Travel It was a hard life, quite different from that on the Western plains where cowboys fired their guns in the air to keep their cattle herded. Florida cowmen (the term “cowboy” is considered derogatory to a Cracker) didn’t have that option, due to the difficult terrain which they worked. Instead, a long rawhide whip – sometimes called a “drag” since it was often dragged over the shoulder – with its distinctive “crack” was used to keep their cows together. Easily “popped” in wooded areas, the Crackers became so skilled that they could whip the head off of a rattler or kill a rabbit for the evening pot with one snap. Horses were very different. The western horses and riders needed to run open prairies in a straight path. Stamina was important, but rider control was paramount.The Cracker pony or Marshtackie was much shorter (14 hands) and had incredible endurance to survive many hours of wild cow hunting in very difficult and changing terrain. Able to dart around trees and jump vines at full speed with spectacular agility, they were best left to their own devices, rather than have the rider try and control them. This style of riding was essential when Crackers were catching wild cows to haul down by their horns, tie and then brand. Last winter while researching this article, I read “A Land Remembered,” an iconic book about the Cracker lifestyle. A gripping story about the fictional MacIvey family who became Cow Hunters with no experience, money and very little food. The family caught thousands of wild cows, branded them and drove them to Punta Rassa for shipment to Cuba. Within three generations, they became “Cow Barons,” orange-farm millionaires and land developers in the Fort Lauderdale/Miami area. It’s a page-turner and hard to put down. IS IT POSSIBLE to still see the Cracker lifestyle of the MacIveys in Florida? Last winter, Kathy and I travelled the state to get in touch with those lost cow-hunting days. Here’s what we found. Without a doubt, Lake Kissimmee State Park is the best place for reliving these early days. Park manager Andy has a passion for this era and breeds and maintains a large herd of longhorn cattle. We rode out to visit them in his Jeep. He also introduced us to Chet, a third-generation Cracker with 60 years’ experience. Chet started hunting cows as a teenager, herding and driving large herds across the state. For many months, the cowmen slept on the range with the cattle, each day hunting and adding more wild cows to their stock. Each cow was branded by clipping the right ear in a special way. The men and herd constantly moved to new browsing areas, fattening them for market. Chet said that in his early days, Florida was a lawless open range. Bushwhackers were still ambushing cow hunters to rob and steal, but field justice was swift. There were no courts or juries; Chet recalls at least one lynching the same day as they found rustlers with their branded cows. Cracker and dog, on a Mashtackie pony On the drive to Punta Rassa Keeping rustlers away with the new Winchester repeater rifle Left: Lake Kissimmee Cow Camp shelter Top: Branding Irons (Lake Wales) Right: Cracker saddle (Lake Wales) Below: Bushwhackers ambush a Cow Hunter 24 | www.snowbirds.org
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