VIVA Florida 500 - State Park History Notes
Florida's 171 award-winning state park and trail properties are proud to join with the Florida Department of State in commemorating 500 years of Florida history throughout the year 2013. Visitors are invited to commemorate Florida's history with first-hand experiences of the eras and events that helped make the state into what it is today: a community of many diverse cultures.
TWO DATES, SAME DAY?
THE BATTLE OF BLOODY MOSE
During the mid-18th century, the southern British colonies viewed Spanish Florida as a problem, mainly because the Spanish government was offering freedom to slaves who left plantations in Georgia and the Carolinas. In 1739 war broke out between Great Britain and Spain known as the War of Jenkins' Ear, during which much of the conflict was waged in the Caribbean and Colonies.
Colonial Georgia's Governor James Oglethorpe initiated an attack on St. Augustine in May 1740. On June 13, British troops led by Colonel John Palmer occupied Ft. Mose, which had been abandoned by African-Americans shortly before the British arrival. Fort Mose was the first free African-American settlement in what is now the United States. It was established in 1738 as Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose along with an African-American militia company lead by former slave Francisco Menendez. Later in June, Spanish units, including the newly formed African-American militia attacked and overran the British troops who occupied Fort Mose.
Thomas Jones, a British soldier, in a deposition in 1741 concerning the fall of Fort Mose, testified that "on the fifteenth (June), two hours before Day ... the Enemy attacked in four Parties. That the Gate was defended a quarter of an hour only by the two flankers .... after which the enemy entered, sword in hand ...."
In a letter dated July 6, 1740 Florida's Spanish Governor Manuel de Montiano discussed the same event: "I have now to inform your Lordship, that at eleven o'clock on the night of Saturday the 25th of June, there sallied from this place, 300 men to attack the fort of Moses, which was executed at daybreak on Sunday morning (June 26th). Our people passing over it, with the impetuosity of such a violent charge, that it fell, leaving 68 dead, and 34 were made prisoners."
The official records of the event seem to be in conflict about the actual date of the attack. This is one of the problems historians face in researching early history. The reason for the discrepancy is that Great Britain and Spain used different calendars. The Georgian calendar used today was adopted by most Catholic countries, including Spain, in 1582. Great Britain, which used the Julian calendar, did not adopt the Georgian calendar until 1752. There was an 11 day difference between the two calendars, so the Spanish date is what we use today. What is known as the Battle of Bloody Mose occurred on June 26, 1740.
Spanish troops consisting of 300 regular troops with militia, Indians and the free African-American militia mounted a surprise attack on Fort Mose before dawn on June 26. There was confusion among the troops. An example of the confusion in the attack is in the official British report on the incident where Thomas Jones ran "into the fort and got all the Indians together in one Flanker, there being a great hurry and confusion amongst the men, some being dressed and some undressed." The battle was brutal, hand to hand combat and resulted in the later destruction of the remainder of the fort and its abandonment. Shortly after, Governor Oglethorpe's troops abandoned the siege.
The site of Fort Mose is now a National Historic Landmark that recognizes its role as the first African American free settlement and the story is told at Fort Mose Historic State Park. On Saturday June 22 the fourth annual commemoration of this battle will take place at the park.
18th Century Map Showing Fort Mose, courtesy of State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory Project |
Free black Spanish colonial soldiers, Florida Park Service Exhibits |
A 1748 WRECK OFF CAPE FLORIDA
The following is an account of a shipwreck in 1748 off Cape Florida, near present day Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park, which is reproduced in part for this week's history note. This narrative is thought to be the first African-American autobiographical publication in America:
Taken from A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprising Deliverance of Briton Hammon, A Negro Man,---Servant to General Winslow of Marshfield in New England, 1760 (spellings are as they were printed):
"We sailed from Plymouth in a short time, and after a pleasant Passage of about 30 days, arrived at Jamaica; we was detained at Jamaica only 5 Days, from whence we sailed for the Bay, where we arrived safe in 10 Days. We loaded our Vessel with Logwood and sailed from the Bay the 25th day of May following and the 15th Day of June, we were cast away on Cape Florida, about 5 Leagues from the shore; being now destitute of every Help, we knew not what to do or what Course to take in this our sad Condition ...
"After being upon this Reef two days, the Captain order'd the Boat to be hoisted out, and then ask'd who were willing to tarry on board? ... the mate, with Seven Hands besides myself, were order'd to go on Shore in the Boat,... we stood toward shore and being within Two Leagues of the same, we espied a Number of Canoes ... we presently saw an English Colour hoisted in one of the Canoes, at the sight of which we were not a little rejoiced, but on our advancing yet nearer, we found them ... to be Indians, of which there were Sixty; ... they soon came up with and boarded us, took away all our Arms, Ammunition and Provisions ... then made for the sloop ... killed Captain Howland, the Passenger and the other hand; we saw the whole Number of Indians advancing forward and loading their Guns upon which the mate said, 'my lads we are all dead men,' and before we had got around, they discharged their small arms upon us and killed three of our hands ... upon which I immediately jumped overboard, chusing rather to be drowned rather than to be killed…. In three or four minutes after I hear another volley which dispatched the other five ... one of the Canoes padled after me, and soon came up with me, hawled me into the Canoe, and beat me most terribly with a Cutlass ... then set the vessel on fire, making a prodigious shouting and hallowing like so many Devils. .... After we came to the Shore, they led me to their Hutts, where I expected nothing but immediate Death, and as they spoke English were often telling me ... that they intended to roast me alive. But for the providence of God ordere'd it otherwise ... They kept me with them about Five weeks, during which time they treated me pretty well ....
Briton escaped, you can read the rest of his account by following this link.
The Cover of Hammon's Narrative, from the Library of Congress |
Portion of a 1760 Map Showing Cape Florida, from the W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, Univerity of Alabama. |
IT'S NOT JUST A GARDEN
Alfred B. Maclay Gardens State Park is well known for the ornamental gardens developed by Alfred B. Maclay and his wife Louise between 1923 and 1944. The gardens were donated by Louise Maclay and her children to the Florida Park Service in 1953 to preserve the gardens for the people of Florida. In 1992, lands around Lake Overstreet which had been owned by the Maclays, but not part of the original donation, were added to the park. The gardens are not the whole story of this land.
Settlers moved into the Tallahassee area shortly after Florida became a territory from Georgia and South Carolina intent on establishing plantations. The land that comprises the state park today has a history of agricultural production that spans nearly 120 years. On May 31, 1853, Robert Hall acquired a small portion of his family's plantation to add to lands and slaves he acquired in 1846 from his father Major William H. Hall's estate. William Hall had amassed a plantation of more than 1,200 acres. Following his death, his wife managed the property until her son came of age in 1846 when she began transferring the land to Robert until it was all transferred by 1856. Triel Ellen Lindstrom in her thesis, describes the plantation: "Major William H. Hall, his wife Jane Kenan, and their eight children settled on land around lakes to the north of town bought during frenzied sales of newly opened public land, their thirty-eight slaves clearing, planting and transforming wild frontier into tame and gentile plantation country."
