A Historical Geography of Southwest Florida Waterways Vol. 2

ative 132 er course Today, the Today, ease and im- way construc- er between Lake er between ed, dredged chan- ed, dredged ope-bending, snag- t. Lucie River and River t. Lucie ests — striving to de- tuart, on the Atlantic eautiful Island (on the eautiful Island outhwest Florida, Hatchee = Hatchee Florida, outhwest ways — have propelled devel- propelled ways — have esent waterway. estern portion of the Okeechobee front and waterwayfront uses. ofound ways.The riv its abruptly cut banks and straight-lined, ed, navigation-optimiz The Caloosahatchee [Caloosa = indigenous N It is hard to recognize from today’s Okeechobee Wa- Okeechobee from today’s to recognize is hard It ALTERING THE ALTERING CALOOSAHATCHEE FOR LAND AND WATER DEVELOPMENT Americans who inhabited S Seminole for ‘river’] is a microcosm of Southwest Florida’s of Southwest is a microcosm for ‘river’] Seminole waterways, in which multiple inter velop waterfront real estate, to create new for- land from estate, to create waterfront real velop merly overflowed swamplands, and to incr merly overflowed prove the navigable water prove opment in many pr Okeechobee (on the east) and B Okeechobee west) has been selected to illustrate the effects, both la- west) tent and direct, of land drainage and water tent and direct, tion policies on water Pre–development Geography terway — with flood-controll nel — the once meandering, shifting, r laden course of the Caloosahatchee. Caloosahatchee is the w Waterway, which stretches from which stretches S Waterway, Ocean, to San Carlos Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. and the Gulf Carlos Bay to San Ocean, The route crosses the state via the S crosses The route Canal, Lake Okeechobee, and the Caloosahatchee (see Canal, Lake Okeechobee, Map 1 in the Dredging History chapter). Map 1 in chapter). Map History 1 in the Dredging Map the present chapter shows the antecedent riv chapter shows the present superimposed on the pr Note: The main river channel on the historic map is colored blue to increase visibility. The same Devil’s Elbow historic channel has been interpreted in red over a Trout Creek Cyp modern (1995) aerial photograph mosaic, which is Cr Olga positionally accurate, with reference to the 1887 Franklin Corps of Engineers map for details. Lock Hickory Creek Thompson’s Cutoff Hollingsworth G. Hollingsworth Ferry Thorp Trout Cr. Bayshore Quaker Daughtry’s Alex Longope Landing Creek Devil’s Elbow Swimming Olga Capt. Cutler Pen Dr. Jas. Wm. Orange Parkinson Hickory Kellum Cy Beautiful Loper Ferry Creek Island River Frank Marion Hendry H. Stephens C Lee’s Huff’s J.M. Landing Pasture Stephens S 1.00 1.0 2.0 Tice Demi-John Hammock Daughtry’s Miles Creek Thompson’s Cutoff 12 Mile Creek Beautiful Island 133 Pollywog Branch Bee Branch Jack’s Branch Denaud Bee Branch Pollywog Branch Dyer’s Bowman Jack’s Branch Hendry’s Cypress Pasture Creek Robt. Dun’s Little Fort Denand Louis Run Alva Fort Murray Map 1 (part 1). Simmons Branch Apiary Owanita G. Thorp John Cane Caloosahatchee Channel, 1887 and 1995. English Hendley’s Fort Mill Dr. Mrs. Landing Anders Simmonds Alva Solomon . Dr. Jas. Kellum Cypress Wm. Perkins Cane Perkins Jas. Banks Creek Jos. Anders Sugar Eliza Mills J.B. McKinley Anders Note: The main river channel on the historic Note: map is colored blue to increase visibility The same historic channel has been interpreted in red over a modern (1995) aerial photograph mosaic, which is positionally accurate, with reference to the 1887 Army Engineers map for details. 1887 134 1.00 1.0 2.0 Miles Coffee Mill Hammock Ortona Long Lock Hammock Creek Coffee Mill Lake Flirt Hammock Deauman’s La Belle Branch Louis Murray Stewards Fort Thompson, Patrick’s Capt. F. A. Hendry Landing Lake Okeechobee 135 Moore Haven Lock Lake Hicpochee Lake Okeechobee Map 1 (part 2). Sugar Berry Hammock Caloosahatchee Channel, 1887 and 1995. Lake Hikpochee 136 Before human intervention, the Caloosahatchee origi- nated in a geologic basin known as Lake Flirt, located at Ft. Thompson, approximately 2 miles east of La Belle. The formation was perched 4–10 feet (varying with sea- sonal water levels ) above the western Caloosahatchee valley, creating 0.9-mile-long rapids that fed the Caloosahatchee. To the east, ephemeral marshes season- ally connected a series of lakes. In the wet season (May– October), high water would spill out of the shallow bound- ary of Lake Okeechobee and sheet flow through the ephemeral marshes and swamp forest to collect in several smaller lakes–Hicpochee (9,000 acres), Bonnet (500 acres) and Flirt (1,000 acres)–before spilling over the rapids and flowing into the Caloosahatchee and to the Gulf of Mexico. The Ft. Thompson Rapids set the head of navigation. The lower portion of Map 2, from the Black sur- vey of 1887, shows land use and land cover before major development occurred. During the dry season (November–April), the region of marshes surrounding Lake Hicpochee and the river- bed from