Everglades Exploration Network

In the early 1970's I was canoeing mostly day trips out of the
Flamingo and Everglades City Area, with occasional over-night
trips usually to the Cape Sable Area. It was only a matter of
time and buying a copy of the Truesdell book on the Wilderness
Waterway that I'd set out for the jewel of Everglades
National Park.

On 20 December 1975, a couple of weeks after I graduated from
college, a long time friend of mine, Bill, and I launched my mom's
aluminum canoe from the first bridge on Chokoloskee Causeway.
Two guys, very limited with any long term primitive camping
knowledge, sunk the gear-loaded 15-foot canoe down low in the water,
so much so that we were already up on the embankment on the opposite
side of the bridge bailing the canoe out after taking on wake from
a commercial fishing boat just seconds into our trip. Undeterred,
we continued down the magenta line on the inside of the causeway
passing the familiar Wilderness Waterway markers. This being our
first time at both the Wilderness Waterway and a backcountry
trip this long in length, we stayed on the charted route to Huston Bay
but made our first off-the-path variation by going down the north
fork of Chatham River to Watson Place.
Watson Place was the same as it is today except for a homemade wooden
outhouse and a smaller dock. It used to be just two 2x12's extending
offshore. There was, however, a big difference in administration - no
permits. Paper work consisted of a rolled up log in a bottle with the
lid nailed on the underside of the camp sign so the bottle hung down
in a kind of weather-protected fashion. When a camper spent a night
he would record a one line entry of data on times, date, number in
party, etc. There were few restrictions or limits and the only
printed document listing rules was the Truesdell book. Bureaucracy
tends to be directly porportional to use, so since there was so
little use of these sites, decisions were left more to the user.
We shared the site for the night with two fishermen
who had a canvas tent with wooden poles, remember those?
They marveled at our very little but "modern" aluminum pole
cheapo two man tent I bought at Eagle Army Navy for $9.95. It
was not oiled canvas but nylon or some kind of plastic!

The next morning we continued down the magenta line across
Chevelier Bay to Opossum Key, where Arthur Darwin still lived,
and continued across Cannon Bay and Alligator Bay. Plate Creek Bay
had a number of deserted fishing cabins and a large tank tower
against a small island in the middle of the bay. We went into one
of the cabins on the north side of the bay, it was quite nice and
after climbing up the tank tower, which is now Plate Creek Chickee,
we continued across Two Island Bay to Onion Key.
With it's 5 feet of flat elevation, cleared inside of brush, overhanging
trees, picnic table and no bugs, this little island was the best campsite
between Everglades City and Flamingo. We pitched our tent, prepared
dinner: something dumped out of a can heated with Sterno (the little
single burner stoves were just coming on the market and they
were expensive), mixed Tang (this was before Gatorade and all
those wonderful little bottles containing a variety of drinks) Tang
and powdered milk was it. We sat around a nice ground fire (oh yeah,
no problem with ground fires either).

The next day, 22 December 1975, we had our first slap of reality
from the weather. This is the stuff that makes the backcountry
canoer, stronger, wiser and experienced. The only thing is since
you're three days into it, all this knowledge and training is
forced on you by the conditions. I guess it's called "survival".
We followed the printed route through Onion Key Bay, Third Bay,
and as we approached Big Lostmans Bay we noticed the wind picking
up. By the time we got to the bay the wind was screaming from
the north northeast and we were headed east across the big bay.
We made it to the little island near marker 42 and reassessed our
situation in the lee of the island but any attempts to move
forward was met with almost devastating winds and waves. Other
than going backwards, our only attack would be to head southeast
keeping the canoe near parallel to the wave crests and troughs
making it to the little point of land on the south side of
the bay between markers 42 and 41. We did it, taking on water
the whole way and crashing into the mangroves just north of
the point. We jumped out to save the canoe and gear, steadied
the canoe along side the mangroves and bailed. After putting
ourselves back together, we slowly paddled the canoe around
that point and hugged in behind the land just south of marker 41.
We follow the north shore, the lee side, of islands to
continue our route south only to get hit with the full flood
(against us) tide when we got down to Broad River. With daylight
running out, making it impossible to get to Broad River, we rode
the tide into Camp Lonesome. Since the next campsite after Broad
River was Shark River Chickee this left us in an undesireable
campsite for the next day but we had no choice. As it turned out
we did okay, our gear was sealed good enough to keep the water
out so the only thing wet was the clothes we were wearing.

