My Favorite Punta Gorda Mural -- The Cattle Drive Down Marion Ave., 1903

Standing in front of the stunning mural on Mike Rooney's, a local Punta Gorda attorney, office building gives you the uncanny sensation of being caught in the path of charging cattle being driven rapidly in your direction. At once somewhat frightening and at the same time awesomely beautiful.

This mural, more so than any other of the historical murals in Punta Gorda, brings the old town as it was over hundred years ago alive to me. I guess it's why when asked recently by a twitter follower which mural was my favorite, without hesitation, I named this one.

The theme alone is intrinsically linked with Punta Gorda's frontier history. It pays tribute to the Cracker Cattle (actually Andalusian/Caribbean cattle), a breed still raised by today’s Florida cattle ranchers. Florida's Andalusian/Caribbean cattle were the first in the United States. Some scholars believe that these cattle were brought by the expeditions of Ponce de Leon in 1521 and Don Diego de Maldonado in 1540, which escaped and survived in the wild. The mural covers the entire process of the cow hunt from drive to market. In the main scene, Cow Hunters are driving cattle out West Marion Avenue in about 1903. Two oval cameo scenes show the cattle held in pens and finally being moved through a single chute to be loaded on schooners (later steamboats) where they later were shipped to Cuba .

The mural also brings a focus on the Cow Hunters, so called because they actually had to find cows scattered throughout the woodlands, and the breed of horses and dogs they used in hunting, rounding up and managing the cattle. The rugged Florida-style cowboys were known to be independent, and while not well educated, very cunning, and not surprisingly unkempt. They kept the herd together by cracking whips next to the ears of the cows. It is said that this may be the source of the native Floridian name “Cracker.” Five well-know Florida Cow Hunters have been immortalized on the wall, their head shapes placed in the clouds. From left to right they were: Belford Goff, Corrie Guess, Rob Walker, Pat Johnson, and Charlie Slaughter.

In the end it's the detail of the mural that draws you in -- I could gaze at it for hours. It's really many paintings in one. Look at the cattle, the dogs and the costumes of the Cow Hunters, note the figures on the side of the street watching the parade of men and beast, the dust of the street. Overall I marvel at the artistic skills that it took to capture such a wondrous scene on this immense larger-than-life canvas for all who live and visit Punta Gorda to enjoy.

"The Cattle Drive Down Marion Ave., 1903" was painted by Michael Vires, and dedicated in 2007. For more information, go to the Punta Gorda Mural Society Website.

If you go, take Olympia from downtown Punta Gorda to Wood St. The Mural is on the northwest side of the intersection there. And look for the ghost riders in the sky.