Immediately after Robert Hall consolidated the property, he sold it to Mariano D. Papy, the Minorcan Attorney General of Florida. Papy operated the Hall plantation with 47 slaves and continued to raise cotton, subsistence crops and livestock. In 1863, Papy had 500 acres under cultivation and 200 head of livestock with a cotton gin, ditches and ponds and 12 slave cabins. After the Civil War, Papy, like most planters, arranged for former slaves to live as tenants on the plantation either by paying rent or by paying Papy shares of their crop profits.
Between 1870 and 1873, Papy sold his Lake Hall/Overstreet lands to six African-American families who continued to cultivate cotton and raise livestock. Starting in the late 1800s early 1900s, landowners with large holdings in the area including the children of the Hall/Overstreet owners, sold to wealthy northern whites seeking land for quail hunting plantations. Georgia O. Law and her husband John, a retired insurance executive, reassembled the Hall/Papy lands. They built many of the barns and the Maclay house that are on the park today. African-American tenants continued to live on the property and farm or provide labor for the new owners including the Maclays. African-Americans had a presence and worked that land for more than 130 years, much longer than the life of the gardens. Referring to the long involvement of the African-American community with the park lands, Lindstrom sums up the story best: "... slavery, tenant farming, plantation employment, land ownership and state employment are not discrete histories of the park, but rather different aspects of the same history, that of a singular community whose membership and fortunes shifted over time."
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African-American Workers for the Maclays, ca. 1920s, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida.
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CELEBRATION OF FLORIDA FOLKLORE
Author's Note: If readers haven't figured it out yet, each week's note is tied to a date in Florida history that falls in that week. This week is an exception because we had two very significant dates from the first week in May: the John Gorrie story and the first Florida Folk Festival. So this week we talk about the Florida Folk Festival.
On May 8, 1953 the All Florida Folk Festival opened at the Stephen Foster Memorial Grounds in White Springs. The program was sponsored by the All Florida Folk Festival Association, the Stephen Foster Memorial Commission and the Florida Federation of Music Clubs. The commission was established in 1939 to develop a memorial to Stephen Foster. The Stephen Foster Memorial Grounds were opened in 1950 along with the Stephen Foster Museum at what is today Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park.
Sarah Gertrude Knott produced the All Florida Folk Festival in 1953 and 1954. She was the founder and director of the National Folk Festival which began in 1934 in St. Louis, Missouri. By 1953, Sara Knott was the acknowledged authority on the development of folk festivals. The purpose of these festivals was to present and celebrate America's diverse heritage. Different ethnic and racial groups performed on one stage or event, which was unheard of in other American performance venues at the time.
The program for the 1953 festival summed this up: “Until recent years newer American citizens were encouraged to cast aside old homeland cultures and customs and become 100 percent Americans. Now, however, it is generally recognized that it is highly important for us to cherish and keep flourishing all the heritages of our people of diverse background to give us better understanding of our own neighbors as well as more genuine appreciation of the people of the world to whom we have suddenly become neighbors."
The first morning of the festival featured a conference which included panel discussions on various folklore topics including "What is Folklore?" lead by Edwin C. Kirkland, a folklore professor at the University of Florida.
The three-day run opened each day with a Town Crier and dancing by Seminole Indians. The Bud Taylor Dancers from Steinhatchee presented American Square Dances. Ballads collected in Folk Songs of Florida, by Alton C. Morris of the University of Florida were performed by various presenters. African American folk tales were told by Annie Tomlin of White Springs. Minorcans from St. Augustine presented Eastern traditions and a Spanish dance group from Tampa's Ybor City preformed traditional Spanish dances. The Suwannee River Playboys, Jamboree played fiddle and marimba tunes. A group from Masaryktown did Czechoslovakian dances. African American turpentine songs were performed by Charlie Tate and family from White Springs. Dr. A. M Sorensen and Freida Carter, New Port Richey, performed Scandinavian dances and music. Jewish songs were presented by the Jewish Center of Jacksonville while Mrs. Sidney Goodwin and her daughter Jennene performed Danish religious folk songs.
This festival continues today as the longest running state folk festival in America. Visit and enjoy the 2013 Florida Folk Festival at White Springs, May 24-26, 2013.
Bette Manucy, St. Augustine, Performs Traditional Dance at 1953 Festival, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
Seminoles Billy Osceola, Billy Bowlegs III and Creek Indain Fred Barber at 1954 Festival (Listen to the 1954 festival); courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
BEACHES FOR ALL
Go to the beach today and you will find people from all walks of life and ethnic origins. Blacks and whites share the same beach and parks. Not so in our recent past. During the 1920s, African Americans were generally not welcomed to mix with white beach goers. African Americans in Broward County in the 1920s used various segregated beaches for recreation. In 1927 the Fort Lauderdale Daily News noted that one of the community's major concerns was a place for African Americans to go to the beach. The city subsequently ordered that they be confined to the uninhabited beaches north of the city limits, in an area now known as the Galt Ocean Mile. Over the next few decades, as development expanded, African Americans shifted to visiting different remote beaches.
On May 14, 1946 the Negro Professional and Business Men's League, Inc. appeared before the Broward County Commission with a petition requesting "a public bathing beach for colored people in Broward County." A committee was appointed to study the situation, which was still working on the issue a year later. In 1949 the City of Ft. Lauderdale commission again tried to address the need for a county-owned "colored beach." The county commission again organized a committee to look into the matter with no result. In 1952 the Fort Lauderdale Hotel Association appeared before the county commission to support the long running campaign of the African American community to secure a dedicated beach for recreation.
In 1954, the Broward Public Recreation Association purchased property known as the Kline Tract, located south of the channel entering Port Everglades. In September the association deeded the property to the county as a beach "primarily for our Negro residents." Unfortunately, there were no facilities and the beach had no road or bridge for access. It was not until 1956 that the county arranged for a glass bottom boat ferry for beach access. William G. Crawford, Jr., wrote in his history of the county's "colored beach" that Clarence Glasco, Jr., an African American life guard at the beach, reported that "the greatest usage was on Thursdays and Sundays" due primarily to the schedule of [black] working hours during the winter season. Still, there were no tables, no rest rooms, no shelter, no water and no road access.
In July and August 1961, African Americans; lead by Eula Johnson, president of the local NAACP and Dr. Von Mizell, who had spearheaded the petition to secure beach access for African Americans in the 1940s; conducted wade-ins on Fort Lauderdale Beach. Legal wrangling, resulting in a lawsuit filed against the NAACP to force the wade-ins to stop, extended into the next year. The county lost the suit and the beaches were soon desegregated.
