO PETS. 904-277-7274 - General Info: 850-245-2157 and www.floridastateparks.org. January 8 ST. PETERSBURG Spiny Sea Creatures 11:00 am. - 1:00 p.m. Explore amazing spiny sea creatures through hands-on encounters with sea urchins, sea stars and sea cucumbers. 800 Ave. N.E. Directions: I-275 S to Exit 23A (I-395).Follow to end, Right at Beach Dr., Left at 2nd Ave. 26
January 8 ST. AUGUSTINE Spanish 12th Night’s Ball - Spanish theme this year. Tickets on sale during British Nightwatch . $15 per couple. Contact: Jon Williams 904-797-7217 sarjuan@aol.com January 8-9 DE LEON SPRINGS Civil War Encampment 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Union troops raid the Spring Garden Plantation. See how soldiers drilled, prepared meals, slept, etc. At the corner of Ponce DeLeon Blvd. & Burt Parks Rd. off U.S. 17. Park entry $5 per vehicle. 386-985-4212 January 9 DELRAY BEACH Oshogatsu: Japanese New Year Celebration 10:00 am – 4:00 p.m. Includes Japan’s customary rice-pounding and making of mochi rice cakes; viewing the sado tea ceremony; kakizome, hands-on calligraphy; nengajo, New Year’s card-making: omikuji, fortune-telling, and games like hanetsuki (similar to badminton), and fukuwarai (similar to pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey). Morikami Museum - Adults $9 - Seniors $8 - Children (6-18) $6; Members & under 6, Free. Rain or Shine Event - 561- 495-0233 January 10 ST. AUGUSTINE Garrison Meeting 7:00 p.m. - Library LG Room Contact: Jon Williams 904-797-7217 sarjuan@aol.com January 12 PENSACOLA 2005 Big Band Concert Series Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians with Al Pierson 7:00 p.m.- Doors open at 5:15 p.m. Museum member tickets $18 - Non-members $20. Season Tickets available. Pre-concert supper at Cubi Bar Cafe, 5:30 -7:30 p.m. for all six concerts. The National Museum of Naval Aviation. Info/Reservations: 850-453-2389 or toll-free 800-327-5002. January 15 TALLAHASSEE DeSoto’s Winter Encampment 10:00 am.- 4:00 p.m. A living history interpretation of Hernando DeSoto’s 1539 camp in an Apalachee Native-American village. Exhibits, cooking, weapon demos, flintknapping. 1022 DeSoto Park Drive, off Lafayette St. Free 850-922-6007 January 15 ST. PETERSBURG Sharks & Rays 11 am-1 pm. Wonder what shark skin feels like? How big a whale shark can get? Learn the answers to these questions and more. The Pier Aquarium. (See January 8th Listing.)
January 15-16 BROOKESVILLE 25th Annual Brookesville Raid Reenactment of Civil War battle that occurred in July of 1864. Last year 3700 reenactors and their families participated, with 22 cannons, 51 horses, and 6 mules. Tour authentic camps and sutleries. 1860’s baseball game, Saturday at 11 am - ladies tea, then 2:30 p.m. Battle. 8-11 pm -Blue/Gray Ball. - dance to the music of the 97th Regimental Band. Friday, (January 14th - School Day - contact Judy Everett (352-799-0129 or everett_j@popmail.firn. edu) Sponsored by Hernando Historical Museum Assoc. and North Pinellas County Scout Sertoma Club. Hwy 50 west at Sand Hill Scout Reservation (across from Oak Hill Hospital) Fee $5 adults, $2 children. Boy Scouts in uniform admitted free. 352-799-0129. www.brookesvilleraid.com. January 16 WHITE SPRINGS Stephen Foster Day 2p.m. Afternoon musical program and carillon recital. Foster is the legendary American composer who wrote Old Folks At Home , Florida’s State Song. Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center is on U.S. 41 North. $4 per vehicle. 386-397-2733 January 16 through April 17, 2005. OSPREY Bringing the Past to Life The Historic Spanish Point Performers will recreate pioneer life at Historic Spanish Point on Sunday afternoons. Using historical research and authentic costumes, the Performers will stage dramas in the citrus packing house, Mary’s Chapel, and the Guptill House. Another drama, depicting the land when it was part of Mrs. Potter Palmer’s estate (1910-1918), is staged at the Pergola and Sunken Garden. This is a fascinating, 30-acre site overlooking beautiful Little Sarasota Bay in Osprey, Sarasota County, Florida. The site preserves and interprets 5,000 years of history. Visitors go inside a prehistoric shell mound to experience an archaeology exhibition about this region’s earliest inhabitants. Florida’s pioneer life is shared through a homestead house, citrus packing house, chapel, and pioneer cemetery. Historic Spanish Point also features formal gardens and lawns created in the early 1900s by Mrs. Palmer as part of her winter estate. Picnic tables available. Mon.-Sat. from 9 am.-5pm., and on Sundays noon -5 pm 337 N.Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41) in Osprey. Guided tours are offered daily. Admission is $7 adults, $3 children ages 6 - 12, under 6 & members free. 941-966-5214. www.historicspanishpoint.org.