Feeling like seasoned explorers from the day before, we went off the
printed route on day 4 and took Wood River out to Broad River
campsite. It was early in the day but we didn't want to attempt
going all the way to Shark River Chickee so we stayed at Broad River
and thought about the next day's trip through The Nightmare.
Back then, hand-powered craft didn't travel the outside route much.
Come to think about, there weren't many boaters of any kind this
far out. Power boats didn't have the fuel ranges that boats have
today and hand-powered craft were few and far between. We had not
seen anybody since leaving Watson Place. Broad River campsite was
very different from what it is today. No Brazilian Pepper, the site
was cleared much larger and it even had mowed grass, very much
like Watson Place.

The next morning we left early to go through The Nightmare. The
low tide warning note was on the nautical charts even back then but
we didn't pay any attention to the tides...another one of those
wisdom things I mentioned earlier. Sure enough, somewhere on the
south side of The Nightmare the water ran out and sure enough we
ended up out of the canoe dragging it in hip deep mud. Back then
The Nightmare ended pretty much at marker 23 and it wasn't until
years later that the stretch between marker 17 and 16 grew in.
We rode the flood up Harney River which meant we fought the tide
coming down Shark River and arrived at Shark River Chickee too
early to stop but too late to continue. Or WAS it too late
to continue...we figured if we cut through that maze of creeks
southeast of the chickee, called the "Labyrinth" in later years,
it would put us right on Watson River Chickee in plenty of daylight.
Off we went, turn here, don't turn here, go straight, go more south,
try this one, to the east, look ahead and see if you see anything;
Terry: "Bill, do you have any idea where we are?", Bill: "What are you
asking me for? You've been lookin' at the chart." Terry: "I have no
idea where we are." Bill: "Are we lost?" Terry: "Define lost."
Bill: "Are we going to get outta here? Terry: "I think the chart
is now useless." Bill: "Let's just keep heading southeast."
And, forgiving as the Labyrinth is, we finally popped out in open
water where we could see the chickee across a small bay. Back then
there were picnic tables on the chickees, we had to move the table
out on the walkway to the outhouse to set up a tent.

Still thinking, "follow the printed route", we took off the following
morning right down the middle of Whitewater Bay. Gee, the bay has
an interesting name. This was dumb but not as dumb as it is today:
Oyster Bay Chickee did not exist but Wedge Point ground site, smack
dab in the middle of the bay, did. Going to Joe River Chickee, a
single chickee at the time, from Watson River Chickee was the wrong
direction. It also could leave us with a long next day. Avoiding
the bay by going north meant a large detouring arc with a night at
one of the same sites as today except Roberts River and Hells Bay were
ground sites. We cruised to Wedge Point where we saw people for
the first time since leaving Watson Place. It was two guys in a
beautifully constructed New England type all wood canoe, on a northern
bound attempt at the Wilderness Waterway. We couldn't figure
these guys out - they had two glass five gallon bottles
(the type that used to be inverted in a old water cooler)
for water and the bow of the canoe was full of books. They somehow
must have thought they were out for a Caribbean cruise, needless
to say after a late start from Flamingo and spending their first
night tied to the mangroves in Coot Bay, they were giving up and
heading back to Flamingo. We continued and the wind continued to
build right in our faces. We made it to the island just west of
marker "12" and hugged the lee side of the island around to the
southern point where we were greeted by 3-foot waves pushed by strong
easterly winds. We paddled hard and fast to get to the second point
of land west of Tarpon Creek, then hugged the shoreline all the
way to the creek. Then as if the Wilderness Waterway was inflicting
its last blow against us, we were hit with surf as we came into
Coot Bay. We did it but the wind was trying it's hardest to hold
us back as we inched our way around the southern coastline.
I clearly remember the feeling of accomplishment after landing at the
boat ramp in Flamingo. That was the first of many trips to come.

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The good old days! No GPS, no sat phone & we made it anyways!

Your story is like a major flashback. Except on my '87 trip we had 3 recently graduated almost lawyers & a sailor fresh out of the Persian Gulf (remember the USS Vincennes?), but similarly overloaded vessels under equally green commands! Powered by more beer than water, supplemented with yugoslavian moonshine!

Back in '87 I used the Truesdell book, but I couldn't find a copy for this year's trip. Anyone know where you can still get a copy?
I bought a copy of the revised '85 edition from the Everglades Bookstore for about ten bucks a few years ago but I don't think they're in business anymore. I just checked Amazon and found a used copy of the '85 revision - $72.25! There is also used 'good' condition copy of the '71 edition going for $53.53 on Amazon. eBay draws a blank. Think I'll hold on to my copy for a while longer...

Truesdell's book has pretty much been superseded by Molloy's guide. He updated it last year and the new edition should be out soon.

