seminolewar

If any of you don't know yet, I am on Facebook. We have two groups there for reenactors, my Seminole War History and Florida Wars Reenactors. I find that it is easy to post a bunch of photos in an album for people to view, so in the last couple days I put up about 100 images from Seminole postcards on my photo album. Check it out. Look me up, Christopher Kimball, and look for my photo albums with the postcards, and photos from past reenactments. You have to join--it's free, and it has been a great way for the reenactors to network.

I had some friends go to Boston recently and visited the USS Constitution. I would really love to do that one day. I am glad they got the chance to go there.

I know that for someone who is really into living history, you want to dress up in the clothes and do living history wherever you go. There is certainly an urge to do that. And our vacations usually consist of visiting historical sites.

I have had to step back from the reenacting and living history the past year because of a family situation. I only did three events this past year: the 1812 Grand Tactical in Maryland, Fort Chokonikla at Paynes Creek, and Fort Cooper. Circumstances prevented me from going to other events. But I enjoyed doing three good events, and not a bunch of little ones. And it looks like this next year might be similar, with one or two other events added.

Just to let everyone know, since I am certified as a historic weapons firing and blackpowder safety by the state parks & NRA, I will need to be invited to certain events to attend them and fulfill these functions. But that is another thing for another time. Let me get back to the main topic.

Anyway, my friends who went to Boston apparently dressed up in their 1830s Seminole clothing, and I saw one who even set up a shelter. I can understand why they did it, but these days I do not go to events where I would be dressing and portraying someone out of context of that place and time.

But I no longer go to other parks and museums and dress up as historic people who were not there. If it is a general, historical timeline, then sure.

I hope my friends do not hate me for saying that, and it was certainly not meant to slight them or what they did. For me, it is just not what I would do anymore. 15 years ago it would have been different, and I would have done that. During those years I would jump at every chance to wear the Seminole clothing. But now, I am very careful to do the living history in its proper context.

Now if I went to Fort Niagara and did a Native impression that was part of the program, that would be fine. But I would not go to a civil war event dressed as a Seminole when that was not part of the history. (And I did do just that very thing in the past.) For what I do now, it is only in the proper context for the interpretive statement of this historical site. Unless it is the general, historical timeline.

But I loved seeing those photos of old Boston and the USS Constitution.

I am getting ready to take apart my computer. So if something goes horribly wrong, then I should go ahead and post the "this day in history" for Seminole War events for July.

1 July 1836 - Creek War Chief Jim Henry surrenders. General Scott declares the Creek War in Georgia & Alabama over, but his announcement is premature. 84 year old Neamathla and hundreds of his warriors are marched 90 miles in chains from Fort Mitchell to Montgomery, Alabama. Scott’s report estimates that there are only about 200 Creeks still at large in the swamps or on their way to Florida.

3 July 1836 - The Battle of Chickasawhachee Swamp in Baker County, Georgia ends with defeat for the Creeks. Georgia Militia soldiers rout the Indians from an almost impenetrable island in the swamp and secure all the Indian’s supplies and food.

4 July 1841 - Coacoochee is held as prisoner to convince other Seminoles to surrender.

7 July 1837 - Skirmish between Creek Indians and the local militia on the Shoal River (Okaloosa County.)

10 July 1836 - Battle of Brushy Creek. The Georgia militia pursues and attacks Creeks retreating into Florida. At the beginning of the battle, the Indians have the advantage, but with the arrival of more troops, they are forced to retreat and disappear into the swamp. The Creeks left in such a hurry that babies were found abandoned and dead.

The same day there is a skirmish on the Alapaha River in Georgia.

12 July 1840 - Skirmish at Cow Creek Hammock.

12 July 1849 - Four renegade Indians attack a settlement north of Fort Pierce.

13 July 1840 - Skirmish near Fort Pleasant; two soldiers killed.

16 July 1840 - Indians attack Fort Russell.

16 July 1841 - Skirmish at an Indian camp on the Oklawaha River. One soldier is killed while charging alone into the camp.

17 July 1812 - The Florida Indians finally have enough of the raids by the American plantation owners. The Spanish governor allows them to attack Georgia with the aid of former slaves. The Seminoles start by attacking illegally established American settlements on the St. Johns River.

17 July 1841 - Skirmish near Camp Ogden.

17 July 1849 - A group of four renegade Indians attack the store on Paynes Creek, killing two clerks and chasing away the others. This starts the “Panic of 1849” when many forts in Florida are reactivated with a threat of another war. It is never known if the renegades acted alone, or were part of an aborted Indian uprising.

19 July 1836 - Battle of Welika Pond near Micanopy. 250 Seminoles under Osceola ambush 52 troops guarding a supply wagon, but the troops defend themselves until reinforcements arrive.

