Florida Cowboys

[Chip]

Recently, the Tampa Bay History Center had a special event honoring Florida's cattle ranches and cowboys.

Cattle were first introduced to the U.S. by Ponce de Leon in the early 1500s. The descendants of these cattle are called "cracker cattle" and live off the land on their own, with no supplemental feed or help from humans.

In the central and southern parts of the peninsula, there remain many cattle ranches, totaling about 7 million acres. The largest occupies 337,000 acres. Some have been in the same family for 8 generations (quite a while by Florida history standards).

Many ranchers take seriously their role as environmental stewards. For example, they don't use pesticides, protect wildlife and keep their land from development.

If you're interested, here's a link about a book recently done on Florida Cowboys. Carlton Ward is the photographer and creator of the book, and his family has been Florida ranchers for many generations. And this brief history of Florida ranches provides some good bits of information.

Here are a few photos from the cattle drive last month in downtown Tampa. Carlton Ward organized it to promote his book (going for about $30.00 on Amazon, I think).

"Getting Ready"

One of the younger cowboys at the event.



"Getting Ready, 2"

Cowboys need help.



"Rush Hour"

Quite different to see cracker cattle and horses stampeding down a downtown street, with a NHL Hockey Arena and Embassy Suites Hotel in the background.



"Meet and Greet"

A little PR work after the cattle drive ended.



Thanks for looking.

[shmelly]

Great set Chip, certainly something you don't see every day.

[Tenzin'sMom]

What great photos! I had absolutely no idea there were cowboys and cattle ranches in Florida, and the city street scenes are mind-boggling. How good to start the day being reminded that there is a whole world out there I know nothing about!

[Chip]

Originally Posted by shmelly

Great set Chip, certainly something you don't see every day.

Thanks! Love the new (?) avatar, Michele.

Originally Posted by Tenzin'sMom

What great photos! I had absolutely no idea there were cowboys and cattle ranches in Florida, and the city street scenes are mind-boggling. How good to start the day being reminded that there is a whole world out there I know nothing about!

Many thanks. There's a lot more to Florida than beaches. While I'm drawn more to mountains, there's no denying that Florida has a beauty of its own. (Once you get away from the condos, malls and suburbs, of course. )

[Hayward Taylor]

Hi Chip - it's nice to know that there are people out there who really cares about the environment ... they're doing something about it - now just talking .. I know it's part of their daily routine but it's almost comical to see them drive a cattle herd through the city streets ... these are great photos and thanks for the behind the scene education on these cowboys

[Chip]

Originally Posted by Hayward Taylor

Hi Chip - it's nice to know that there are people out there who really cares about the environment ... they're doing something about it - now just talking .. I know it's part of their daily routine but it's almost comical to see them drive a cattle herd through the city streets ... these are great photos and thanks for the behind the scene education on these cowboys

Thanks for commenting, Hayward. Ranchers certainly do a lot, and don't get much credit for it.