Ecology of South Florida (EVR 3013) LECTURES 8 & 9

S. FL HISTORY AND RESOURCE USE

HENRY FLAGLER'S SONG

I invented Florida when I was old.
We lived in New York City in the cold.

I was retired from oil, I had some wealth;
Mary, my first wife, was in poor health.

We road in my private railroad car.
Ah, the warm south surely would be her cure.

The winter we steamed into Jacksonville
Where I drew up Florida like my will:

I said I would bequeath to future men
Of wealth and station a temperate garden

By the sea which they could reach by yacht or rail
Where they could toast the sun with ginger ale.

Now in my holy city of St. Augustine,
My hotel Ponce de Leon can be seen:

Its many courts and cool retreats with fountains,
Water spraying from the mouths of dolphins.

That my civilization would prevail,
That all Florida could be coasted by rail

I built my roadbeds, bridges down the entire state.
Now its length my hotels punctuate.

My conquest is a land of orange trees,
Palms, Bougainvillea, and warm salt seas.

After God, as artist, I have created most and best:
St. Augustine, Palm Beach, Miami, Key West.

It did no matter much that Mary died,
In Florida I found a younger bride.

Robert Watson (1980) [in Jones and O'Sullivan 1995]

From: Everybody has a Cousin in Miami

It's hard to believe this city started as a a trading post.
Home to the Seminole, pirate and pioneer,
Between the River of Grass and the Old Mosquito Coast
Before the railroad claimed this southernmost frontier.

J. Buffet

I. HISTORY

A. Pedro Menendez de Aviles

In 1565 Pedro Menendez de Aviles took refuge from a storm in Biscayne Bay - one Tequesta Indian was taken to Havana and another to Spain, Menendez returned in 1567 and established a mission, which was abandoned in 1570 (Tebeau)

B. Father Rogel and Brother Villareal

Father Rogel and Brother Villareal were missionaries on Biscayne Bay 1567 for two years.

C. St. Ignacio mission, 1743

The Spanish did not attempt to settle the area again until 1743, when they established the St. Ignacio mission on the southern bank of the Miami River. Mission closed in 1744.

D. The English

Seven English families may have lived in the area in the late 1700's

E. Pedro Fornells

Pedro Fornells received a grant from the King of Spain for 175 acres on Key Biscayne in 1790

F. Other grants

Several other large grants were issued in the early 1800's

G. Sailors

During this period, sailors stopped in the region to collect water and firewood. Wreckers also visited on occasions

H. Cape Florida

Oldest manmade structure in Dade Cape Florida light 1825

I. Richard Fitzpatrick

By mid 1830's there were few settlers in Miami Region. Richard Fitzpatrick bought up Spanish land grants on both sides of the Miami River. Abandoned after the Colee massacre. Fitzpatrick sold plantation to his nephew William English. English left Miami in 1849 for the California Goldrush, never to return. After the End of the Civil War in 1865, settlement resumed. (MDC 1982).

J. Ft. Dallas

Ft. Dallas was established in 1834, during Second Seminole War

K. Dade County

Dade Co. formed 1836, great state of Dade extended from Jensen to N end of Key Largo

L. Principal settlements

Principal settlements included Biscayne Bay, Waveland - n county line, St. Lucie, Jupiter, Elliott's Key

M. William Brickell

In 1870, William Brickell bought 640 acres (from English's heirs) on the south side of the Miami River and established a trading post.

N. Joseph Ewan

Joseph Ewan obtained the Ft. Dallas property on the N side of the River and operated a trading post in competition with Brickell (MDC 9182). Principal settlements were Cutler, Lemon City and Coconut Grove.

M. Julia Tuttle

In 1873 [ In 1891 according to MDC 1982] Julia Tuttle, the mother of Miami, bought 640 acres on the N side of the Miami River.

N. Agriculture

By 1884 much of Elliott's Key was under cultivation, large pineapple plantations until soil depleted and market declined in early 1900's (p. 114)

O. Deliverance, Florida-style

The first settlers in the Ten Thousand Islands are believed to have been a Scotsman, his wife and two daughters, and an Englishman who were shipwrecked on their way back from Virginia, over a hundred years ago. "Their inbred progeny exists to-day on one of the biggest of the northern isles as a tribe of giant white men, whose minds are the dwarfed minds of six-year-old children, and who have five fingers and five toes instead of four." (Tebeau p. 83).

P. Original Black Leaf 40 Insect Killer

His associates attributed his immunity to his habit of eating a half plug of Brown's Mule chewing tobacco each morning, thereby producing what might be called the "Original Black Leaf 40 Insect Killer." (Tebeau p. 90)

Q. Flagler

Flagler extended the railroad to Miami in 1896.

