GREEN MOUNTAIN SCENIC BYWAY - Florida Scenic Highways

SECTION 8- RESOURCE SPECIFIC CRITERIAHISTORIC RESOURCESThere was a Third Seminole war from 1855 to 1858. The Seminoles hadonly about 100 warriors, and the war consisted of a series of random raidsand attacks. After the destruction of the main Seminole village by U.S.troops in 1857, Chief Billy Bowlegs took the government’s offer of $44,600dollars for him and his followers to be shipped west. Less than 200Seminoles remained in Florida.The Armed Occupation Act of 1842 encouraged settlement of the formerSeminole lands located between Gainesville and the Peace River. Any head offamily or single male over 18 was entitled to 160 acres if he agreed tocultivate at least 5 acres, build a house, and live on the property for fiveyears.Township 21 South, Range 26 East, the township around SugarloafMountain and the northern half of the Scenic Byway Corridor, was surveyedin 1843. The township was sectioned in 1849. Township 22 South, Range26 East, the township around Montverde and the southern half of thecorridor, was surveyed in 1846 and sectioned in 1855. On the 1849 plat ofTownship 21, Range 26, a trail is shown which roughly parallels the ScenicByway corridor for about six miles, but is not mentioned in the surveynotes for that township. In the notes for Township 22, Range 26, thesurveyor noted crossing a military trail or road three times, but did notillustrate it on the plat.It is possible that the trail illustrated on the 1849 Government Office platfor Township 21, Range 26 and recorded in the notes of the 1855 survey ofTownship 22, Range 26, is the Route of the Army illustrated in the 1838Map of the Seat of War in Florida. While maps of the period are notoriouslyinaccurate, the placing of the route between the “high sand hills” and thewest shoreline of Lake Apopka coincides topographically with the trailillustrated on the 1849 plat. It also roughly coincides with the route of theScenic Byway. Although quite a bit of effort has been into locating somephysical evidence of the trail, as of yet none has been found.83