Florida Trails Before Highways
The Ancient Paths That Became Pioneer Roads and the Knowledge That Made Them Possible
Where the evidence is thin, it is better to say what we do not know.
Before there were highways, there were roads. Before there were roads, there were trails, pressed into the Florida earth by walking the same way twice. Many routes that later travelers followed were not new when they arrived. Spanish expedition accounts of the sixteenth century describe Native guides and Native trails, and later road builders sometimes used the same corridors as a starting point. Native nations remain in Florida today.
How Trails Form
A trail appears by repetition. The first traveler through a stretch of flatwoods leaves almost no trace, the next few leave a little more, and eventually the route is easy to follow. Routes gathered traffic where the ground was drier, where water could be found and where streams and wetlands could be crossed with the least difficulty.
Native Trails in the Record
Two sixteenth-century expeditions left accounts that mention Native trails and guides. Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, a survivor of the Narváez expedition, which landed near Tampa Bay in 1528, describes the party taking Native people as guides and moving through lakes and forest toward Apalachen. The National Park Service states that Hernando de Soto’s men, who landed in 1539, spent much of their time moving from village to village on Indian trails led by Native guides. These accounts were written by outsiders. They show that paths linked Native communities, but they do not establish how old any trail was, where it ran or how extensive the network was across the peninsula.
The Seminole and Miccosukee
According to the State Library and Archives of Florida, the ancestors of today’s Seminole and Miccosukee people began moving into northern and central Florida in the early 1700s, descending from Southeastern Native peoples with cultural ties to the Creeks. In the nineteenth century the United States fought a series of wars against them and forcibly removed many to lands west of the Mississippi; the State Archives records that about 200 Seminoles remained in Florida by 1858. They did not disappear. The Seminole Tribe of Florida and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida are federally recognized today, and the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma represents those removed west.
From Footpath to Wagon Road
Wagons need a cleared corridor wide enough to pass, so a footpath did not simply widen. One documented example is El Camino Real, the Spanish colonial road linking St. Augustine with the missions of north Florida. In the 1680s Spain granted a contract to build a formal road, which the Florida Department of State describes as wide enough for wagons, about eight feet across, with Native people supplying much of the labor. The Apalachee missions at its western end were destroyed in 1704. In 1824 Congress funded a road from Pensacola to St. Augustine, using the old Spanish road as a guide when practical; this Bellamy Road is often confused with the earlier Spanish road. It should not be assumed that every old Florida road follows a Native trail.
Where the Cattle Walked
Cattle trails were not Native trails, but they were part of how people and animals crossed the peninsula. Florida Memory reports that the Cuba cattle trade was re-established in the 1830s, that Tampa, Punta Gorda and Punta Rassa became key export ports, and that from 1868 to 1878 ranchers sold over 1.6 million cattle to Cuba. The Florida Cracker Trail Association, formed in 1987, describes the corridor as a cattle-drive route and holds an annual cross-state ride. The modern Florida National Scenic Trail, roughly 1,300 to 1,500 miles depending on the source, is a recreation trail, and no claim is made that it follows historic routes.
Quick Facts
Narváez expedition
Landed near Tampa Bay in April 1528; account by Cabeza de Vaca mentions Native guides
De Soto expedition
Landed in 1539; NPS notes travel on Indian trails with Native guides
Limits of the record
Accounts do not establish the age or extent of any trail
El Camino Real
Spanish colonial road; contract granted in the 1680s; about eight feet wide (Florida Department of State)
Missions destroyed
The Apalachee missions at its western end, in 1704
Bellamy Road
Congress funded the Pensacola–St. Augustine road in 1824, using the Spanish road as a guide when practical
Seminoles in Florida
About 200 remained in 1858 (State Archives of Florida)
Cattle trade
Cuba trade re-established in the 1830s (Florida Memory)
Florida National Scenic Trail
About 1,300 miles (NPS) to 1,500 miles (Florida Trail Association)
Did You Know?
* El Camino Real was wide enough for wagons, about eight feet across.
* The Bellamy Road is often confused with the earlier Spanish road it partly followed.
* Sources give the Florida National Scenic Trail’s length as about 1,300 or about 1,500 miles.
Vocabulary
Camino Real: Spanish for “royal road,” the name of the colonial road linking St. Augustine with the missions.
Mission: a Spanish settlement built to convert and govern Native communities.
Federally recognized tribe: a Native nation with an official government-to-government relationship with the United States.
Discussion Questions
1. Why is it risky to assume an old road follows a Native trail?
2. What does it mean to say a people “did not disappear” from the places in this story?
Related Articles
* FLH-0109 — Military Roads
* FLH-0110 — Wagon Travel
* FLH-0117 — Settlement Patterns
* FLH-0119 — The Roads That Became Highways
* FLH-0164 — Cow Hunters and Cattle Traders
Sources
Florida Department of State, Division of Historical Resources. “El Camino Real” history pages. dos.fl.gov
National Park Service. De Soto National Memorial brochure (2002). npshistory.com
Cabeza de Vaca, Álvar Núñez. Relación (English translation as hosted at ibiblio.org; edition not identified; not checked against the Spanish original)
State Library and Archives of Florida, Florida Memory. “The Florida Seminoles,” item 259750; Ranching photo exhibit. floridamemory.com
National Park Service. “Seminole,” Castillo de San Marcos National Monument; “Florida National Scenic Trail,” Big Cypress National Preserve. nps.gov
Florida Cracker Trail Association. “Our History.” floridacrackertrail.org (association statement; not independently verified)
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