Florida Panthers in Tallahassee

One of the best places to actually see rare Florida Panthers is at the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science.

These magnificent cats once ranged across much of Florida, but the advance of man brought about a decline in the panther population and their range is now limited to remote areas of South Florida, although unconfirmed reports of big cat sightings remain common in other areas of the state.

The beautiful Florida Panther has long attracted the attention of man. Prehistoric Native American art found in the state includes representations of panthers and early settlers were very aware of and often waged war on the cats, which went after easily accessible farm animals for food. Many early writings about the state mention panthers and they also figure into the writings of early Florida writers including Marjorie Rawlings.

Many older residents of the state still recall seeing panthers or at least their carcasses during their younger years. Panther stories are a major part of Florida's folklore.

Today there are very few places where panthers can be seen easily, but perhaps the best is the unique Tallahassee Museum. Visitors there can take a self-guided tour past numerous native Florida animals, ranging from bears and alligators to beautiful Florida panthers.

The museum also features a wide variety of other points of interest, including a restored 19th century farm, the home of Princess Murat, restored schools and churches and much more. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/tallahasseemuseum.

Milly Francis - The True Story of the Creek Pocahontas

One of Florida's most fascinating legends revolves around an incident that took place in the spring of 1818 on the Wakulla River just north of today's town of St. Marks.

Duncan McKrimmon, a private in the Georgia Militia, had roamed beyond the sentries surrounding Fort Gadsden on the Apalachicola River. The First Seminole War was then underway and the wandering soldier was quickly taken prisoner by Creek warriors from the Wakulla River village of the Prophet Francis (Hillis Hadjo).

A prime figure in the recently closed Creek War of 1813-1814, Josiah Francis had fled to Florida after the collapse of his Red Stick movement in Alabama and Georgia. With him he brought his wife, son and daughters, one of whom was a young girl named Milly. (Note: Although her name is sometimes given as Malee, all of the Prophet's children had Anglicized name and her name was actually Milly).

McKrimmon was taken to the Prophet's village on the Wakulla where, according to the "eye for an eye" laws of the Creeks, preparations were made to torture and execute him in retaliation for the deaths of the sisters of one of his captors. Likely this would have consisted of sticking splinters of pine wood into his skin and lighting them on fire to torture him before he was finally dispatched with a bullet or hatchet.

Milly Francis, then around 15 years old, was playing by the river with her sisters when she heard the sounds of war cries coming from the village. Rushing to see what was happening, she quickly realized that the unfortunate young man was about to be killed. Milly pleaded with her father to spare McKrimmon's life, but Francis replied that he had no power over the situation because the soldier had been captured by others. He told his daughter, however, that she should talk with the warriors who had captured him.

Milly then went to these warriors and once again begged that McKrimmon be spared. One of them replied that he had lost his own sisters in the Creek War and intended to take the soldier's life to atone for their loss. Milly, though, reasoned with him and pointed that the soldier was just a boy with no "head for war" (meaning he was too young to make his own decisions). The warrior relented on the condition that the young white man agree to have his head shaved in the Creek style and join the Prophet's band. As might be expected, McKrimmon readily agreed.

The soldier was quickly handed over to the Spanish at San Marcos de Apalache (Fort St. Marks) for safe-keeping and was still there when Andrew Jackson's army captured the fort in April of 1818. McKrimmon was freed, but the Prophet Francis was captured and hanged by Jackson's forces. Milly and the rest of her family soon surrendered themselves to the newly-installed American commander of the fort.

They were sent back to the Creek Nation by way of Fort Gadsden, but the remarkable story of Milly Francis was just beginning. To read the true story of what happened to her, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/millyfrancis.

Old Fort Park - Tallahassee, Florida

In the months following the Battle of Marianna, authorities in Tallahassee moved to better protect Florida's capital city from a similar attack by Union forces.

A chain of fortifications were constructed around the south side of the city, with redoubts or rectangular forts constructed on high points to allow soldiers and cannon to better defend against any attack on the capital. One of these can still be seen just a few blocks from the Capitol Complex at historic Old Fort Park.

Although tradition holds that the well-preserved earthworks at Old Fort Park were built as an emergency measure during the Battle of Natural Bridge (March 6, 1865), they actually date to the previous fall and winter. Under authority from Brigadier General William Miller, Confederate engineer Theodore Moreno designed a series of fortifications to protect the main approaches to the city. Using African American laborers conscripted from area plantations, Miller and Moreno constructed forts and lines of breastworks that could be occupied quickly in the event Union forces approached Tallahassee.

Fortunately for the people of the city, the defenses were never tested. The main Union expedition to capture Tallahassee was turned back at Natural Bridge and the earthworks never came under fire, although they were manned by Southern militia during the emergency.