In 1965, a road was finally completed to the colored beach which eventually became known as Broward Beach. In 1973, the Florida Park Service acquired the beach and it later became known as John U. Lloyd Beach State Park. Ironically, Lloyd was the Broward County Attorney during the years that the "colored beach" was acquired and was instrumental in its purchase.
African Americans at Broward's Colored Beach, from Separated Waters, an exhibit developed by the Old Dillard Museum |
Wade in on Fort Lauderdale Beach, from Separated Waters, an exhibit developed by the Old Dillard Museum |
ICE SAVES LIVES
On May 6, 1851 the United States Patent Office issued a patent to one John M. Gorrie of New Orleans, Louisiana for an "improved process for the artificial production of ice." The patent was pre-dated to August 22, 1850. This granting of this patent was a ground breaking event that eventually made living in sub-tropical places like Florida more feasible because of the advent of air conditioning, which would develop from the processes implemented in the first patented steam powered ice machine.
It is puzzling why Dr. Gorrie's home was mentioned as New Orleans. There is no record of Dr. Gorrie as a resident there. He was in fact a resident of Apalachicola, Florida where he developed his famous ice machine.
The only source of ice in the south was from the north where it was harvested from frozen lakes in large blocks and shipped to the south. Apalachicola, being the third largest cotton port on the Gulf coast at the time, was directly connected by ship to New York and other northern cities. So ice was available there. Gorrie was one of a number of physicians who subscribed to the practice of using ice to cool rooms to aid in reducing fevers. This was important in places in the south like Apalachicola where malaria and yellow fever were common. He began looking for a less expensive means to obtain ice rather than depending on the periodic shipments from the north.
Gorrie started with a well know principle for forming ice discovered by Scotsman William Cullen in 1756 which involved the use of evaporating ether in a vacuum. A 2002 article in the Smithsonian's History and Archaeology best describes the process, "When a liquid evaporates into a gas, it does so at a particular temperature, which varies depending on the amount of pressure it is under. As it evaporates, the liquid extracts heat from the surroundings, cooling them. Likewise, when a gas is compressed, it is heated, when the pressure is removed, and the gas expands, it absorbs heat, cooling its surroundings."
Gorrie wrote: "If the air were highly compressed, it would heat up by the energy of compression. If this compressed air were run through metal pipes cooled with water, and if this air cooled to the water temperature was expanded down to atmospheric pressure again, very low temperatures could be obtained, even low enough to freeze water in pans in a refrigerator box."
By around 1842 Gorrie had a working prototype and began using its product to cool the rooms of his fever patients. In March 1852, William A. Wood, as Dr. Gorrie's representative, left Apalachicola for New York where an anonymous investor was prepared to finance the manufacture of a commercial size machine. An article from the Augusta Constitutionalist in 1852 stated:"the application of the principle on a larger scale as the Invention of Dr. Gorrie is designed to do, is a startling novelty." As the machine was completed, his investor died and it was auctioned off. It still existed in New York at the time of Gorrie's death on June 29, 1855.
To learn about his story and visit a monument to his accomplishment visit the John Gorrie Museum State Park in Apalachicola, Fla.
Portrait of John Gorrie, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
Model of the Steam Ice Machine, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
BIRDS IN THE KEYS
It was 4:00 a.m. and John James Audubon could not sleep. He was consumed with getting out on the water and searching for birds. A torrential subtropical rain fell the morning of April 28, 1832 as he was suspended in a hammock on the veranda of a house on Indian Key. The key is now Indian Key Historic State Park located in the middle of the Florida Keys. The key was the first county seat of Dade County and owned by John Housman who operated a salvage business.
That morning, Audubon roused his companions and was on the water in search of birds by 6:00 a.m. Audubon wrote: "I was determined to not lose a day, the guns were mustered, we made our way to the boats, and pushed off through a gentle shower in quest of unknown birds." Not long after leaving the dock, the party saw Terns on a sand bar. Audubon described his method of catching specimens to use as models for his illustrations of American birds: "The birds were not shy, so then we obtained the opportunity of firing two guns at them, when we leaped out, and on wading to the shore picked up thirty-eight Roseate Terns and several of another species." As disturbing as it is to us today, it is a fact that Audubon shot large numbers of birds in his effort to collect specimens to examine, describe and paint. He gave many accounts of his use of firearms and even small cannons to obtain birds. This was his first encounter with the Roseate Tern which he would later paint that day. Two days before, he obtained specimens of the Florida Cormorant in much the same way.
Audubon arrived at Indian Key aboard the U.S. Revenue Cutter Marion on April 25. He began his Florida tour in late 1831 when he arrived in St. Augustine. He spent six months along the St. Johns River and the east coast of Florida. Going to Charleston, South Carolina, he secured passage on the Marion and sailed on April 19, 1832 to Indian Key. He remained in the keys until May 10.
Audubon tells of his first view of the Florida Keys: "Our vessel once over the coral reef that every where stretches along the shore like a great wall, reared by an army of giants, we found ourselves in safe anchoring ground … With what delightful feelings did we gaze on the objects around us!- the gorgeous flowers, the singular and beautiful plants, the luxuriant trees. … The birds which we saw were almost all new to us; their lovely forms appeared to be arrayed in more brilliant apparel than I had ever before seen …. "
During Audubon's six months in Florida he documented 52 birds new to him. These creatures and others would be featured in his third volume of "The Birds of America." Perhaps just as important was the descriptions he gave of Florida in his letters, journals and other writings. Through these we have obtained important insights into the Florida of the 1830s.
Roseate Tern, courtesy of www.miamihistory.org |
John James Audubon, Wikipedia |
A RARE BIRD INDEED
Edgar A. Mearns reported that on April 23, 1901, he collected the male specimen of a small sparrow, 132 mm long, on the Kissimmee Prairie about seven miles east of Alligator Bluff. He described the bird: "Similar to Coturniculus savannarum passerinus (Wilson), but smaller, with larger bill, longer tarsus, and much darker coloration above, paler below; chestnut of upper surfaces much reduced in amount, and replaced by black; lateral dark areas of crown almost solid black; spotting of nape and scapulars almost black; interscapular region much blacker than in Coturniculus savannarum passerinus." The collection of this bird was on what is today Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park.
The little bird that Mearns collected and identified was designated a new sub-species, Coturniculus savannarum floridanus, or more commonly known as the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. He noted that the range of the sparrow was mostly limited to the Kissimmee Valley and particularly numerous on the Kissimmee Prairie. Today the bird is listed as federally endangered, largely because its range is limited to a rare habitat known as dry prairie and due mainly to the severe loss of that habitat in the area. It is a short-lived bird that faces many challenges and survives today in three isolated locations all with declining populations.