January 26 PENSACOLA 2005 Big Band Concert Series Glenn Miller Orchestra led by trombonist Larry O’Brien Vocals by Julia Rich and the Moonlight Serenaders. The National Museum of Naval Aviation. 850-453-2389 or 800-327-5002. January 28 - February 6 ST. AUGUSTINE Super Bowl Activities. All periods reenactors will interpret historic St. Augustine from 10 a.m.-9p.m. each day. January 29 ST. PETERSBURG Marine Habitat Game ll am - 1 pm. Find out which animals live where, and why, in this fun, “hands-on” game. The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.) January 29 ST. PETERSBURG 3 pm Lecture at Sacred Lands by Barbara Purdy, Professor emeritus in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida, curator emeritus in archaeology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Dr. Purdy will speak about the importance of preservation, what archaeologist do and how they do it and observations on her work around the state of Florida. As an archaeologist she shares with the audience the excitement of trying to solve the puzzle of the past from the items left behind and why she feels this work is important to us now. Contact Doris Anderson 727 347-0354 or e-mail: Doris2648@aol.com Website: www.sacredlands.info. January 29
LARGO
Pinellas Folk Festival 10 am- 4 pm. Annual celebration features traditional Florida folk music, storytelling, and pioneer crafts performed by skilled artisans. “Sheep to shawl” activities, a traditional rug hooking and embroidery show, antique cars and food court. Part of the “100 Events to Celebrate Largo’s 100th Birthday.” Pinewood Cultural Park/Heritage Village. (727) 582-2123.
January 22 TAMPA Einstein on Wine 6-9 p.m. BEAM (Be Enthusiastic About MOSI) holds its annual fund-raising event. Guests will be able to choose from 400 wines served by more than 80 vintners. Food samples available from 20 restaurants. A silent auction and music round out the evening. Proceeds benefit Kids in Charge! at MOSI. Fees: $60 per person. January 22 ST. PETERSBURG Aquarium Scavenger Hunt 11 am-1 p.m. Join an exciting scavenger hunt with amazing sea creatures. All successful hunters receive a prize! The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.)
January 29 WHITE SPRINGS Craft Rendezvous 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Florida’s unique artists demonstrate hand skills and studio arts, including blacksmithing, pottery, stained glass, basket making, painting and weaving. Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center. Event free with park admission.
A young man of the 18th century shows off his wooden sword at the period clothing contest at the Alafia River Rendevous.
