Frontier Camps
The Temporary Stopping Places That Sustained Every Journey Through Pioneer Florida
The camp, a temporary and improvised stopping place, was part of what made the journey possible.
A pioneer family on the road through Florida did not travel from one settled place to another. Between Tallahassee and Tampa, or between the Georgia border and the Alachua Prairie, the road ran through long stretches with often no tavern, no neighbor’s cabin and no store. At the end of each day they stopped and made camp. That temporary, improvised place held the essentials of the journey: the fire at the center, the animals nearby, the family close together, and the road waiting on the other side of sleep.
Choosing the Site
A traveler read the landscape for a good camp. High ground came first, because a site that seemed dry at dusk could be flooded by morning if a thunderstorm passed in the night. Fresh water mattered, but not too close: a camp directly on a bank or lakeshore sat among the mosquitoes that rose at dusk. A spot on high ground within a short walk of water balanced the two. Spring-fed streams were favored. The edge of a hammock, where oaks and palms broke the wind without blocking all airflow, was among the better locations.
The Evening Routine
The animals commonly came first. Mules were unharnessed, walked to water and picketed on a long rope, or hobbled with short straps where stakes could not be set firmly. Cattle were settled by whatever tether or natural barrier the site offered.
Firewood came next. Florida’s pine flatwoods offered dead limbs and resinous stumps that burned hot, and older children gathered wood before dark. The fire was built in a cleared area away from the wagon and the dry grass. A canvas-covered wagon sheltered the youngest children inside the bed, while adults slept beneath it or in the open. In rain, the night was endured rather than enjoyed.
The Cow Hunter’s Camp
Not all frontier camps were overnight stops. Cow hunters, the mounted cattle hands who worked the open-range flatwoods, set up working camps during roundups. From a camp, riders went out each morning to gather free-ranging cattle and drive them to a cowpen for sorting and branding, and the camp might be moved as the roundup progressed. Such a camp typically had a central fire, some form of shelter and a quickly built cowpen. Evenings were a time for talk and, by tradition, stories and music.
When a Camp Became a Settlement
The line between a temporary camp and a settlement was not always clear. A family that stopped beside a reliable spring on high ground might find the place had the same merits for a homestead, and a spot used repeatedly for roundups may later have become a ranch headquarters. These patterns are plausible but no specific Florida community has been documented as beginning this way.
Why It Matters
Little physical trace of these camps remains. A census may show a family in Georgia in 1840 and in Florida in 1850, and a deed shows where they settled, but the weeks of camped nights between those records are almost absent from the historical record.
Quick Facts
Site priorities
High ground near, but not at, fresh water
Campfire
Cooking, light, warmth and keeping the camp lit
Shelter
Inside or under the wagon, or a quickly built lean-to
Animals
Picketed on long tethers; mules could be hobbled in open country
Cow hunter camps
Working camps with a central fire, shelter and a cowpen
Firewood
Dead limbs and resinous stumps from the pine flatwoods
Records
Camp life is largely absent from census and land records
Did You Know?
- Camps were placed near, but not at, the water’s edge to avoid mosquitoes.
- Hobbles are short straps that limit an animal’s stride.
- Weeks of camp life between a census and a land deed are almost entirely undocumented.
Vocabulary
Picket: to tie an animal on a long rope staked to the ground.
Hobble: a short strap between an animal’s front legs that limits its stride.
Cowpen: an enclosure used to hold cattle during a roundup.
Discussion Questions
1. Why might a family avoid camping directly beside a lake or river?
2. What do camp sites tell us about how pioneers read the landscape?
Related Articles
- FLH-0110 — Wagon Travel
- FLH-0111 — Florida’s Forgotten Ferry Crossings
- FLH-0164 — Cow Hunters and Cattle Traders
Sources
Ste. Claire, Dana. Cracker: The Cracker Culture in Florida History. Museum of Arts and Sciences, 1998 (publication details confirmed; contents not independently examined for these claims)
Tebeau, Charlton W. A History of Florida. University of Miami Press, 1971 (general reference; not independently examined)
Armed Occupation Act of 1842 (terms cited via secondary description; not independently examined)
Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. floridastateparks.org (background on the Alachua prairie region; not independently examined)
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