Foreverglades_Valiente2019

31
228 28 BELLE GLADE FROM SW SW AMP TO TO SUGAR BOWL
36
BELLE GLADE FROM SW AMP TO SUGAR BOWL
Lauderdale, yet it wasn't very popular. The locks were six
tating that part of this stream was dredged out some five years later
han a vast to become a part of the Thirteen Mile Canal which Disston
for all time had intended to continue on to Shark River. It now forms
ld see them part of the Miami canal. As this stream was typical of the
lake's dead rivers, including the Democrat, let's see what
it was like.
.from Lake
the Everiami
Canal depth of water being about eight feet. To say that our
"The river at its mouth is about 100 yards wide, the
little party was overjoyed would but poorly express it. We
do not go one hundred yards before we hear exclamations
t River was
from the members of the party in praise of the beautiful
expedition
scenery which greets the eye on every side. There is no
enough, he
perceptible current so far as we can discern. The water is
iver's fork.
clear as crystal, the banks fringed with a dense tropical
ey weren't
growth of trees, presenting to the view a solid green wall,
impenetrable to the eye. This wall is formed by vines,
s, "ere the which have twined around the trunks and branches of the
astir." The trees, and have interlaced and wound themselves around
were rowed each other until they form a screen which is almost sufficient
to shut out the light of day. Looking behind us we
for the last
les to come. find Floods
that and
we are freezes,
followed wild
by hogs
innumerable and coons,
alligators, muck fires,
who
more than
gnats
are swimming and mosquitoes,
lazily slow
along transportation
in our wake. and
From greedy
all sides New
we
ith a slight York see them
buyers, plunging
all these in
discouraged the water,
many. remain
But under
always, for a
oth­
few
of the trees ers seconds,
came and rise
stayed. after we
Those have
old passed
boys and
were join
a the
determined
crowd behind
network to breed. They us. We
had do
a not
fierce go two
pride miles
and before
independence. the river
"If begins
an­
e approach other to get
man narrow,
can do and
it, we
by find
gosh, ourselves
I can too!" in a
That little stream
was their
only
ater course motto a few
which yards
I've in width,
often heard. the sunlight
Only the completely
threat of shut
starva­
out by
e machetes, tion the
could branches
make of
them trees
leave. and
But vines, my friends, which have it wasn't interlocked
easy.
journey is It and
was twined
rough. around
These each
Everglades other until
were a
no perfect
place roof
for is
ary formed
with ... After a fainty going heart, half or a mile,
a
on is reach­maextendiners. a stream, Folks, that's but winding a stomped around down in fact!
dark, sluggish water, the
for one we with find we lace are on no his longer draw­
in
rees which roots and branches of the trees forming a barrier to our
a couple of further progress ... As we return we examine more closely
exists, but the vines which grow so luxuriantly, and find that they are
pples. Our a species of gourd, with innumerable gourds hanging from
ur voyage, them, perfectly round, and about the size of a billiard ball.
tion of the The vines run all over the trees, and on the ground form
white man, a mat two or three feet deep."
miles from town, and since the water below was too shoal
to navigate, all goods had to be transferred from the locks
over a rutted sandy road through the piney woods to Deerfield.
But good gosh, when you got there, except for the
railroad, you still hadn't got nowhere! Yet by the spring
of 1915 there already were some 72 starry-eyed enthusiasts
camped at Glade Crest, the most I wouldn't doubt, who
ever lived there at one time. But friend, they were having
their troubles.
Glade Crest was in the pure old peat of the sawgrass
Everglades, new and raw. I know exactly what they had
to contend with, for I was having the same problems at
the very same time in Okeelanta. Water no longer covered
the land, but it wasn't far below the surface, and clearing
that sawgrass was a terrific task, for no machines which
we had could do it.
The land salesmen had told us all, "Just mow off the
sawgrass, then plow the ground with a hand push plow."
Mrs. Daniel has said that they even had told her. "A family
of four could make a living on a single acre, since four
crops could be grown each year". Oh yes, they even said,
and backed it up with government reports, "Frost has
never been known to damage the tenderest vegetation."
And gee whiz, they even claimed there were no mosquitoes,
either!
That first winter, according to Herman Herndon, there
were fifteen frosts and freezes from December till April
5th. Farmers tried to protect their little crops by burning
piles of sawgrass, but the heat mostly went straight up,
so some plants were scorched while the majority simply
froze. Anyway, by the second night, there were no more
sawgrass piles. Then they tried covering the plants with
muck. This worked fine once or twice and with small plants,
but the covering and uncovering was near about as damaging
as the frost.
Since the first tractors couldn't clear the sawgrass, all
this had to be done by hand. Sawgrass first was chopped
GLADE CREST 37
DEMOCRAT RIVER 29
INDEX
BELLE GLADE
down with a machete, unless you were lucky enough to
Adams, When W. P., I 108 first came to this Burke, lake Pat, these Ray, 133 gourds still were
Alderman, plentiful Horace, in the 178 custard apple Burnett, forest, Dave, although 41 they then
Allison, were
Dr.
less
R.
luxuriant
V., 185
Burton, Horace N., 43, 44, 47, 52
than the moon vine, a kind of morning
Alston, K. C., 135
Buxton, Ben, 44
American glory, Legion, which 137 completely ff blanketed the tops and the ex­
Aunapu, posed Frede, flanks 67 of ff, the 110 custard Callahan, apple woods, A. V., making 41 a shadowy
Aunapu, dusk John, at mid 178 day.
