In a time before air conditioning, lanai screens, and pest control, earlier settlers to what today's newer residents would consider less than paradise etched out a life in Charlotte County. Much like the old west, Florida in the 1800s was one of America's frontiers. And also like the West, it was cattle country.... with yes "cowboys."
Supposedly first brought to Florida by Ponce de Leon in 1521, cattle became a leading export of America, and Florida the leading exporter. Organized ranching began in St. Augustine in 1565, where wild herds, owned by the Spanish and Indians, roamed the open ranges and prairies. Eventually Spanish colonists began exporting cattle to Cuba. By 1700, Florida contained about 34 ranches and 20,000 head of cattle. After Indian raids in 1702 and 1704 brought an end to Spanish domination of the Florida cattle industry, Indians became the primary cattle barons in Florida. Many had large herds of wild cattle and stock acquired from the Spanish. The Seminoles stayed as Florida's major livestock producers throughout most of the 1700s, until white settlers began arriving in the 1800s and ultimately drove most of the Seminoles from Florida by the mid-1850s.
When the U.S. took possession of Florida in 1821, it was described as a "vast, untamed wilderness, plentifully stocked with wild cattle. As new settlers came they mingled some original herds with breeds imported from northern Europe resulting in the Florida Cracker cattle. "Cracker" has more than one attribution: one from the sound of the bullwhips used by Florida cattlemen or cowboys used to drive the cattle another from a term used in Scotland for sheep herders.
Early Florida cattlemen had more to contend with then their western counterparts. They battled panthers, wolves, bears, in addition to cattle rustlers and Indian raids. They spent weeks or months on cattle drives across marshes and dense scrub woods. They had to struggle with all-consuming heat, intense rains and lightning, and hurricanes winds. From central Florida they drove cattle as far as Jacksonville, Savannah, and Charleston. Then when the cattlemen re-established trade with Cuba in the 1830s, the drives were shortened and Punta Gorda and Charlotte Harbor became an important focus for the Florida cattle industry. In fact, during the Civil War, Jacob Summerlin smuggled beef to the Confederates by shipping it out of present day Charlotte Harbor.
You only have to drive the roads to the east of Punta Gorda to witness what remains of Charlotte's large cattle lands or visit Babcock Ranch to get a sense of the Florida Frontier experience. This coming weekend that Frontier Heritage will be celebrated at Bayshore Live Oak Park on Thursday and Friday, March 25 and 26 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM, and Saturday, March 27 10 AM to 4 PM. There will be exhibitions of frontier trades and crafts and lots of fun activities for the kids. For more information: http://charlottecountyfl.com/Historical/FloridaFrontierDays/2010FFDflyer.pdf
Supposedly first brought to Florida by Ponce de Leon in 1521, cattle became a leading export of America, and Florida the leading exporter. Organized ranching began in St. Augustine in 1565, where wild herds, owned by the Spanish and Indians, roamed the open ranges and prairies. Eventually Spanish colonists began exporting cattle to Cuba. By 1700, Florida contained about 34 ranches and 20,000 head of cattle. After Indian raids in 1702 and 1704 brought an end to Spanish domination of the Florida cattle industry, Indians became the primary cattle barons in Florida. Many had large herds of wild cattle and stock acquired from the Spanish. The Seminoles stayed as Florida's major livestock producers throughout most of the 1700s, until white settlers began arriving in the 1800s and ultimately drove most of the Seminoles from Florida by the mid-1850s.
When the U.S. took possession of Florida in 1821, it was described as a "vast, untamed wilderness, plentifully stocked with wild cattle. As new settlers came they mingled some original herds with breeds imported from northern Europe resulting in the Florida Cracker cattle. "Cracker" has more than one attribution: one from the sound of the bullwhips used by Florida cattlemen or cowboys used to drive the cattle another from a term used in Scotland for sheep herders.
Early Florida cattlemen had more to contend with then their western counterparts. They battled panthers, wolves, bears, in addition to cattle rustlers and Indian raids. They spent weeks or months on cattle drives across marshes and dense scrub woods. They had to struggle with all-consuming heat, intense rains and lightning, and hurricanes winds. From central Florida they drove cattle as far as Jacksonville, Savannah, and Charleston. Then when the cattlemen re-established trade with Cuba in the 1830s, the drives were shortened and Punta Gorda and Charlotte Harbor became an important focus for the Florida cattle industry. In fact, during the Civil War, Jacob Summerlin smuggled beef to the Confederates by shipping it out of present day Charlotte Harbor.
You only have to drive the roads to the east of Punta Gorda to witness what remains of Charlotte's large cattle lands or visit Babcock Ranch to get a sense of the Florida Frontier experience. This coming weekend that Frontier Heritage will be celebrated at Bayshore Live Oak Park on Thursday and Friday, March 25 and 26 9:30 AM to 2:00 PM, and Saturday, March 27 10 AM to 4 PM. There will be exhibitions of frontier trades and crafts and lots of fun activities for the kids. For more information: http://charlottecountyfl.com/Historical/FloridaFrontierDays/2010FFDflyer.pdf
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