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FLORIDA SQUATTERS
(Florida)
Where the lower end of the Florida
Ridge Section slopes rapidly to meet the sombre Everglades, there is a
region where squatters, both native Floridians and emigrants from other
States, have settled with their families. None of the squatters seem to
know to whom the land belongs, and they are never required to pay rent.
Some remain more or less permanently in one place, while others
continually move about, or soon leave for other sections. The social and
economic status of these squatters is common to small population pockets
scattered throughout the State.
To the families choosing this section for home sites a variety of soil
types is available. Part of the area is coarse white sand with a covering
of scrub palmettoes, black jack oaks, and a tangle of vines. Other parts
are hammock land, and support growths of pine and hardwoods; still other
parts are swamps and bayheads around small lakes and streams. Of these
three chief land types, the white sandy soil is least fertile. The hammock
soil is rich in organic matter and supports good crops, and the dense
growth of hammock trees affords shelter for the shacks of the squatters.
The swamp lands or their edges seem to be preferred by most of the
squatters, perhaps because of the ease with which water may be procured.
This land produces fair crops, and is well adapted to growing cabbage,
which is the general crop favorite.
Most of the men and some of the women are excellent marksmen, and can
shoot the head off of a rattlesnake without injuring the skin, which has a
small market value. It is no feat for them to "bark" a squirrel -- to
shoot the limb upon which the squirrel is stretched, killing it by
concussion.
Hunting is an event in which the older boys also take part. They think
nothing a remaining away from school to "go a-hunting with Pa." Along with
shot guns and rifles, the hunters carry burlap bags in which to carry the
game. They hunt through the hammocks and swamp edges, and sometimes go
deep into the heart of a swamp in search of raccoons and opossums. The
hides of these animals are tacked upon the outer wall of the cabin to dry,
and when prime they bring a fair price. This is a negligible source of
income, however, as fur-bearing animals are becoming more scarce.
Moreover, the squatters only occasionally have money for ammunition.
When they go "rattlesnakin" a slender light pole of considerable length is
used for probing the large clumps of palmettoes and deep gopher holes. Not
even the larger boys are allowed to take part in these hunts.
Fishing, like hunting, is a necessity rather then a sport, and is usually
a family affair. They go in their old cars, or, lacking these, tramp
through the woods to some pond or sluggish stream. "Still-fishing" is the
favorite method. Long slender branches are cut for poles, and set firmly
at the water's edge. The fishermen doze on the bank and wait for a bobbing
cork to announce a bite. It is said that summer is the best time for
fishing, and that the "trout" (fresh water bass) bite best when the red
birds sing.
The homes of the squatters are usually from one to ten miles from the
highways, and can be reached by a rough dirt "grade", or by dim woods'
trails or footpaths. Although geographically near a few excellent highways
and fair-sized towns, the lack of means of transportation effectively
isolates these people, who live as remote from each other and other
settlements as if they were separated by great distances.
Most of their dwellings are flimsy one-room shanties with heavy wooden
shutters taking the place of window glass. Sometimes a small shed or
lean-to adjoins the main room. In some cases, especially near the swamps,
the habitations are merely palmetto-thatched huts with floors of rough
boards or hard packed dirt. As a general rule little attempt to made at
cleanliness and sanitation; the homes are filthy, and the yards or
clearings are littered with an assortment of trash and tin cans.
There are some cases where an attempt to raise flowers has been made, and
a few scraggly zinnias and marigolds bloom dejectedly. The fence of one
squatter bears a morning glory vine with huge blue blossoms, and a trash
pile in another yard is covered with a luxuriant gourd vine to which the
squatter points with pride and says: "It jus come up there by itself and
don't need no care a-tall."
Almost every family, no matter how poverty-stricken, owns a shotgun which
is kept loaded and hung upon the wall out of reach of the children.
Wildcats, occasional bears, and numerous rattlesnake fall prey to the
squatters' guns.
While the sustaining occupation is agriculture, it rarely progresses
beyond the garden patch stage, and is pursued without enthusiasm in a
haphazard manner.
Sometimes the squatter men are seen tramping villageward clad in faded
overalls and patched blue shirts, their heavy brogans kicking up a fine
dust. Huge sacks of cabbages or other vegetables are slung over their
shoulders, to be offered for sale or trade at the country stores. At times
a squatter woman is seen walking through the woods on her way to some farm
to work in the fields. Usually there is a baby in her arms and several
children pattering along at her heels, or clinging to her skirts. She
occasionally receives from fifty cents to a dollar for her labor, though
more often she is paid in food and given a little extra to take home. Some
squatters have tried sharecropping with negligible results. Other than the
vegetables raised, their diet includes rabbits, fish, gophers, cabbage
palm buds, and white bacon and flour when they are able to purchase it.
The squatters living near the swamp lands seldom have wells, for it is an
easy matter to dip the warm and reddish water from the pools nearby. The
women or the older children usually take this task upon themselves, and
with large wooden buckets and long handled dippers or saucepans, walk
barefooted to the swamp pools. When the bucket is filled it is carried to
a bench which usually stands outside the rear kitchen door of the cabin.
Clothes to be washed are carried with tubs and board to the swamp's edge.
Baths are also taken in the swamp pools. In the sandy soil and hammocks
there are shallow driven wells topped with rusty pitcher pumps which make
a wailing sound when the handles are worked. A large tin cup or can is
always kept filled with water nearby for priming the pump, and it is a
strict rule that whoever pumps must always refill the priming cup.