January 29-30 ST. AUGUSTINE School of the 16th Century. Learn how to dress and act like a conquistador. To register see the Histoic Florida Militia website at istoricfloridamilitia.org. Jon Williams 904797-7217 sarjuan@aol.com 27
The Garrison at Fort Mose
February 5 ST. PETERSBURG Icky & Sticky 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Come and get icky & sticky exploring snails, slugs, and sea cucumbers. Through live animal explorations we explore the benefits of being a creature that only a mother could love! The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.) February 5-6 FERNANDINA BEACH Fort Clinch Civil War Garrison & Candlelight Viewing (See January Listing)
FEBRUARY 2005 February 1 ST. AUGUSTINE Home School Days Welcome Aboard Noon to 4 p.m. The St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum continues its series of educational open -house style programs designed for home schooling families. “Welcome Aboard” educates students about the importance of the lighthouse as an active navigational aid. Learn about navigating the inland and open waterways as well as basic seamanship skills. Understand the importance of the history of our maritime community and the role St. Augustine played as the nation’s oldest port. Exciting activities and games: learning sea shanties, knot tying skills, channel marker navigation, and maritime crafts. 81 Lighthouse Ave. 4-12 years old Fee: $2, under 4 free. Michelle DeAngelis, Public Relations Assistant (904) 829-0745 www.staugustinelighthouse.com February 4-6 BRADENTON Singing River Rendezvous Pre-1840s Period colthing, tents, traders, games and food. Camp Flying Eagle, Upper Manatee River Road (off SR64). February 5 BRISTOL Torreya State Park Candlelight Tour 11:00 a.m. till Sunset. Listen to music and meet reenactors of the 1850-1860 period. Hearth cooking, sewing, candle making & blacksmithing. Birds of Prey from Big Bird Wildlife Sanctuary. After sunset, free tours of the 1849 Gregory House conducted by ladies in period dress. 2576 NW Torreya Park Rd., west on CR1641 off State Rd. 12, 13 miles N of Bristol. Events free with $2 per vehicle park entry. 850-643-2674 February 5 ST. AUGUSTINE Flight To Freedom Experience the journey to freedom taken by British-enslaved Africans fleeing to Spanish Florida told through reenactments, songs and displays. Ft. Mose founded in 1738, was the first free black settlement in the U.S. Food, music and entertainment will enrich the experience. Sponsored by Ft. Mose Historical Society. 2 miles north of downtown St. Augustine on Saratoga Blvd. off U.S. 1, near city gates. (904) 461-2035. 28
February 10-12 CHARLOTTE HARBOR 9th Annual Florida Frontier Days Feb. 10-11, 9:30 a.m.- 2:00 p.m., and Feb. 12, 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. Bayshore Live Oak Park. Sponsored by Charlotte County Historical Center, 22959 Bayshore Rd. Talented Seminoles and Settlers dressed in authentic period attire, demonstrate arts and trades. Florida Frontier Gazette editor, Elizabeth Neily tells stories with Gladys Varga, on Thurs.& Fri. Adults $2, Children $1. Contact:Debra Fabiszak, (941) 629-PAST (7278) debra.fabiszak@charlottefl.com. February 11 PENSACOLA 2005 Big Band Concert Series A Salute to Benny Goodman “The King of Swing” Terry Myers Orchestra . The National Museum of Naval Aviation. Info/Reservations: 850-453-2389 or toll-free 800-327-5002. February 11-14 THONOTOSASSA Fort Foster Historic Site Rendezvous Pre-1840s Second Seminole War Era Event at Fort Foster/ Hillsborough River State Park, 15402 US Hwy 301 N. Reservations & Fees call Park Ranger. 813-987-6771 February 12 CLEARWATER “Romancing The Sea” 9 am-4:00 pm. Join The Pier Aquarium at Clearwater Marine Aquarium’s annual “Romance with the Sea” that supports their “Full Circle Programs,” an assisted therapy program developed for children with special needs. Features outdoor displays, live animals, mammal presentations, food and entertainment Clearwater Marine Aquarium: 249 Windward Passage. For information call 727- 447-1790. February 18-20 OLUSTEE 29th Reenactment of the Battle of Olustee 8:00 am. 2400 reenactors recreate Florida Civil War battle of 1864. Confederate and Union camps; 54th Massachusetts unit, cavalry drills, artillery and sutlers, graveside memorials, color guard, medical demos, music, and storytelling about African American women in the Civil War. U.S. 90, 15 miles east of Lake City. Free Park entry. Special Event fee: Adults $4; Children over five $2. NO PETS. 386-758-0400 February 12 & 13 ST. PETERSBURG Facing Yourself: Mask making workshop at Sacred Lands Sat: 10am to 5pm & Sunday 10am to 3pm. Cost of the workshop: $60.00. Limited to 20 participants. All levels welcome. Ages 15