Terry, the story was great! Do you have any photos?
Yes I do have photos, over a hundred color slides (ektachrome or kodachrome) of that trip.
Last I looked at them they were still in good condition.
I still have my ''75 edition of the Truesdell book and about 15 years ago I bought the '85 at
the Everglades Bookstore. My ''75 edition has my notes of the trip in it.
yakmaster, can you move your notes from your '87 trip to this discussion, maybe we'll get
some more old timers to tell their stories.
I haven't found a document that has the history of the Wilderness Waterway. There's no
mention of the Wilderness Waterway on a 1950 park brouchure. Truesdell's first edition
was 1969. I'm going to do a little research about the waterway and a history of the campsites
this summer.
Wow, what a great story! Yes, I too want to see pictures if you have them of what the sites used to look like. Did you take a picture of the Darwin homestead?

Your first experiences in the Everglades with winds and tides were very funny. Although I am sure not funny at the time! Reminds me of my first few trips. Looking back at all I have had to learn and still need to learn, it's a wonder we are all alive after those Everglades paddling trips. LOL!
I asked one of the participants on our 1987 adventure to do a (way)afteraction report. This is what he has provided up to date:

Dude:

We took 5 days. The days were long and the nights were longer.
Julio, Santo, & you were nuts... One has to be nuts to undertake that trip. I had an excuse, I was living in mental illness and not thinking straight. All three of you were at the beginning of brilliant legal careers.
The romance of it all and the ordeal of the trip just didn't balance.
Ah- but the bragg'in rights!
The grandest of times...
Ever wonder why we only seem to remember the good stuff about the crazy dayze.

Bro, I don't know what to say. The details are foggy; it has been twenty years. Let's continue to talk about it. I'd like to speak with Julio and Santo and find out what they remember.
Javier

More shall come as we apply alcohol based lubricants to the jammed synapses.
Thanks to Keith I scored a copy of Truesdell's '69 edition (1970 printing). Apparently times have changed a bit in the ensuing 40 years. For NPS in South Florida, Biscayne was a newborn monument and the Big Cypress didn't even exist.

And on the trail there were only the following campsites:
Indian Key, Rabbit Key, New Turkey Key, Lopez River, Watson Place, Lostman's River, Onion Key, Willy Willy, Camp Lonesome, Broad River, Canepatch, Little Banana Patch (a bit upstream from canepatch), Graveyard Creek, Joe River, Wedge Point (just east of midway pass), Roberts River (ground site, not chickee) and Hells Bay (also not a chickee).

It's important to note that I believe that all these sites were ground or beach sites except Joe River, the only one mentioned to be a chickee. Most sites were either coastal or up the creeks, not a whole lot right on the waterway, so they're off the map in the book & exact locations uncertain.

Darwin was still living @ his place. It says he was the last permanent private resident.

The nightmare was charted, though not referred to as the nightmare, and advised against. The old waterway seems to have been more motor focused; given the limited camp options there were some long days by paddlecraft!

Like Terry says, alot less rules too! No reservations, all sites first come, first served. Max stay in season...14 Days... If you were willing to go in skeeter season, you could stay for 30!

Most camps had grills & picnic tables & ground fires were allowed at all of them (though no burning of driftwood allowed).

The book has lot's of reminiscing about the good old days... before Donna blew through in 1960 & trashed the mangroves. Kinda like us nopw thinking back to the good old days when Flamingo had facilities!



Sorry if the scan quality is a bit off
Here's what I have so far:
The Wilderness Waterway is not shown on a 1950 park brochure. It also is not shown on
a 1966 nautical chart, they weren't NOAA at the time but National Ocean Services.
Truesdell's first edition is 1969 so it's looking like the Wilderness Waterway was
established in the 50's or 60's. Seems to me for a group of Wilderness Waterway
nuts we should know this. It's ashame we don't know the inauguration day,
we could be close to a 50th anniversary party. Picture a formal anniversary party at
Flamingo with big shots then a real blow out a Canepatch for all us Wilderness
Waterway addicts. For that matter I never hear anyone speak of Truesdell, is he
still alive? Somebody some where has got to know this stuff. I plan on spending
some time at the Everglades library this summer researching this and the campsites.

