The Everglades are the tropical wetlands that comprise the majority of South Florida. The Everglades ecosystem includes sawgrass marshes, cypress swamps, hardwood hammocks, pinelands, and numerous rivers and lakes. In 1892, the Everglades (or "the glades") had only been explored a handful of times and were mostly unknown except by the Seminoles who had taken refuge there during and after the Seminole Wars. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, there was a widely held belief by real estate developers and politicians that South Florida lands could be "reclaimed" from the waters that covered them by building a series of canals and draining the Everglades and other wetlands across the peninsula. Many believed that the muck and mud found in the wetlands would make a superior soil for agricultural purposes. The major purpose of the Expedition was to determine if the Everglades could be drained and the land used for agriculture and other development.
Links below open in a new browser window.
For other topics referenced in the Expedition texts, please refer to the Index to Subjects and Names.
1892 Everglades Exploration Expedition : Three Digital Texts, 2015