Mearns was a surgeon and major in the United State Army. He became interested in birds at an early age, writing down notes on birds at age 10, collecting birds at 16 and publishing his first paper when he was 22. In 1883, he helped organize the American Ornithologists' Union and received his commission in the United States Army in December of that year. From his first deployment to Fort Verde, Arizona and every other assignment, he would spend his leisure time collecting and recording information about the plants and animals of the area. An example of his penchant for looking at his assignments as an opportunity to explore new lands he wrote of a chance to accompany the exchange of two cavalry regiments between Arizona and Texas: "I was given the first choice to go on this expedition, and gladly accepted for the sake of the information which I expect to acquire of the fauna and flora of the southern part of Arizona and New Mexico." Using his assignments along with his travels during time off, it is estimated that he recorded more than 60,000 measurements of birds alone in his many field catalogs.
Florida became a focus of his studies while visiting the state for health reasons. At the end of 1900, he was granted several months of sick leave during which he visited Florida. It was during his stay in camp in the Kissimmee prairie region that he discovered the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow. His work was so well known that he was assigned to active duty to accompany President Theodore Roosevelt on his 1908 African safari. Mearns passed away in 1916, leaving a huge scientific legacy. He authored about 125 articles and manuscripts and had more than 50 new species named for him and three genera. Most important to us was the identification of that little bird, the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow.
Edgar A. Mearns, from The AUK |
Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, from the Florida Park Service Files |
EARLY ART IN FLORIDA
"We have in our sanctum an earthen bowl that was dug from the mounds on Hontoon Island in Lake Beresford. The vessel measures 34 inches in circumference and is 6 inches deep. It was found about three feet below the surface, surrounded by small shells." This account appeared as a reprint from the DeLand Echo in the Florida Times Union on April 5, 1884. This discovery was one of many that have been made over 150 years in what today is Hontoon Island State Park. The first account of mounds on the island appears to have been by William Bartram who possibly visited the island in 1774 during a visit to nearby Beresford Plantation.
In the 1860s Jefferies Wyman, who was later the first director of the Peabody Museum in Philadelphia, visited Hontoon Island. Wyman spent the winter in Florida during that decade visiting various mounds along the St. Johns River, including Hontoon. Wyman provides an extensive description of the resources on the island and the river in his account in Fresh Water Shell Mounds of the St. Johns River, Florida (1875). One of his descriptions is as follows: "Of all the mounds we have examined none have yielded more abundant fragments of earthen vessels and bones of animals than the one on the left bank described above. The front washed by the river gives a large surface for inspection, much larger than could be had from mere excavation. The pick can be struck into but few portions of this front without turning out either a bone, a piece of charcoal, or a fragment of pottery, and it is a matter of indifference whether the uppermost or lowermost parts are examined." C.B. Moore, (see note from Week of March 18) also visited this place but was not allowed to conduct any excavations, but probably made surface collections.
An important find that is associated with Hontoon Island was a large owl totem recovered from the St. Johns River near the island by Victor Roepke in June 1955. It was the largest wooden Native American artifact recovered in Florida at the time. Two additional carvings were recovered from the river near the island in 1977, a pelican and otter.
These discoveries lead to a seven expeditions in the 1980s under the direction of Dr. Barbara Purdy of the University of Florida. Her team's work demonstrated more than ever that wet sites have the potential of yielding important organic evidence, besides bone and pottery, of those who lived in Florida before Europeans arrived.
Starting in 2003, Dr. Ken Sassaman of the University of Florida led several field schools on the island to; among other things; obtain a complete topographic map of the island. The work in part attempted to tie locations of the mounds and features described by Wyman to accurate locations. The project also established that the island is ringed on all sides by manmade material.
Hontoon Island State Park has contributed much information about the lives of Native Americans in Florida, including fine examples of their art and culture. Visit the parks visitor center to learn more about this rich archaeological site.
Mound on Hontoon Island being excavated in 1893, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
Owl Totem recovered in 1955 near Hontoon Island, courtesy of Florida Anthropologist |
A FORT ON THE FRONTIER
Those growing up on Walt Disney and John Wayne movies have vivid memories of the log frontier fort with the army inside under attack by whooping Indians. While most movies are fiction, the reality of military life during an Indian war is one place where fiction meets life. Fort Foster was a log frontier fort constructed in December 1836 as a supply depot for army forces trying to force removal of Seminole Indians to the West. It also defended a key bridge over the Hillsborough River that was on the Fort King (present day Ocala) road connecting Fort Brooke (present day Tampa). A reconstruction of this fort is open to the public at Hillsborough River State Park.
During the reconstruction of the fort, there were discussions about what it looked like. Contemporary sketches from the period indicated that at least some of the forts in the Florida war resembled the forts seen in western movies with palisades of spiked, upright logs with blockhouses either on all four corners or on two opposite corners. Eventual archaeology and a map of the fort from 1836 verified that indeed the fort was similar to those “movie” forts.
On March 24, 1837 Brevet Major Richard Augustus Zantzinger of the 2nd Artillery Regiment arrived at Fort Foster to relieve the command of navy Lieutenant Thomas L. Leib. Lieb had arrived at Fort Foster in early January 1837 with a detachment of sailors and marines to relieve a previous command. Shortly after his arrival, Leib’s command came under attack. Leib wrote that the Seminoles had “fired into the fort” and “The moment they fired, they yelled and departed.” Later, Seminoles tried to burn the Hillsborough River bridge and Leib reported “The discharge of one of our field pieces, and a volley of musketry, put them to flight not however without returning the charge.” Zantzinger’s command consisted of mostly artillery personnel from the 1st and 2nd Artillery Regiment consisting of some 180 men. With this many men it was not possible to house all the troops within the fort so most were camped outside the walls in tents protected by palmetto roofs.
While Indian attack was always a threat, as with many wars, sickness was the real enemy. Beginning in April, the assistant surgeon at Fort Foster, J. H. Baldwin reported that “the number taken sick has been much increased. This is not surprising when we consider the number of causes conspiring to render this post unhealthy. In addition to . . . the river we are surrounded by marshes, which when exposed to the sun, must be a fruitful source of miasmatic inhalations.“ Based on this and later reports, the men encamped outside the fort were moved to a drier area, 7.5 miles away. In early June all troops at Fort Foster were removed. It was reoccupied in October only to be abandoned forever at the end of May 1838.
Fort Apache used in the John Wayne Film of the same name and the TV show Rin Tin Tin, from matterhorn1959.blogspot.com |
1836 Map of Fort Foster, from the National Archives |
Present day Fort Foster |
CRYSTAL RIVER MOUNDS BECOME FAMOUS
On March 18, 1903, Archaeologist Clarence B. Moore was in the middle of the first of three field seasons excavating the mounds at Crystal River Archaeological State Park. Moore arrived in the area on or about March 11 on his steamer Gopher to begin mapping and excavation of a mound and other sites located in what is now a National Historic Landmark. Moore had been working his way down the upper west coast of Florida since January of that year visiting a number of reported Native American archaeological sites.
