The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1914-05-29

which ones dreams were believed to
be fulfilled. Not only was 1t a coun-
try to be explored and colonized,
whose waters impaired I'M
mortal 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 1t was
fondly believed. And. expecting to
reap wealth, fernando DeSoto came
to repair his fortune and to gain great
glory for himself. The latter he ac-
but in the former he was
bitterly disappointed. He explored
Florida all its length, but did not find
the fabulous gold nor gems. He con-
quered the tribess, and stripped them
of all their golden ornaments. Even
then he was not satisfied. Yesterday
DeSoto was denied the wealth he
sought. Today here is wealth for al
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-
pha.o mines. Every day ships laden
with this money.bringing material
cross the ocean. Yet, DeSoto died a
man, and the fortune for
which he sought, for which he gave
his life, and which the Florida of yes
terday so niggardly withheld from
him, the Florida of today generously
lavishes upon her sons.
There. being no gold mines ready
for the Spaniards, no precious stones
with which to fill their greedy peck
cts, and especially since the Indians
were so hostile to all invaders, Flor
ida was not colonized as soon as the
other portions of the new world. The
thirteen colonies had been settled,
yet Florida was only dumping
ground for runaway slaves, and a
refuge for the hunted criminals. Here
they mingled and intermarried with
the native Indians and defied all their
pursuers. And out of these the Semi
noles sprang. The impossible forests
and painless swamps were known
only to them. They would rush out
of their hiding places, with their
weird war chants, and, descending on
the scattered settlers, murder them,
kidnap their children, scalp the mis-
sionaries sent to convert them, then
disappear into their aquatic jungle,
haunted by noisome reptiles. Here
fallen trees and a matted underbrush
lay submerged in dank, black water.
Cypress gloomed in forbidding shad
ows above the stagnant pools, the
swamp itself was rife with horrible
quacks and croaks, and off somewhere
the distant below of an alligator. The
Seminoles were crafty, and the Semi
noles' were cunning, and they were
the terror of every inhabitant. 1t was
only after repeated efforts and after
the employment of their own strategy
that they were finally captured and
subdued. But the completeness of
their subjugation may be seen in the
Florida of today. The Indian trails
are now broad highways, travelled by
honking automobiles. The little plots
of ground where they used to plant
their maize are now luxuriant tropical
gardens in which there are flowers of
all hues, and the Indian villages of
wigwams are transformed into mag
nificent winter resorts. The Florida
of yesterday which was the dumping
ground for criminals and runaway
slaves, has now become Florida
which is the playground for the multi,
Yesterday the rivers, with their
clear waters, were the goals to which
eventually all the forest paths led
The bears, wildcats and psnthers used
to traverse the same paths to quench
their thirst. But that was in the
Florida of yesterday. The forest
paths are no more, and the deer do
not go to the same place as formerly
to satisfy their thirst For where the
paths through the forests once lay are
today broad highways, and by the
same clear rivers are thriving towns,
where men of all nationalities are
to earn their daily bread. |
The rivers alone have withstood the
oeckonings of time in the passage of
Florida from yesterday to today, and
hey alone are the same.
Courage was required of the peo-
pie who discovered the new world,
and who faced the hardships, the per-