21 July 1839 - Skirmish “between Forts Frank Brooke and Andrews.”

22 July 1813 - Battle at Tuckabatchee. Red sticks attack the town and drive off the Creeks who are friendly to the United States. This is the beginning of the First Creek War.

23 July 1836 - Spanish Indians attack and burn the Cape Florida lighthouse.

23 July 1839 - Seminoles under Chakaika & Hospetarke burn a trading post on the Caloosahatchee River during a night raid. Many soldiers are killed, but Colonel William S. Harney escapes. General Macomb’s agreement is now considered voided.

24 July 1836 - Skirmish near Wesley Chapel, Stewart County, Georgia. Creeks defeat and drive away a company of Georgia Militia.

25 July 1836 - Battle of Nochaway. A Company of Georgia Militia under Major Jernigan pursues the Creeks and engages them in a fierce fight in “Echo-a-noch-away” swamp on Nochaway Creek. The soldiers are out numbered and forced to withdraw from the battle.

26 July 1824 - Governor DuVal removes Neamathla as head chief of the Seminoles and has him replaced by Tuckose Emathla (John Hicks).

26 July 1840 - Skirmish near New River Inlet.

26 July 1857 - An army boat company captures a Seminole camp on the Kissimmee River near Lake Okeechobee.

27 July 1813 - Battle of Burnt Corn Creek in Southern Alabama. Alabama Militia ambushes Creek Chief Peter McQueen’s supply train coming back from Pensacola with 1000 lbs. of gunpowder. The Creeks are driven off, but they return and retake the supplies from the militia and scatter the force. The militia soldiers who attacked McQueen’s caravan were from Fort Mims northeast of Mobile.

27 July 1816 – An American ship on the Apalachicola River comes under fire from Negro Fort, a fortification of escaped slaves and Indians that was built and supplied by the British at the end of the War of 1812. A red-hot cannon shot from the American ship hits the fort’s powder magazine and immediately destroys the fort in a huge explosion. The American Creek Indian allies loot the remains. Most all the 300 people who were inside the fort are killed instantly by the explosion.

27 July 1836 - Georgia militia forces continue to battle the Creeks in the swamp of Nochaway Creek. It is a very hard fight until the soldiers attack the hammock from two different sides and drive out the Creeks.

27 July 1836 - Battle on Travers plantation on the St. Johns River. The army surprises a group of Seminoles but has to retreat when they are out-gunned.

28 July 1836 - Skirmish at the mouth of Black Creek at Ridgely’s Mill. A group of soldiers bringing horses from St. Augustine to Garey’s Ferry are attacked by a large number of Indians.

29 July 1822 - Governor DuVal issues a proclamation against whites doing unethical trade against the Indians or settling near Indian towns, but is powerless to enforce it.

29 July 1840 - Skirmish on the Wekiva River in central Florida. Soldiers locate and overrun Coacoochee’s camp.

I went to the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum at the Big Cypress Reservation to catch their exhibit about the Code Talkers. I think it is in its last week.

Not only is the exhibit about the famous Navajo Code Talkers, but the Native Americans who served in WWI and WWII and sent messages in their native languages to foil the enemy. Many tribes took part in this work, and the Comanche and Choctaw are known for having talkers.

Below is the Choctaw talkers in 1918.

Native Americans were not made U.S. citizens until 1924.

The Navajo Code Talkers took it to the next level. Not only sending messages in their native language, but using a code of that language. So even if the Japs captured a Navajo who could speak the language, they still would not be able to understand their messages that they were sending.

Then the Seminole Tribe highlighted two veterans who served in WWII.

Howard Tiger:

Howard Tiger volunteered for the Marines and fought in the Pacific. He was on the hill at Iwo Jima when the flag was raised in the famous photograph. He was in some of the toughest fighting against the Japanese, and suffered post war traumatic stress syndrome, although nobody back then was treated for such.

After the war he served as a tribal chairman and was actively involved with coaching tribal youth activities. He died in a tragic accident in the 1970s.

Moses Jumper Sr.:

Moses Jumper Sr. served as an underwater demolition frogman in the Navy.

After the war he wrestled alligators with his wife, Betty Mae Jumper, who also sold crafts. We know their son, Moses Jumper Jr., who joins us each year at Dade Battlefield, the Big Cypress Shootout, and a few other events.

Fear and Anxiety on the Florida Frontier
Articles on the Second Seminole War
1835-1842
by Joe Knetsch
2008, Seminole Wars Foundation

Dr. Joe's book is a collection of his various articles and essays on the Seminole War. So it is therefore not so much a history on the war, but small windows into lesser known incidents and people of the war.