Moore was not a formally trained archaeologist, but made significant contributions to the knowledge of archaeological sites in the southeastern United States. After retiring from his family business at age 47, he devoted the next 25 years to his study of southeastern archaeological sites. He built an 85' stern wheeled steamboat named Gopher in Jacksonville in 1895. It was his primary method of reaching the sites. He is acknowledged as a significant and respected amateur archaeologist. He kept detailed notes and was a prolific writer of articles about what he found during his travels. Most of notes are still available today.
Early 20th century archaeology was certainly not as advanced and sophisticated as today's profession. Moore relied on reports from locals about possible mounds. He describes locating the Crystal River complex by seeing "a great, symmetrical shell heap" on the left side of the river as you went upstream. North and east of this shell mound was a large sand mound approximately 70 feet by 10 feet 8 inches. Moore describes the method he used in excavating this mound: "Eighteen men, with four men to supervise, dug seven days, demolishing the entire mound and going through much of the elevated ground surrounding it." Using this method, Moore located about 225 burials along with many artifacts including some with very unusual decoration.
Moore returned two more seasons to Crystal River in 1906 and 1918. Moore hired local labor to do the physical work and it was not always easy to find help. On Jan. 25, 1906 he wrote in his journal "Reached Crystal River this evening from the north and went aboard Gopher which lay a short distant below the town. . . . Spent all day at anchor near Crystal River having decided it was impossible to secure labor for the mound on a day when the circus was in town." During the second year his crew excavated the remaining portions of the sand mound, locating even more burials and artifacts.
The Crystal River complex was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990. In spite of Moore's report that he demolished the main mound, many important features remain to this day, preserved as one of Florida's premier and most famous archaeological treasures.
March is Florida Archaeology Month. Floridians are encouraged to learn more about archaeology and Florida's rich cultural history.
http://flpublicarchaeology.org/FAM/
On Friday, March 22, at 8 p.m., visitors have the opportunity to see the mounds at Crystal River Archaeological State Park in a different light. Moon Over the Mounds features a guided walk on a .75-mile paved side and short grassy trail with an archaeologist or volunteer. Free but donations are welcomed by the Friends of Crystal River State Parks.
C. B. Moore, courtesy of Florida Public Archaeology Network |
Moore's Map of Crystal River Site, from The Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |
A REFUGE FOR MARINERS
On March 12, 1909 the steamer Frances lost power off Flagler Beach due to a line fouled in her propeller. The line was removed and the Frances continued her trip. The next day a gas launch was disabled in the same area and towed to Ormond Beach. Edwin A. Lapp was the man who provided assistance to both of these vessels. He was the keeper of the Bulow House of Refuge, a unit of the United State Lifesaving Service (USLSS). Ten houses of refuge were built in Florida between 1875 and 1886. They stretched from Biscayne Bay on the south to the Bulow House of Refuge on the north. The site of Bulow is located on the beach at Gamble Rogers Memorial State Recreation Area at Flagler Beach.
The houses of refuges were unique to Florida. The USLSS operated lifesaving stations and lifeboat stations with crewed boats dedicated to actively assist with rescuing crews and passengers from shipwrecks along the American coastline. The houses of refuge were intended to be places of shelter for victims along the Florida coast. In 1886 the USLSS published "Instructions to Mariners in Case of Shipwreck" which included the following description of the facilities: "Houses of refuge are supplied with boats , provisions and restoratives, but not manned by crews; a keeper, however, resides in each throughout the year, who after every storm is required to make extended excursions along the coast with a view of ascertaining, if any, shipwreck has occurred and finding and succoring any persons that have been cast ashore."
Bulow House of Refuge was constructed in 1884 and was known as Smith's Creek House of Refuge until about 1903 when the name was changed to Bulow House of Refuge. Lapp was the second keeper; its first keeper was William Wallace. Lapp's and the other keepers' families lived in the house and were prepared with food and other necessities for up to 25 stranded survivors of shipwrecks or to provide aid to vessels and their occupants in other ways.
Some examples of assistance provided at Bulow can be gleaned from reports from the keeper to the USLSS. "A man lost his way, provided food and shelter." "Gas launch Dart, engine was disabled, towed Dart to Daytona." " Sloop, no name, owner ran her ashore ½ mile S of station during night because of heavy and dangerous seas. Upon reaching her found one man seriously ill w/fever and took him to station where he remained (for nearly a month). Keeper assisted in launching the sloop which proceeded to Indian River."
In the late nineteenth century the coast of Florida was sparsely populated and there were no coastal roads below Daytona. If you were wrecked or disabled along the coast you were on your own. The Houses of Refuges, including Bulow, were an oasis in the wilderness where stranded travelers could get shelter until they were deactivated in 1915.
Bulow House of Refuge as a US Coast Guard Station after 1924, from Florida Park Service Files |
Portion of a 1905 Nautical Chart indicating the location of the House of Refuge, courtesy of the US Office of Coast Survey, Historical Map and Chart Collection |
PRELUDE TO THE BATTLE OF NATURAL BRIDGE
It was chilly and foggy on the morning of March 2, 1865 at the Confederate defenses at St. Marks where a small unit of three soldiers was stationed. The old Spanish fort, now San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park, was awaiting an expected invasion by Union troops. To the southwest was the assault fleet including the naval steamers Mahaska, Honduras, Magnolia, Stars and Stripes, Spirea and Fort Henry and the schooners O. H. Lee, Matthew Vassar and Two Sisters near the Ochlocknee River Buoy. The fleet was commanded by Lieutenant Commander William Gibson. Aboard the USS Magnolia and USS Honduras were the 99th U. S. Colored Infantry, units of the Second U.S. Colored Infantry and units of the Second Florida Cavlary (dismounted). Four days later these troops would engage Confederate forces, including cadets from the West Florida Seminary (now Florida State University) at the Battle of Natural Bridge, reenacted every March at Natural Bridge Battlefield Historic State Park.
The Magnolia had departed Key West carrying the 99th on Feb. 22 and stopped at Cedar Key to take on the Second U.S. Colored Troops and the Second Florida Calvary units. The Honduras picked up other units of the 2nd US Colored Troops at Punta Rassa, near present day Fort Myers. The plan was to land the troops near the St. Marks lighthouse on March 4 and march them to Newport to cross the St. Marks River. On March 3 the fog lifted and the invasion fleet weighed anchor and went to sea to avoid being detected by Confederate spotters. The ships returned after dark and attempted to cross the St. Marks bar. A gale came up, forcing the ships to remain beyond the bar. It was not until the morning of March 4 that the ships could approach the lighthouse. The Spirea and Honduras ran aground as they approached Light House Island. The troops were not unloaded until late that afternoon. Such were the difficulties of landing an invasion force during the Civil War. In addition to the troops, their artillery, horses, wagons, equipment and ambulances were also unloaded that afternoon.
