FLORIDA PIONEERS
The Lanier's are Florida Pioneers who were born and raised in the wilderness of the Florida Territories.
Grandfather took a job as a cook on the paddlewheel boat "Lillie" owned by Capt. Clay Johnson.
The one way trip down the winding Kissimmee River took 5 days stopping at places like Rattlesnake Hammock and Alligator Bluff.
Photo: "The Lillie"
From: Florida Archives
It's been told, that grandfather's specialty was venison stew as he could take down a deer by standing on the bow of the boat and retrieved it as the boat rounded the bend of the winding river.
When the paddlewheel boats stopped, Grandfather and Dad traveled with "Palm Frond Fishing Communities".
Families would travel and fish small lakes, then move on so as not to over fish the areas.
Huts were made from natural materials. Limbs were lashed together with deer hide and cabbage palm fronds would serve as walls and roof. The flooring was pure white sand that was swept daily. Beds were made from burlap sacks stuffed with spanish moss pulled from the oak trees.
Photo: Pioneer Museum, Zolfo Springs, Fl.
When probition was in full swing, the family found itself in the Sand Cut area on the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee. Grandfather had a tar paper shack that backed up to an oak hammock where the Ashley family homesteaded.
Now the Ashleys were a rowdy bunch who didn't take to kindly to the rich and greedy people who were flocking to develop Florida. The Ashleys, as well as other pioneers, felt that their way of life in the wilderness would soon disappear.
Their son, John, formed a gang which robbed the rich coastal intruders and escaped the law by retreating 60 miles back into their wilderness homestead.
The gang, for fear of letting their whereabouts be known, couldn't build a campfire to cook. They employed Grandmother to cook for them. Every evening about dusk-dark she would set out pots of hot food in the hollowed out remains of a cabbage palm tree and cover it with palm fronds. Every morning she would remove the pots and the money for the next days meal.
To learn more about Okeechobee's colorful past..Click Here
Great Photos of Early Okeechobee...Click here
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