Foreverglades_Valiente2019

52 BELLE GLADE FROM SW AMP TO SUGAR BOWL
36
36
BELLE
BELLE
GLADE
GLADE
FROM
FROM
SW
SW
AMP
AMP
TO
TO
SUGAR
SUGAR
BOWL
BOWL
Lauderdale,
Lauderdale,
yet
yet
it
it
wasn't
wasn't
very
very
popular.
popular.
The
The
locks
locks
were
were
six
six
miles from town, and since the water below was too shoal
miles from town, and since the water below was too shoal
to
to
navigate,
navigate,
all
all
goods
goods
had
had
to
to
be
be
transferred
transferred
from
from
the
the
locks locks
over
over
a
a
rutted
rutted
sandy
sandy
road
road
through
through
the
the
piney
piney
woods
woods
to
to
Deer­
Deer­
field.
field.
But
But
good
good
gosh,
gosh,
when
when
you
you
got
got
there,
there,
except
except
for
for the
the
railroad,
railroad,
you
you
still
still
hadn't
hadn't
got
got
nowhere!
nowhere!
Yet
Yet
by
by
the
the
spring
spring
of
of
1915
1915
there
there
already
already
were
were
some
some
72
72
starry-eyed
starry-eyed
enthusiasts
enthusiasts
camped
camped
at
at
Glade
Glade
Crest,
Crest,
the
the
most
most
I
I
wouldn't
wouldn't
doubt,
doubt,
who
who
ever
ever
lived
lived
there
there
at
at
one
one
time.
time.
But
But
friend,
friend,
they
they
were
were
having
having
their
their
troubles.
troubles.
Glade
Glade
Crest
Crest
was
was
in
in
the
the
pure
pure
old
old
peat
peat
of
of
the
the
sawgrass
sawgrass
Everglades,
Everglades,
new
new
and
and
raw.
raw.
I
I
know
know
exactly
exactly
what
what
they
they
had
had
to
to
contend
contend
with,
with,
for
for
I
I
was
was
having
having
the
the
same
same
problems
problems
at
at
the
the
very
very
same
same
time
time
in
in
Okeelanta.
Okeelanta.
Water
Water
no
no
longer
longer
covered
covered
the
the
land,
land,
but
but
it
it
wasn't
wasn't
far
far
below
below
the
the
surface,
surface,
and
and
clearing
clearing
that
that
sawgrass
sawgrass
was
was
a
a
terrific
terrific
task,
task,
for
for
no
no
machines
machines
which
which
we
we
had
had
could
could
do
do
it.
it.
The
The
land
land
salesmen
salesmen
had
had
told
told
us
us
all,
all,
"Just
"Just
mow
mow
off
off
the
the
sawgrass,
sawgrass,
then
then
plow
plow
the
the
ground
ground
with
with
a
a
hand
hand
push
push
plow."
plow."
Mrs.
Mrs.
Daniel
Daniel
has
has
said
said
that
that
they
they
even
even
had
had
told
told
her.
her.
"A
"A
family
family
of
of
four
four
could
could
make
make
a
a
living
living
on
on
a
a
single
single
acre,
acre,
since
since
four
four
crops
crops
could
could
be
be
grown
grown
each
each
year".
year".
Oh
Oh
yes,
yes,
they
they
even
even
said,
said,
and
and
backed
backed
it
it
up
up
with
with
government
government
reports,
reports,
"Frost
"Frost
has
has
never
never
been
been
known
known
to
to
damage
damage
the
the
tenderest
tenderest
vegetation."
vegetation."
And
And
gee
gee
whiz,
whiz,
they
they
even
even
claimed
claimed
there
there
were
were
no
no
mosquitoes, mosquitoes,
either!
either!
That
That
first
first
winter,
winter,
according
according
to
to
Herman
Herman
Herndon,
Herndon,
there
there
were
were
fifteen
fifteen
frosts
frosts
and
and
freezes
freezes
from
from
December
December
till
till
April
April
5th.
5th.
Farmers
Farmers
tried
tried
to
to
protect
protect
their
their
little
little
crops
crops
by
by
burning
burning
piles
piles
of
of
sawgrass,
sawgrass,
but
but
the
the
heat
heat
mostly
mostly
went
went
straight
straight
up,
up,
so
so
some
some
plants
plants
were
were
scorched
scorched
while
while
the
the
majority
majority
simply
simply
froze.
froze.