The Confederates had been preparing for the attack. Shortly before the Union fleet arrived, the fort at St. Marks was fortified with guns from the Confederate gunboat Spray. The Confederate forces also sank a flat-boat to block the river below Port Leon, just south of Newport. At the time of the invasion they were also preparing pens of mortised logs filled with stone to create a channel where sharpened pine logs would be placed facing down river to prevent boats approaching the port. It appears these preparations were never completed.
This brief description provides a glimpse of the activities surrounding the arrival of the Union troops and some of the shore side preparations by the Confederate forces for the invasion. The engagement at Natural Bridge resulted in Union troops withdrawing from the field and eventually returning to garrison duty in and around Fort Taylor in Key West.
Cadets from the West Florida Seminary, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
USS Mahaska, courtesy Naval Historical Center |
FLORIDA'S CANAL
On Feb. 27, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson detonated an explosive charge to initiate the construction of the Florida Cross-State Barge Canal. In his remarks Johnson said "God was good to this country. He endowed it with resources unsurpassed in their variety and their abundance. But in his wisdom the Creator left something for men to do for themselves. …Today we accept another challenge. We make use of another resource. We will construct a canal across northern Florida to shorten navigation distances between our Atlantic and our Gulf Coasts. When this canal is completed, it will spark new and permanent economic growth. It will accelerate business and industry to locate here on its banks. It will open new recreation areas."
With this explosive charge and speech, the construction of the canal was started in Florida. A short seven years later, President Richard M. Nixon ordered construction on the canal stopped in response to an outcry from environmentalists lead by Marjorie Harris Carr. They were concerned about damage to the Ocklawaha River and related environmental areas. It was not until 1991 that the project was fully de-authorized.
The idea of a canal across Florida was proposed as early as 1567 by King Philip II of Spain. The king was surely hoping to find a safer passage for his gold bearing ships than the one around Florida. A canal was also proposed in 1818 by Secretary of War John C. Calhoun again to reduce losses from shipwrecks and piracy. On March 1, 1861 the Florida Railroad from Fernandina to Cedar Key opened, creating an overland shipping route in place of a canal.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt allocated emergency recovery funds to begin work on the canal, but in response to protests about damage to the aquifers in Florida the project was cancelled. In 1942 it was reauthorized as a national defense project, but funds were never authorized for construction.
President John F. Kennedy authorized planning for the canal to begin in 1963 resulting in the initiation of construction in 1964. The objective of the project was the same as in 1567, a route across Florida to shorten time and provide for a safer route for ships leaving the Gulf of Mexico headed to North Atlantic ports. Many regard the campaign to stop the canal in the late 1960s as the root of Florida's environmental movement.
Following de-authorization in 1991, the disposition of the land that had been acquired for the canal became a political issue in Florida. Ultimately the property became the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway which is today managed by the Florida Park Service, named after a leader of the movement to stop the canal's construction.
An interesting footnote is that Florida did get a canal across the state 370 years after King Philip II proposed it when the Okeechobee Waterway was completed, creating a water route for boaters across Florida from Fort Myers to Stuart.
President Lyndon B. Johnson speaks at the ground breaking for the Florida Cross-State Barge Canal, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
Construction Barge on the Florida Cross-State Barge Canal, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
AFRICAN AMERICAN TROOPS AT OLUSTEE?
"As we approached the battlefield, the cannonading became positively terrific, and drowned all other noises. ... After standing some time, firing away at the enemy whom we could just see between the trees, the colors advanced and the whole line followed with a cheer. At this the rebels opposite were seen to break and run." This is an account by Captain Robert Ralsten Newell of the advance of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment onto the battlefield at the Battle of Olustee on February 20, 1864. The 54th was one of three African American units that participated in the largest and most significant Civil War battle in Florida.
The Battle of Olustee was fought just west of Lake City near the railroad station of Olustee. The site is now Olustee Battlefield Historic State Park where the battle is reenacted each year (this year Feb.16 & 17). Federal troops commanded by General Truman A. Seymour met Confederate troops commanded by Brigadier General Joseph Finegan on the morning of Feb. 20. Approximately 5,000 troops were involved on each side. Seymour's troops retreated from the field in defeat after a three-hour battle.
In addition to the 54th Massachusetts, the 8th United State Colored Troops and the 35th United States Colored Troops (1st North Carolina Colored Volunteers) participated in the battle. African American soldiers were controversial on both sides during the war. Many thought them inferior and unable to hold their own in battle. The 54th, which was the first African American regiment organized in the North, proved this idea to be incorrect. During the regiment's first engagement against Fort Wagner on Morris Island, South Carolina in 1863 they lead an assault losing their commander and half their men killed, wounded or missing. They never retreated while waiting for reinforcements to arrive.
The 8th were the first African American unit in the field that day at Olustee as part of Hawley's Brigade. The 35th and 54th were held in reserve and were called in at the end of the battle to cover the retreat. A report in the Boston Journal describes the action of the African American troops: "All these troops went into the fight in fine style. The 54th Massachusetts sustained the reputation they earned at Fort Wagner, and won the commendation of all who saw their splendid behavior. They fought like tigers … and so did the 1st North Carolina … never shrinking, never cringing. The 54th Massachusetts (colored) went into the fight with a cheer. They fought gallantly and lost heavily, all the accounts we have seen concur in giving the praise only due to brave and courageous troops to the Negro soldiers." A report praises the African Americans at Olustee in the Nashville Daily Union: "They went up at the double-quick when our advance was nearly destroyed and saved the left from being turned, in which case the whole force would have been annihilated."
The African Americans were not the only heroic soldiers in the battle, but their role here is a very important example of freed men battling to free their brethren from slavery. There were nearly 2,000 casualties in the battle including 296 killed between the two sides. In February we celebrate the many contributions of African Americans in our history and the many soldiers, white and black, who fought that day at Olustee, especially those who suffered or died.
Members of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, taken from the Website of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company A, reactivated in 2008 as the Massachusetts National Guard's ceremonial unit |
An 1894 Lithograph Depicting the African American troops at the Battle of Olustee, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
WHO REALLY BUILT THE OVERSEAS HIGHWAY?
An article in the February 16, 1906 Ocala Star Banner, reported that work would soon begin on a construction camp at Bahia Honda, in the vicinity of what is now Bahia Honda State Park, for Flagler's Oversea Railroad. A reporter, N. B. Clausen, from the Philadelphia Inquirer toured these camps in the winter of 1906 and gives us some insight into the workers and their living conditions.
Twelve construction camps were in operation between Key Largo and Key West. Approximately 3,000 workers were housed at the camps including 750 African Americans. The camps were segregated as was the work. The African American workers were tasked mostly with clearing vegetation and right of way while the white workers did the concrete and rail work. The only outside contact was by company boats that transported workers to and from Miami and provided supplies. Clausen stated, "They are cut off from civilization even more so than a mining camp in the Black Hills of Dakota fifty years ago." Pay averaged $14.00 per month after deductions for food and incidentals. Workers received an advance for the cost of transportation to Jacksonville where they were transported on the Florida East Coast Railroad's trains to Miami.
