| Title | : | Killing Mister Watson (Shadow Country Trilogy #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0517086719 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780517086711 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 384 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1990 |
| Awards | : | Ambassador Book Award Fiction (1991) |
Killing Mister Watson (Shadow Country Trilogy #1) Reviews
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A fine example of Southern literature written by a guy from New York.
Matthiessen's historic fiction falls somewhere between James Agee and Harry Crews, a good read. I also noted influences or allusions to Flannery O'Connor, the obligatory nod to Faulkner, and more than a passing similarity to Macbeth.
This was my great-grandparent's generation in pioneer southwest Florida in the 1890s, rich and vibrant, the swamps and mud stick to the pages.
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"But the truth don't count for much after all these years, cause folks hang on to what it suits 'em to believe and won't let go of it." Killing Mr. Watson, p. 92
Historically, Edgar "Bloody" Watson did exist and he was really killed by a posse in the Islands along the west coast of Florida. Matthiessen provides the full story of the the life and times of Watson based on amazing oral history accounts by the people of the Florida Islands. Having conducted, transcribed and edited a lot of oral histories I was most impressed by the voices of his narrators. He not only tells the story of Watson but also provides a lesson in racism and class distinction. He had me happily fooled into almost believing every word. He also had me wanting to believe Watson over and over again in the face of ridiculous evidence.
This was not an easy book for me to get into, but once hooked it was masterful. -
A very interesting book -- set in the "frontier/wilderness" area of south Florida around 1900, told from multiple viewpoints. Mr. Watson was an enigmatic figure -- farmer, family man, good neighbor, and probable killer. This is the first in a trilogy in which the author is teasing out the real story (and its meaning?) from legend. Story is told by revolving cast of neighbors and relatives, second book is from the viewpoint of a son, and third is told by Mr. Watson. Not sure if I'm up to the story told again and again but maybe so . . . this one definitely worth reading, especially since the Everglades is a place I've visited and hope to visit again. Author does a good job of capturing the landscape and history of the area as well as telling a story.
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Some writers write fiction, some non-fiction, and never the twain shall meet. Right? I don’t think so. A good writer can write whatever they want. Perhaps the best example living today is Peter Matthiessen.
Matthiessen started his writing career as a novelist, a spinner of tales, but he is perhaps best known for some of his non-fiction works, “Wildlife in America” (1959), “Snow Leopard” (1980), “In the Spirit of Crazy Horse” (1983).
In the 1990s however, he returned to the novel and wrote what is known as the Watson trilogy. The first, published in 1990 is “Killing Mister Watson.” It's set in Southern Florida, in an area on the Gulf Coast west of the Everglades known as Ten Thousand Islands, a lawless region of swamps, islands and mangroves, where outlaws hid and opportunist poachers and plume-hunters patrolled by boat.
“It’s the dead silence after all the shooting that comes back today, though I never stuck around to hear it; I kind of remember it when I am dreaming. Them ghosty white trees and dead white ground, the sun and silence and the dry stink of guano, the squawking and shrieking and flopping of dark wings, and varmints hurrying without no sound—coons, rats, and possums, biting and biting, and the ants flowing up all them pale trees in the dark snaky ribbons to bite at them raw scrawny things that’s backed up to the ege of the nest, gullet pulsing and mouth open wide for the food and water that ain’t never going to come,” writes Matthiessen.
The storyline is based on local legend, the killing of Edgar J. Watson by townspeople, who decided to take the law into their own hands. They were afraid. Watson was an ill-educated, jingoistic, entrepreneur; a powerful land-owner with a sugar cane plantation who readily boosted, after a drink or two, of having killed 57 men, if it suited his purposes and it often did. If a laborer complained of not being paid in several weeks, that laborer might conveniently disappear.
The story is told from 12 perspectives: interviews with early settlers in Florida. Rich in local color, it’s a well-written, well-constructed novel. -
The first part of this blew me away. From the potent, almost biblical description of the eponymous deed which opens the book, to the incredible range of voices full of history, rumor and conspiracy about E.J. Watson, and about the weird, insular world of the Florida everglades circa 1900. the book feels almost like a contemporary as I Lay Dying. And like Faulkner, Matthiessen is interested in burrowing deep into a specific, woebegone locale and pulling its darkest parts out for investigation; there's the miscegenation, the casual racism, the morbid, vaguely incestuous family politics. But the real current in this book is the environment, and specifically it's degradation and destruction in the age of American expansion. Almost every chapter seems to contain a reference to trees uprooted, fields tilled up, birds shot for museums, alligators slaughtered for pelts.
