Native Peoples

Florida History is the surveys in the Everglades and within the Big Cypress Swamp indicate the presence of at least several hundred archeological sites within the interior of south Florida. Some of these sites proved to be substantial, and suggest more than just marginal or short-term use. Based on current data, it also appears that the sawgrass plains region south of Lake Okeechobee, now the Everglades Agricultural Area, was a transitional area used for canoe travel and small encampments by many tribes.

The exceptions are earthwork complexes, some of which are known to be located on the western edge of the Everglades. These sites show a strong affiliation with the Belle Glade Area on the shores of Lake Okeechobee. Pottery remains found in portions of the southwest section of the Everglades Agricultural Area indicate influence from regions as far away as Ten Thousand Islands/Florida Bay on the southernmost end of the state. The settlement of South Florida, which has occurred since 10,000 b.c., has been chronologically categorized up until a.d. 1930.

Pioneer Settlement

At the end of the nineteenth century the south Florida coast was still largely wilderness, one of the last coastal regions east of the Mississippi to be settled. Only three small communities Chokoloskee, Cape Sable and Flamingo existed along the coast of what is now Everglades National Park.

Early mariners knew about Cape Sable, located west of Flamingo as it appeared on their maps. It was here in 1838 that Dr. Henry Perrine was given a grant of land. Unfortunately his plans for a settlement did not materialize due to his untimely death at the hands of Indians. Another plan for settlement was proposed by Surgeon General Thomas Lawson who explored the Cape in 1838 for the U.S. government. He built Fort Poinsett on Cape Sable. In 1856 during the Third Seminole War, Fort Cross was established at Middle Cape.

Development in the Everglades

Water in south Florida once flowed freely from the Kissimmee River to Lake Okeechobee and southward over low-lying lands to the estuaries of Biscayne Bay, the Ten Thousand Islands, and Florida Bay. This shallow, slow-moving sheet of water covered almost 11,000 square miles, creating a mosaic of ponds, sloughs, sawgrass marshes, hardwood hammock, and forested uplands. For thousands of years this intricate system evolved into a finely balanced ecosystem that formed the biological infrastructure for the southern half of the state.

Early colonial settlers and land developers viewed the Everglades as a worthless swamp in need of reclamation. The dream of draining the swampland took hold in the first half of the 1800s. By the 1880s developers started digging drainage canals, which took place without an understanding of the dynamics of the ecosystem and were generally inadequate for the task. They caused localized silting problems, but overall the ecosystem was resilient enough to sustain itself.

Conservation Efforts

The harmful side effects of dredging and draining were apparent early in this century. In 1928 landscape architect Ernest Coe began a concentrated effort to designate a "Tropical Everglades National Park." His persistence paid off when he and others persuaded Congress to designate the Everglades as a national park in 1934. It took park supporters another 13 years to acquire land and secure funding.

In 1947, Marjory Stone man Douglas would publish The Everglades: River of Grass, a work that would come to greatly influence the public perception of the oft-misunderstood region. That same year, Everglades National Park officially opened, marking the first large-scale attempt to protect the area's unique biology. Today, the park comprises a vast wetland wilderness unlike any other in the world.