For Sale —American Paradise (56 page)

18. Flagler, the son of a poor Presbyterian minister:
Norwalk
(Ohio)
Reflector
, January 8, 1907

19. Remembering the charms of St. Augustine: Tindall, George B., “The Bubble In The Sun,”
American Heritage
, vol. 1, no. 5, August 1965

19. That same year, young Thomas Edison:
New York Times
, June 24, 1990; Garrison, Webb,
A Treasury of Florida Tales
(Nashville, Tennessee, Rutledge Hill Press, 1989) pp. 102–103

19. Teed said that the angel: McIver, Stuart B.,
Dreamers, Schemers and Scalawags: The Florida Chronicles, Vol. 1
(Sarasota, Florida, The Pineapple Press, 1995) pp. 219–22;
The Daily News
of Perth, Western Australia, March 20, 1909;
The Maitland
(New South Wales, Australia)
Weekly Mercury
, February 20, 1897

20. On Christmas Day, the temperature climbed into the 80s in Orlando:
Orlando Sentinel
, December 25, 1994

20. A few days after Christmas, citrus growers gathered in Orlando's San Juan Hotel:
Orlando Sentinel
, December 25, 1994;
Monthly Weather Review
, February 1895;
The Daily News
of Portsmouth, Ohio, February 9, 1895;
The New York Times
, February 9, 1895

20. But on February 7, 1895, an even colder icy blast: Bangs, Outram, “The Present Standing of the Florida Manatee, Trichechus Latirostris (Harlan) in the Indian River Waters”;
The American Naturalist
, vol. XXIX, September 1895, pp. 783–784

21. Before the freezes, eight banks operated in Orlando:
Orlando Sentinel
, December 25, 1994

21. While orange and grapefruit trees in Florida were being killed by icy weather:
The Daily News
, Portsmouth, Ohio, February 9, 1895;
New York Times
, February 9, 1895

21. But while the rest of the nation was shivering and cursing the cold: Allman, T.D.,
Miami: City of the Future
(New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 1987) pp. 119–120

21. His young son George: “Miami on the Eve of the Boom: 1923,” by Frank B. Sessa,
Tequesta
, vol. XI, (1951), p. 21

21. By April 1896, Flagler had extended: Standiford, Les,
Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad that Crossed an Ocean
(New York, Crown Publishers, 2002) p. 66

21–22. And in January 1897, the sumptuous hotel: Buchanan, James E.,
Miami: A Chronological & Documentary History 1513–1977
(Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1978) p. 6

22. Flagler bought land from Julia Tuttle and the Brickell family: George, Paul, “Bootleggers, Prohibitionists and Police: The Temperance Movement in Miami, 1896–1920,”
Tequesta:
The Journal of the Historical Association of Southern Florida
, vol. 39, 1979, p. 34

22. In Chicago, Democrats were divided about their nominee: Baker, Kevin, “Political Speech,”
American Heritage
, vol. 51, Issue 3, May/June 2000;
Newark
(Ohio)
Daily Advocate
, July 11, 1896

23. Bryan paid his first visit to Florida in 1898, when unrest in Cuba: Koenig, Louis W.,
Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan
(New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1971) p. 278

23. In January 1898, rioting erupted in Havana: O'Toole, G.J.A:
The Spanish War: An American Epic—1898
(New York and London, W.W. Norton & Company, 1984) p. 12

23. On the evening of February 15, about half an hour after a US Marine bugler: O'Toole, G.J.A:
The Spanish War: An American Epic—1898
(New York and London, W.W. Norton & Company, 1984) pp. 28–29

23. Goaded on by sensationalistic newspaper stories about the explosion of the
Maine
and Spanish atrocities in Cuba:
New York Journal and Advertiser
, February 17, 1898; O'Toole, G.J.A:
The Spanish War: An American Epic—1898
(New York and London, W.W. Norton & Company, 1984) p. 81

24. And because of Florida's proximity to Cuba, it was a logical place for the army: O'Toole, G.J.A:
The Spanish War: An American Epic—1898
(New York and London, W.W. Norton & Company, 1984) p. 197

24. An army inspector filed two reports saying that Miami was not a good place: Buchanan, James E.,
Miami: A Chronological & Documentary History 1513–1977
(Dobbs Ferry, New York, 1978) p. 7

24. . . . a Louisiana soldier described Miami as “a waste wilderness as can be conceived only in rare nightmares.”: Standiford, Les,
Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean
(New York, Crown Publishers, 2002) p. 68

24. American military leaders thought Tampa would be the perfect site to assemble: O'Toole, G.J.A:
The Spanish War: An American Epic—1898
(New York and London, W.W. Norton & Company, 1984) p. 209

24. Commanding General of the Army Nelson Miles was dismayed by the conditions: O'Toole, G.J.A:
The Spanish War: An American Epic—1898
(New York and London, W.W. Norton & Company, 1984) p. 229

24. William Jennings Bryan volunteered his services to the US Army: Koenig, Louis W.,
Bryan: A Political Biography of William Jennings Bryan
(New York, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1971) p. 277

24. The executor of her will, Harry Tuttle: George, Paul, “Bootleggers, Prohibitionists and Police: The Temperance Movement in Miami, 1896–1920,”
Tequesta
, vol. 39, 1979, p. 35