A prevailing theme seems to be the general panic and horror these people were facing during the war. The future was uncertain, and people fled from their homes, leaving behind all their possessions and running to the safety of the local forts needing government rations and assistance. Life inside the fort could be even more dangerous than outside. There is one case where a private at Fort Micanopy killed his wife and was put on trial.

Dr. Joe writes about incidents in the war that have been forgotten or ignored. He has an excellent chapter that explains the Spanish fishing rancheros at Charlotte Harbor, and how the United States broke them up. Not so much to prevent trade to the Indians, but to end a Spanish industry that was still supplying fish to Cuba. And even more intolerable was that peoples of different races and color lived and worked equally, while Florida entered the union as a slave territory. Breaking up the rancheros seems to have been more an issue of control with keeping the political & economic system in the south from being threatened by this anomaly where people of mixed race can live free and as equals among each other. I never completely understood about the fishing rancheros in the war and what happened until I read this chapter. But this is just one chapter in the book, while there are many others.

(Below) Lighthouse & museum at Charlotte Harbor today, Gasparilla Island State Park.

Another chapter deals with the Battle of Dunlawton, and how it was more significant than people have paid attention to it in the past. The Seminole's victory over the Florida volunteer militia exposed major flaws with the state militia and totally destroys their confidence as an effective fighting machine. Because of early Seminole victories over the militia and small number of federal troops in Florida, the Seminoles pretty much had almost full control over the interior peninsula within the first month of the war.

Dr. Joe shows that all the top Army officers tried and failed to remove the Seminoles from Florida. Officers in charge all used the tactics they were familiar with to try and round up the Seminoles, but still failed. Officers of the infantry, artillery, engineers, logistics and master tacticians all tried their hand. The environment that the Seminoles hid themselves in made it impossible to remove them. Each of the generals (and colonel) in charge of the forces in Florida ran their campaigns differently than their predecessor, and still came to the same conclusion that nothing could work. And junior officers under them realized this almost immediately from their field notes and journals reprinted in the book.

The cover of the book has a Jackson Walker painting of Osceola being taken as a prisoner through the streets of St. Augustine. This happens to be one of my favorites of Walker's paintings. I guess the publishers wanted a good cover jacket, but there is nothing in this book that deals with Osceola. What is expressed in the book is the people in the paintings, who are looking from the balcony or closing the shutters even when the prisoner poses no threat to them.

(Below) Jackson Walker painting that is the cover of the book.

This next discussion came out of several conversations from some of my different friends over the past few weeks, and I felt a need to share it. But when I started writing, it became way too involved and complicated, so I had to shorten it down to the bare minimum.

I hate to go back to this lesson again. I guess people want to find what their family lost over the last 175 years. They want to re-establish their culture that they lost. Their intentions were good, but their lack of experience and knowledge allowed things that should have never happened.

This time of year is when the southeastern people hold their Green Corn Dance ceremonies. The dates are different depending on the Grounds and geographical locations.

In Florida there are about four or five legitimate Grounds. There are a couple dozen in Oklahoma. I have heard of other grounds that people put together in south Georgia, north Florida, or Alabama, but those are not legitimate grounds.

Some of these new ceremonial Grounds in Oklahoma started up as a practice ground. People of a community would get together for stomp dances or community activities. After so many years, they can get assistance from an old legitimate ceremonial Ground to become a Square Ground. Anyone can create a practice ground, but it cannot just automatically become a Square Ground. But if you knew what it took to become a ceremonial Ground, it might totally change the way you understand the Creek and Seminole people.

Someone who does not have the genealogy and does not follow the traditional ways should never be allowed to become a leader in the community or Ground. I have seen bad people get control this way, who had no Muskogee-Hitchiti ancestry or knowledge of the old ways. One evil person present can destroy the whole harmony of the group.

The best example is Panther Bend. It was started about 20 years ago by people seeking to get back to their traditional ways. A non-Creek person came into the group, became a leader, and eventually a cult leader who did some terrible things. From what I heard, he finally ended up in jail. But along the way it really messed up the lives for many well-intentioned people who would have liked to have a community to belong too. There were some really strange things that went on and it was bad all around.

If only some people could have learned from that lesson, because I have seen it happen all over again on more than one occasion.

Here is what happened in the Florida War/History for June:

2 June 1837 - Osceola, Sam Jones (Abiaka), and Coacoochee appear at the Seminole encampment near Fort Brooke before dawn. By daybreak all the Seminoles (over 700) who have been waiting to emigrate, disappear into the Florida swamps with supplies of food and ammunition. Another cause for the mass exodus may have been a measles outbreak, or white slave traders in the area. General Jesup is humiliated and submits his resignation, but it is rejected.

4 June 1838 - Seminoles burn the abandoned Fort Dade and the bridge on the Withlacoochee River. The Seminoles disappear after a short skirmish.