R. The tomato

Coming of the railroad - the tomato became the king of winter vegetables (p. 119)

S. Southern cooking, Florida-style

Prickly-pear pie and possum for Christmas dinner (Pierce p. 56)

T. Plows and cows

Plows and cows were absent before drainage (p. 56)

U. South Dade life

One woman in South Dade wrote:

"There was a wet man
He had a wet wife
And four wet children
He lived a wet life .... "

II. Cultivated Plants

A. Staple Foods

Sweet potatoes and pumpkins staple of early settlers (p. 102), baked ground sweet potatoes coffee substitute (p. 109), sweet potatoes eaten baked, stewed, fried, raw, potato pone with bread (p. 109)

B. Tomatoes

1867-1877 first attempt to grow tomatoes for northern markets failed until better transport developed (p. 114)

C. Coconuts

Providentia wrecked Feb 1878 with load of coconuts. Rabbits ate young coconut shoots grown on Miami Beach (p. 171)

D. Other introductions

Pineapples were introduced to Lake around 1879, from Key Largo, sugar cane the same time (p. 119) but the sugar cane syrup proved to be too salty and was given up (p. 128)

E. Cultivated crops

avocados	bananas	Bermuda onions	cabbages	citrons	coconuts	dates
eggplant	figs	sweet potatoes	guavas	lemons	limes	tomatoes
mangos	oranges	sugar apples	pineapples	pumpkins	sapodillas	peppers
sugarcane		grapefruit		mamay apples		turnips

F. Twine

Wheat harvesting in Kansas required twine. Yucatan had monopoly on sisal. Florida Fiber Co. 1300 acres near Ft. Lauderdale

III. Wild Plants

A. Lightwood

Lightwood was used for fire (p. 86) and for firehunting (p. 138)

B. Palms

Heart of palms (p. 108)

C. Buttonwood

Buttonwood for firewood (p. 110)

D. Mastic

Mastic ashes were used for soap making (p. 111)

E. Mahogany

Mahogany wood was used to make sugar cane mill rollers (p. 120) and for fine construction during the British and Spanish periods (Tebeau)

F. Coontie

Coontie was important for early settlers in Biscayne (p. 155)

G. Red mangrove

Red mangrove used to tan deer skins p. (p. 163)

H. Hats

Hats from palmettos and coconut leaves (p. 127)

I. Black mangrove

Black mangrove smudge (Tebeau p. 155)

J. Ritual Use

Christmas trees were cut from the woods, pine cones and occasionally coontie fruit as ornaments (p. 49)

K. Crabwood

Crabwood used in making fancy walking canes and buttons (Pierce p. 41)

L. Ferries

Ferries made of yellow pine (p. 32)

M. Insect Control

Homeowners kept a bunch a palmetto leaves outside to knock off mosquitos before entering Flamingo (Tebeau p. 155) and small fires topped with green pine needles to control mosquitos (Checkered Sunshine p. 25)

N. Trade

Indians came in with chickens, eggs, or huckleberries to sell or trade, huckleberries for as little as $.20 per gallon (p. 140)

O. Mangroves

Mangrove bark extraction factory 1910 (Tebeau p. 117)

P. Roofing

Palmettos used as roofing but had to be replaced every 2-3 years (Pierce p. 54)

Q. Road building

Pine logs and palmetto roots to make corduroy roads

R. Shack construction

Cypress & palmetto (Checkered Sunshine p. 25)

IV. Wild Animals

A. Food

deer, turkey, sandhill cranes, heron and ibis of every description (p. 146)
wild turkeys, ducks in the winter (p. 210)
jewfish, redsnapper (p. 82)
wild turkeys, ducks in the winter (p. 210)
heron, crane, curlew, snipe, plover
coots and coot gizzards eaten (Tebeau p. 164)
hunted gophers (p. 9)
turtle eggs - loggerhead, green turtle, hawksbill, and leatherback (Pierce p. 58)
turtle meat (Pierce)

B. Plumes

blue and white heron plumes $.25 each
snowy egret plumes $.25 each (p. 127)

C. Whale

sperm whale (p. 82) $500 of oil from part of a whale (Tebeau p. 114)

D. Crocodiles and Alligators and Snakes

crocodile skin (p. 85)
alligator fat used to make soap (p. 110)
1911-1913 gator hides $3-$6 each
rattlesnake skins $3-5 each (Checkered Sunshine)

E. Skins

deer, wildcats, coons, possums, panther, otter

F. Miscellaneous

gathered swallow tail kite eggs for collectors $7.50 to $15 apiece (Tebeau p. 93)
hawksbill - tortoise shell of commerce (Pierce)

V. FLORIDA BIOTA VII: ANIMALS (birds)

LECTURE 9: REVIEW

FROM: TO THE TOURISTS
Here comes the tourists . . .the TOURISTS THE TOURISTS!
The wives and the children of eminent jurists,
The teachers of and preachers, reformists and purists,
Artists and writers and caricaturists,
The famous and infamous, snobbish and wealthy,
The sick and the well and the Here-For-Their-Healthy,
Notorious gangsters, the bold and the stealthy.

Southerners, Westerners, Creoles and Yankees
And girls who wear bathing-suits smaller than hankies.
Britishers, Mexicans, Cubans, Brazilians,
Paupers or people with fabulous millions.
Folks from the city and state of the nation
Seeking beauty or pleasure or wild dissipation.

Don Blanding (1941) [in Jones and O'Sullivan 1995]

I. OPEN REVIEW

II. FLORIDA BIOTA REVIEW

Back to start, Back to lecture 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, Take the Practice Test