Sawgrass Country Family
Capt. Johnson's Steamboat "Lillie" Among the Palms(1894)
Capt. Johnson's Steamboat "Lillie" Among the Palms(1894)
My grandfather, Ira Lanier, was the cook on one of Captain Johnson's riverboats that made trips down the winding Kissimmee River from Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee to Ft. Bassinger, a total of 162 miles. The one way trip took five days, stopping at places such as Rattlesnake Hammock, Alligator Bluff and the Drigg's place at Orange Hammock. It's been told, that grandfather's specialty was venison stew as he could take down a deer by standing on the bow of the boat and retrieved it as the boat rounded the bend of the winding river.
When the paddlewheel boats stopped, Grandfather and Dad traveled with "Palm Frond Fishing Communities". Families would travel and fish small lakes, then move on so as not to over fish the areas. Huts were made from natural materials. Limbs were lashed together with deer hide and cabbage palm fronds would serve as walls and roof. The flooring was pure white sand that was swept daily and beds were made from burlap sacks stuffed with spanish moss pulled from the oak trees.
When probition was in full swing, the family found itself in the Sand Cut area on the eastern side of Lake Okeechobee. Grandfather had a wooden shack that backed up to a hammock where the Ashley family homesteaded. Now the Ashleys were a rowdy bunch who didn't take to kindly to the rich and greedy people who were flocking to develop Florida. The Ashleys, as well as other pioneers, felt that their way of life in the wilderness would soon disappear. Their son, John, formed a gang which robbed the rich coastal intruders and escaped the law by retreating 60 miles back into their wilderness homestead. The gang, for fear of letting their whereabouts be known, couldn't build a campfire to cook. They employed Grandmother to cook for them. Every evening about dusk-dark she would set out pots of hot food in the hollowed out remains of a palm tree and cover it with palm fronds. Every morning she would remove the pots and the money for the next meal. You see John Ashley paid her in advance for his meals, in the event he got caught by the law.
Grandfather also made the best moonshine! Cornliquor as it was called was made from sugarcane and corn. Lime or orange juice was mixed with some of the shine and the result was a drink that tastes something like a lime or orange cooler, but with a kick that was unmistakable! Grandfather afforded his first Model T with the proceeds, but it was a total loss in the flood waters of the 1926 hurricane.