9 June 1836 - Soldiers under siege at Fort Defiance use bold and unorthodox battle maneuvers to drive away Seminoles under Osceola.

9 June 1836 - Battle of Shepherd’s Plantation in Stewart County, Georgia. Creeks lure Georgia militia forces under Captain Garmany into an ambush and almost surround them. The Georgians retreat and are pursued by Creek warriors for three miles with several of the militia killed.

The same day, the steamboat Metamora, carrying Georgia militia troops, is fired upon by a large number of Creek warriors from the shore about 20 miles south of Columbus, Georgia.

11 June 1559 - Tristan de Luna y Arellano lands in Pensacola Bay but fails in his attempt to establish a colony after 22 months of hardships.

11 June 1856 - Secretary of War Jefferson Davis writes a letter to Florida Governor Broome critical of the behavior and non-commitment of the Florida militia.

12 June 1839 - Army patrol attacked by Indians near Fort Cross.

13 June-4 July 1740 - General James Oglethorpe from the English Colony of Georgia surrounds and tries to take St. Augustine, but fails. With Oglethorpe is a large force of Creek, Chickasaw, and Uchize (Yuchi) Indians, who raid northern and central Florida.

13 June 1842 - David Levy Yulee, U.S. Delegate in the House of Representatives for the Territory of Florida, said no sympathy should be given to the Indians of Florida since they are not the aboriginal inhabitants of Florida, and had only moved there recently. (Even though the Seminoles were in Florida before the Americans.) It is believed that he made this speech in congress to keep the war going, with government money and military support coming into Florida.

David Levy Yulee

14-16 June 1856 - The Battle of Tillis Farm near Fort Meade. Fight between a large force of Indians against the Tillis family and local militia. The battle continued the next two days along the Peace River. Many important white and Seminole leaders are killed, including Oscen Tustenuggee. The white and Indian accounts of the battle vary widely, with no real victory by either side. This is the most significant battle during the Third Seminole War because of the forces involved and the high casualty rate.

17 June 1838 - Army forces find and attack a Seminole camp in a hammock at Kanapaha Prairie. Captain Walker of the local militia who is acting as guide is killed, leaving the army command lost in the woods for several hours.

18 June 1812 - The War of 1812 begins as the United States declares war on Great Britain.

18 June 1836 - General Jesup battles and overruns Neamathla’s large village on Hutchechubbee Creek in Alabama. He had captured Neamathla a few days before.

18 June 1838 - Skirmish at the Ochlocknee River.

19 June 1835 – Seminoles and local settlers fight over cattle and reservation boundaries at Hickory Sink, south of what is today Gainesville. A small party of Indians engaged in butchering cattle are discovered by local militia soldiers who overpower and start whipping them. Two other Indians arrive and a gunfight ensues. One Indians is killed and another wounded.

22 June 1564 - Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere reestablishes Charles Fort, renamed Fort Caroline.

22 June to 22 October 1836 - A company of Florida Militia from Columbia County has several battles against the Creeks in the Okefenokee Swamp area, claiming to have killed and taken prisoner many Indians.

23 June 1800 - A large Spanish force sails up the St. Marks River and recaptures Fort San Marcos. William Augustus Bowles escaped with his few white supporters who were left.

25 June 1836 - The Secretary of War appoints Florida Governor Richard K. Call as commander of the forces in Florida.

25 June 1837 – A wood cutting party of five civilians lands on Key Largo and is ambushed by Indians. Ship Captain John Whalton and one sailor are killed.

After 25 June 1841 - Major General Winfield Scott becomes Commanding General of the U.S. Army after the death of Alexander Macomb. He holds this post until 1861.

26 June 1549 - Missionary Father Luis Cancer de Barbastro arrives in Tampa Bay to minister to the Indians, but is clubbed to death in the surf before he even reaches the shore.

28 June 1565 - Pedro Menendez de Aviles lands in Florida with a Spanish military exhibition to stop the French at Ft. Caroline, and establishes the town of St. Augustine.

I have heard from several folks that were at Westville this past month that one of the reenactors had language and behavior that was offensive and unacceptable. Foul and graphic language spoken out in public and language and behavior that everyone else found offensive. Not only yourself, but also your girlfriend. Even seasoned reenactors were offended. And this is the deep south in the heart of the Bible belt. Apparently several people have noticed.

I don't know if you will recognize who you are, but this behavior is unacceptable. If you want to continue in these living history programs, please discuss this issue with those of us who have been doing this for at least ten years.

Sure, I have seen stupid behavior and bad language, but it was always kept away from the public. Apparently it was out in the open for all to see this past event. And it makes the other reenactors look bad when one of their group is not on the best behavior.

