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Fort Myers
KNOWLEDGE OF Fort Myers
The Seminole Indian Wars during the 1840s and 1850s brought about the construction of several union forts along the Caloosahatchee River to serve as a base of operation for federal troops. One was Fort Myers, named after Colonel Abraham C. Myers, chief quartermaster in Florida. It fell into disuse until the Civil War when it became an important outpost and was reoccupied.
Four hundred years before in 1521, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon introduced cattle into the territory. They roamed the wide-open ranges freely without care, thriving on wild grasses and the plentiful Palmetto. During the Spanish occupation of Florida, large herds were raised, providing beef, tallow for candles and hides.
When Florida became an American territory in 1821, people from the north began resettling here, many bringing their own cattle and breeding them with the Spanish cows. Raiding Indians and white outlaws were serious problems. Another was loss of stock by wolves, panthers and bears. These early cattle ranchers eventually developed the stronger and bigger Angus and Hereford cows. The Florida cattle industry flourished, as colorful and wild as the Old West, complete with hard-riding cowboys known as “Crackers because of the popping noise from their whips, cross-country roundups, and tales of gun fights and rustlers.
Sanibel Island saw its first settlers in 1833 as part of a private New York land investment program. Although it didn’t last long, the colonists petitioned the United States government for a lighthouse since commerce over water was increasing. In 1884 the beacon of the Sanibel Lighthouse was turned on.
During the Civil War, Florida cattle were an important source of food to the Confederate Army. With a ready market, many ranchers shipped their cows by steamboat up the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee Rivers and sold them at Columbus, Georgia, where there was a major trading post.
With the destruction of the economy in the Southern states after the war, the first wave of settlers found a new home in Fort Myers where a school, theatre, banks, hotels and shops were built.
Also after the war, the US cattle market died but a new one opened in Cuba. The cows were rounded up from the open Florida ranges and herded through the Old Fort Myers area to Punta Rassa, a busy little town with an 800-foot wharf, hotels, cow pens, and a few saloons. The cows were loaded onto clipper ships bound for the Spanish country which paid one gold coin for each cow, about $15 in those days. It was common for cattlemen to carry leather bags filled with gold coins. Tales of buried gold abound today since few trusted banks then.
In the 1830s, a compulsory dipping law for cattle was enforced to eradicate the fever tick. This required ranchers to build fences and control where their cattle roamed. The grazing territories for cattle changed and the open ranges became more restricted. Today, Florida’s oldest industry is still a major business. The state ranks third in the nation in cattle production.
Four hundred years before in 1521, Spanish explorer Ponce de Leon introduced cattle into the territory. They roamed the wide-open ranges freely without care, thriving on wild grasses and the plentiful Palmetto. During the Spanish occupation of Florida, large herds were raised, providing beef, tallow for candles and hides.
When Florida became an American territory in 1821, people from the north began resettling here, many bringing their own cattle and breeding them with the Spanish cows. Raiding Indians and white outlaws were serious problems. Another was loss of stock by wolves, panthers and bears. These early cattle ranchers eventually developed the stronger and bigger Angus and Hereford cows. The Florida cattle industry flourished, as colorful and wild as the Old West, complete with hard-riding cowboys known as “Crackers because of the popping noise from their whips, cross-country roundups, and tales of gun fights and rustlers.
Sanibel Island saw its first settlers in 1833 as part of a private New York land investment program. Although it didn’t last long, the colonists petitioned the United States government for a lighthouse since commerce over water was increasing. In 1884 the beacon of the Sanibel Lighthouse was turned on.
During the Civil War, Florida cattle were an important source of food to the Confederate Army. With a ready market, many ranchers shipped their cows by steamboat up the Apalachicola and Chattahoochee Rivers and sold them at Columbus, Georgia, where there was a major trading post.
With the destruction of the economy in the Southern states after the war, the first wave of settlers found a new home in Fort Myers where a school, theatre, banks, hotels and shops were built.
Also after the war, the US cattle market died but a new one opened in Cuba. The cows were rounded up from the open Florida ranges and herded through the Old Fort Myers area to Punta Rassa, a busy little town with an 800-foot wharf, hotels, cow pens, and a few saloons. The cows were loaded onto clipper ships bound for the Spanish country which paid one gold coin for each cow, about $15 in those days. It was common for cattlemen to carry leather bags filled with gold coins. Tales of buried gold abound today since few trusted banks then.
In the 1830s, a compulsory dipping law for cattle was enforced to eradicate the fever tick. This required ranchers to build fences and control where their cattle roamed. The grazing territories for cattle changed and the open ranges became more restricted. Today, Florida’s oldest industry is still a major business. The state ranks third in the nation in cattle production.
Chapi