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.

Pinellas Point Temple Mound - St. Petersburg, Florida

Surrounded by housing developments and modern streets, the Pinellas Point Temple Mound in St. Petersburg is a remarkable archaeological site.

Built during the Mississippian era (A.D. 900 - A.D. 1500) by Indians known to the Spanish as the Tocobaga, the large mound rises on the south shore of the St. Petersburg Peninsula and overlooks Tampa Bay. The mound was likely occupied at the time of the Spanish arrival in the Tampa Bay area during the 1500s and may have been the ceremonial center of one of the villages noted by the chroniclers of the Panfilo de Narvaez and Hernando de Soto expeditions.

In fact, local tradition holds that the Pinellas Point Mound was the site where Princess Hirrihigua saved the life of Juan Ortiz, a member of an expedition sent to Tampa Bay in search of the missing Narvaez by his worried wife. Captured by warriors, Ortiz was on the verge of execution when the daughter of a chief intervened on his behalf. Some scholars believe the story may have been the actual foundation for the later account of Pocahontas saving the life of Captain John Smith in Virginia.

Regardless of the accuracy of the legend, the Pinellas Point Temple Mound is an important relic of the days when the site of modern St. Petersburg was the center of an important Native American chiefdom.

To learn more about the mound and to see additional photos, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/pinellaspoint.

Fort De Soto, Florida

Located on Mullet Key near St. Petersburg and at the entrance to Tampa Bay are the remains of a unique system of harbor defenses originally built to protect the area from Spanish attack during the Spanish-American War.

Tampa during the 1890s was a major port for the smuggling of weapons and other supplies to revolutionaries in Cuba. When the United States declared war on Spain, fears grew that the Spanish might target the Florida city. As a result, the U.S. Government authorized the construction of a series of powerful concrete artillery batteries to defend the important port.

Armed with modern (for the time) rapid fire artillery and mortars that could fire shells weighing more than 1,000 pounds, Fort De Soto and Fort Dade were still under construction when the war ended, but eventually became important U.S. Army posts. Already obsolete by the end of World War I, they were evacuated by the army during the 1920s.

Fort Dade, located on Egmont Key, eventually collapsed into the surf, as did one of the two batteries at Fort De Soto. The second battery, however, has been carefully preserved by Pinellas County and is now listed on the National Register of Historic Sites.

Easily accessible by car from St. Petersburg, the historic fort is the centerpiece of beautiful Fort De Soto Park, which also offers nature trails, camping, boat ramps, picnic areas and what has recently been named as one of the Top Ten Best Beaches in the United States. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/fortdesoto1.

Scott's Massacre of 1817

On November 30, 1817, one of the most critical battles of the Seminole Wars took place on the Apalachicola River at present-day Chattahoochee, Florida.

A large U.S. Army boat was making its way up the river under the command of Lieutenant R.W. Scott of the 7th U.S. Infantry Regiment. On board were 40 soldiers, roughly 20 of whom were severely ill with fever, 7 women (wives of soldiers) and four children. They were en route to Fort Scott, a U.S. post on the lower Flint River in what is now Decatur County, Georgia, but did not know that war had opened between the United States and an alliance of Seminole and Creek warriors.

On November 21 and 23, 1817, U.S. troops had attacked the Creek village of Fowltown near present-day Bainbridge, Georgia, in an effort to drive its inhabitants from lands claimed by the United States following the Treaty of Fort Jackson. The Indians in the "Big Bend" region of Florida viewed the attacks as unprovoked and unwarranted. They were outraged and several hundred moved to the Apalachicola River where they planned to cut off the shipment of supplies by boats up to Fort Scott, the post from which the Fowltown attacks had been launched.

The warriors took up a position on the east bank of the Apalachicola River just south of today's Chattahoochee Landing. The actual site has been washed away by the river, but its general vicinity can be viewed from the dock at the nearby landing.

When Scott's boat rounded a sharp bend of the river, the current forced he and his men to navigate close to the shore. The warriors opened fire, killing or disabling the lieutenant and most of his able-bodied soldiers with their first volley. They then waded into the river and stormed the boat, killing most of the others with war clubs, hatchets and knives. By the time the brief fight was over, Lieutenant Scott and 34 of his men were dead, along with 6 of the women and all four children. Seminole and Creek losses are not known.