Other reenactors and the public did not like it. There is even talk about asking you to not participate in any more events. People who are your friends took offense. Your friends feel that you have taken advantage of their friendship, and it is very possible they do not consider themselves your friends anymore.

We are representing people and times in the past. We are trying to educate the public about these people. I find it a great honor that I can do this. We are living history interpreters. We are park volunteers as well.

If I was recruiting and hiring a park volunteer, if they behaved like you did this past weekend, I can guarantee that the park manager and myself would tell you not to come back.

If your language and behavior cannot improve, then you will be asked to not participate in the events any more. If you continue to behave this way, maybe this is not the thing for you. If you want to do historical events, then find one where there is no public and this behavior is acceptable. Frankly, I don't know where this would be acceptable in any group that works with the public.

I have seen you at our events for a couple of years, but you have much to learn and have not seemed to grasp the concept of historical interpretation. When the public is around, we are at our best behavior. Not cussing and talking in an offensive manner.

So this is a warning. If you continue this way, then you will not be invited back to any living history event in the Florida park system. Trust us, we have had to do this before.

Our buddy Matt Griffin is graduating from high school tomorrow. Seems that we have known him almost his whole life. He started out as the little kid portraying the black Seminoles at Dade Battlefield, and is now a grown man. It went by so fast. He is articulate and can ride the horses at the reenactments like few others can.

Matt back when he was about 14 years old, and in the Orlando Sentinel!

He was already doing school programs back then. And has always had a great outfit.

I wish I could be at his graduation, but have to work the next day and can't make the long, round-trip drive. I thought I was off, but was mistaken.

Darn it all, but I know several of his friends from the reenactment will be there at Matt's graduation. And no telling what that group has in store for Matt!

Congratulation Matt!

A volunteer at the Audubon Corkscrew Sanctuary Swamp caught this panther on the boardwalk. The boardwalk is about 2.25 miles long, and the panther went along about 0.5 miles of it before jumping to the side.

Panthers have a walk that looks so casual they are in need of a lawn chair with a cigar & beer to top it all off.

We had a similar incident in our park in 2007 when a hiker on one of our trails followed a panther for about 15 minutes. They got a video of it, but we have never seen it. So it was nice to see this video with the panther strut!



Here is the story from ABC-7 news:

Rare daytime panther sighting caught on video:

COLLIER COUNTY: Volunteers at the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary caught a rare sight on video. The volunteers saw a Florida panther strolling on the sanctuary boardwalk and one of the volunteers recorded it on video.

The volunteers said the panther walked on the boardwalk for almost half a mile before jumping off and disappearing. Fish and Wildlife biologists say it’s extremely rare to see an endangered Florida panther, and especially during the daylight and to catch it on video.

Corkscrew volunteer, Dick Brewer, says he first thought the panther was a deer, but when he saw a long tail, he was shocked to discover it was indeed a Florida panther. Within seconds, he reached for his video camera and started recording the creature strutting its stuff on the boardwalk.

"I’ve been here 11 years and this is the first time I’ve ever seen an entire panther, and to see one on the boardwalk in daylight, it’s even more unusual", said Brewer.

The other volunteer with Dick Brewer was Phil Nye. He says he couldn’t believe his eyes.

"Well, first of all, you rub your eyes and say am I, did I have a bad night last night? Or, was this really a panther? And the answer was, yes, this was really a panther. Amazing," said Nye.

FWC panther biologists say the panther caught on camera is female and weighs about 100 pounds. Biologists say panthers are not aggressive and do not attack people, unless provoked first.

Right now, the FWC estimates about 100 panthers roaming the state of Florida.

Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, located at 375 Sanctuary Road West, in Naples, is open for visitors from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. every day between April 11 and September 30.

Between October 1 and April 10, Corkscrew is open to the public from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission to the boardwalk within one hour of closing is not allowed.

The Sanctuary may close when severe weather threatens. For more information on admission fees, call (239) 348-9151.

I tuned into the web cast of the Creek War Symposium at Auburn University

The Creek War can be considered either part of the War of 1812 as a separate theater of operations, or a whole different war within a war.

Unfortunately many fort and battle sites are not preserved in Alabama. And some landowners are absolutely hostile over the notion to preserve them. Hopefully this will change for the bicentennial of the war coming up.

Below: General Floyd's attack on Autosee, one of the major battles of the war. From what I have been told, the town and battle site at Autosee is one of the places that are not preserved, and the landowner is not willing to seek preservation.

Dr. Kathryn Braund from Auburn gave a good presentation on Creek warfare ritual practices. She emphasized that this was a Creek Civil War that split the nation. Red Stick became identified with those who fought against the United States, and destroyed their nation and culture because of it. After the war was over, remaining Muskogees strongly emphasized that they were not Red Sticks who had fought and lost against the United States; that they were peaceful.