Most families live so far from roads that an automobile would be useless
to them, even if they could afford one. The men who are employed on public
works walk to the highways where they are picked up by trucks. A few
families possess old dilapidated automobiles, which enable them to gather
wood and sell it in neighboring communities.
Out among the pines of a hammock an
entire family may be seen ranging in search of fire wood, with their old
ramshackle car parked near at hand. These automobiles, are, old-fashioned
touring cars with rusted topless bodies and no back seat. Frequently the
front seat is replaced with boards or small boxes fastened securely to the
car body. The squatters seldom go many miles from home on these trips, for
the woods trails are risky for the old cars and gas is always a problem.
The various members of the family always wear dingy worn clothes and go
barefooted.
A saw is not a part of the wood-hunting equipment. The squatters find
"lighter knots" and fallen branches of trees. They take along an axe for
the larger limbs, partly rotted, that are easily broken up with several
blows. As the pine knots and broken branches are found they are thrown
into the back of the car. When a load is gathered, the children climb into
the back and arrange themselves as best they can among the knots and
limbs. Father and mother and perhaps some of the youngest children take
their places in front and the homeward trip is started.
An atmosphere of lethargy permeates the section and its people. The
various families seldom visit each other. They occasionally attend church
services when they are combined with picnic dinners. Parents seem to enjoy
the school exercises in which their children participate. Most of the
squatters are suspicious of strangers and resent interference and offers
of aid. When government relief was first offered them, many refused it,
believing the relief workers had some ulterior motive.
There is little sexual "immorality", and illegitimate children are rare.
The greatest vice seems to be "gettin likkered up". Many small boys chew
tobacco, and the girls and women use snuff.
Medical care is almost totally unknown. The squatters use patent medicines
and primitive remedies. Wounds, sores, and stings are bound with a piece
of salt pork "to draw out the poison". Headaches, which are prevalent
among young and old, are treated by binding the head tightly with cloths.
The FSHA temporarily made medical attention available to many of the
squatters. Limitation of families has been heard of but most of the
squatters feel that it is "agin nature" and therefore wrong. Some women
who had given birth to as many as twelve children received a doctor's care
at childbirth for the first time. Sanitation methods were also taught by
FSHA agencies, but little impression was made.
The children seem extremely interested in going to school and attend
whenever possible, often with the most meager of lunches and sometimes
without any food for the day. In solemn little groups they walk to the
highways where they are picked up by school busses. They carry tin lunch
pails and clasp their books tightly under their arms. At the end of the
school day there is no shouting or laughter, and they alight from the bus
and depart without bidding each other farewell.
The one event which arouses County-wide interest each year is the Fourth
of July political rally and barbecue. The affair is sponsered by the Young
Democrats of Highlands County, and is held in "The Grove" near the village
of Venus. Located upon the west side of State Highway 67, the Grove is the
site of all political rallies in the County.
An ideal spot for such meetings, the Grove is a natural park free of
underbrush, and shaded with many huge old oaks. It has been furnished with
long tables, benches, and a speakers' platform. Beef, pork, chicken, and
turkey are supplied by the residents of Venus, and the Young Democrats
furnish other foods, such as salads, bread, lemonade, and coffee.
Several men who are considered "experts" supervise the barbecueing of the
meats. Trenches, or "pits" as they are called, are prepared in advance, so
that fires may be started July 3rd. The fires are made of oak and hickory,
and are replenished until a mass of glowing coals is obtained.
The meats are then pierced with long pointed poles of hickory and oak, cut
green from living trees so they will not burn. The ends of the poles rest
upon the top of the pit, leaving the meat suspended in the center over the
coals. The meats are turned slowly and basted at intervals with a special
sauce, the recipe of which is jealously guarded as the secret of the men
in charge. This hot, flavorful sauce is applied with a mop made of cloth
tied to the end of a stick.
"Gittin fixed" for the rally and barbecue requires several days of hectic
washing, starching, ironing, and darning. Shoes are worn by all, if
possible, even though they may be removed before the day is over. The
night before the big day the children are scrubbed until their faces
shine, and the little girls have their hair done in tight stiff braids.
At dawn, after a breakfast of fried bread and side meat, they start for
the Grove. Some families walk, always in single file, with the man leading
and the woman bringing up the rear. Sometimes a younger child becomes too
tired to continue, and the father slings him over his shoulder like a sack
of meal. The children are so scrubbed and starched that they are
miserable, and the father, who wears a buttoned collar and necktie, soon
unbuttons his collar and pockets the tie.
At the Grove the men engage in talk, laughter, and much hand-shaking; the
women retire at once to the farthest ends of the Grove where they sit in
serious groups with their children. They respond timidly to the voluble
greetings of the political aspirants who seek them out. At noon the men
bring them plates of food.
The squatters try to listen attentively to the political speeches, but
become most excited when political arguments end in a fight, the highlight
of the day's festivities. At night the Grove is lighted with huge
bonfires, and after a few hours everyone prepares to leave. Political
candidates and their friends offer to drive the squatters to their woods'
roads and the offer is always gladly accepted by the weary families
December 1938
Sectional description of
Florida Squatters
Barbara Berry Darsey, writer
Stetson Kennedy, revise
Text from: Library of
Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writers' Project Collection
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