On Sunday the 23rd Margie, me & the fur kids….
took a camping road trip to Lake Kissimmee State Park…of course any adventure is not without some minor mishap or the like…Margie had step probems had to find some bungies to tie them up..then she was on her way…we met up at the park found our sites & settled in…by that time it was late afternoon and Kissimmee Cow Camp exibit was closing about 4:30…so off we went on her scooter/golf cart thing to the camp….This is only open on the weekeds so it was now or never for this visit…
i was particulry intrested in this as i had just finished reading Land Remembered by Patrick D. Smith…it is an historical ficition about Florida in the 1800s….it was about the cow hunter who “popped cattle” out of the Florida wilderness branded them and drove them year round on long cattle drives to Punta Rassa on the west coast and shipped to Cuba..
A little about the Florida cow hunter …he was similar to that of the western cowboy…Roundups…rustlers…long cattle drives and a fair share of violence were a way of life…the important difference between the cow hunter and the cowboy of the west ..the marshes…hammocks and flatwoods of Florida prevented the use of the lariat which was very effective on the open ranges of the west..Instead the cow hunter used trained dogs and a whip know as a drag to drove the cattle…the loud crack of the drag (whip) moved the cattle and signaled to other cow hunters…because of this the cow hunters became known as “ Crackers” ….the loud crack of the whip….
In this cow camp you will meander down the trail to the cow camp and travel back in time to 1876…at the end of the trail you will find a Florida Cow Hunter (park ranger & he did a good job portraying the cow hunter) in a frontier camp along the route of a cattle drive…He will be cooking…making coffee …tending the cattle and other duties of the the job….
the cow camps were built along the cattle drive routes the camp consisted of a holding pen for the cows and primitive shelter for the men… most likey the had a wagon loaded with cooking supplies…the lean “scrub cows” are descendents of the Andalusian cattle brought to North America by Spanish Explorers…
The cow hunters were paid in gold Spanish Doubloons …this became the common currency in the south Florida frontier…
we got there just before closing but the Ranger was kind enough to tell us some of the tail of the cow hunters and give a demo of cracking of the whip…it makes a very loud noise… heard it way before we got to the camp Margie though it was gun shots…it was very very intresting wish we could have made it earlier and see the whole demo…
Cowboy (cracker) camp with chuck wagon….
I had this post startes some time ago but for some reason I used up most all my data on my Jet Pack…so had to wait on new month start…We had a great time on this trip…and i have more to tell…all for now thanks for looking and come back soon…GM&P
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