Below: Natives in the southeast in 1814. It includes former slaves who became allies.

Jim Parker's presentation had an excellent picture of Steve Abolt, large as life.

The failure of the British to take Fort Bowyer at Mobile Bay in September 1814 caused the British to lose all interest and support with the natives when their Seminole and Miccosukee allies failed to attack the fort as land forces. This ended the British notion that the Natives would rise up, stand behind the King, and fully support them. The Natives did not volunteer to become cannon fodder!

Below: On the map of the battle of Fort Bowyer in Sept. 1814, on the bottom right behind the British battery, is "600 Indians." And 130 Royal Marines.

The treaty of Ghent saved New Orleans, because the British went back to Plan A, which was to attack by land from Mobile. The end of the war stopped that plan, which would have succeeded since they captured Fort Bowyer one month after the Battle of New Orleans. The next day word came in about the treaty being signed, and the forces stood down and prisoners returned.

Below: February 11th, 1814; Colonel Lawrence surrenders Ft. Bowyer to the British when the British batteries took up a position on the sand dunes above the fort ramparts.

The most interesting part of the talk that I found was the Native attitudes and attitudes of the Creek descendants. Ted Isham said it really isn't a subject they can talk about, especially not when they are at the ceremonial ground and need to maintain a different attitude towards the ceremonial functions. But even almost 200 years later, feeling are still strong, and it is difficult to talk about Horseshoe Bend and the 1,000 Creeks who died there.

Although many of the Creek descendants might not know much about the details of the war and events, they have these lingering questions that shape their opinions. Why were we attacked? Why did Jackson come down and fight against us that killed many of our people and destroyed our nation? Why were we removed from our homeland?

Below: Battle of Horseshoe Bend diorama from the museum at the national park.

The Creeks are still struggling with these questions 195 years later.

Today, the Muskogee Nation is the fourth largest Native American tribe in the U.S.

Call me a heartless bastard, but I think I can talk on this subject and be opinionated about it.

I am an Eagle Scout, and have counseled more scouts working on their eagle than I can think of. The scout troop that I grew up in now has over 60 Eagles since it's start 35 years ago in 1974. I was Eagle number six from that troop. For hundreds of kids who were in this troop, only very few made it to Eagle.

(Below: This is my old troop in more recent times. They are still my kids, and I am proud of them.)

Earlier this month a scout troop was hiking in Big Cypress National Preserve. It was the weekend of May 9th. There was no rain, and the drought index was almost as high as it can go. The temperatures in the afternoon were in the upper 90s, and I saw the thermometer peak at about 102. The month of May before the afternoon rains start in Florida can be absolutely miserable.

(Below: Typical hiking conditions in Big Cypress. Except it was dry, and you have all the limestone cap rock to walk over, and that is very uncomfortable.)

One of the 17-year old scouts with this troop hiking in big cypress collapsed and died from what looks like heat stroke or heat exhaustion. The tragic thing is that this should not have happened. I blame to troop for letting this very tragic event happened, especially the negligence of the leaders. They should have known better.

In Florida, every scout should be familiar with heat injuries, and it is required as part of first aid. They should know enough not to have a strenuous hike during times of extreme heat like it was that day. This lad died trying to hike 20 miles in one day, and along the Florida Trail that is well known as the most difficult and extreme portion of the trail. I know of other cases where the National Park Service has had to go out and rescue people who have called for help on that trail after giving up after only 4 or 6 miles.

In today's paper, they had an article where the troop wants to award the kid his Eagle Scout award posthumously. I am sorry, but I do not agree with awarding this posthumously. And like I said at the beginning, I am an Eagle Scout, and know what it represents.

You either finish it, or you don't. This kid did not finish all the requirements for Eagle. He was very close, but did not conduct and complete his service project yet. If you don't finish the requirements, you don't get the award. I know many kids who went this far and didn't complete their project--they didn't get Eagle. Are they going to posthumously award him the hiking merit badge that he didn't complete and died trying to fulfill the requirements?

If someone dies while running an iron man triathlon, is a gold medal awarded posthumously?

I know another scout who died working on a requirement for a merit badge. He was not awarded the pioneering merit badge posthumously.

The Eagle award is an award for the living. When I read the "Voice of the Eagle" at many Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremonies, one line I said is, "This is not an award for what you have done, but for what you will do. More is now expected of you." This award is an indication of someone who will do great things.

I am sorry that this promising young man had to die in these circumstances, which should not have happened. There are probably a lot of emotions involved in the push to give him the Eagle. I know that they are going to do it anyway. But if I were in that troop, I would find ways to discretely be absent from an Eagle ceremony where the kid is in a casket.

Also on my day off, I visit Coral Castle. You've probably heard of this place before. I saw it years ago on the program, "In Search Of."

