Florida's Key West

By Bruce Morris

"The introduction to this guide contains general information about the history, land, climate, flora, and fauna. This introductory chapter also includes an outline of the range of activities available in the Florida Keys and the Everglades National Park.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Hunter Publishing
• Release date: Oct 24, 2009
• ISBN: 9781588438287

Book preview

Why Come?

Leaving the more earthly delights of Key West aside for a moment, the Keys and Everglades are places for people who enjoy the outdoors, particularly the sea. Because the water here is relatively shallow, calm and accessible, sea life is easily seen and appreciated. Coral reefs - surely one of the wonders of the world - are still astounding and relatively unspoiled, and the austere beauty of the Everglades has been preserved by the creation of the national park, which is now one of the Park Service's crowning jewels.

For the historically curious as well as hard-core party people or laid-back drifters, Key West is a paradise at the end of the road. If you plan to visit briefly for a few nights of fun, or want to stay awhile and gently go to seed (as so many do), Key West has all that lures such ambitions. The smell, flavor and visions of Hemingwayesque Old Key West with its pirates, spongers, quaint homes (many now serving as B&Bs) and historical walks exist in the middle of one of the premier party towns in the US. Key West lures the young, happy partygoers. A popular spring break destination, it has more festivals, street parties and loud, raucous bars and clubs than you'll have time to visit in a week. As a permanent residence for gay living and visits, the tolerant lifestyle and attitudes of the island are renowned.

While one can have a fine time in the Keys or Everglades without ever setting foot in a boat or dipping a toe in the water, the bulk of the area's charms lie offshore on the reefs, flats and in the canals and mangrove estuaries. To get the full Keys or Everglades experience, a boat, canoe, kayak or even an inner tube are required. Drifting over the shallow flats looking in the turtle grass at exotic seahorses is an experience that can't be had elsewhere. Some of the finest coral reefs in the world are hidden just a few miles offshore and are accessibly shallow, well preserved and astounding in their riot of color and unusual formations.

The sportfishing capital of the US, the Keys and Florida Bay offer both delicate fly-fishing for bonefish and pole-busting sailfish and tarpon action. Guides abound. Trips lasting a day or just a few hours can be arranged with little or no advance notice. Some guides even offer no fish, no pay guarantees.

The Everglades seem a long way from Key West. There are no neon signs, no blazing bars, no clubs with guitar-strumming comedians. Instead there is profound silence, slow-moving canals, the desolate beauty of swamps and a sky filled with puffy white clouds gliding over endless miles of saw grass. The Everglades have long attracted the adventurous and those who appreciate nature at its wildest. Parks are designed to make it possible for wheelchair-bound travelers to access the wilderness and appreciate the beauty and variety of birds, exotic orchids, and even hissing crocodiles. To truly enjoy the area, one must be in a reflective and observant mood. Sometimes you have to look hard to spot the attractions. Fortunately, help in the form of the Park Service is at hand, with educational tours, guided walks and paddling expeditions on offer.

The balmy climate, tolerant lifestyle and outdoor opportunities attract a goodly share of retirees and snowbirds fleeing the frozen north. I loved playing here when I was growing up, and I plan on spending many years of my retirement doing the same. A small house on the bay with a dock, snorkeling and fishing gear, and a cooler of beer are all I need. Apparently, many others feel the same way.

History

Florida Before Columbus

When Europeans discovered Florida it was already home to hundreds of thousands of Native Americans who enjoyed a rich culture and reasonably comfortable lifestyle. Although relatively barbarous and violent compared with our conception of civilized behavior today, their lifestyle was as comfortable and safe as that of the average rural European of the time.

Hundreds of archeological sites in the Everglades show signs of Paleo-Indian activity from approximately 10,000 BC. Bison, mammoth, saber-toothed tigers and other large beasts shared the area. The pre-glacial period humans were likely hunter-gatherers subsisting on small game, fruits of the sea and foraged vegetable foods. But as the glaciers retreated and the sea level rose, the climate changed and the present form of the Everglades began to take shape with cypress and saw grass swamps. The Archaic Period (8,000-750 BC) saw indigenous peoples developing basic tools and pottery, shards of which are still found today. During the Glades Period (750 BC-AD 1500), some permanent settlements developed and evidence - indicated by finds of ornaments and pottery typical of other regions - reveals there was extensive trade between people here and those in the Caribbean and Central America. During the Historic Contact Period (AD 500-1750), tribes that included the Calusa, Tequesta, Jeaga and Mayaimi may have had a combined population of as high as 20,000. As the Spaniards explored the area they spread diseases common in Europe, such as measles and syphilis, but they were new to the Florida region and decimated the population. Slavery and death, the byproducts of Spanish conquest, further contributed to the decline of the indigenous population, and by 1750 few of the original natives remained. European settlers arrived, driving the newer Creek and Cherokee residents deep into the Everglades. Between 1817 and 1858, bands of Indians, fleeing from the Seminole Wars and deportation to reservations in Oklahoma, formed the backbone of what is now known as the Seminole tribe. Their descendants still live in Florida, concentrating on the fringes of the Everglades.