Camp number 8 was located on Windley Key near what is now Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park. The workers were housed in tents and were reported to be in good spirits. Many of the workers reported that after nine weeks they only had saved enough to get back home. The camps were supposed to be free of liquor. However, entrepreneurs brought boats to nearby keys and sold whiskey for a reported $5.00 per quart. The consumption of alcohol along with gambling resulted in many of the men not saving much of their wages.
Clausen visited Camp No. 9 on Indian Key which is now Indian Key Historic State Park. There were 220 men housed there. The principal complaint of the workers was about the food. Clausen described the food as "average construction camp 'grub.'" The typical meal consisted of lima beans and pork, Irish potatoes, bread, coffee and apple sauce. Supply boats arrived with food supplies about three times a week and brought fresh meat. Other meals included sausage, tripe, cabbage and porridge.
Both the workers and management reported that many men recruited from up north came hoping for a nice warm winter, only to find the working conditions very hard. There were frequent outbreaks of typhoid fever. One veteran worker stated: "The men that went back home did not come down here to work; they wanted to get out of the cold weather. " Of 5,000 workers recruited, only about 3,500 ever made it to the camps and many left soon after. Many refused to board the trains once they got to Jacksonville. It was the hard work of both white and African American men who made the railroad and ultimately the highway to Key West a reality.
Camp No. 9, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
Camp No. 8 at Windley Key, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
LAND FOR SALE
An 1882 letter to the editor of the Key West Democrat protesting an article implying that a recent freeze had killed the vegetable crop noted that a freeze on Feb. 6, 1882 had done only "slight" damage in a few locations. The author went on to describe the Manatee County area as "the garden spot of Florida." Following the Civil War, central and southern Florida were marketed to northerners as places where winter vegetables could be raised. The expansions of the railroads and the manufacture of ice made it possible to ship produce to the north in winter and Florida was a prime target for this new industry. It is during this time that the origins of Florida's winter vegetable and fruit industry began.
In the same article, its author suggested that if you wanted to go into the vegetable cultivation business, you should go on "Cofield Plantation" were the lands are "thoroughly adapted to the culture of early vegetables." Cofield Plantation refers to the plantation originally developed by Major Robert Gamble, Jr. The remains of the plantation were acquired by George Patten in 1873 from Robert M. Davis and John C. Cofield, who had purchased the tract from Gamble in 1858. Patten then began selling small tracts of the property, hence the reference in the above article to the Cofield Plantation as a good place to go if you want to raise vegetables.
Major Gamble of Tallahassee, described in his own words, how the plantation on the Manatee River began, "In 1844 I carried ten of my negro men to the river and commenced operations . . . I found myself again living on the frontier there being no white face between me and the Everglades . . . Upon my arrival I found the dense hammock tenanted by intelligent men nearly all mechanics of great skill . . . the nearest town, a mere village, was Tampa some forty miles to the north."
Between 1844 and 1858, when he sold the property, Gamble developed the plantation into a 3,300-acre sugar production facility with a large sugar mill, warehouse, saw mill and a 10-room, columned mansion. At one point, 190 slaves worked the property and lived in 57 houses. Cofield and Davis continued to operate and expand the plantation until 1862 when they were forced to leave due to the Civil War. During the war, the mill fell into disrepair, either destroyed by Union troops or local residents. Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin is thought to have used the house as a hide out from pursuing Union Troops. It is believed that he escaped to the Bahamas and eventually to England. The mansion survived the war and a devastating hurricane in 1921. The United Daughters of the Confederacy purchased and saved the mansion in 1925 and turned it over the Florida Park Service in 1949 for a state park, Judah P. Benjamin Confederate Memorial at Gamble Plantation Historic State Park.
Gamble Mansion Damaged in 1921 Hurricane, Florida Park Service Collection |
Confederate Veterans Visit the Restored Gamble Mansion in 1927, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
BULOWVILLE DESTROYED
A little over a month after Major Francis Dade’s command was attacked by Seminole Indians (see Week of January 7), the sugar plantation known as Bulowville near today’s Ormond Beach, Florida was destroyed by Seminoles on or around January 31, 1836. The remains of the sugar mill are now Bulow Plantation Ruins Historic State Park. Dr. J. Rhett Motte described finding the remains of the plantation’s headquarters, “We resumed our march through heavy sands and occasional swamps . . . when the ruins of Bulow’s noble mill and mansion pointed out our resting place for the night . . . .On our left arose through the calm twilight of a summer’s eve the ruined arches and columns of the once stately sugar mill while before us lay a smoldering, ashy heap, the only vestige to show where once stood the hospitable mansion, before the dark demon of ruin commenced his riots.”
John J. Bulow inherited the plantation from his father, Charles W. Bulow in 1823. Over the next 13 years young Bulow expanded Bulowville into one of the most successful plantations in East Florida with more than 2,200 acres in cultivation with sugar and cotton, the large sugar mill and saw mill, and a nice home many times described as a mansion. Between 300 and 400 slaves worked the plantation and resided in 40 houses.
At the time of the Dade incident, bands of Seminoles were threatening attacks in many locations in Florida including along the east coast among the plantations from New Smyrna north to Fernandina.   On December 28, 1836 Major B. A. Putnam, Company A of the East Florida militia, known as the Mosquito Roarers occupied Bulowville as the unit’s headquarters from which they could defend the nearby plantations. Upon their arrival, Bulow strongly protested their occupation of his plantation. -It is believed that Bulow had good relations with the nearby Seminoles and feared the presence of the troops would trigger an attack. Putnam reported that Bulow “continued to fire upon us with a four pounder, charged with powder . . . .” A witness reported that Bulow was so rude that the “officers took possession of his house and would not admit him to their mess at his own table.”
After several engagements with increasingly larger and larger bands of Seminoles, reportedly in the hundreds, the Mosquito Roarers abandoned Bulowville, evacuating the many local residents who had sought refuge on the plantation. It was after this that the Indians attacked the defenseless property and destroyed Bulow’s 13 years of work, never to be restored.
A portion of Bulow Sugar Mill Ruins shortly after becoming a state park-1954 courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
Major Benjamin A. Putnam, Commander of the Mosquito Roarers, courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
THE TRAIN THAT WENT TO SEA
A headline in the New York City newspaper The Sun on Jan. 23, 1912 read "Key West Rejoices in Honor of H.M. Flagler-Great Celebration Marks the Arrival of First Trains on Oversea Railroad." This referred to the arrival on Jan. 22, 1912, of the first ever train to Key West. An estimated 10,000 people greeted the train carrying Henry M. Flagler, scion of the Florida East Coast Railroad and a hotel empire, Florida's Governor Albert W. Gilchrist and many of Flagler's friends and business associates.