Here's a tid-bit of what I have on the campsites: Using old brochures,
nautical charts and quads I have a pretty good listing since 1970. There have been a
total of 56 campsites. The biggest change was in the mid-1980's when all the double
chickees were built, this was when they moved Roberts River and Hells Bay from ground
to chickee. I know where both ground sites were but I've only been able to ground-truth
the Hells Bay site by the remains of dock ruins. North River was also a ground site and
like Roberts River I know where it was but have not found proving evidence. I spent enough
nights at Wedge Point where I can stand today at the spot where I used to pitch my tent
and Onion Key is the whole island. Onion Key still has a barbeque pit on the shoreline
and stacked boards as if the metal frame of a picnic table has rusted away. It's interesting
to note that in addition to Lostmans River Ranger Station which was still there early this
century (is it still there?), there was also the Coot Bay Ranger Station, the pilings on the
north side of the bay, access was from a ramp at Coot Bay Pond and Florida Bay Ranger
Station, I think near Taylor River on the bay. Also, Banana Patch was a ranger station, the
camping was jammed right there along side that little patch of high ground.
I seem to remember Rookery Mound being a campsite, this would make sense - anyplace
you can find land, but I have not found any supporting document.
Those with a historic frame of mind should try a Wilderness Waterway trip using all
original sites: Lopez River, Rabbit Key, Watson Place, New Turkey Key, Willy Willy,
Camp Lonesome, Broad River, Canepatch and Graveyard Creek. Oddly, Lard Can shows
up in 1975, I don't know why because that patch of ground has been used for a good long
time. Joe River could be the oldest chickee although what's there now is not the original
chickee. The original was a single about 50 feet toward and up against the mangroves
from where the double is today and Harney River chickee was a single on the island
in Harney River near the current chickee. Shark River is probably the oldest original
chickee, it shows on charts in 1973, then a number of singles were built in 1975 -
including Watson River, North River and Lane Bay. All the chickees north of Lostmans
River were built in the early 1990's except Plate Creek when they cut down the tower
in the late 1970's. Here's another interesting one, Leon Hamilton's Place was briefly
listed as a camp ground in 1973 and even though people must have camped at
Cape Sable forever, East Cape is listed starting 1975 ( I even camped at East Cape
before 1975), then Middle Cape and Northwest Cape in 1979. I guess they wanted to
keep campers near the dock.

Come on lets hear from more old-coots, Yakmaster and I aren't the only ones who
know something from the good old days.
Followed up with the park folks to see what they had on the history & this was the response:

Hi Charlie-
We currently have three projects underway that might help illuminate some
of the history of the Wilderness Waterway and the sites you mention.-- the
regional office is assisting us with contracting an administrative history
of the Park this year, and we are currently working with Laura Ogden of FIU
on an ethnographic overview of Everglades NP which should give a history of
the sites prior to the establishment of the Park. Margo Schwadron of the
Southeast Archeological Center is also working on the archeology of 10,000
islands, so we are learning much about the prehistory of the sites, too.
These studies are not yet to the point of having draft reports to
reference, but I can let the researchers know of your interest in this
topic and keep you posted as we get further along with these studies.

Regards,
Melissa


Melissa Memory
Chief of Cultural Resources
Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks
40001 State Road 9336
Homestead, FL 33034
305-242-7755
fax 305-242-7757


Seems like they're looking alot further back than even we are! Should be interesting to see what they find.
Laura Ogden co-authored Gladesmen with Glen Simmons. She has a work in progress called The Bill Ashley Jungles: Landscape Ethnography in the Florida Everglades, which may be what your contact is referring to. The Jungles is the mangrove country south of Paurotis Pond and west of the road: the Whiskey Creek/Hell's Bay trail/Lard Can area.
More stuff from the folks @ ENP!

This from Bob Showler:

Charlie:

I came across an interesting letter in our pamphlet files dated 12/12/96 from former EVER ranger Richard Stokes (a resident of Mohawk, FL at time of writing; no address or phone # given) re genesis of the Wilderness Waterway.

This is a photocopy, in poor condition, hard to read in places, and heavily marked with hand-written edits.

Much of the letter describes the author and his co-workers, a few years after 1958, struggling to find a route between the Broad and Shark Rivers. The last couple of paragraphs describe locating campsites along the route from Everglades City to Flamingo, as follows:

"The next step was to locate campsites approximately one day apart on the trail. This we did using mainly Indian mounds and in high places along the river banks from Everglades City to Whitewater Bay. One site on Onion Key was very interesting as we installed a pit privy, however the regional archaeologist said we had to take the dirt out in six inch layers, sift it in one quarter inch screens, and bag it for future study. This we did."

"We had no maintenance crew at Everglades City therefore Ed, Ken, and I scrounged tables and grills at headquarters, cleared the sites, and built the campgrounds. Later when I moved to Flamingo as District Ranger, with rangers we build the first Chickee on stilts along the Joe River."

If you'd like a copy of the letter, let me know. I'd be happy to mail one to you, but I'll need your mailing address.

I've also asked some of our other staff to chime in on your email. Stay tuned.

Best of luck with your research!
Bob

Bob Showler
Flamingo District Naturalist


Little by little we'll get the history, but think about trying to pick apart the nightmare without charts, without aerials, without someone telling you where to go & not knowing where to cut & where to turn around!
Good job! It looks like more and more are getting interested in this. And
it looks like its focusing in on the early 1960's.
I hope we didn't miss the 50th anniversary.

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