A Land Remembered Historical Facts and Cultural Traits
Page Number
Historical Fact/Cultural Trait
1
Fifteen acres of land cost forty-seven dollars and fifty cents in 1909.
4
During colonial times, Pánfilo de Narváez, and other Spanish conquistadors as well as European settlers, came to America and killed those who did not convert to Christianity. They eventually wiped the Native Americans such as the Timucuans, Ais, Calusas, Apalachees, Jeagas, and Tekestas. British General John Moore killed over seven thousand Native Americans. War between the Europeans and Natives kept occurring and in Florida, led to the three Seminole Wars.
15
In the 1860’s, people survived in isolated areas by trading animal fur for supplies, making brooms from sage straw, soap from animal fat and lye, and preserved meat by smoking it.
20
Also during this time, it was against the law for Native Americans to be in Florida. While many were very prejudiced against them, some tried to help them.
24
During this time of the Civil War, it was not uncommon for Rebels (Confederates) to go to stores and take all their supplies, leaving just barely enough money to cover all their costs. This is because they couldn’t afford uniforms or food.
29
Carolina parakeets were very common for hunting because when one died, the rest would stand by the dead bird, helpless.
35
The Confederate Army had Cow Cavalries to herd cows for soldiers. State marshals had the right to recruit any men they wished for the drive.
37
Pastures for the cows could contain up to thirty thousand cows.
40
Some Rebels called Rebel Deserters would hide behind bushes and trees and steal as much as they could.
43
Confederate soldiers would be so hungry that when herds were brought to them, they would swarm the cows like flies and used every part of the cow. Nothing would be left. Also, cow drovers got paid a dollar a day.
48
The Confederate Army also recruited men to cut logs. They were especially needed when the Federals send thirty-five troop ships to the St. John’s River and try to stop the Confederate supply lines.
49
The Federals had also raided Gainesville at this time and took everything they could which included cows, mules, corn, and horses. They sent about five and a half thousand troops to Florida.
57
In 1866, the south lost the Civil War.
60
After the war, states such as Georgia and Alabama suffered from starvation since there was not much food left and the economy was bad.
61
A box of ammunition shells cost fifty cents.
62
Since the end of the war, there were many drifters who would steal from night campers.
63
The Seminole Native Americans always remember someone who has helped them in any way.
64
The Seminoles used koonti flour for their bread.
65
It is the Seminole custom for the guest to take the first bite of food from the communal spoon and pot.
66
In the Seminole tribe, the woman waits for the men to finish before eating.
71
It is the way of the Seminole people to repay someone if they have helped them in any way.
76
After the war, they set all black slaves free. However, this also led up to the rise of the Ku Klux Klan.
89
A one-gallon bucket of lard cost twenty-five cents in 1867 in Florida. A five-pound bag of coffee costa dollar. A tin coffee pot cost fifty cents. A hundred-pound bag of oranges would sell for five cents, or three dollars a tree. Out in the prairie, one cow would sell for four dollars. On the west coast, one cow could sell for twelve dollars or even more.
106
After the Civil war, many people in the south were still racist towards blacks.
127
In Punta Rassa, if a cow was fattened enough, it could be worth sixteen dollars.
130
After the Civil War, restaurants in the South did not allow blacks to eat in the main dining hall. They would have to eat in the back of the kitchen.
151
In the late 1800’s, people found entertainment at hoedowns where men and women would dance to music, most commonly played with a fiddle.
175
The Seminole Native Americans do not like to appear as beggars. They always pay their debts.
177
Also during this time, Native Americans were not allowed to own cows. Many were hung for killing a wild cow.
178
A Winchester rifle sold for fifty dollars.
180
Many people considered Native Americans as thieves, and if they were spotted with cows, they were killed, whether they were men, boys, children, or women.
195
Pay-Hay-Okee is what Seminoles called the River of Grass. Also, it is the Seminole way for a woman to ride behind a man, not in front.
198
A Native American woman does not sit beside her man while eating.
201
To cry at parting is not the way of a Native American woman.
219
In the late 1800’s, land could be bought for twenty cents an acre.
258
Land development and railroad companies started developing land beginning industrialization.
267
By 1892, construction workers would pay forty dollars for a dressed steer.
269
Also during this time, people went crazy for phosphate, almost as bad the Gold Rush.
271
Also, the price of cows had gone up to twenty dollars for a cow.
312
The Seminole tribe honors the dead with a broken spear and chanting. They also leave gifts over the graves such as a deer hide pouch, a carved wooden steer, a piece of alligator hide, and a cluster of egret feathers.
317
By 1893, land had developed even more with hotels, imported goods and clothing, theaters, and cafes. At that time, the Royal Poinciana Hotel was one of the largest wooden buildings in the world. It cost fifty dollars a night, and three hundred for suites.
318
By this time, Thomas Edison had already invented the light bulb and could be found in fancy hotels and stores.
325
Orange trees cost twenty-five cents.
328
“Miami” in the Seminole language means “very large.”
345
The Seminole way of letting the dead rest is to put them in a casket on top of the ground.
357
In 1898, the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor was sunk and was leading to the Spanish-American War.
370
The growth and development of land led to the destruction of many Native American lands in 1911. Trees were cut down and swamps were drained for farmland.
374
The word “cracker” originated from men who ran after cows, “cracking” whips.
375
A waitress at a café made twenty dollars a month.