Annual Cracker Trail Ride set for Feb. 12-20

Posted 1/22/21

The 2021 Annual Florida Cracker Trail Association Cross State Ride is set for Feb. 12-20.

You must be a member to read this story.

Join our family of readers for as little as $5 per month and support local, unbiased journalism.


Already have an account? Log in to continue. Otherwise, follow the link below to join.

Please log in to continue

Log in
I am anchor

Annual Cracker Trail Ride set for Feb. 12-20

Posted

The 2021 Annual Florida Cracker Trail Association Cross State Ride is set for Feb. 12-20.

According to the organization’s website, the annual ride highlights and preserves the importance of Florida’s role in the introduction of horses and cattle into the New World.

In the early 1500s, Spanish conquistador, Juan Ponce de León landed on the shores of Florida in an attempt to colonize. Thwarted and attacked by Native Americans, the colonists abandoned their quest, leaving behind the first livestock in North America: horses, hogs and Andalusian cattle, the ancestors of the Texas Longhorns. Florida was mostly wide, green spaces (natural pasture land) and livestock bred and ran wild for centuries. In northern Florida, those who raised cattle fought Indian raids, mosquitoes, fever ticks, storms, swamps and snakes, the website continues.

By the 1800s, the Seminole nation possessed extensive herds of cattle. As Indian and white settlers moved south, so did the cattle, searching for new pastures. As railroads reached into Florida, the state became a chief supplier of cattle to the Confederacy for hides, tallow, leather and meat during the Civil War. At that time, Florida was an open range. There was not a fenced pasture anywhere in the state and cattle roamed freely. Rustling became particularly widespread by the second half of the 18th century, and was one of the elements that led to the Seminole Wars.

Following the Civil War, a rugged brand of individual settled along Florida’s east coast and central corridor. These early settlers became known by their Northern neighbors, as Florida Crackers, Cracker Cowmen or Cow Hunters, the website continues. The early Crackers would hunt and round up cows over the wooded rangelands and miles and miles of open plains, in the hammocks, and by the rivers and streams, and had a unique way of herding cattle. The Crackers relied on bull whips to flush cows out of the palmetto scrub and spur on oxen that pulled their carts and wagons. They used 10- to 12-foot-long whips made of braided leather. The snaps of these whips would break the sound barrier making a loud CRACK.

The sound earned the cowmen the nickname of Crackers. The crack could be heard for miles, so they also used them to communicate with each other, like a form of Morse code, and were able to identify each other by their whip cracks.

The Crackers survived in difficult conditions. They fought off panthers, wolves, bears, and cattle rustlers and spent weeks or months on cattle drives across difficult marshes and dense scrub woods, often enduring burning heat, torrential thunderstorms, and hurricane winds. Today, the term Florida Cracker refers to an independent, self-reliant cowboy and the lifestyle that goes with that character, the website explains.

Each year, the Crackers gathered west of Fort Pierce to drive their giant herd of scrub cattle west across the state toward Bradenton and then to Tampa, Punta Gorda, and Punta Rassa, to ship them to Cuba. The Cracker Trail was the only dry route across Florida.


Each year, the Florida Cracker Trail Cross-State Ride honors the Cracker Cowmen and their history.

On Nov, 20, 2000, the Florida Cracker Trail was selected as a Community Millennium Trail. Millennium Trails are a partnership between the White House Millennium Council, the Department of Transportation, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, the National Endowment for the Arts and other public agencies and private organizations. The goal of Millennium Trails is the creation of a nation-wide network of trails that protect natural environment, interpret history and culture, and enhance alternative transportation, recreation and tourism.

Applications to participate in the ride are available online at floridacrackertrail.org. Deadline is Jan. 31.

trail ride, cracker trail, history, crackers, cowmen, cowboys

Comments

x