The park handout sums it up if you haven't heard about it:
"This is the story of Edward Leedskalnin, a 5 foot tall 100 pound Latvian immigrant who spurned by the love of his life, his Sweet Sixteen, without any help, using only simple tools (block tackles, crude winches, iron wedges many of them homemade) excavated, carved and moved tons of coral rock."

To this day, 58 years after his death, nobody knows how Ed did it. He only worked at night in secret. Some people say he used magic. Others say he could control magnetism and bend the laws of physics.

The largest stone object is this 30-ton obelisk. Ed moved and erected it all by himself in only an hour. Witnesses tried to help, but were spurned by Ed and came back an hour later, and it was done.

Ed was hooked on astronomy. This little hole lines up with another stone obelisk that makes a perfect alignment with the north star Polaris.

Ed's banquet table in the shape of the state of Florida. A basin in the middle for Lake Okeechobee. There is one seat for Ed as governor, and ten for the state senators or his cabinet members. Ed had ambitions that never seemed to come to fruition.

Ed's throne room is under carved stones of the moon and planets. There are chairs for his Sweet Sixteen, and the children they never had.

The bedroom has stone beds for Ed, beside a bed for his Sweet Sixteen, and stone cribs for the children they would have had. It is doubtful that his Sweet Sixteen, left back in Latvia 30 years earlier, ever knew about his infatuation.

Then there is this 9-ton gate that once swung on a dime. It was so perfectly balanced that you could push it with a finger. Unfortunately it doesn't swing anymore, due to the park staff trying to renovate it.

And in the blockhouse is a collection of Ed's homemade tools. Also is a display of the odd, electrical and magnetic experiments of his. There is no description of what it was all about.

Was Ed a genius or a madman? Both, actually. How he ever accomplished it, was genius. But what he built, was definitely loony. The stone beds, the throne room, and the bathroom are all outside. No roof. Mad as a hatter!

Okay, I almost lost everything I just typed, so I am splitting up my adventure for today into more than one entry.

The Mahogany Hammock Trail at Everglades National Park was one of my favorites. It is similar to my hammock trail, but with some big mahogany trees.

There is also a lot of what I call Everglades palms, or Everglades Thatch palms here. I don't know why they call them everglades thatch palms, because the Seminoles and Miccosukees don't use these for thatching, but use cabbage palms instead. These fronds are too small.

And down to Flamingo, this is a nice view of a coastal salt marsh.

And at Flamingo, this is the Florida Bay. It was very breezy and pleasant. The only thing down here was the tour boats. The hotel and campground were extensively damaged during the hurricane season of 2005 and are still rebuilding.

And don't let me forget the all-too-familiar endless expanse of sawgrass.

And the mangrove islands with the bird rookeries.

The birds are one reason that this national park exists. Hunters were hunting the birds into extinction 100 years ago, and this park was eventually created to try and preserve them. There is no place else on earth like Everglades National Park. No other ecosystem like it. It is unique, and provided the water to countless fish breeding areas, and bird rookeries. If it didn't exist, neither would the birds, the fish, the shellfish, and many other species. And if they didn't exist, we probably wouldn't either.

I've been to Everglades National Park in Everglades City and at Shark Valley, but have not yet been to the main area of the park, south of Homestead. So having a day off and wanting to get out of the area, I went there today. I figured that it was the last day I would have before the skeeters got busy. I picked a good day, dodged the rain, and the skeeters were not a problem.

The Ernest Coe Nature Center is outstanding. I arrived about 25 minutes before it opened at 9 a.m., so I decided to continue down the road and catch the nature center on the way back.

First I stopped at the Royal Palm trail, formerly Royal Palm Hammock State Park before it became a national park.

There is a topical hardwood hammock here, but it is very different from the one at my park. Lots of Gumbo Limbo trees and Paradise trees. Here is a small paradise tree sprouting up in the dark areas of the hammock.

Maybe one reason why this hammock is so different is because 17 years ago Hurricane Andrew wiped out the hammock, so this is all that has grown up since then.

Next to this trail is the Anhinga trail, which I walked down. Unfortunately the pond is really dry and the Anhingas were elsewhere today. The Anhinga is one of my favorite birds because they are so different from other birds.

Looking back from the trail, I see the Royal Palms once again, and this area is also known as Paradise Key. There was once a historic lodge here, but I think it was wiped away by one of the hurricanes.

One thing that was a real treat for me was seeing the flowers from the Pond Apple trees along the boardwalk to the Anhinga trail. Pond Apples are like a pear, but the trees are actually citrus trees. They are native here, but in Austrailia they have become a very bad invasive exotic.

And the only action around the pond was a large alligator moving around.

