HISTORY

Polk County Cattle History - Courtesy of Maria Trippe, Museum Assistant, Polk County Historical Museum
Historians believe that the domestication of cattle followed sheep, goats, pigs and dogs as early as 10,000 years ago.  Remains of domesticated cattle from 6,500 B.C. have been found in Turkey and other sites in the Near East. Modern domestic cattle evolved from a single early ancestor, the Auroch. Prehistoric paintings depict the appearance of the Aurochs. Cattle and horses were introduced to continental United States by Ponce de Leon in 1521 when he made landing on the West Coast. On this expedition he was mortally wounded by Caloosa warriors. The fate of the cattle and horses is unknown.  In the 1600s ranches surrounding Spanish Missions in North Florida contained some 20,000 head of cattle.  Native Americans learned to raise cattle from the Spanish and acquired their own herds. By the early 1700s British soldiers and their Indian allies destroyed most of the early Spanish Missions.  When Spain ceded Florida to England in 1763 the British introduced the English Longhorn. Escaped Spanish Andalusian cattle and English cattle mixed in the wilderness and became known as “piney-woods” or “cracker cows”. Weighting about 600 pounds the cracker cow was tough enough to survive Florida’s swamps and woodlands. The first ranchers in Polk County were members of the Seminole Tribe. One reason for the Seminole Wars in Florida was control of grazing lands and livestock. During the wars the U.S. military captured and killed more Indian cattle than Seminole in an effort to starve the tribe from Florida. The first ranchers of European descent moved into Polk County from Hillsborough County beginning in 1848.
 
    Early Florida cowmen should not be confused with the cowboys seen in western roundups and cattle drives on Hollywood movie sets.  In the nineteenth century the cattle drives started in March and lasted until August. Cow Camps were scattered over the woodlands about one day apart. They consisted of crude shelters and log pens to gather wild cattle. The animals had to be flushed from the Florida palmetto scrub and swamps with whips, dogs, and horses. The men who accomplished that difficult and dangerous task were known as cow hunters. Wolves, bears and panthers frequently spooked the cattle and killed strays. It was a tough job keeping the skittish wild cattle together. When artist Fredrick Remington visited Florida in the late 19th century he produced several illustrations including a Florida cowman, or cow hunter, with his horse and dog.  Remington described a rough and ragged lot that, in his opinion, did not compare with the dashing, romanticized cowboys of the West. In an article published in the August 1895 issue of Harper’s New Monthly Magazine he wrote: “…they are picturesque in their unkempt, almost unearthly wildness.”
 
    During the Civil War Florida supplied an estimated 50,000 head of cattle to the Confederacy. The beef was described as stingy and unappetizing, but the only source of protein available to soldiers. A tax roll dated 1862, indicates the size and number of herds in Polk County: John Lanier, 2,700 head; N.R. Raulerson, 2,515 head; William Holden 1,800 head; W.H. Willingham 1,550 head; Berrian Platt, 1,015; J.M. Pierce, 830 head; John Skipper, 730 head; Albert J. Hendry and George Washington Hendry, 590 head. Drovers pushed their range cattle northward following old military roads. They moved toward Gainesville, then to rail lines at Baldwin, Atlanta and Savannah. Cattle were driven north from Central Florida prairies at the rate of 600 a week from April to August. The drive took about forty-five days. A 700 pound animal lost about 150 pounds in the process. A considerable number of cattlemen supported the Union Army because they could sell their cattle at Fort Myers for United States currency. Others found ways to run the Union Blockade and sell their cattle to other countries. By 1863, Union raiding parties and Confederate deserters were hampering cattle drives, rustling over 400 head. By early 1864, from Fort Myers, Union soldiers were raiding up and down the Peace River Valley. They burned homes and other buildings, destroyed crops, took horses and cattle and other supplies that would be useful to the Union Army. 
 
    In Polk County a skirmish occurred just south of Ft. Meade. On April 7, 1864, the Little Battle of Bowlegs Creek was fought between Co. B. 1st Battalion, Fla. Special Cavalry, C.S.A., the "Cow Cavalry" and Company “A” Second Florida Cavalry, U.S.A.  One Confederate soldier, Jim Lanier, was killed and probably buried on site in an unmarked grave.  Henry A. Crane, Captain of Union troops stationed at Fort Myers, stated in a letter written April 13, 1864, "The detachment sent to Fort Meade in my last had a fight with the Rebs & drove them from the place Thursday last destroying all their stores complete, & killing a leading Guerilla named Lanier & rounding out several others with horses & without any loss whatever.”
 
    In the ten year period after the Civil War an estimated 1.6 million head of cattle were sold to the Spanish in Cuba. Spanish gold boosted Florida’s economy at a time when paper currency was virtually useless. With the coming of the railroads the tradition of the cattle drive began to fade away. The cattle trade with Cuba began to die out in the early 1900s with competition from Texas and South America. Cattle were moved north by rail to yards in St. Louis and Chicago.
 
    For almost 500 years, the cattle industry has contributed significantly to Florida’s economy and natural resources. Today almost a quarter, perhaps 12 million acres of all Florida's acreage is grazing land for an estimated 1,740,000 cattle. Nearly one-half of all Florida agricultural land is involved in beef and dairy production. By the 1960s, due to many years of introducing new breeds, and crossbreeding with Brahman, Hereford and Angus bulls, only a few examples of historic cracker cattle remained. While there are more than 70 recognized breeds of cattle in the United States, in Florida, the vast majority of cattle are either Brahman or some sort of Brahman composite.
 
    In 2005 Polk ranked as the fourth largest cattle county in Florida with nearly 100,000 heads. Many of Florida ranches are cow-calf operations. Ranchers breed and raise calves for six to 12 months. When they reach about 400 pounds they are auctioned and shipped out west, closer to the Corn Belt, where they grow to a finished size around 1100 pounds. Florida cattle producers are good “stewards of the land” as owners and caretakers of thousands of acres of pristine native range and pasture land. Multi-generational family ranches have cared for the land provided employment for our residents and contributed greatly to the local tax base.