Anyway,
Anyway,
by
by
the
the
second
second
night,
night,
there
there
were
were
no
no
more
more
sawgrass
sawgrass
piles.
piles.
Then
Then
they
they
tried
tried
covering
covering
the
the
plants
plants
with
with
muck.
muck.
This
This
worked
worked
fine
fine
once
once
or
or
twice
twice
and
and
with
with
small
small
plants,
plants,
but
but
the
the
covering
covering
and
and
uncovering
uncovering
was
was
near
near
about
about
as
as
damaging
damaging
as
as
the
the
frost.
frost.
Since
Since
the
the
first
first
tractors
tractors
couldn't
couldn't
clear
clear
the
the
sawgrass,
sawgrass,
all
all
this
this
had
had
to
to
be
be
done
done
by
by
hand.
hand.
Sawgrass
Sawgrass
first
first
was
was
chopped
chopped
Hooker and West store and Chosen post office.
that's where you're dead wrong. As settlers increased, competition
for good lakeshore land got pretty keen. Disputes
were frequent and now and again there might be a killing.
A farmer had to hold his claim by squatter's rights and adverse
possession, backed up by a Winchester. If the poor
negro hadn't had a white boss for protection, he wouldn't
have had a chance.
Stein had picked some of the best land, and he knew
how to farm this muck. Already by the war's end he was
farming 40 acres, which made him one of the biggest farmers
on the lake. After his death, his son Fritz took over
the farming operations and expanded the 40 acres to several
thousand. And now grandson Fritz, Jr. is continuing
the farming tradition, so it looks as though Steins will
be farming here for a right smart time to come.
For a while lock-tender Stein and Burton, further down
the canal, had these Chosen woods to themselves. But by
1919 things began to pick up here, and this area got its
promoter. J. R. Leatherman from Virginia, had moved
from his orange grove at Wabasso, Florida, bought the
west half of Section 30, north of the canal and east of the
GLADE
GLADE
CREST
CREST
37
37
THE CHOSEN PLACE 53
down with a machete, unless you were lucky enough to
down with a machete, unless you were lucky enough to
get
get
the
the
cussed
cussed
grass
grass
to
to
burn.
burn. Then, with a heavy planter's
Then, with a heavy planter's
hoe,
hoe,
the
the
stubs
stubs
and
and
roots
roots
were
were
grubbed
grubbed
up,
up,
and
and
the
the
tough,
tough,
rope-like
rope-like
connecting
connecting
runners
runners
were
were
pulled
pulled
up
up
with
with
a
a
potato
potato
rake and tossed behind to dry. After the sawgrass had been
rake and tossed behind to dry. After the sawgrass had been
grubbed
grubbed
up,
up,
then
then
the
the
soft
soft
ground
ground
could
could
be
be
plowed
plowed
with
with
a
a
push
push
plow.
plow.
In
In
a
a
long,
long,
hard
hard
day
day
(all
(all
our
our
days
days
were
were
long
long
and
and
hard,
hard,
so
so
it
it
seemed),
seemed),
one
one
man
man
could
could
grub
grub
up
up
a
a
patch
patch
of
of
saw
saw
grass
grass
about
about
fifty
fifty
feet
feet
square.
square.
That's
That's
one-seventeenth
one-seventeenth
of
of
an
an
acre.
acre.
To
To
get
get
one
one
acre
acre
ready
ready
for
for
planting
planting
was
was
about
about
a
a
month's
month's
job
job
for
for
one
one
man.
man.
Yet
Yet
that
that
first
first
winter
winter
that's
that's
how it all was done.
'
how it all was done.
'
Worst
Worst
of
of
all,
all,
we
we
learned
learned
that
that
on
on
sawgrass
sawgrass
land
land
nothing
nothing
would
would
grow
grow
but
but
sawgrass
sawgrass
!
!
The
The
brown,
brown,
fibrous
fibrous
peat
peat
had
had
to
to
be
be
stirred
stirred
and
and
aerated
aerated
so
so
it
it
could
could
decompose
decompose
into
into
black
black
muck.
muck.
Plants
Plants
would
would
spring
spring
up,
up,
turn
turn
yellow
yellow
and
and
die.
die.