Six soldiers, four of them wounded, escaped the boat by leaping overboard and swimming away underwater to the opposite bank. They made their way to Fort Scott on foot with news of the disaster. The other survivor, Elizabeth Stewart, was taken prisoner and held in slavery until she was freed the following spring by troops under Andrew Jackson.

The attack was a great victory for the warriors, but proved a disaster for them on a larger scale. When news of the slaughter reached Washington, D.C., authorities ordered Major General Andrew Jackson to the frontier. Jackson invaded Spanish Florida, destroyed major Seminole and Creek towns, captured St. Marks and Pensacola and destroyed the power of the northern branch of the Seminole Nation.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/scottsmassacre1.

Wakulla Springs State Park - Wakulla Springs, Florida

One of the most popular places in the Tallahassee area this time of year is Wakulla Springs State Park.

Located just south of the capital city, the park encompasses thousands of acres of fragile wilderness and protects one of the largest and deepest freshwater springs in the world. Divers using special equipment have explored the caves that open in the spring for miles and have descended to depths of over 300 feet.

The Wakulla Springs basin is rich in history. Evidence of prehistoric Native American hunters has been found here and divers have retrieved the bones of prehistoric animals, including mastodons, from the bottom of the spring. Other bones, in fact, can still be seen lying on the bottom 80-feet down from the glass-bottomed boats operated by the park service.

The Creek Prophet, Josiah Francis, established a village on the Wakulla River downstream from the springs after he fled Alabama at the end of the Creek War of 1813-1814. It was here that his daughter, Milly Francis, rescued a captured Georgia militiaman and became known as the Creek Pocahontas.

The land around the spring was purchased in 1934 by Florida industrialist Edward Ball, who saved it from development for decades. Ball built the historic Wakulla Springs Lodge in 1937 and zealously protected the property from unauthorized intrusion. Wakulla Springs is now a state park and is open to the public daily. The historic lodge offers dining and overnight stays and the park features glass-bottomed boats, river cruises, swimming, nature trails, picnic areas and much more.

To learn more about historic Wakulla Springs, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/wakullasprings.

St. Augustine, Florida #8 - Imprisonment of Osceola

The story of the great Seminole warrior Osceola is not as much a part of our nation's memory as it used to be, but it can still be explored in St. Augustine.

School kids across the country once learned the story of Osceola and the great war for survival waged by the Seminoles between 1835 and 1844. The Second Seminole War was waged from the Okefenokee Swamp south to the Everglades and from Walton County in Northwest Florida east to the Atlantic Ocean. In the end, despite repeated announcements of victory by the U.S. Army, the Seminoles of Florida clung to at least part of their lands.

Although he was not a chief, Osceola was recognized by both whites and Indians as one of the key war leaders of the conflict. The Creek and Seminole cultures had always allowed for warriors to rise to positions of distinction based on their prowess in battle, and Osceola was by all accounts a charismatic and competent leader in battle.

Frustrated by their attempts to capture or kill him, U.S. Army officers laid a trap for Osceola near St. Augustine on October 21, 1837. He appeared under a white flag to negotiate with the government, but was seized despite the protection of this flag by order of General Thomas S. Jesup.

Carried to St. Augustine, Osceola was initially imprisoned at the Castillo de San Marcos. He remained there until several other prisoners escaped one night. Concerned that he might repeat the feat engineered by the other Seminoles, the army moved Osceola to Fort Moultrie in South Carolina. He died there of sickness a short time later.

The story of the warrior's imprisonment in St. Augustine is interpreted today at Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/staugustineosceola.

St. Augustine, Florida #7 - Ghost Hunting

Looking for ghosts has turned into big business in the nation's oldest city. St. Augustine, in fact, may have more alleged ghosts per block than any city in America.

Probably the best known haunting in the old city involves the St. Augustine Lighthouse. On July 10, 1873, a tragic accident took place during the construction of the lighthouse. Five children were riding a cable car of sorts that was used by workers to move construction materials from the beach up to the work site. Something went terribly wrong and and the children were flung into the water. Although two were rescued, three little girls died. It is said that their spirits still haunt the lighthouse, along with several other ghosts.

