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By JEFF HOUCK

jhouck@tampatrib.com

Published: November 15, 2009

TAMPA - Hidden between the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coastlines, amid 7 million acres of this state's interior, is the world of the Florida cowboy.

Outshone by tourist attractions and hundreds of miles of beaches, the state's cattle industry manages 1.75 million head of beef on one-fifth of the peninsula yet remains virtually invisible. It's an insular world of foggy morning pastures penetrated by cracking whips, cows and bulls chased through razor-sharp saw palmetto and howling cattle dogs keeping herds in check.

It's a world photographer Carlton Ward Jr. explores in his new book, "Florida Cowboys: Keepers of the Last Frontier" (University Press of Florida, $45). The 264-page book, full of dramatic depictions of life on the range and testimonials by still-living pioneers, reads like a love letter to the cowboy life.

An exhibit of Ward's photographs is featured at the Tampa Bay History Center in downtown Tampa through mid-December.

Ward is somewhat of an insider. His family's Carlton "C" brand has been registered since the 1850s in Hillsborough County. Though he grew up in Clearwater, he spent time on horseback as a child riding on the family's Hardee County homestead.

Ward's goal for the book is to give outsiders a glimpse of the industry his family helped establish. Time spent in college in North Carolina made him realize how quickly the demand of development was erasing the lifestyle.

"No one in North Carolina knew we had anything other than Disney World and the beach," he says. "For that matter, I could have talked to people in Tampa to get that, too."

Florida's shallow population roots and lack of appreciation for the state's history accelerate the loss of land used for grazing and conservation, he says.

"I don't think anywhere is like Florida in how separate the urban and the rural are," Ward says.

"It sounds cynical, but many people in Tampa are so disconnected from the natural heritage that they might as well be in Charlotte or Atlanta. They don't know that the largest open water estuary in the state is right here in Tampa Bay or that there are five major rivers feeding into it. The sense of place is not especially strong."

The cattle industry's ranchlands are a rich and important element of the state's history and home to valuable wetlands that offer a haven to threatened species of bears, panthers and birds. Ward wants the book to show how industry and nature can co-exist with mutual benefit - and how uncontrolled development can threaten both.

"I started out thinking the book was going to be primarily environmental," he says. "In the end it's two-thirds or more cultural. I'm drawn to the stories where the future of the landscape and the future of the culture are interwoven. It's that way with these ranchers."

On Saturday, the history center will host the Florida Cowboy Living Heritage Celebration, including a cattle drive on Old Water Street. Re-enactors will set up a Cracker cowboy camp in adjacent Cotanchobee Park

Ward will sign copies of his "Florida Cowboys" book, and there will be whip-making demonstrations and children's activities.

Also at the history center is the exhibit "Florida Cattle Ranching: Five Centuries of Tradition," which showcases Florida's cattle ranching history and puts viewers in the middle of a cattle drive.

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IF YOU GO

Cattle drive

WHEN: Cattle drive led by the Florida Cattleman's Association and the Seminole Tribe of Florida begins at 10 a.m. Saturday.

WHERE: Along Old Water Street, from Morgan Street to the Tampa Bay History Center, 801 Old Water St., Tampa. Spectators are encouraged to watch from Cotanchobee Park, next to the museum, then visit the adjacent Cracker cow camp.

ADMISSION: Free

Museum activities

WHAT: "Florida Cattle Ranching: Five Centuries of Tradition" exhibit, whip-making workshop, cowboy storytelling, youth activities

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday ("Florida Cattle Ranching" through Dec. 19)

WHERE: Tampa Bay History Center, 801 Old Water St., Tampa

ADMISSION: $12; $10 for ages 65 and older, ages 13-17, and students with ID; $7 for ages 4-12

Reporter Jeff Houck can be reached at (813) 259-7324.

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