24. The railroads continued to bring wealthy visitors to Florida: Sessa, Frank, “Miami on the Eve of the Boom: 1923,”
Tequesta
, vol. 11, 1951

24. In those long-ago days before labor unions, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, he was extending his railroad: Standiford, Less,
Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean
(New York, Crown Publishers, 2002) pp. 150–151

25. “I carried a lunch in my pocket”:
Norwalk Reflector
, January 8, 1907, reprinted in
History Talk from the Upper Florida Keys
, edited by Jerry Wilkinson, Spring 2004

26. Joe Ashley brought his family from the state's Gulf Coast: Stuart, Hix C.,
The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades
(Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) p. 8

26. In 1905, Flagler's work crews began clearing the right-of-way to lay rails to the tip of the Florida peninsula: Standiford, Less,
Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed an Ocean
(New York, Crown Publishers, 2002) p. 18

26. “It is indeed a wonder that when cold weather comes”: Gifford, John, “The Florida Keys,”
National Geographic
magazine, January 1906, pp. 8–9

Chapter Three: Dreamers and Thieves

27. Ashley went to work on one of the crews: Stuart, Hix C.,
The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades
(Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) p. 8;
Stuart News
, January 9, 1964

27. . . . opponent had sworn revenge when he recovered: Hanna, Alfred Jackson and Hanna, Kathryn,
Lake Okeechobee: Wellspring of the Everglades
(Indianapolis and New York, The Bobbs-
Merrill Company, 1948) pp. 204–205

27. It was said that John could lay a whiskey bottle on its side:
Stuart News
, January 9, 1964

28. On December 19, Ashley stopped at the encampment of Homer Tindall:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, April 9, 1915

28. . . . Ashley wondered if the Indians had had better luck with their traps than he'd had with his:
Daily Tropical Sun
, June 4, 1915

28. The Seminoles had indeed had better luck, accumulating a pile of eighty-four pelts:
The Daily Tropical Sun
, June 4, 1915

28. He spoke perfect English and was married with two small children:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, January 12, 1912

29. The crew of the
Caloosahatchee
shut down to take a Christmas holiday:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, January 12, 1912

29. After an evening of boozing, Ashley showed up at the Seminoles' camp:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, April 9, 1915

29. Later that day, another Seminole took his tribesman who'd been injured:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, January 12, 1912

30. One bullet had struck him between the eyes and exited the back of his head:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, April 2, 1915

30. It was a .38-55 caliber slug:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, January 12, 1912

30. Girtman made Ashley an offer:
Miami Daily Metropolis
, January 8, 1912

30. . . . gave $500 to Ashley:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, April 2, 1915

30. Flush with cash, Ashley went into a whorehouse:
Stuart, Hix C.,
The Notorious Ashley Gang: A Saga of the King and Queen of the Everglades
(Stuart, Florida, St. Lucie Printing Co., Inc., 1928) p. 9

30. . . . where he hired on with a logging crew out of Seattle:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, April 9, 1915

30. . . . a dignified and well-spoken Sioux Indian from Muskogee, Oklahoma:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, January 12, 1912

31. . . . request Florida governor Park Trammell to offer a reward, and they were willing to do that:
Weekly Miami Metropolis
, January 12, 1912

31. . . . he met with a multimillionaire businessman who'd recently arrived in Miami:
Miami Metropolis
, January 18, 1912

31. In 1910 he bought a mansion on a stretch of Brickell Avenue: “Mr. Miami Beach: Meet Carl Fisher,”
The American Experience
episode, 1998, from PBS website,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/miami/filmmore/transcript/index.html

32. . . . he was going to build a city here—“a city like magic”: Fisher, Jane,
Fabulous Hoosier: A Story of American Achievement
(Chicago, Harry Coleman & Company, 1953) p. 82

32. So Fisher became a driving force behind two major arteries: Fisher, Jane,
Fabulous Hoosier: A Story of American Achievement
(Chicago, Harry Coleman & Company, 1953) p. 80

32. . . . forbade cemeteries on the island: Roberts, Kenneth L.,
Florida
(New York and London, Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1926) pp. 75–89

32. . . . voters narrowly approved a referendum banning the sale of alcoholic beverages: Buchannan, James E. (editor),
Miami: A Chronological and Documentary History 1513–1977
(Dobbs Ferry, New York, Ocean Publications, Inc., 1978) p. 12

33. He took a quick look at the Everglades:
Miami Daily Metropolis
, January 22, 1912

33. “As soon as I breathed the balmy air of Miami”:
Miami Metropolis
, December 24, 1909; US Department of the Interior, National Parks Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, William Jennings Bryan House, Miami, Florida, December 9, 2011;
Miami Daily Metropolis
, January 22, 1912; Kauffman, Kathleen S., and Uguccioni, Ellen J., “Designation Report: The William Jennings Bryan Residence,” City of Miami Preservation office, December 4, 2007

33. He liked it so much he bought it:
Naples Daily News
, April 1, 2012

34. “. . . a trifle too loquacious”: Station Inspection Reports 1871–1930; Records Group 27, Records of the US Weather Bureau, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland

34. Solomon Merrick, the minister who had left behind New England's bitter winters: “A History of Coral Gables: A Look into the Past,” by Stacey Steig, produced by the Coral Gables Chamber of Commerce, available at
http://coralgableschamber.org/visit/a_history_of_coral_gables.aspx