News Cast for February 21st:
The Florida Cracker Trail riders arrived in Lorida Wednesday, Fort Basinger Thursday afternoon and the Bass Ranch in Okeechobee on Thursday night.
It was a smaller gathering this year as some North Floridians who normally ride may have been too busy recovering from the fall storms.
The ride began in 1987 as a way to preserve history.
The near 120 mile trail marks the route taken by large cattle herds across Florida to markets in Punta Rassa.
Ranchers would gather large herds from several ranches and cross the marshes, sawgrasses, pastures, streams and rivers facing heat, humidity, cold, wind, wild animals and even Indian attacks.
Trail Boss Robert Wolfe said there has been great weather, nobody has gotten hurt and the riders have enjoyed the experience.
The ranches that we ride through are active, Hardee County, Smith Ranch, Putnam Ranch, they like seeing the cattle and the way things were hundreds of years ago. Thank goodness some ranchers are still keeping it alive.
Owner of the Edna Pearce Lockett Estate Butch Thompson said they love hosting the riders each year. There was a group of about 50 people waiting for the arrival to snap photos and talk with the riders.
“Every year at the same time we have about 1010 riders and horses. They’ve been on the road for nearly a week and are probably getting worn out but that’s good, its what they come for.”
Thompson said they recently found an ancient horseshoe on the property that came from Spain.
They are credited with introducing horses and cattle to North America back in the 1500s.
The ride crosses route 68, US 441, and 68 again through Okeechobee Friday and ending up at the Adams Ranch. They also participate in the Fort Pierce Parade on Saturday.
The Okeechobee County School Board approved a $15.1 million five-year capital improvement plan.
Superintendent Dylan Tedders said the district has done a good job maintaining facilities even though most of the budget in recent years has gone to one school, the new Okeechobee High School.
He said his administration is committed to making sure all of the school campuses look good.
The battle of Okeechobee re-enactment is set for Saturday and Sunday.
School kids from Okeechobee, Brighton, and Moore Haven took tours of the battlefield today and heard presentations from Seminole Indians and how they lived, men and women representing the US forces in the battle, including a surgeon, and heard songs from Ricky Pittman.
Robert Feeney who portrayed a surgeon during the Seminole War explained the display is meant to educate about how difficult it was to provide medical care during these battles.
They had to do many amputations, battle diseases, did so with minimal supplies.
Feeney said this was before antiseptics or pain killers and soldiers were awake during many of the operations.
“A lot was learned about sanitary conditions during the Seminole Wars. The soldier’s uniforms were probably torn to shreds in the sawgrass and they only had pine logs to keep them warm at night. Many died from disease and mosquitoes rather than injuries from the battle.”
The Battle of Okeechobee occurred on Christmas Day, 1837, when approximately 800 troops of the Infantry Regiments, under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor, attacked between 380 and 480 Seminole and Miccosukee Native Americans who were camped on the northeast shore of Lake Okeechobee.
A 34 year old Canal Point man, Saul Guerrero was charged with stealing $21,000 from a person he was helping.
Palm Beach County Sheriff Deputies said Guerrero faces charges that include organized scheme to defraud, fraudulent use of personal identification information and fraudulent use of a credit card.
The victim was a patient at a Rehabilitation Center in West Palm Beach when the thefts occurred, the arrest affidavit said.
The report said Guerrero is accused of using the victim’s ATM card to withdraw money on multiple occasions last year.
Guerrero was quoted in the arrest report of stating the victim owed him money and that the man had just disappeared, running out on his debt. He said he found his ATM card and started using it without permission.