Yet the book seems to really lose focus in the second half, and the giant cast of characters, some of whom only pop up to narrate a section or two and then vanish forever becomes unwieldy, as are Matthiessen's attempts to balance his abiding interest in the environment with his own personal interest and obsession with E.J. Watson. By the end, the various characters narrations, while beautifully rendered, feel a tad too journalistic to be really fictional and I wasn't sure if I was reading a novel or some elaborately fictionalized reportage, which isn't bad per se, but the whole thing becomes kind of monotonous after a few hundred pages of Florida crackers ruminating on doom, destruction and blood in more or less the same voice. Maybe one day I'll get around to reading the next two, but this on it's own seemed like more than enough. -
I think the reason I’m bothering with this at all is because I wanted to use the word turgid. Turgid. It’s a good word. I get to use it far too little.
Making the halfway point on this may have changed my mind, but every other time I’ve stuck it out regardless, I’ve regretted it. Some things are not for me. Books like this are one of those things. -
Absolutely brilliant. I must find the other two in the trilogy and complete it. Or, I'll have to find the single volume that Matthiessen wrote that retells the three books in one and for which he won a major award - National Book Award, I believe.
This was a remarkable telling in multiple voices of a time in southern history just following the Civil War. Focusing on south Florida and a man named Mr. Watson who supposedly truly lived, Matthiessen creates a living "history" of a possible legend who may or may not have been the killer of Belle Star. With rich character development the author wanders between historical fact and totally believable fiction creating a sense of the taming of a land at a most tumultuous time.
Highly, highly recommended read! -
Edgar J. Watson is in the pantheon of American bad guys, right up there with Cormac McCarthy's Judge Holden.
If your honest, and who among us is not, he is an ambiguous figure, like Holden. Oh, don't get me wrong, I know the jury of readers, feeling compelled to decide one way or the other, would sent Edgar J. and The Judge to the scaffold and then go home to settle down to a nice family dinner on linen table cloth and never have a doubt about the rightness of what they'd done.
Don't get me wrong. I'd be disappointed if my daughter were to marry EJ, or someone like him. There is a vast middle between the poles of good and bad, and like most of us, EJ falls somewhere in the middle, just more so.
More so because, like Holden, his actions occur between poles set a little further apart than most of us. And given that his actions unfold on the moral frontier of the 10,000 island region (not land and not sea) of Florida, that context should have some bearing on those who would judge him.
Call me amoral, but I never felt compelled to judge EJ. After all, he did in Belle Star and one can really get their knickers twisted up trying to decide whether murdering the baddest girl to pursue the outlaw career track is a good thing, or a bad thing. It's EJ's thing is all, a line in his bona fides is all.
And how 'bout the way EJ's neighbors did him him? Whose moral code countenances that?
by
Peter Matthiessen -
Killing Mr. Watson is the first novel in a trilogy that has now been published called Shadow Country. While the three components of the trilogy have been modified from their original form when Shadow Country was published, I have chosen to enter the three components as separate books because they are unique in their own ways.
Killing Mr. Watson is constructed of 53 "chapters" each of which is a first person narrative from one of 14 unique characters. While, obviously, the author intended the 53 narratives to run in somewhat of a chronological order, I chose to read the narrative of each of the 14 characters progressing chronologically through the novel. Did I cheat? I just found that approach to be easier in understanding the story.
No more illuminating description of Killing Mr. Watson was when it is discussed that ". . . rather than make the return run with her holds empty she had met a Cuban vessel off the Marquesas to take on a rum cargo on which no duty had been paid. Cole testified that his rascally captain had taken on that contraband without his knowledge. No one believed this and some wondered at the greed that drove prosperous businessmen to skirt the laws of the democracy they claimed to be so proud of, steal from their own government by overcharging for the beef while paying their lawyers to cheat it of its taxes."
Secondarily, but no less importance, was the depiction of the social culture of backwoods south eastern Florida, the so-called ten thousand islands. While unimportant to the rest of the world in any way, the location and roles dictate how one's life is set. Fate my be the best word but it seems that no one (especially the former slaves) can possibly escape their destiny. -
This novel has been read by a good number of my family members. It deals with the mystery that shrouds the account of the lawless Ten Thousand Islands off the Gulf Coast of SW.FL. regarding Edgar J. Watson. My family is an integral part of this novel. This is a work of fiction, however, the late Mr. Matthiessen did his research. Watson was made out to be a monster of the Everglades. He was an outlaw, yes. But the inhabitants of the islands might have made more out of him than truly was. The turn of the 20th century was a rough time in the swamp, the people of this time and place made their own justice. Or at least they hoped so. This novel was based on facts using real family names and interviews.
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This is a remarkable account of life in The Thousand Islands(SW Florida) in the early part of the 20th Century. The descriptions made my skin crawl in discomfort. How they coped with the 'skeeters'( mosquitoes) I will never know.
