Florida Crackers

Florida Crackers. Historic Florida Barge Canal Trail. , Some of the early migrants to the Greenway were known for whips and storytelling. Discover what happened. Discover The Island., Florida’s Crackers were mostly, it's said to be, English pioneer settlers and their descendants who began coming to the colonies after the British victory over France in the Seventy Years War. "Cracker" is an Elizabethan-era word for "braggart," a person who engages in "entertaining conversation," as in "crack a joke.", Back Country Rascals , By the 1760s, "Cracker" popularly meant settlers of the remote southern back country of the USA. The Earl of Dartmouth called them "...a lawless set of rascals" on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, Georgia and the Carolinas. Later, the term was applied to the cowboys in Florida and Georgia, many of whom were descendants of the early American settlers., Modern Version , Today, "Cracker" indicates people of families who have lived in Florida for many generations. There's a pride in that distinction since those Florida frontier folks lived and flourished before air conditioning, mosquito repellant and screens for doors and windows. Screen, by the way, wasn’t patented until 1900., Cowboy Crackers , Florida has the distinction of having the longest history of cattle ranching in the USA. Here, those who worked with cattle were called "Cowmen." In the late 1800s, they were often called "cow hunters." Sometimes, "cracker" and "cowman" were used interchangeably., They were tough guys. They had to be to survive. Because of dense undergrowth, cowmen used whips instead of rope lassoes for herding cattle. Popularly, the sound of a whip cracking is thought to be another reason they were called "crackers.", Hearty Herds , Cowmen tended a wild British and Spanish breed of cattle, hearty creatures that survived on natural forage and tolerated severe heat and pesky insects, thereby acquiring an immunity from many diseases. Cowmen and their wild-ranging herds had to fight off panthers, wolves, bears and cattle rustlers., Cattle Drives , Taking cattle herds to market meant going across marshes and dense scrub wood, in burning heat, torrential rain storms, and hurricane winds. Drives went as far as Jacksonville (100 miles), Savanah (260 miles) and Charleston (744 miles). Sounds like the basis for a good ol’ story or two, "cracker" tales., What do "Florida Crackers" and "Seminole Indians" have in common?, Cattle! The first cattle in North America came with Spanish Conquistadors. Ponce de Leon brought Andalusian cattle to Florida in 1521. Those historic herds were nearly wiped out during the federal government’s wars against the Seminole Indians in the 1890s., The earliest Florida cowboys (the worker cow-men) were those we think of as native people. Like their fellow Anglo-American cattlemen in the pre-fence era, their animals ranged freely. They were referred to as "cow hunters" and they used braided-leather whips that made a cracking sound when driving cattle herds.