and up. Masks have played a major role in most cultures since ancient times. They have been utilized in religious ceremonies and healing rituals as well as for entertainment. They also are a great way for getting to know yourself better and exploring the many colors, textures, and images that are a part of you. In this workshop you will work with a partner to create a decorated plaster mask. Have a friend sign up and work together or meet someone new. Pamela Dean and Karen Fielding from Dragonfly Journeys Art Retreat in Taos, New Mexico will guide you through this process of self-discovery and creation. Call 727 347-0354 for information or registration. Visit www.taosartretreat.com to learn more about Dragonfly Journeys or www.sacredlands.info February 19 ST. PETERSBURG Spineless Wonders 11 am- 1 pm. Explore the unique and diverse world of marine invertebrates. Through hands-on experience with live animals, learn how spineless animals have developed a sense for their environment and have adapted to move, eat, and protect themselves. The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.) February 21 GULFPORT Decade Celebration for 2005 1940s U.S. O. Show - Live Swing Band. Dress in 40’s outfits or WWII uniforms. Gulfport Casino. (727)893-1070. February 22 PENSACOLA 2005 Big Band Concert Series “Those Sentimental Gentlemen,” The Tommy Dorsey Orchestrawith Buddy Morrow & vocalist Walt Andrus. (See January 12 Listing for Complete Information) February 25-27 GAINESVILLE 8th Annual Knap-In & Primitive Arts Festival. Learn how early people lived and worked by participating in demonstrations of flint knapping; the art of projectile point fashioning; deer hide brain tanning; and bone, wood and antler carving. See bow and arrow construction, basket weaving, early pottery, beadwork and more. Paynes Prairie Preserve, 10 miles south of Gainesville on U.S. 441 or Exit 374 (old 73) off I-75. Park Entry $4 per vehicle. NO PETS. 352-466-3397. February 26 ST. PETERSBURG Coral Discovery 11 am-1 pm. Touch, explore, and experience the wonders of a coral reef habitat while observing behaviors of animals that live in this wondrous environment. The Pier Aquarium. (See January 8th Listing.) February 26 LARGO Florida African American Heritage Celebration, Pinewood Cultural Park/Heritage Village. 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Celebrate African American culture through art, music, dance, storytelling, historical presentations, ethnic food, and interactive family activities. In cooperation with Pinellas County African American History Museum. Event part of “100 Events to Celebrate Largo’s 100th Birthday.” 727-582-2123.
MARCH 2005
March 3 W. BRADENTON Historic Lecture: Archaeology & the fugitive slave settlement of Angola. 1:30-2:30pm. & 7 pm Saint Stephen’s Media Center $2 in advance $1 Student in advance $3 at door. March 5 ST. PETERSBURG Bay in a Bucket 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Get a “close-up” view of all the itty-bitty creatures that live in the waters of Tampa Bay! The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.) March 5 TAMPA Home Remedies, Folk Cures & Funerals. 10 am-4 pm. Doctors were few and far between in late 1800s Florida, so settlers often, and find their own remedies. Living history programs all day. Admission:Adults $5, Seniors $4, Children (6-12) $4, Under 6- free. Cracker Country at the Florida State Fair Grounds. (813) 627-4225 or www.crackercountry.org. March 5-6 Open House at Gamble Plantation 10 am-4 pm. US301-1-1/2 miles W of I75
ELLENTON
March 5-6 FERNANDINA BEACH Fort Clinch Civil War Garrison & Candlelight Viewing (See January Listing) March 5-6 WOODVILLE Natural Bridge Battle Reenactment Sat., 9:00 a.m.- 5:00 pm. & Sun., 1:30 p.m. Opening Ceremonies. 2:30 p.m.: Living History Reenactment of the 1865 Civil War battle that defeated the Union takeover of Tallahassee. Six miles east of Woodville, off State Rd. 363 on Natural Bridge Rd. (County Rd. 2192) Free. 850-922-6007
FORT CLINCH at Fernandina Beach
NTS
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March 12 LARGO World War II Salute 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Heritage Village will honor those who served their country during World War II, whether in the military or on the home front. Enjoy a USO Revue and swing dancing; meet “President Roosevelt:” watch a military fashion show; view displays of memorabilia; and mingle with Allied and Axis re-enactors. Kids can try on period clothes, play a “plane spotting” game and more! Event part of “100 Events to Celebrate Largo’s 100th Birthday. 727-582-2123.