There are many other alleged ghosts in St. Augustine. The grounds of Fountain of Youth Park are said to be haunted by the spirits of early Native Americans. A Spanish soldier has been seen walking about the Castillo de San Marcos after dark. A lonely women is sometimes spotted at the Old City Gates. Warden Castle, now the home of Ripley's Believe it or Not, is said to be haunted by a murder victim. And there are many others scattered throughout the old city.

Numerous tour operators offer nightly ghost tours. Some are done by tram, others involve walking to some of St. Augustine's most famous haunted spots. To learn more about the ghosts of St. Augustine, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/staugustineghost.

St. Augustine, Florida #6 - Historic District

The St. Augustine Historic District is one of the most remarkable heritage destinations in Florida.

Stretching out for blocks in three directions from the city's Plaza de la Constitucion, the district includes a massive collection of colonial structures. Although St. Augustine dates back to 1565, it took on its current appearance following a devastating attack by English forces under Governor James Moore of South Carolina in 1702. Moore tried unsuccessfully for 52 days to batter his way into the Castillo de San Marcos. When he finally admitted that he was unable to do so, he retaliated by burning the civilian areas of the city to the ground.

The citizens rebuilt on the ashes, creating the city that visitors see today. Because so much damage from Moore's attack resulted from the fact that most of St. Augustine's early homes were built of wood, the citizens rebuilt using masonry. Coquina rock was quarried from nearby Anastasia Island and other location and use to build almost fireproof floors and walls. As a result, numerous structures in the city dating from the early 1700s survive to this day.

When St. Augustine passed into British hands after the French and Indian War, English settlers added wooden second floors to many of the old Spanish homes and buildings. Many of these second stories can still be seen today, including at the Nation's Oldest House.

A favorite part of the district is the section that lines St. George Street, where entire blocks have been either restored or reconstructed. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/staugustinedistrict.

St. Augustine, Florida #5 - Plaza de la Constitucion

I was watching the History Channel the other day and noticed that a New England state claims to be the home of the oldest public park in the United States. I have never really understood why much of the rest of the country seems to forget that St. Augustine, Florida, was settled 55 years before the first Pilgrim waded ashore at Plymouth Rock.

In fact, the oldest public park in the United States is not in the Northeast. It is the Plaza de la Constitucion in downtown St. Augustine.

This beautiful tree shaded park was established by Spanish Royal Ordinances in 1573, just eight years after St. Augustine was founded and 47 years before settlers arrived in New England. The ordinances required that the plaza be established for public uses in the center of the city, oriented to the principal compass points with a length equal to one and one-half times its width. It maintains these coordiantes to these days.

The Spanish officials and citizens of St. Augustine built many of the public structures of the city so that they would face the plaza. Among those still standing are the restored Goverment House, built in 1706-1713, and the magnificent Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine, a National Historic Landmark built in 1793-1797.

The cannon seen today on the Plaza de le Constiticion were once part of the armament of the nearby Castillo de San Marcos, St. Augustine's massive Spanish fort. The plaza also includes the only public memorial in the United States to a foreign constitution. It honors, in part, a Spanish constitution enacted when Florida was still a Spanish colony.

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

St. Augustine, Florida #4 - St. Augustine Lighthouse

I am convinced that the most spectacular view anywhere on the Atlantic Coast is the one from the top of the historic St. Augustine Lighthouse.

The beautiful old tower was completed in 1874 to replace lighthouses that had stood near its site since shortly after St. Augustine was founded in 1565. It soars high above the Atlantic Ocean and Matanzas Bay and provides a stunning view of the nation's oldest city.

The lighthouse was maintained by keepers who lived in a cottage on the grounds until 1955, when the light was automated. Over the years that followed, the lighthouse and adjacent structures deteriorated badly without the daily care that the keeper and his assistants once provided. The sad state of the historic structure touched the hearts of many local residents and a drive to restore and preserve the lighthouse soon began under the auspices of the Junior Service League of St. Augustine.

It took eleven years of work and fundraising, but the League finally achieved its goal of saving and restoring the beautiful old lighthouse. It is now operated as a historic site and is open daily for self-guided tours (as long as lightning isn't in the area!). The former Keeper's Cottage features outstanding historical exhibits on the lighthouse and surrounding area and the gift shop offers a wide assortment of lighthouse memorabilia.

And if you like good ghost stories, the St. Augustine Lighthouse is one of the nation's most famous "haunted" locations. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/staugustinelighthouse.