So here I am almost 5 years later and this book remains strong in my mind. Proof, if proof is needed , of a great book. -
A book that was on my TBR list forever and I finally got to it. Winner winner. This was a meticulously researched true historical novel about the life and death of E.J. Watson- a farmer, respected businessman, land developer, husband, father and probably multiple murderer. Watson showed up in southwest Florida a mysterious figure and became the most well known citizen and most spectacular villian.
A deep dive into life in coastal south Florida at the turn of the century- the incredible hardships, the hurricanes, the lawlessness, the communities and families. This was not an environment for the faint-hearted.
The story is told chronologically from many voices in the community. The audiobook was well done, and while I could follow the story- sometimes it was difficult to keep all the characters straight.
4 solid stars. -
I really wanted to like this because of the rave reviews and I persevered, thinking it was bound to pick up if I gave it time. For me, it didn't; I found it confusing, rambling and so, so tedious. After a while, I couldn't have cared less when yet another character gave me yet another similar insight into the same event. So pleased that I've finally finished it. The other Mathiessen book I have on my shelf is going straight to the charity shop.
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Killing Mister Watson took place near where I live in southwest Florida, a little more than a century ago. I know the place names and the family names. I have stood where the killing took place, at Smallwood's store at Chokoloskee, though I didn't know about it at the time. The story is told in the remembrances of the happenings, the gossip, and the rumors of the people who were there. It seems authentic. I may have rated this higher than some others might because of its locations, the history that is the history of where I live, but I'm glad I read it.
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Wonderful storytelling in an obscure corner of U.S. history, the Everglades area of Florida at the turn of the 20th century. It took me a while to get hooked, with the number of people involved leaving me disoriented; I almost feel like I should read it a second time. In the end, it's a tapestry of personal views on Mr. Watson, and the facets of an image begin to emerge.
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Too long
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A polyphonic retelling of the foul deeds of the eponymous Watson, a gunhand and would be industrialist, basically Absalom, Absalom in the Florida Keys. Its good, its very well written but there’s also shooting and murder and mystery and whatnot. I felt that the various viewpoints read too similarly and lacked the disparate stylization necessary for this style of writing, and the author’s own (admirable) moral viewpoint came through too strong. Which makes it sound like I didn’t like the book, but I did like the book, I just felt it didn’t quite manage to fulfill its enormous ambitions.
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I enjoyed reading about the many places in Florida I've been to or heard about (especially The Thousand Islands area) and the names of people I've heard about. But it wasn't my kind of book after all. Those were some rough people & rough times.
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I really wanted to like this book. I saw the good reviews here on Goodreads and I gave it a try. There wasn’t very much plot to the story it’s a bunch of interviews tooth in the first person about one event that happened in the 1900s in Florida. The one positive I have for this book is the writing was beautiful! Especially the prologue I feel confused most of the time especially by all the characters that were not introduced just a bunch of talking and skipping around peoples thoughts but the way it all came together at the end to paint this picture of a group of people who are about to murder a man really made me excited. However the rest of the book was extremely disappointing. I had to DNF this book because the Plot was just boring. I already knew Watson died from the prologue. The way it was written was just boring and I was falling asleep the whole time trying so hard just to read a little more but I decided it wasn’t really worth all the time to finish the book. I gave the setting three stars because it was beautifully described I could literally paint a picture in my mind the author is beautiful with words. However the execution was lacking. I hope that once I got into the chapters I will learn more about the characters and be able to feel a little more connected to them and understand what was happening but I felt just as if I was reading words that sounded beautiful but made no sense.
I think the book could be a great book for someone who doesn’t need a lot of character development or connection to the plot just more a history buff. I would recommend this novel only if you were interested in the specific murder. However It really lacked so much that I wouldn’t recommend it. -
This was an awful book. It was very boring. I could not stay awake through this book.
It's only redeeming features is that I enjoyed reading historical tidbits about Southwest Florida and hearing the descriptions of the natural setting.
There are too many characters to keep track of and the dialect was hard to read. Some of the chapters go over the same few incidents over and over again.
The story is about a real incident in 1910 where a local Plantation owner near Ft. Myers Florida is killed. This book explores the killing of this Mr. Watson, a sugar cane plantation owner, and it discusses his behavior and the crimes associated with him. I think he did deserve to die although I do agree that some incidents may have been falsely attributed to him. There was no law back then at all. There was no way to investigate anything he was supposedly said to have done.
I do appreciate that 6 years of research went into this. I'm sorry it's not better written. -
I struggled with this one a bit. It's about the rough and ready people making up the southern Florida territories at the turn of the 20th Century, as it was developing. Its main character, Watson a farmer and businessman running from the law, is mostly represented by his associates and relatives. You hear a lot of different voices and perspectives, and the author portrays these various voices well. The novel covers many small anecdotes about the times, but there is very little plot or movement. So my struggle was more around keeping interested--what's the point? It is not a hard read, but was fairly boring. It is interesting to think of Ft. Meyers or Key West as small, backwater villages, but I never felt immersed in the times, more like an observer who was trying to figure out the point. there are secrets there--but take too long to reveal. It also jumped around to different people often, was hard to keep track. Maybe the sequel, Shadow Country, highly lauded, does a better job.
