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Visiting Old Florida

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By RONNIE BLAIR, The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 4, 2007

DADE CITY - Rodney Miner took to time traveling first.

The 66-year-old Miner's interest in the 1800s developed about 35 years ago when the avid hunter and trapper was asked to do a demonstration on tanning animal hides at a festival.

Soon he was appearing at other festivals and accumulating a large collection of antique items, such as barbed wire, horseshoes, saddles, bottles and cooking utensils.

Today, he crisscrosses the state, educating schoolchildren and presenting his Cracker Cow Hunter and Trapper Camps at pioneer and heritage festivals throughout Florida.
Don Cox took to time traveling next.

About five years ago, Miner persuaded Cox, a pal since junior high school in Miami, to join him in recreating the 1800s camps. Now Cox dresses the part and enjoys intoning, 'Welcome to the 1890s,' when the curious stop by.

'We go to quite a few of these festivals,' Cox, 67, said Monday as he greeted visitors at the 33rd annual Pioneer Florida Day Festival at the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village in Dade City.

The two-day festival, which concluded Monday, featured numerous exhibits that showed what Florida was like decades, or even centuries, ago.

Civil War re-enactors, equipped with rifles and cannons, performed a battle both days. They also put on a mock court-martial Monday.
Antique cars were lined up near one festival entrance. Elsewhere, festivalgoers could have their picture taken with a baby llama or take a ride on a miniature train whose cars were made from carved-out plastic barrels.

Miner and Cox, who both live in Citrus County, set up the cow hunter and trapper camp next to the festival's moonshine exhibit.

One feature of their camp is a barbed-wire display. Each piece is circa 1800s and would have been crafted by a blacksmith.

The blacksmiths used a variety of barbed-wire designs, and Miner also displays a book titled 'The 'Bobbed Wire' Bible' by Jack Glover that details thousands of variations.

'There are people who will swap and trade their barbed wire,' Miner said.

Miner and Cox maintain a Web site - floridacracker livinghistory.com - that includes photographs and information about their exhibit.

Elsewhere at the festival Monday, Civil War re-enactor Bob Gross elected to endure the 90-degree heat rather than shed the woolen jacket of his Confederate soldier uniform.

'I enjoy interacting with the public,' Gross said. 'That's why I'm willing to dress like this, no matter how hot it is.'

Gross, 66, a Lakeland resident, said he became involved in the Civil War hobby 14 years ago after he spied a newspaper article that mentioned a re-enactment in Lake City.

He was intrigued.

Gross drove to Lake City with his wife to watch the event. He quickly evolved from intrigued to entranced. Within two months, he acquired the outfit and equipment he needed to join the re-enactments.

Gross later discovered his family's Civil War heritage. A great-grandfather served for four years fighting on the side of the Union.

A few years ago, Gross went to his great-grandfather's gravesite in Wisconsin.

On Northern soil, the pretend Confederate held a memorial service in honor of the true-life Union soldier.

Reporter Ronnie Blair can be reached at (813) 948-4218 or rblair@tampatrib.com.

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