Special History Presentation to be Held in St. Marks

Leaving their homesteads behind, Natives, African Floridians and British loyalists came to Spanish Florida 50 years before Wakulla was incorporated in 1843.

"Those Who Camp at a Distance:  Seminoles and William Augustus Bowles on the Florida Borderlands" is the subject of a special presentation on Thursday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. at the St. Marks Yacht Club.

The event is made possible with funding from the Florida Humanities Council and is cosponsored by the Wakulla Historical Society.

Professor Andrew Frank (pictured) is an award-winning history professor at FSU, and the author of "Creeks and Southerners" and editor of The Early Republic: People and Perspectives among others.

Dr. Frank and Dr. Madeleine Carr collaborated on the current exhibit on display at Fuerte San Marcos de Apalache Historic State Park, "William Augustus Bowles:  Portrait of a Scoundrel?"  The exhibit will be on display at the fort in St. Marks through the end of May.

The St. Marks Waterfronts Partnership is making a special effort to learn more about this area after Spain regained control at the end of the American Revolution. This is the second in a series of three events.

"Very little is known about Wakulla County prior to the U.S. gaining control," said Carr. The entire area, according to her, was up for grabs and Bowles made a concerted effort to gain St. Marks's strategic port for the Muskogee nation.

That Bowles initially succeeded, Carr explained, had a lot to do with the lax Spanish laws and a failure to maintain an adequate command at the fort. "But that he failed says a lot about the intentions of the U.S.A. to expand into the Native hunting grounds in the Spanish borderlands."

Directions:  The special event with Dr. Andrew Frank on Thursday at 7 p.m. is in St. Marks at the yacht club, Old Fort Road.  Since this is a departure from the usual historical society location (library in Medart), here are the directions to this interesting presentation about Seminoles and William Augustus Bowles and others in this area:

Drive south to St. Marks and turn right at the Riverside Cafe.  Keep going to the right, and turn left at the first intersection on Old Fort Road. Continue to the end and the yacht club is on your left on the Wakulla River.  See you all there.  There are refreshments and this promises to be a good historical view of our area.

This information originally published on January 19, 2010.

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Written by :

mkwestmark

 

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