Florida's "Cracker" Cowboy History!
Who knew?? Many, including me, never knew that Florida had cowboys working cattle LONG before our wild west!! Turns out, Juan Ponce De Leon brought spanish cattle and horses to Florida in the 1500's. The spanish didn't stay but the livestock did. The Indians, specifically the Seminole's quickly took advantage of the left-behind animals and started raising and training both cattle for food, and horses for transportation and to work the cattle.
The spanish horses as it turns out are small and quick on their feet. Oh, and they're gaited, so easy to ride! Now if you know much about Florida, you are aware that the saw palmetto covered, often quite thickly, much of the state's terrain. Don't get me wrong, there are also vast prairies of grasses, cypress swamps, and of course our beautiful beaches. But for herding the wild cattle that by now were becoming quite populous, these small, quick horses were ideal. A larger horse would have great difficulty navigating the thick scrub that covered much of Florida, but the smaller spanish horse could turn on a dime and dive in and out of scrub with ease. This was necessary when it came to catching those quick and ornery spanish cattle!
After the Revolutionary war and then the Civil war, people began moving south to find new land. Much of the south was devastated by the Civil war in particular and starvation was a very real problem. People packed up, looking for a better means of living and discovered with the help of the Seminoles, that cattle could be had if they were willing to "hunt" them down. Thus came the name "cow hunter" as they were often called.
I learned all this from reading the book "A LAND REMEMBERED" by Patrick Smith. A wonderful historical novel, it is now being read in schools throughout Florida. Better yet, a new TV series by that name is now in production telling the story of Florida's "Cracker" or "cowhunter" heritage. Where did the term "cracker" come from? It is somewhat ambiguous, but the accepted theory is that it comes from the cracking sound made by the whips the cow hunters used. Ropes were useless, again due to the dense scrub, whips were much more useful to round up and move cattle. The "cow hunters" didn't actually hit the cattle with the whips, by the way, the sound of the cracking in the air was enough to get the cattle going in the desired direction. Cur, or mixed breed dogs were also used to bunch and move the cattle. They are still employed to this day by Florida ranchers (yes, there are still large cracker cattle ranches here) and there are even whip cracking contests and cur dogs for sale!
If you want to learn more, I recommend getting "A LAND REMEMBERED" and then read "ALLAPATTAH" and "FOREVER ISLAND" which tell the Seminole story. All are by Patrick Smith and available on Amazon.
Why am I telling you this? Because I am an artist, who happens to love horses. (I'm from Kentucky, the horse state, and I owned horses before moving to Florida) It turns out the only art I could find on the "Cracker" history is folk art. That is good art, don't get me wrong, but I felt it was time for some realistic art to document this history where possible. So I am stepping up to do so and I am very excited to say the least!
I have had discussions with organizations about hosting an exhibition of my series when I have a sufficient number of works completed, and I look forward to inviting some of my friends who are "Cracker" cattlemen to speak at my exhibition when it takes place. In the meantime, I am starting on painting number 4, so stay tuned and thank you for following along with me on this new adventure!
