The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-12-08

woodpeckers, snowy herons and other
birds now approaching extinction,
could be seen from the steamer, and
the alligators which are now so rare
that the sight of one few feet long
causes great excitement, were then,
in truth, "too numerous to mention. "
The river is now comparatively life
less, its banks largely deforested. To
one who does not know what devas-
tation man has caused here, the trip
TO Silver Springs is still worth making.
ONE UNsPOILED RIVER JOURNEY.
After this catalogue of places spoil
ed and places partially spoiled by the
white mans invasion, there is one
river journey through a country
where no material change has set in.
Taking a primitive stern wheel
steamer at Kissimmee one way, if the
water hyacinth permits, steam south
ward to Okeechobee-the Big Water
and thence by way of the Caloosa-
hatchie to the Gulf. The steamer S
schedule trips, however. end at Fort
Bassinger, where one may find good
lodging in one of the two or three
houses of this ancient (for South
Florida) settlement, and continue his
voyage to the lake in a small boat.
Or ne may cross the river to the town
of Bassinger, get team and drive
twenty miles TO the head of Taylor
Creek, where there is good camping
ground and one or two settlers from
whom supplies can be purchased.
Taylor Creek is one of the most
beautiful of Florida's smaller streams
and 1 found it an admirable way in
which to reach Okeechobee.
From this point the journey may
be continued overland to Fort Pierce
on the Indian River. The way lies
across broad prairies and through
pine or hummock islands, the lat
ter name being applicable only from
the end of the rainy season until late
winter when a large part of the
country is under water.
The Kissimmee region is Florida S
cattle country. Too low to be culti-
waited, defying all attempts at drain
age, it offers for Florida excellent
grazing, and hundreds of thousands
of cattle are pastured here. I have
known a single owner to hold 80, 900
head, number which would do credit
to a western ranch.
THE 'scRAcKER" COWBOY.
Here has been developed the Flori-
ca cowboy. Climatic and other con-
ditions have caused him to differ
widely in temperament from his pro-
totype of the plains. To the western
equipment he adds a short stocked
whip with a lash twenty feet in length,
the loud popping" of which is said
to have given origin to the now loosely
applied term Cracker"
The day of the "open range" is
closing in Florida as it has in the
West. With much hard feeling, cut
ting of fences and mutilating of cat
tie, a gradual adjustment of the in
terests of the large and small owner
is being wrought out.
Reaching the Indian River one may
continue his journey to Miami and
the keys. This is the truly tropical
portion of Florida, and some of the
older gardens here compare favorably
with anything 1 have seen in the
West Indies. The keys have hereto
fore been accessible only to those
possessed of the proper type of craft
in which to navigate their shallow
waters, but the extension of the East
Coast Railway through this string of
coral islets to Key West will place
them on a trunk line and, at the same
time, sadly enough, rob them of the
charm which isolation lends. The
Tavel el11agGsine.