Voices of the Apalachicola

by Mormino, Gary R.

• ISBN13: 9780813028644
• ISBN10: 0813028647
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-02-07
• Publisher: Univ Pr of Florida

Summary

One of the main water resources for Florida, Alabama, and Georgia, the Apalachicola River begins where the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers meet at Lake Seminole and flow unimpeded for 106 miles, through the red hills and floodplains of the Florida panhandle into the Gulf of Mexico. Voices of the Apalachicolais a collection of oral histories from more than thirty individuals who have lived out their entire lives in this region, including the last steamboat pilot on the river system, sharecroppers who escaped servitude, turpentine workers in Tate's Hell, sawyers of "old-as-Christ" cypress, beekeepers working the last large tupelo stand, and a Creek chief descended from a 200-year unbroken line of chiefs.

Table of Contents

List of Maps	ix
List of Figures	xi
Series Foreword	xiii
Preface: Praise of Natural Wonders	xv
Acknowledgments	xix
Introduction: Stories of Historic Change	1	(262)
1. Botanical Eden, Cultural Battleground	3	(7)
2. River Roots	10	(32)
Creek Chief Ramsey: Walking Softly in Two Worlds	11	(11)
Sakim: Muskogee Medicine Maker and Webmaster	22	(7)
Judge Taunton: "Robin Hood" Defender of Swamp Dwellers	29	(13)
3. From Steamboat "Elation" to Rail and Road	42	(39)
Tom Corley: Last Steamboat Pilot	45	(10)
John Hentz: Bristol Native, River Defender	55	(11)
Homer B. Hirt: Lured by Shipping	66	(7)
Alton Colvin: Navigation Channel Engineer	73	(8)
4. Fishing a Sandy River: "It Is Filled Up"	81	(30)
The Walkers: Catfish Trap Makers	84	(12)
James M. Barkuloo: Counting the Disappearing Fish	96	(8)
Jimmy Mosconis: Greek Fishing Heir	104	(7)
5. Oystering, Shrimping, Fishing, Sponging the Bay	111	(51)
Buddy Ward: Commercial Fishing Survivor	112	(8)
James Golden: Nothing but Net-Making	120	(7)
Davis Family: Saving the Resource for Someone Else	127	(14)
Capt. Joseph Barber: Aided Torpedoed Sailors	141	(8)
Mike Millender: Oyster Kid to Seafood Dealer	149	(5)
Joe Nichols: Suing to Retrieve a Livelihood	154	(2)
Woody Miley: Let's Not Love Our Resource to Death	156	(6)
6. Turpentine, Timber, and Restoring Tate's Hell	162	(33)
Neel Yent: Panther Flight Memories	167	(10)
Boncyle Land: Turpentine Stories	177	(6)
The Allens: Guarding a Turpentine Legend	183	(5)
Billy Kersey: Building Roads through Hell	188	(7)
7. Logging "Eternal Wood"	195	(22)
Don Ingram: Milling "Old-as-Christ" Cypress	196	(11)
Lewis Jamerson: River Swamp Forester	207	(10)
8. A System Rich in Scientific Treasures	217	(20)
Angus Gholson Speaks for the Torreya Trees	220	(9)
Marilyn Blackwell: River Warrior	229	(8)
9. King Cotton, Tupelo Gold, and Cracker Cattle	237	(26)
The Harrises: Jackson County Sharecroppers	238	(9)
L.L. Lanier: Honey Philosopher	247	(9)
Pearl Porter Marshall: Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter	256	(7)
10. River as Trade and Commerce Opportunity	263	(42)
Jimmie Nichols: Four-time Apalachicola Mayor	264	(9)
Edward Tolliver: From Poverty to First Black Mayor	273	(8)
Robert Howell: Paper Boy, Mayor, General	281	(7)
Kathleen Hays: Teacher, Gibson Inn Proprietor	288	(8)
Clifton Lewis: "High Cotton" Proprietor, "Walking Island" Matriarch	296	(9)
Notes	305	(4)
Glossary	309	(4)
Bibliography	313	(6)
Index	319