The surviving redoubt at Old Fort Park was originally known as Fort Houstoun, because it stood on what was then the Houstoun Plantation. Artillery positioned there could command the approaches to the capitol building itself.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/oldfortpark.

New Design Launched for Battle of Marianna site

A major redesign has been launched at the top site exploring the history of the Battle of Marianna, Florida. It can be accessed by visiting www.battleofmarianna.com.

One of the most intense Civil War battles in Florida, the fight at Marianna developed on September 27, 1864, when the city was attacked by Union troops under the command of Brigadier General Alexander Asboth. Confederate forces led by Colonel Alexander B. Montgomery resisted, resulting in a fierce battle that was called the "most severe fight of the war" for its size by participants who had taken part in such actions as Shiloh and Chickamauga.

Commanding a force of troops from the 2nd Maine Cavalry, 1st Florida U.S. Cavalry, 82nd U.S. Colored Infantry and 86th U.S. Colored Infantry, Asboth stormed the town at high noon on September 27th, culminating the deepest penetration of Confederate Florida by Union soldiers during the entire War Between the States.

Often overlooked even in histories of Florida, the Battle of Marianna was one of the most significant events of the Civil War in the Sunshine State. Census records confirm that the raid through Jackson, Washington, Holmes and Walton Counties inflicted more economic damage than any other event caused on any other counties in the state. A Union officer received the Congressional Medal of Honor in part for his actions in preventing a massacre of Confederate prisoners at Marianna. The 2nd Maine Cavalry sustained its greatest losses of the war. And Confederate authorities in the state were awakened to the dangers of a raid deep into the interior of Florida, an awakening that led them to fortify Tallahassee in time for the successful defense of the capital city during the Battle of Natural Bridge.

The new site features numerous photographs of the battlefield as well as detailed accounts of events leading up to, during and following the battle. There are casualty lists, orders of battle and even a walking tour of the battlefield as it appears today.

To learn more, please visit www.battleofmarianna.com.

A Florida Pocahontas in the 16th Century

One of the more interesting stories to arise from the days when Europeans were first beginning their exploration and conquest of Florida is that of Juan Ortiz and the Princess Hirrihigua.

Ortiz was a member of the Panfilo de Narvaez expedition that arrived in the St. Petersburg area in 1528. When his commander set off on his brutal march up the peninsula, however, Ortiz and others were sent back to Cuba to relay information on the progress of the expedition. When Narvaez's wife failed to hear more from her husband, she sent Ortiz and a small crew back to Florida to try to find out what had happened.

Ortiz and several others were captured almost as soon as they arrived at Tampa Bay. Taken to the village of the chief Hirrihigua (or so says one source, the other identifies him as Ucita), who intensely hated Europeans because Narvaez had cut off his nose and fed one of his relatives to the expedition's war dogs, three of the prisoners were killed and a more gruesome fate was prepared for Ortiz.

Building a large fire that eventually collapsed into hot coals, the chief had a large grill placed over the coals and Ortiz tied on top of it. The plan was to roast him to death, but his screams of pain attracted the attention of several of the women from the chief's family. They pleaded for his life and he was spared, although severely burned. The chief's daughter, remembered in legend as Princess Hirrihigua, played a key role in saving the unfortunate Ortiz and some have speculated that the later story of Pocahontas and Captain John Smith was invented to provide English explorers with their own version of the Ortiz story.

Such stories aside, Ortiz survived twelve more years of captivity before being discovered by soldiers from the army of Hernando de Soto in 1539. He went on to become an important interpreter for De Soto as he made his way through the Southeast.

To learn more about the story of Juan Ortiz and the Princess, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/juanortiz.

Safety Harbor Mounds - Safety Harbor, Florida

One of the most significant archaeological and historic sites in Florida can be found in a beautiful bayfront park in Safety Harbor, located just north of St. Petersburg.

Philippi Park in Safety Harbor is the site of the Safety Harbor Mounds, a major archaeological site that was once the capital of the Tocobaga Indians. The site's large temple mound still remains, its flat top accessible by way of a unique stone staircase.

Safety Harbor was an important Native American town when the first Spanish explorers arrived in Florida. Panfilo de Narvaez passed through this vicinity in 1528, but it is not clear if he actually visited the Safety Harbor site. The same is true of Hernando de Soto, who landed in the Tampa Bay area in 1539.

In 1566, however, Pedro Menendez de Aviles came to Safety Harbor after establishing St. Augustine, the first permanent European settlement in the United States. He attempted to arrange a peace treaty between the Tocobaga and their neighbors to the South, the Calusa.

Menendez also established a fort at Safety Harbor, the exact site of which has not been found. Spanish soldiers remained there for only a year, however, before the warriors of the village rose up and killed them all. A key missionary of the time blamed the uprising on cruelty committed against the Tocobaga by the soldiers.

To learn more about the Safety Harbor Mounds, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/safetyharbor.