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Gladesmen by Glen Simmons and Laura Ogden Foreword
by Gary Mormino and Ray Arsenault, Series Editors
Few people today can claim a living memory of Florida's frontier Everglades. Glen Simmons, who has hunted alligators, camped on hammock-covered islands, and poled his skiff through the mangrove swamps of the glades since the 1920s, is one who can. Together with Laura Ogden, he tells the story of backcountry life in the southern Everglades from his youth until the establishment of the Everglades National Park in 1947. During the economic bust of the late ‘20s, when many natives turned to the land to survive, Simmons began accompanying older local men into Everglades backcountry, the inhospitable prairie of soft muck and mosquitoes, of outlaws and moonshiners, that rings the southern part of the state. As Simmons recalls life in this community with humor and nostalgia, he also documents the forgotten lifestyles of south Florida gladesmen. By
necessity, they understood the natural features of the
Everglades ecosystem. They observed the seasonal
fluctuations of wildlife, fire, and water levels. Their
knowledge of the mostly unmapped labyrinth of grassy
water enabled them to serve as guides for visiting
naturalists and scientists. Simmons reconstructs this
world, providing not only fascinating stories of
individual personalities, places, and events, but an
account that is accurate, both scientifically and
historically, of one of the least known and longest
surviving portions of the American frontier. Glen Simmons has lived in the south Florida Everglades since his birth in 1916 in Homestead. In 1995 he was awarded a State of Florida Heritage Award for his unique contribution to Florida's history and folk culture. He has demonstrated and taught glades skiff building for the Florida Department of State, Bureau of Folklife, and the South Florida Historical Society; his boats are on permanent display at the Florida Folklife Museum in White Springs, Florida, and at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, Miami. Laura Ogden, also born in Homestead and a life-long friend of Glen Simmons, is consulting anthropologist for the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida. She has worked for the State of Florida Bureau of Folklife and has written about traditional Florida folk culture; she also has published articles in both anthropology and history journals. The Florida History and Culture Series 1998. 224 pp. 5 3/4 X 8 1/2. 54 b&w photos, 1 drawing, 1 map. ISBN 0-8130-1573-1 Cloth, $24.95
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"It is difficult to believe, but there was a time when South Florida was not populated with Rust Belt retirees, packed with strip malls, and landscaped like the world's largest golf course. . . . This book is part of a series designed to preserve Florida's history, and Simmons contributes admirably. Lay readers will appreciate his work, but it will be of particular interest to ecologists, conservationists, and even hunters and fishers."
-- Publishers Weekly "A well-crafted work that documents an aspect of Florida history and culture of which far too little has been written. . . . A fully annotated, solid piece of scholarship that is alive with South Florida history and spiced with Simmons' understated humor and world view." --
Folk Winds - Florida Folklore Society "Simmons and Ogden have prevented a seemingly forgotten cultural tradition from disappearing into the dustbin of history. By doing so,
Gladesmen has achieved a major goal of the Florida History and Culture Series -- that is, it promotes a richer understanding of the state's history. Series editors Gary R. Mormino and Raymond Arsenault, as well as the Press, all warrant praise for making this refreshing book possible. It is worthy of, and will find, a wide audience." --
Florida Historical Quarterly "Remarkable. . . should have strong, immediate interest for the ecologists engaged in efforts to restore the Everglades."--William B. Robertson, research biologist for Everglades National Park
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