Florida cattle: 500-year history, big biz in Sunshine State

"A lot of bull"
Florida State Archives

By Jane Feehan

Having recently read Patrick D. Smith’s A Land Remembered, a tale of early settlers and cattle ranchers in Florida, I was eager to research the genesis and current status of the beef business in the Sunshine State. It’s big, but often takes a back seat to citrus endeavors.

According to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (see https://www.freshfromflorida.com), the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon brought the first cattle and horses to America in 1521. Mortally wounded in a skirmish with Indians in southwest Florida, Ponce de Leon most likely left the expedition’s livestock and horses there before returning to Cuba where he died. Another Spanish group left cattle and horses in the Pensacola area in 1540 after failing to meet up with explorer Hernando de Soto.

By the late 1800s, the shipping of cattle to Key West and Cuba was a thriving business in several areas of the state with much of it developed by William H. Towles. In 1870 this Perry, FL cattle rancher moved to the Fort Meyers area seeking new opportunities. 

After a brief stint in retail with James E. Hendry, Sr., Towles returned to what he knew best: cattle. His business, which included a lodge for drivers, and passengers on his schooner was centered in Punta Rassa (part of today’s Fort Myers-Cape Coral area). Captain Billy, as he became known, is considered the first pioneer cattleman in southern Florida.

His decision to return to the cattle biz was a good one. Towles Company expanded trade to Cuba where herds had been diminished by decades of warfare. The company also shipped cattle to northern states. By 1916, Towles modernized the beef industry with improved feeding. He cultivated grasses planted in Moore Haven (southern tip of Lake Okeechobee) that supported three or four head per acre instead of the 10 acres required per cow in western states. (Today 1.8 acres is rule of thumb.) Thereafter, a fattened steer was expected to fetch $80-$100—a considerable increase from the usual $18 before then.

Today, more Florida farms are dedicated to  raising beef than to growing citrus. According to the Florida Cattleman’s Association, the beef business generates $2.1 billion annually and provides about 17,000 jobs. Most of the industry here involves cow-calf operations. Calves born in Florida are generally shipped to other states for grain feeding and processing.

More interesting facts from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services:

• Florida is home to five of the top ten largest cow/calf operations in the US (2009). • Florida was ranked 10th in the nation in number of beef cows in 2011. • Nearly one-half of all Florida Agricultural land is involved in cattle production.

And it all started in Florida ...

For more on today’s cattle market (prices) and other commodities, see  https://www.agriculture.com/markets/commodity-prices

For more on Punta Rassa history and William H. Towles, see:

https://floridacrackercrumbs.wordpress.com/2008/05/31/cracker-cowmen-the-history-of-punta-rassa/

For more on Ponce de Leon and Florida, see: The Everglades: A River of Grass by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1947).

Other sources:

Florida Star, Feb. 16, 1900

Ocala Evening Star, Sept. 29, 1900

News-Press (Fort Myers), May 8, 1916

News-Press (Fort Myers), Aug. 1, 1970

http://www.floridacattleranch.org/Florida_Cattle_Industry_Brochure.pdf

Tags: Florida beef industry, Florida cattle, southwestern Florida, William H. Towles, Fort Myers, Punta Rassa, Jane Feehan

Touring Florida in the 1930s: Of air shows, citrus groves, wildlife, and trailer camps

"Come to Florida" 1938
Florida State Archives/Florida Memory/Postcards

By Jane Feehan

Florida was hit by the Great Depression before most other states, especially after the 1926 hurricane slammed Fort Lauderdale and Miami, scaring off land speculators and developers. By the 1930s, the entire country was affected by a severe economic downturn.

But tough times didn’t stop people from visiting Florida, especially those with cars. New roads and inexpensive tent and trailer camps welcomed “swarms” of tourists during the winter season, which back then started after the holidays.  

There was plenty to see by car, according to travel writers. The roads that made sightseeing possible were State Road 441 from the Georgia line south to Miami and US 1. In the late 1930s, Route 1 was to undergo widening from St. Augustine to Palm Beach. From the Palm Beach area to Miami that well-traveled road was smooth and wide at the time.

Motorists could travel through Central Florida along the Orange Blossom Trail (parts of 441, adjacent routes U.S. 17/192 and other roads).* A recommended itinerary would include a stop at Clermont, Gem of the Hills (now Choice of Champions), and Howey-in-the-Hills, then touted as the “largest citrus development in the world.” Drivers could also stay at Winter Garden, a mecca of vacation trailers, Lake Apopka, a sweet spot for bass fishermen or Winter Haven, the “Citrus Capital” and site of the annual Orange Festival. They might also like to see Palatka, the “new rival” to Ocala (how things have changed …).

The lower coast of West Florida offered Sarasota, “which has more valuable old masters than any other American museum except for the Metropolitan." South of that town sat Fort Myers, once home to Thomas A. Edison (1847-1931) where Edison Day was celebrated (and celebrated today).

A tour to East Florida could include driving on sand along the ocean at Daytona Beach or stopping at Merritt Island to see flocks of birds rising like clouds from its marshes. Nearby was Pelican Island, a wildlife refuge off Vero Beach. Also in Vero was the McKee Jungle Gardens, opened in 1931 (and now named McKee Botanical Garden). Cape Canaveral, about an hour north, was a prime spot for catching jumbo shrimp; the town claimed a yearly 400-ton-catch from its adjacent ocean waters.     

Travel on the Overseas Highway down to Key West was interrupted by damage from the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 but motorists could visit the Lion Farm in Fort Lauderdale, Hibiscus Gardens in Dania or stay at one of the many fishing camps in or near Key Largo.

And there was an air show—held south of Miami—that featured planes from 12 airports and seaplane bases. The U.S. Coast Guard provided some of the best acts, according to some. For visitors who made it that far, a visit to Miami could include a wager placed at Tropical Park or a much-needed rest at a comfortable hotel room near Biscayne Bay or along the ocean.

Much has changed since 1937 but some things stay the same: nomadic tourists seeking warm winters, sightseeing and … air shows. 

  

*Not to be confused with the seven notorious miles of illicit activities dubbed the Orange Blossom Trail near today’s Orlando.

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Sources: 

Cities of Howey-in-the Hills, Daytona Beach

Miami Herald, Dec 5, 1932

Miami Herald, March 17, 1937

Wikipedia

 Tags: Travel, Florida tourism, tours, Florida history, South Florida history, Central Florida, West Florida, Jane Feehan film researcher, Florida in the 1930s, Florida during the Depression

Florida: What's not in its name

Ponce de Leon and Chief Agueybana
in Puerto Rico 

Most with an acquaintance of the Spanish language know "Florida" translates into English as flowers. But the state was not named for its preponderance of flowers.

In 1513, a few days after Easter Sunday, the Spanish conquistador and first governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de Leon  (1474-1521), and his contingent landed in an area assumed to be near present day Cape Canaveral, an area not known for blooms. (There is dispute about the actual place he landed; St. Augustine, Cape Sable and other areas have been mentioned - none known for its flowers.)

Spanish historian Antonio de Herrera Tordesillas (1559-1625) wrote: "And thinking that this land was an island they named it 'La Florida' because they discovered it in the time of the flowery festival."

That festival is/was known as Pascua Florida or "flowery Easter." And so, Florida was named for when it was discovered, not for flowers that may or may not have been part of that 16th-century vista.

Sources:
The Everglades, River of Grass, by Marjory Stoneman Douglas (Banyan Books, 1978)
Also: The Catholic Encyclopedia online at http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07296a.htm

Tags: How Florida was named, Ponce de Leon, Florida history, film researcher