Yet
Yet
where
where
Irish
Irish
potatoes
potatoes
had
had
been
been
sprayed
sprayed
with
with
lime
lime
and
and
copper
copper
sulphate
sulphate
to
to
prevent
prevent
blight,
blight,
a
a
second
second
crop
crop
of
of
potatoes,
potatoes,
or
or
nearly
nearly
anything
anything
else,
else,
would
would
grow
grow
fairly
fairly
well.
well.
So
So
that's
that's
how
how
we
we
learned
learned
that
that
copper
copper
in
in
this
this
soil
soil
was
was
essential
essential
and
and
we
we
had
had
to
to
use
use
commercial
commercial
fertilizer,
fertilizer,
too.
too.
The
The
land
land
companies
companies
had
had
insisted
insisted
that
that
this
this
would
would
not
not
be
be
necessary,
necessary,
since
since
analysis
analysis
showed
showed
there
there
was
was
an
an
excess
excess
of
of
nitrogen.
nitrogen.
That
That
sounded
sounded
fine,
fine,
but
but
what
what
they
they
didn't
didn't
know
know
was
was
that
that
this
this
nitrogen
nitrogen
was
was
in
in
a
a
form
form
not
not
available
available
to
to
plants.
plants.
Oh
Oh
boy, boy,
there
there
was
was
a
a
heap
heap
to
to
learn!
learn!
Yet
Yet
in
in
spite
spite
of
of
all,
all,
there
there
were
were
some
some
vegetables
vegetables
raised.
raised.
'l'he
'l'he
Ft.
Ft.
Lauderdale
Lauderdale
Sentinel
Sentinel
of
of
June
June
19,
19,
1914
1914
states
states
that
that
J.
J.
W.
W.
Bissell
Bissell
of
of
Glade
Glade
Crest
Crest
had
had
sold
sold
some
some
Irish
Irish
potatoes
potatoes
for
for
$1
$1
and
and
$1.25
$1.25
a
a
hamper,
hamper,
and
and
they
they
had
had
yielded
yielded
at
at
the
the
r
r te of 150 bushels per acre. Now, to be sure, the paper
te of 150 bushels per acre. Now, to be sure, the paper
didn't
didn't
state
state
how
how
many
many
hampers
hampers
or
or
how
how
many
many
acres
acres
Mr.
Mr.
Bissell
Bissell
had,
had,
whether
whether
it
it
was
was
one
one
acre
acre
or
or
more
more
or
or
less.
less.
It
It
wouldn't
wouldn't
surprise
surprise
me
me
if
if
it
it
was
was
less.
less.
In
In
Okeelanta
Okeelanta
the
the
five
five
of
of
us,
us,
for
for
our
our
whole
whole
winter's
winter's
labor,
labor,
had
had
succeeded
succeeded
in
in
raising
raising
and
and
selling
selling
only
only
40
40
hampers
hampers
of
of
potatoes,
potatoes,
ten
ten
hampers
hampers
of
of
beans
beans
and
and
a
a
few
few
batches
batches
of
of
carrots
carrots
and
and
turnips.
turnips.
Our
Our
potatoes
potatoes
brought
brought
$1.50
$1.50
and
and
$1.75.
$1.75.
Schoolhouse at Chosen.
present Chosen road, built himself a two story house at
the canal and began to promote the settlement. With him
came his brother Isaac, a nephew Walter Leatherman, a
cousin Isaac W. West and West's cousin Walter R. Hooker.
Hooker and West arrived in 1920 and the following year
opened a store on the canal which is still being operated
by West and his family. Hooker left during the boom to
sell real estate in Miami, but returned to engage in the
produce business and until his recent death, was still
prominent in local affairs.
Then on Section 24, a mile north of the locks and near
the lake, a number of other people started farming, George
W. Carter, his brother-in-law John Perry, Mrs. Jeffcoate,
Frye, Williams and also the Schlechter family, who had
moved here from down the canal. In the section north of
them was Paul Johns, who had lived in 1919 in a high
shack at the locks, but had moved to Section 13, where he
was joined by a former townsman John Dick, and by several
other Greek refugees from Asia Minor. All this land
was densely forested and custard apples had to be cleared
from every foot of it.
' '