The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-05-26

1
either dead Or dying of hunger. The
remainder pushed on to the villages
hoping to find food there, but found
instead of the villages, only smoking
heaps Of ashes and the hostile In
dams fed. Of this band of three hun
dred who set out with such courage
and with such ambitious purposes in
search Of fancied empire only four
escaped alive TO tell their tale of peril
and hunger. But that was the Flori-
da Of yesterday which refused food
to her sons. Behold the Florida of
to-day. Her fields green with celery
and crimson with strawberries,
which not only supply her needs. but
also help to satisfy the needs of her
sister states. Her groves from which
her people and other people are fed
lpineapples and oranges in abund-
ance. Behold her truck farms, her
rich fields of potatoes, which would
size of De Narvaez's but help to sup
ply the nation for her land is fertile
Having heard of its fertility there are
people who are searching for our
Florida of today, anxious to gain
some of the land on which yesterday
Florida buried her explorers who
died of hunger.
Florida was the mysterious land
in which ones dreams were believed
to be fulfilled. Not only was it
country to be explored and colonized,
immortal youth to all, but also was
a country Astounding in wealth.
! There were nuggets of gold that
one might find lying around on the
shores; there were dazzling gems
that one might find hanging from
the trees, so it was fondly believed.
And, expecting to reap wealth Her.
nando De Soto came to repair his
fortune and to gain great glory for
himself. The latter he accomplish
ed, but in the former he was bitter
ly disappointed. He explored Flor;-
da all its length but did not find the
| fabulous gold nor gems. He con-
quered the tribes and stripped them
of all their golden ornaments. Even
! then he was not satisfied. Yesterday
De Soto was denied the wealth he
sought; today there is wealth for all
who seek it. There is wealth in the
kaolin mines and there is wealth IN
the lime pits, but best and richest of
all are the mines which are veritable
gold mines in themselves, the phos-
plate mines. Everyday ships laden
with this money-bringing mineral
cross the ocean. Yet De Soto died a
disappointed man, and the fortune
for which he sought, for which he
gave his life and which the Florida of
yesterday, so niggardly withheld
from him, the Florida of to-day
generously lavishes upon her sons.
! There being no gold mines ready
for the Spaniards, no precious stones
with which to fill theil greedy peck
cts and especially since the Indians
were so hostile to all invaders, Flori-
da was not colonized as soon as the
other portions of the new world.
The thirteen colonies had been set
tied yet Florida was only dumping
ground for runaway slaves, and a
refuge for the hunted criminals
Id
with the native Indians and defied all
their pursurers. And out of them
the Seminoles sprung. The impass-
able forests and painless swamps
were known only. to them. They
would rush out of their hiding places
with weird war chants and descend.
ing on the scattered settlers murder
; them, kidnap their children, scalr
the missionaries sent to convert
them, then disappear into their aqua
: tic jungle haunted by noisome rep
tiles. Here fallen trees and mat
ted underbrush lay submerged il
: dank, black water. Cypress gloom
: ed in forbidding shadows above tn:
stagnant pools, the swamp itself wa:
/ rife with horrible quacks and cccakt
, and off somewhere the distant bel
, low of an alligator. The Seminole
We're cunning and they were the ter
. ror of every inhabitant. 1t was onl.
| after repeated efforts and the EN-
ployment of their own strategy tina
} they We're finally captured and sub
5 dued. But the completeness of thei
4 subjugation may be seen in the Flor
t ida of today. The Indian trails ar
!. now broads highways travelled b,
t honking automobiles; the little plot
: of ground where they used to plan