Flagler first conceived of the 120-mile railroad in 1899. It took 12 years, three major hurricanes and the lives of many workers to achieve the wonder of Flagler's "Oversea Railroad." A 1906 hurricane with reported 125 mile per hour winds washed a houseboat with more than300 men onto the reef. Men from the boat washed up on the shores of Cuba days later. Bridges under construction and equipment were swept away like toys. In spite of these setbacks, Flagler's dream came true on that day in January 1912.
The celebration lasted two weeks. Two additional trains arrived shortly after the first. The second train carried a Congressional delegation and foreign dignitaries. A third train brought the public who had purchased tickets to be among the first to arrive by train in Key West. There were speeches, dinners, balls, gaily decorated homes and businesses throughout Key West.
The Florida Keys Overseas Heritage State Trail today crosses the concrete bridges built for the railroad; Bahia Honda State Park has a segment of the Bahia Honda Bridge accessible to the public; and Windley Key Fossil Reef Geological State Park is the location of a quarry fossilized reef material used to help construct the engineering marvel.
On Friday, Jan. 25, 2013 at 11 a.m., staff and living historians at Bahia Honda State Park will reenact the excitement of the first train to Key West. Visitors will gather on the Gulf side of the Old Bahia Honda Bridge and "meet" Henry Flagler and other travelers to learn about this era.
Henry Flagler's Train Arrives in Key West, Courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
Bahia Honda Railroad Trestle Under Construction, Courtesy of Florida Photographic Collection, State Library and Archives of Florida |
WORLD WAR II AMPHIBIOUS TRAINING IN FLORIDA
On Jan. 16, 1943 the 3rd Engineer Amphibious Brigade completed training in combat boat and support operations at Camp Gordon Johnson near Carrabelle, Florida. The gulf beach at Bald Point State Park was designated as one of the areas (the others were on Dog Island and at Carrabelle Beach) where landings were practiced for eventual amphibious assaults during the latter part of World War II. The 3rd Brigade was assigned to the camp to provide boat transport and logistics support for the combat troops being trained for amphibious assaults. After training operations ceased in late 1943, the brigade was reassigned to the Southwest Pacific where a number of its divisions saw action.
During World War II, Florida was one of the major centers for troop training for the American military with 172 separate military installations in the state. Many places that would eventually become state parks were used for training and/or defensive operations and are too numerous to name in this short essay. For example, part of the land were Jonathan Dickinson State Park is located was known as Camp Murphy and was a top secret radar training facility. Nearby Dr. Julian G. Bruce St. George Island State Park was used as a practice bombing range.
The objective of the training at Camp Gordon Johnson was to provide an opportunity to mount full scale amphibious landings complete with all the support that would be needed for those assaults. In earlier training in other parts of the country, the training areas were so small that only parts of an invasion force could train at one time which did not allow commanders to completely understand the logistical problems inherent in these complicated actions. During those exercises, today's beautiful, quiet beach at Bald Point resembled a true battlefield with explosions, obstacles to interfere with the landing craft, barrage balloons floating above, hundreds if not thousands of troops firing rifles and running and crawling across the beach as landing craft circled offshore waiting for their turn to unload their human cargo. The camp operated from Oct. 15, 1942 through late 1943.
Many of the units that trained at Camp Gordon Johnson later saw action. The 38th Infantry Division went ashore at Normandy on July 22, 1944. The 28th Infantry Division saw combat throughout the Philippines. The 4th Infantry Division trained at the camp in September 1943 and would later spearhead the Normandy Invasion on Utah Beach. This division sustained more than 22,000 combat casualties on its march through Europe and had four members earn the Congressional Medal of Honor including its assistant division commander Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. It is certainly possible that some of those men who went ashore and lost their lives on D-Day, crawled and walked on the beach at what is today Bald Point State Park, thus forever linking that land to one of the most pivotal events in world history.
Two LSTs advance on Utah Beach carrying 4th Infantry on D-Day. |
Balloon over Carrabelle. |
FLORIDA'S FIRST CONSTITUTION
On Jan. 11, 1839, after 41 days, 56 delegates meeting in convention approved Florida's first constitution. The convention met in St. Joseph in western Florida, which was founded in 1835 and by 1837 had become the most populous town in the state with 6,000 inhabitants. As with many political gatherings, the delegates had several contentious issues. Delegates from east Florida, west Florida and middle Florida came with varying views including whether Florida should pursue statehood or become two states. They were also concerned about two controversial issues: slavery and state support of banks. The presiding officer, East Florida Superior Court Judge Robert Raymond Reid, remarked "that each of us had… become imbued with and attached to his own views; that some of us had pledged ourselves to particular doctrines before the people; that there were sectional interests, and even personal feelings to perplex and annoy us." Another writer said that during the convention "Fierce and angry discussions, stormy and turbulent debates arose…" In the end, compromise, the leadership of Reid and level heads prevailed. Florida got its constitution.
The United States Congress ratified the new constitution in 1845 and Florida became a state. By that time, the booming town of St. Joseph had been destroyed and abandoned by a yellow fever epidemic and a hurricane, not to be resettled until the early 20th Century as Port St. Joe. On Jan. 11, 1923, a monument was dedicated in the town in honor of the delegates. The story of St. Joseph and the First Constitution Convention is told at the Constitution Convention Museum State Park.
First Page of a copy of the Original Constitution, the signed original being lost |
Robert Raymond Reid served a chairman of the convention. |
COMMEMORATING DADE'S BATTLE
On Jan. 1, 1836, the last of three wounded American soldiers staggered into Fort Brooke in Tampa. These men were privates John Thomas, Ransom Clarke and Joseph Sprague, who were the only survivors of 102 officers and men under the command of Major Francis L. Dade who were attacked by Indians on the Fort King Road north of Fort Brook on December 28, 1835. Clarke and Sprague would relate the story of the attack of more than100 Indians and African Americans just north of the Withlacoochee River. These Indians and allied African Americans, led by Chief Micanopy, were part of a faction of Florida Indians who had decided to resist their removal from Florida to Arkansas and eventually Oklahoma. This event was the first battle of the Second Seminole Indian War which would last until 1842 and be one of the costliest in American history. It is also the most notable and storied military action in Florida history.
This battle remained fixed on the public's conscience into the 20th Century when in 1921 the Florida legislature authorized the purchase of the battlefield as a memorial to Dade and those who were killed during the battle. In 1922, a memorial was erected at the park that is today Dade Battlefield Historic State Park. Between 1922 and 1949 the park was developed and managed through the Dade Battlefield Commission and in 1949 became a state park. On January 5 and 6, the 33rd reenactment of this famous battle will be held at the park.
Do Your Best, a painting by Jackson Walker |
This monument was erected at the park in 1922. It no longer exists. |