March 19 ST. PETERSBURG Turtle Tales 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Discover and explore the mysterious world of sea turtles and learn why these endangered ancient reptiles need our help to survive for centuries to come. The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.)
March 12 ST. PETERSBURG Manatee Adventures 11 am.-1 pm. Discover and investigate the mysteries of these magnificent mammals as you assemble the skeleton of a 9-foot Florida Manatee. Join us as we unravel the unknown myths and truths about these amazing marine mammals. The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.)
March 19-20 INVERNESS Fort Cooper Days 9 am-4:00 pm. Second Seminole War. Reenactments at 11 am & 2pm. Living history demos, art, craft & food vendors. Located 2 miles southeast of Inverness off U.S. 41. Adults $4; Children 6-17 $1; Under 6 free. Park entry $2 per vehicle. 352-726-0315
March 12-13 O’LENO 12th Annual Leno Heritage Days 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Step back to 1800s life in O’Leno’s original ghost town. Quilting, weaving, blacksmithing, coopering, cow camps, civil war camps and Indian camps. Six miles north of High Springs on Highway 41/441. Park admission $4 per vehicle, plus one can of food per person for donation to local food bank. 386-454-1853
March 26 19th Annual Heritage Village Antique Car Show 10 a.m. – 4 p.m (See January 8th Listing.)
March 19 BRADENTON Descendent Walk, In conjunction with Manatee Historical Village open house. 3-5 pm.
KUDOS
We would like to thank Judy Micelle, the executive director of the Collier County Historical Society and docents, Mary Bauer and Joan Kendzior, for their gracious tour of Palm Cottage. They offer enthusiasm and a wealth of information.
March 19-20 FERNANDINA BEACH Fort Clinch Confederate Garrison. Park Admission plus $2 fort entry fee. NO PETS. (See January Listing)
March 26 ST. PETERSBURG Touch Tank Time 11 am-1 pm. Get “in touch” with Tampa Bay’s marine life at The Pier Aquarium’s very own touch tank. The Pier Aquarium (See January 8th Listing.) March 26-27 PALMETTO Emerson Point Adventure. Take a stroll through Florida history at an 1200 year old temple mound site. Archaeologist Bill Burger will talk about the Angola settlement of yesterday. Learn about sugar cane culture and other fascinating stories from historical reeactors. Contact (941)7462035.
Spinning - one of the many crafts demonstrated at living history programs.
The Florida Museum of Natural History in Gainesville, provided the artifact material for the story on Pilaklikaha. We thank their generous staff for their time and help. The Museum of Natural History is filled with must see exhibits. If you haven’t seen it, plan to spend a day there. We also would like to thank Boyd Hill Nature Park, in St. Petersburg, for the use of their information in the Pilaklikaha story. And finally, we thank all the wonderful volunteers who give tirelessly to making the Florida Frontier Gazette work.