I got hooked up on Facebook and have been doing a lot of short posts there. One of the friends I met there is Maria, who is a park ranger at Riverbend Park north of Palm Beach area, where the two battles of Loxahatchee happened in January 1838.

A lot of us park rangers have started to carry around small digital cameras to try and get some good shots when we come across something neat while working.

One of the photos she has got is something I have never even seen before, but know it can happen. A barred owl catching a rabbit for dinner. Check it out:

http://wildobs.com/rangergirl141/2008/6/13/Interupting-dinner

Curtis "Curt" Nickerson passed away on April 25, 2009, after a lengthy and courageous battle with cancer.

In 1959 when he was one year old, his family moved to Collier-Seminole State Park where his father became park superintendent. The park was very different than it was today. There was no boat ramp, and only the campground. The family probably lived upstairs in the blockhouse, and back then it didn't have air conditioning. Curt stayed in the area, graduated from a local high school, and was a licensed captain for charter and tour boats.

Curt was an avid motorcyclist and was active for many years with a local club here in Collier County. He raised money for many charities like, Toys for Tots, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the American Cancer Society. Also running benefits for countless needy families.

He is survived by his wife, two children, and one granddaughter. Over 500 hundred people attended his funeral. He was a really generous true human being who will be greatly missed.

When Curt was dying of cancer, the local restaurant and saloon, the Iron Rhino, ran a fund-raiser to help pay for his medical bills last March 21st. One of the campers in the park, E.F. from Sunrise, Florida, complained about the fundraiser, and wrote a letter to the state and county complaining about it. Well Mrs. E.F., Mr. Nickerson has died since then. Maybe E.F. should take her complaint to Curt's widow and children, or the countless people he helped. Or maybe E.F. should complain to the many charities that Curt raised money for.

In this world there are too many people like E.F. from Sunrise, Florida, and far too few people like Curt Nickerson.

I heard back from Jodie, who is publishing the journal in the post below this one. The Fort McRae that she talks about is near Lake Okeechobee, not the brick fort by the same name on the west side of Pensacola Bay. I didn't remember the one by Okeechobee!

I received the following email message from someone who is printing their gggg-grandfather's journal. It covers Fort Myers in the Third Seminole War. This is great, because eyewitness accounts are always valuable for doing research. (Although keep in mind certain points of view, of course.) I will post here when it is available and how to order a copy. I am printing her email here because it is a great promotion for the book.

I don't know if she is talking about Fort McRae in Pensacola. There were four brick forts around the entrance to Pensacola and Pensacola Bay: Fort Pickens, Fort McRae, Fort Barrancas, and the North Redoubt. If I had to be stationed at one of those forts, the worst one would be Fort McRae because it would be more isolated from town than the others. It is out on the dry, desolate, barrier island. Pickens was too, but was a large fort and had more of a community around it. Barrancas is within walking distance of the old ship yard, and the north redoubt is hardly worth mentioning.

During the Civil War the Union kept Fort Pickens, and thus effectively blockaded Pensacola. Of the four forts that I mentioned, three are open to the public as part of the National Parks under Gulf Shores N.P. Except Fort McRae, of which there is probably nothing left of it. Fort McRae was an odd design which did not survive over time, and fell into the sand.

Hi Mr. Kimball,

I just stumbled across your web-site and I am busy reading as much of it as I can. It is very fascinating and well done.

I have just finished working on a book that might be of interest to you. I have 257 letters that were written between my great great great great grandparents (the letters range from 1855-1870) When the correspondence begins between my grandparents they are stationed in Florida -- 1857 . The wife is at Fort Myers and the husband is at Fort McRae. There are 30 letters between them in a six month time period and many different forts are mentioned, living conditions are described and many people are named and talked about. It is a fascinating account -- after they correspond in Florida -- they move on out to the Nebraska Territory -- then on to the Civil War in Kentucky and Chicago. The husband ends up settling in Chicago after his enlistment and the wife and daughter because of health reasons settle in a small community in upstate Michigan. They correspond and occasionally visit. The husband dies suddenly in 1870 and the letters come to an abrupt halt. I have a lot of pictures and various artifacts that belonged to them and are pictured in the book. I hope to have the book published within the next few weeks. If you are interested, I will drop you a line when it is completed.

Jodie Sewall

Last week an incident occurred in Big Cypress where a European tourist was bit on the hand by a cottonmouth water moccasin. So I want to tell the story as a Mastercard commercial:

Digital Camera: $169

Airboat Ride in the Everglades: $40

Helicopter ride to hospital from the parking lot from Trail Lakes Campground / Skunk Ape Research Headquarters because you got bit on the hand trying to take a photo of a cottonmouth water moccasin: Unbelievable!

Note: He got bit over at Turner River, not at the campground / Skunk Ape Research HQ's. The parking lot at the campground was the closest place they could land a helicopter.