Explorers & Conquistadors

As Columbus, Ponce de Leon, De Soto and other explorers moved through the area claiming land for European kings and queens, they dispensed violent and casual death. While few (some would call them conquistadors, others would call them invaders) were slaughtered by indignant indigenous warriors, the superior European technology and use of horses pretty much assured the eventual dominance of the new arrivals. Unfortunately, respect for human life was not a widely followed idea and, indeed, many of the explorers did not consider the natives to be human at all. Natives died in their thousands at the hands of the explorers and from the deadly diseases brought with them.

Early settlements were tough places for new arrivals in Florida, and violent or unpleasant death was more frequent than long healthy life. Considering the difficult circumstances, hostile natives and unpleasant climate, the courage and audacity of the early explorers is remarkable. Florida would remain sparsely settled until the invention of air-conditioning made life here tolerable.

Pirates

The golden age of pirates lasted only about 100 years, but it was such a colorful time that books, movies, theme parks and legends of pirate gold still make Florida a dream destination for children of all ages. The numerous islands and shallow twisting waterways made the area a prime hiding place for rogues of the sea. Caesar's Creek, a winding, tidal channel separating Old Rhodes Key from Elliot Key, got its name from pirate Black Caesar, who used it as a hideout.

PIRATE'S LAIR

Black Caesar was able to escape capture by dashing into the network of unmarked and confusing channels where it was difficult for anyone to follow. It is said his ship was fitted with collapsible masts so that, once deep in the labyrinthine creek, he could lower the masts and not be seen by his pursuers.

Pirates ranged from the Tortugas to St. Augustine, lurking in the shallow coastal waters, hiding from pursuit or waiting for unsuspecting Spanish treasure ships in the Gulf Stream. Rumors of buried treasure persist to this day and Old Rhodes Key, Indian Key and other places have suffered from the pick and shovel attentions of today's treasure-seekers.

AUTHOR TIDBIT: I have it on good authority that there is buried pirate treasure 150 feet due south of MM 102 in the middle of what is now a Kmart parking lot. Good luck. Remember you heard it here first. Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.

Industries

Wrecking

Due to the remote nature of the Keys and Everglades, inhabitants had to be creative to make anything more than a bare living. Who can blame the locals for taking what they could when ships piled themselves up on the treacherous reefs lining the coast? The reefs were mostly unmarked and ran almost 150 miles along the edge of one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, so wrecks were common. The harvesting of wrecks became a sophisticated business around 1840, with special warehouses and courts set up in Key West specifically to deal with the disposition of salvaged goods. Fortunes were made and lost. Spotting towers were built so clever wreckers could spy ships in distress on the reefs. A system of lighthouses brought the wreckers' ball to a close around 1890.

Sponging

Natural sponges flourish in the shallow, clean waters around the Keys and the northern US market for them was strong throughout the 19th century, leading to the establishment of a large and booming sponge industry centered mostly in Key West. When the market collapsed in the 1890s, the mostly Greek spongers regrouped farther up the coast near Tarpon Springs on the Gulf, where a few spongers still operate. Although natural sponges are sold in tourist shops, most of the ones you'll see are imported.

Plume Hunting

During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the fashion was for ladies to wear hats with long white tail-feather plumes and colorful bird feathers for decoration. To fill the needs of style-conscious women in New York and Boston, hunters blasted away with shotguns at thousands of nesting birds in the mangroves of the Keys and Everglades. Eggs and nestlings, along with their plume-bearing parents, were destroyed. The hunters were used to seeing tens of thousands of egrets, flamingos, roseate spoonbills, herons, ibis and ducks. Extinction seemed impossible, but even the primitive rifles of the day led to the thinning out and extinction of numerous bird species. When belated conservation laws were passed in 1891 and 1901, few resources were allocated to enforcing them. Those agents who tried to enforce the laws were often themselves made extinct by the lawless and independent-minded plume hunters. Today, only a hint of the vast and colorful bird populations remain.

Cattle egret

Cigars

With the cigar paradise of Cuba only a few miles south of Key West, it is unsurprising that the manufacture and distribution of cigars grew in the port. Stirred in part by the Spanish-American War, Cuban cigar producers established themselves in Key West in a big way in the late 1800s. Thousands of workers earning as much as $30 per day rolled millions of cigars for export and local consumption. Hurricanes and the power of the unions drove manufacturers to other parts of Florida, including Tampa, in search of cheaper labor. A few cigar makers still ply their trade in Key West, catering to the tourist trade, and it is not uncommon to see young fellows out for a night self-consciously waving around expensive cigars as they disport themselves in the bars and restaurants around Duval Street. Inexperienced cigar smokers rarely manage to finish them.

AUTHOR TIDBIT: If you are not a regular smoker of cigars, take it easy; cigar smoke is much stronger than cigarette smoke and can upset your stomach and make your head spin.

Flagler's Railroad & the Overseas Highway

Railroad magnate Henry Flagler had a vision of a railroad running