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LARGO
Courtesy of Anne St. Charles, Plant City
Community Spirit Partners BUSINESS PARTNERS
The St. Petersburg Museum of History reopens with new exhibits related to St. Petersburg and the Pinellas Peninsula on November 20, 2004. After an expansion project that added 30% more space to the facility, the Museum will feature new galleries dedicated to celebrating the history of the area. The new main exhibit will present the history of St. Petersburg starting with the Tocobaga Indians and carrying through Webb City and more recent times. T h e Museum is located at 335 Second Avenue NE in the approach to the Pier. (727) 894-1052 or www. stpetemuseumofhistory.org
The Longhouse, Inc., A Well-Being Centre 2309 49th Street South Gulfport, FL 33707 727-322-5766 Small Adventures Book Shop 3107 Beach Blvd., South Gulfport, FL 33707 727-347-8732
Florida Frontier Gazette MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTION ___INDIVIDUAL - $12.00 per year - 4 quarterly issues mailed to your home. ___COMMUNITY SPIRIT PARTNERS (non-profit) - $50.00 per year - 100 each quarterly issues to distribute to your patrons for FREE! Visitation and/or upcoming events may be promoted by purchasing ad space. ___1/8 page (2-1/4” x 5”) at $50.00 per insertion ____1/4 page = (2-1/4” x 5”) at $100.00 per insertion. ___COMMUNITY SPIRIT BUSINESS PARTNERS - $50.00 - $250 per year (10% donated to designated Community Spirit Partner - 4 quarterly listings with Business Name, Address, Phone Number, and Website. ___COMMUNITY SPIRIT CORPORATE PARTNERS - $500-$1000 per year. (10% donated to designated Community Spirit Partner) - Logo with Business Name, Address, Phone Number, and Website on an individual page of the magazine. Name:__________________________________Community Spirit Partner or Business:_____________________________ Address:____________________________________________City:_________________________State:_______Zip:_______ Phone:(_____)_________________E-mail:__________________________Website:________________________________ Membership $______________ Display Ad $______________ Total amount enclosed $______________ Please make checks payable to FLORIDA FRONTIERS, 5409 21st Avenue S., Gulfport, FL, 33707. 31
Community Spirit Partners NOT FOR PROFIT PARTNERS American Victory Mariners Memorial and Museum Ship 705 Channelside Drive, Berth 271 Tampa, FL 33602 813-228-8766 www.americanvictory.org American Waterski Educational Foundation 1251 Holy Cow Road, Polk City, FL 33868 863-324-2472 www.waterskihalloffame
Past Tymes (Living History Educators) 745 N.E. 117 St., Biscayne Park, FL 33161 305-895-7317 www.pasttymeproductions.com
Collier County Museum 3301 Tamiami Trail East, Naples, FL 34112 941-774-8476 www.colliermuseum.org
Pensacola Historical Society 117 E. Government Street Pensacola, FL 32502 850-434-5455 www.pensacolahistory.org
Dunedin Historical Society & Museum 349 Main Street, Dunedin, FL 34697 727-736-1176 www.ci.dunedin.fl.us/dunedin/historical-society
The Pier Aquarium 800 2nd Avenue NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-895-7437 www.pieraquarium.org
Florida Museum of Natural History SW 34th St. & Hull Rd. Gainesville FL 32611 352-846-2000 www.flmnh.ufl.edu
Randell Research Center PO Box 608, Pineland, FL 33945 239-283-2062. www.flmnh.ufl.edu/sflarch/pineland.htm
Gamble Plantation Preservation Alliance 3708 Patten Avenue, Ellenton, Florida 34222 www.floridastateparks.org/gambleplantation
Sacred Lands Preservation & Education 1620 Park Street N. St. Petersburg, FL 33710 727-347-0354 www.sacredlandspreservationandeducation.org
Heritage Village at Pinewood Cultural Park 11909 125th Street N., Largo, FL 33774 727-582-2123 Historic Florida Militia, (Living History Groups) 42 Spanish Street, St. Augustine, FL 32084 904-829-9792 www.historicfloridamilitia.org Matheson Museum 513 E. University Ave., Gainesville, FL 32601 352-378-2280 www.mathesonmuseum.org Native Earth Cultural Center at Indian Stuff 1064 4th Street N, St. Petersburg, FL 33701 727-821-8186 www.orgsites.com/fl/ourstory
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Panama Canal Museum 7985 113th Street, Suite 100,Seminole, FL 33772 727-394-9338 www.panamacanalmuseum.org
St. Petersburg Museum of History 335 Second Avenue NE in the approach to the Pier. St. Peterburg, FL 33707 727-894-1052 www.stpetemuseumofhistory.org Tampa Bay History Center 225 S. Franklin Street, Tampa, FL 33602 813-228-0097 www.tampabayhistorycenter.org The Trail of The Lost Tribes 941-456-6128 www.trailofthelosttribes.org
Thank you!