Prairie

Prairie and hammock in Okaloacoochee Slough; source: State Archives of Florida, Florida MemoryThe Expedition party described multiple prairies on the journey. There are two types of prairies in South Florida, wet prairies and dry prairies, but the Expedition texts do not distinguish between the two. In the 1800s, prior to large scale efforts to drain the Everglades, the south central Florida ecosystem was a patchwork of alternating dry and wet prairies, along with marshes, hammocks, pine lands, and sloughs. Both wet and dry prairies are flatlands, or flats, that lack trees and typically have ground cover such as grasses and palmetto plants. The Expedition party crossed Allen Prairie near Okaloacoochee Slough, to the east of Fort Myers.

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References in the Texts:

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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