that lake to the foot of Ft. Thompson Rapids would dry up so much that a horse could be ridden in the channel. Normal high water would raise the water level downstream by 2 feet at Ft. Thompson, 3 feet at Ft. Denaud (La Belle) and Alva, 2 feet at Olga and 1 foot at Ft. Myers. Freshets caused by continuous heavy precipi- tation increased the water level to historic heights above mean water of as much as 12 feet at Ft. Thompson, 17 Olga feet at Ft. Denaud, 14 feet at La Belle, 13 feet at Alva, and 6 feet at Ft. Myers. Franklin Lock Barren Land Mangrove Wetlands Water Upland Forest Shrub, Brushland,Rangeland Agriculture Urban &Built—Up Land Use/LandCover Water ManagementDistrict(1995) Water Source: SouthwestFlorida Alva Denaud S o Lake 137 Okeechobee Moore Haven Ortona Lock Lake Hicpochee La Belle 2.50 2.5 5.0 Miles Map 2. Land use/land cover along the Caloosahatchee, 1887 and 1995. Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Capt. W.M. Black (1887) 138 Distance and number of river bends between pre–development and contemporary conditions along the Caloosahatchee/Okeechobee waterway. La Belle/Moore Baeautiful Island/Olga Oelga/Alv Alva/La Bell Total Haven Msiles Rsiver-Bend Msile Rsiver-Bend Msile Rsiver-Bend Msile Rsiver-Bend Msile River-Bend Pre–development River 95.5 89. 710189. 57206. 29623. 10 Okeechobee Waterway 73.7 72. 0 104. 010217. 17565. 2 Difference -21.7 -7-71. -01 -82. -34 +90. -2-68. -7 Table 1. These extreme, cyclical variations in stream flow con- tributed to the Caloosahatchee’s meandering course. There were 102 river-bends in the 64-mile stretch from Beauti- ful Island to Lake Okeechobee in the pre–development period (Table 1). Navigating the river was especially diffi- cult at the low-water stage. Some of the sharper meanders required the larger vessels to “warp-around,” that is, to run their bow up on shore, attach a spring line to trees, back down to a second point, swing around and go ahead at the next point, and so on until the bends were passed (Figure 1). Torrential rains during the wet season dramatically increased the volume of discharge and sediment load, lead- ing to channel scouring and flooding of adjacent low- lands. During this period, coarser-textured sediments were deposited both as point-bars on the inside of the meanders and along the banks of the natural levees. Channel deepening occurred on the outer bends, and fresh, fine- Figure 1. Four-point rope bend. textured alluvium was deposited on the adjoining flood- plain. At these high water stages, the meandering Caloosahatchee in places cut across the necks of the me- ander spurs, shortened its course, and created abandoned meanders or oxbows. Land and waterway developments were slow to occur during the 19th century. The Seminole Wars and the Civil War were major deterrents to settlement expansion. Ex- tensive cattle grazing was a common land use. Small settle- ments did evolve along the river, usually occupying former military outposts. Ft. Thompson was an important up- river location because of the ford where cattle drives crossed the rapids en route to the shipping pier at Punta Rassa. The land cover along much of the river’s course south of Ft. Thompson was in upland forest, scrub, grass- land, and some homesteads with small agricultural farms (Map 2). The lower portion of Map 1 highlights the names of some of the homesteaders. Rudimentary waterwheel-type irrigation systems permitted farming during the dry season (Figure 2). Figure 2. Water wheel irrigation. The winter freezes of 1892 and 1899 prompted North The 1880-90s was a period wherein the upper river Florida citrus growers to reestablish their groves south of valley represented the backbone of potential growth that the freeze line and in the Caloosahatchee Valley. Citrus resided in its agricultural resources, but communities there production increased rapidly in subsequent years and the depended on the lower river course for transport and com- transport of fruits and shipment of supplies became de- munication with service centers downstream. The key to pendent on riverboat transport (Figure 3). Large catches sustainable regional growth rested on creating a scheme of fish were brought down the river from Lake to manage the floods, which drove the early settlers from Okeechobee, although the business did not become ex- their homes, damaged farmlands, and discouraged agri- tensive until after the railroad entered Ft. Myers, in 1904. cultural development. Figure 3. SS City of Athens, 1910. 139 140 Land Reclamation or River Navigation? The development history of the Caloosahatchee is a The net incidental result of Disston’s dredging opera- record of competing and conflicting interests, some want- tion was to open up a water route for steamers some 300 ing to control flooding by upland drainage and others miles long from the Gulf of Mexico to the interior of striving to build an inland waterway for pleasure boating Florida via the Caloosahatchee and Lake Okeechobee to and commercial use.

Load more