Calusa ( Calos) Indians, 13 ff
Canal Point, 176, 216
Bacorn After Point, 22, cruising 42 the south Capone, shore Al, for. 178 nine days the party
Badger, arrived, Warren, near 77 the southernmost Carter, point George on W., the 53 lake, at the
Badger, William H., 43, 56, 58 ff,
Carter, J. E., 57
largest 64, 72,
and 77, 105
longest of all these Carver,
rivers. Nathaniel,
This 204
they christen­
Barco, ed G. T-D, C., 105 or Times-Democrat Cason, River. George, After 13 traversing this
Baker, stream J. M., to 57 its end, they laid Cason, a course William south H., by 41 the compass
Baker for (Glade Shark Crest), River, 35, ninety 38 miles Castro, away Fidel, by 216 air line. Although
Barber (Ritta), 41
Catfishing, 42
water had evidently been five feet over the land not too
Barwick, Henry, 177
Central & Southern Florida Flood
Bean long City, before, 41 ff, they 42 found that it now Control was District, a scant 209 five inches,
Belasario, and under Gladys, that 24 was fifteen Champion, feet, more T. or J., 103 less, of soft mud.
Bell, Bennett, 56
Chase, Henry, 41
Bell, Emily, So now 59 they are compelled Chosen, to 13, battle 44, 48, the 50 ff, sharp-edged
59,
Benjamin, sawgrass, Capt. which F. M., 73,75 they ff had believed 133, 137 to be only ten miles in
extent, 82 ff but which actually persisted Churches, clear 48 ff to the headwaters
Bense!, George F. 105
Clark, William C., 43, 44, 47, 63,
Betzner,
of Shark Lou C.,
River. 120, 122,
At times 124
they 94, were 141, able 142 to burn the saw­
Bissell, grass, J. W., but 33, usually 35, 37 the way Clewiston, must be hacked 27, 80, 81, with 90 machetes.
Bissell, For Ezra many E., days Olive they J ., 38 were compelled Connors Highway, to push 61 and lift their
Bishop, boats P. every G., 182 foot of the way, Connally, often making Rev. E. F., only 47 a few hun­
Blakeley dred yards
family,
in
41
Collins, Leroy, 202
a day. On November 17th, a week after leav­
Bolles, R. J., 34
Collins, S. W., 88
Bonnie, ing the 35 lake, a tall cypress Columbia at Democrat Broadcasting River System, was still
Boree, visible Hubie, to 79 the ff,101, naked 161, 164 eye.
197 ff
Braddock, Lee, 58
Coast Guard, U. S., 139, 178
Braddock, Constantly Roscoe, 120, they 122 were plagued Creech, Lewis, by innumerable 120 ff, 166, 167 snakes,
Brandon, though W. fortunately, L., 96 nobody was bitten. But they were
Bradey, tortured Hugh by J., 146 mosquitoes, leeches Dahlberg, and Bror, poisonous 157 wampee
British plants
Broadcasting
"which
Corp.,
produce
201, 202 Daniel, William E., Rinda,
a terrible burning sensation. Its
Brown, Orton B., 184
Broward M., 35, 36, 38
Brown appearance Peanut Farm, is similar 160, 182 to ff the Davidson, water lily, Paul, the 171, leaf 172 being from
Brown six Paper to twelve Company, inches 182 ff, across, 187
Davie, the 34, root 39, running 107, 108, 142 to a depth
Brunson, of six James, inches, 204 and resembles Davis, a shallot Frank, 182 in appearance. We
Bryan, had Joe, the 42 curiosity to taste it. Deerfield, We shall 36 do so no more!"
Bush, Paul, 157, 161
DeLaurie, Shorty, 171
Burguieres, Yes, Jules I know M., 105 blamed well Deloach, they Homer, didn't! 173 That wampee
Buck, was Dr. a William hellish J., plant, 120, 124, nobody DePamphilis,
would ever Neil, 186
taste it twice!
135 ff, 152
Denton, V. C., 161
Indian turnip it's called up north. It's tuber looks like a
229
get the cussed grass to burn. Then, with a heavy planter's
hoe, the stubs and roots were grubbed up, and the tough,
rope-like connecting runners were pulled up with a potato
rake and tossed behind to dry. After the sawgrass had been
grubbed up, then the soft ground could be plowed with a
push plow. In a long, hard day (all our days were long
and hard, so it seemed), one man could grub up a patch
of saw grass about fifty feet square. That's one-seventeenth
of an acre. To get one acre ready for planting was about
a month's job for one man. Yet that first winter that's
how it all was done.
'
Worst of all, we learned that on sawgrass land nothing
would grow but sawgrass ! The brown, fibrous peat had
to be stirred and aerated so it could decompose into black
muck. Plants would spring up, turn yellow and die. Yet
where Irish potatoes had been sprayed with lime and copper
sulphate to prevent blight, a second crop of potatoes,
or nearly anything else, would grow fairly well. So that's
how we learned that copper in this soil was essential and
we had to use commercial fertilizer, too. The land companies
had insisted that this would not be necessary, since
analysis showed there was an excess of nitrogen. That
sounded fine, but what they didn't know was that this
nitrogen was in a form not available to plants. Oh boy,
there was a heap to learn!
Yet in spite of all, there were some vegetables raised.
'l'he Ft. Lauderdale Sentinel of June 19, 1914 states that
J. W. Bissell of Glade Crest had sold some Irish potatoes
for $1 and $1.25 a hamper, and they had yielded at the
r te of 150 bushels per acre. Now, to be sure, the paper
didn't state how many hampers or how many acres Mr.
Bissell had, whether it was one acre or more or less. It
wouldn't surprise me if it was less. In Okeelanta the five
of us, for our whole winter's labor, had succeeded in raising
and selling only 40 hampers of potatoes, ten hampers
of beans and a few batches of carrots and turnips. Our
potatoes brought $1.50 and $1.75.
'