Florida Crackers

[Major 2]

Florida Frontier life was just as rip roaring as many stories & legends out west...

I would like to offer several reads for those who might find the stories interesting

Guns of the Palmetto Plains A Cracker Western By Rick Tonyan ( thanks to WT I got to read this one again )
a Novel set in the Civil War, Yankee raiders VS Confederate home guard VS vicious outlaws over cattle for the staving South.
Based on true facts and locations.

Florida Cow-hunter The Life of Bone Mizell by Jim Bob Teinsley
a light and humorous true life read of Bonaparte Mizell , circa 1890's


Thunder on the St. Johns by Lee Gramling
Set in the 1850's  Homesteaders , trappers VS Outlaws


Riders of the Suwannee by Lee Gramling
1870's  the fight to save a Homestead of a young widow and her children from outlaws...

And perhaps my favorite....

Florida Frontiers ,"the Way Hit Waz"   by Mary Ida Bass Barber
The life of Mose Barber & many others .... Circa 1855- 1870's 
Fighting Seminoles, the CW , Cow-hunting & Rustling , Barber- Mizell Feud , ambushes , lynchings.
and the best part is I live right where most of it all happened .
The book describes these locations in such detail & maps one can go right to the sites...
in many cases they have little changed.
Highly recommend it... In fact I just bought a copy ( again many thanks WT  )
previously I had to used the library's copy

[Travis Palmetto]

I'm reading "Ninety-Mile Prairie" by Lee Gramling right now and it's pretty good! 

I did balk at the price of the hard cover though.  I thought that $14.95 was a bit much considering its sized like a paperback.  (It should've been bigger.)  I also thought $9.95 for the softcover version seemed out of place with its competition.  What do you think?

I noticed that here in Florida, these book are in the "Local Author" section and not in the "Western" section.  Are they in the "Western" section in the other states?  Has anyone else heard of the "Cracker Western"?

[Major 2]

Cracker Westerns & Cow-hunting history is vastly over shadowed by the great west.

ask any average Joe... about Cowboys,  I'll bet Texas is the first thing they think of ..and rightly so as most Average Joe's history is learned for TV or Hollywood movies. 

Florida Cracker history is so very rich ,but so little is written about it...  Lee Gramling is almost in a field by himself....
I imagine he is fronting some of the cost of publishing his book.
I just paid $25 for my copy of Florida Frontiers ,"the Way Hit Waz"  prior to that I had to go to the local library.
The book ( a paper back ) is out of print , and there were only 3 copies listed on the web for sale... the other were over $40...
I was lucky 
BTW if you are a Floridian and like history , it is a MUST read... and damn good for anyone else too   

"...Are they in the "Western" section in the other states? " I honestly don't know .. but "Florida Frontiers" was under a history banner.

I have not read "Ninety-Mile Prairie" but I believe I will pay $9.95  thanks for the heads up 
It sounds like the Story of the Cattle Drives from Yeehaw Juction to the Kissimmee Depot (about 90 Miles) ... if it is thats my backyard 

[St. George]

Any time you balk at the price of a book - look at www.bookfinder.com, www.abebooks.com, or even www.amazon.com - you may find a better price.

You may also be amazed...

Once a book gets to the secondary market - the prices on small printings can skyrocket.

For example - a copy of R. Bruce McDowell's 'A Study of Colt Conversions and Other Percussion Revolvers' originally retailed for $39.95.

McDowell died, and there was but the one printing in 1997.

It routinely pushes the $400+ price range, but if that's your collecting field - then that's the book you 'need' - and book sellers know this.

The Cracker Cowboys have little 'publicity' beyond the borders of their state, so good books and good references are naturally going to be harder to find, so when you do find them - make sure you also post them - here and on the 'Historical Society' forum.

It'll be appreciated.

Good Luck!

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Major 2]

I have just written an article Cracker History , I hope to have published by Shoot or Gun of the Old West...

Hey Chucky you out there ? 

www.abebooks.com is where I found my copy of Florida Frontiers

[Travis Palmetto]

I hope they publish it.  I look forward to reading it!

I'm reading about Ol' Bone right now.  Great book. 

[Major 2]

Travis , I take it your in or from Florida ?

Florida Cow-hunter The Life of Bone Mizell  is a good read .. the article in part mentions the Barber- Mizell Feud.

[litl rooster]

Cracker Westerns & Cow-hunting history is vastly over shadowed by the great west.

ask any average Joe... about Cowboys,  I'll bet Texas is the first thing they think of ..and rightly so as most Average Joe's history is learned for TV or Hollywood movies. 

Florida Cracker history is so very rich ,but so little is written about it...  Lee Gramling is almost in a field by himself....
I imagine he is fronting some of the cost of publishing his book.
I just paid $25 for my copy of Florida Frontiers ,"the Way Hit Waz"  prior to that I had to go to the local library.
The book ( a paper back ) is out of print , and there were only 3 copies listed on the web for sale... the other were over $40...
I was lucky 
BTW if you are a Floridian and like history , it is a MUST read... and damn good for anyone else too   

"...Are they in the "Western" section in the other states? " I honestly don't know .. but "Florida Frontiers" was under a history banner.

I have not read "Ninety-Mile Prairie" but I believe I will pay $9.95  thanks for the heads up 
It sounds like the Story of the Cattle Drives from Yeehaw Juction to the Kissimmee Depot (about 90 Miles) ... if it is thats my backyard 

   Didn't Florida have more of them "Lopped Eared" beast<the cleaned of version) per acre than Texas at one time? 

[Major 2]

funny you should ask " lopped eared " comes for the practice of ear marking cattle for ownership use by the Cracker cowhunters in the 19th century.

yes ....at one time it did more of them per acre than Texas 

Florida still has some of the largest beef cattle herds in the country. It is tied 6th nationally behind only Texas, Montana, Nebraska, Wyoming and Pennsylvania in the number of herds having 500 head or more brood cows.

Florida has 4 of the 15 largest cattle ranches, including THE largest ranch in the country, with more than 35,000 cows on more than 300,000 acres.

Beef cattle are raised in every county in the state  The rolling grassland of central and south Florida is the heart of the beef cattle country. Osceola is the state's leading beef cattle county with approximately 70,000 head of beef cows. Highlands (68,000), Hendry (54,000), Okeechobee (67,000), and Polk Counties (58,000) each inventory significant numbers of beef cattle annually . Smaller operations are found in the northern and panhandle areas .

[Travis Palmetto]

Travis , I take it your in or from Florida?

Yep.  I moved to Charlotte County from Detroit (Highland Park) back in '94.  I work as a landscaper right on Kings Highway.  I like knowing that I work in the area where Bone and his pall tromped through.