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Matthiessen is a fine writer. What even makes this book more special to me is the topic - a tale of the Everglades. I was lucky enough to meet and take the author out canoeing in the Everglades soon after he wrote this.
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Slow slog read. Interesting in the long run, but not the easiest of reads.
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Killing Mr. Watson was a choice of my reading group in 2021. There are more than 60 characters in this book. To help the group keep track of them, I prepared the list below. I'm sure that it is not perfect, so feel free to offer your corrections. I had to pare back the descriptions to fit Goodread's maximum word count...so if you would like the full version please send me your email address...happy to send it. The full version also includes a timeline of events.
Characters/Places/Timeline/Quotes
Walter Alderman, married to Marie Lopez. Worked for Watson in Ft. White, FL in 1908, but left the town when Watson was accused of murdering Tolen. Walter did not want to testify. The Aldermans are one of the families that take in the Watson’s family before the hurricane hits.
Winky and Edward Atwell, Brothers, lived on Rodgers River, but had claim on Lost Man’s River property. Atwell allowed Wally and Bet Tucker to camp on their Lost Man’s River land, but then sold land claim to Watson.
Quinn Bass, People said Watson killed Bass in Arcadia. Watson paid his way out of being charged with the crime.
Charles T. Boggess, married to Ethel, friends of the Smallwood’s, lived at Sandfly Key.
Louis and Guy Bradley, young plume hunters, 1895-90 worked with Chevalier. Guy Bradley became first Monroe County game warden, paid for by Audubon Society. He was murdered in 1905 by plume hunters from Key West.
Willie Brown, son of Old Man William
Jim Cannon, son Dana, farmed and fished on Chatham River. After Watson returned in 1909 they stayed away from farming on Possum Key.
Captain Elijah (Lige) Carey…trader from Key West, worked with Chevalier and Bob House. Told story to Bill House about Adolphus Santini, whose throat was cut by Watson in Key West.
Chekaika, Richard Hamilton’s Grandfather, killed Dr. Henry Perrine at Indian Key in 1840. Hamilton says that Perrine wanted to drain Cape Sable, in Calusa Territory. Chekaika named wallow-tail hawk, Tonsabe.
Jean Chevalier, (Charles Bonaparte) (old Frenchman). Hermit, collected rare bird specimens. Bought Pavioni from Richard Hamilton, but lived there only a year, then sold it to Will Raymond. Hamilton built Chevalier a house on Possum Key, where his family had moved.
Jim Cole—Big wig in Ft. Meyers. Unsavory, constantly scheming, blowhard businessman…brokered stock and made a fortune provisioning Rough Riders and smuggling Cuban Rum. Cole gives Mrs. Jane Watson copy of the book, Hell on the Border, in which Belle Starr’s murder by Watson is recounted.
Bill Collier, Owns Mercantile Store on Marco Island
Jack Collier married to Lillie, daughter of Jim Daniels. Worked on Clam crews, Pavilion Key.
Leslie Cox—alias John Smith. Unsavory character, Cox goes to work for Watson in 1909. People say he raped young Indian woman who worked for Mrs. Watson (Edna). The Indian woman hung herself after the rape. Cox also murdered Hannah Smith, Green Waller and Dutchy Melvin.
Jim Daniels—father of Blanche (who married Frank Hamilton). Father of Henry Daniels and Lillie (Daniels) Collier. Jim’s wife is Sallie (Weeks) Daniels, sister of Mary (Weeks) Smallwood. Sister of Netta.
Henrietta (Netta) Daniels-Daughter of Mary Anne Daniels, mother of Henry Thompson, kept house for Mr. Watson. Her daughter Minnie was fathered by Watson. Minnie married Jim Knowles in 1910. Netta’s young half-brother is Tant Jenkins. Sister of Jim Daniels. Half-sister to Josie (Jenkins) Parks. Married Old Man Roe around 1900.
Mr. Dimock—Author, Yankee sportsman, wrote book, Florida Enchantments, a memoir of the Islands, which included stories about Mr. Watson. (Called him J.E. Wilson in his book). Bill House worked for him, fishing for Sawfish—they cut saws off the fish and sold them to collectors.
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Juan (Johnny) Gomez, local legend like Watson. Said he met Napoleon in Madrid. Lived in Palmetto shack with his “cracker” wife. Guided Chevalier on hunt for roseate spoonbills. Gomez said he was 108 years old…and remembered the region as a place of intricate channels, a refuge for pirates. Watson and Henry Thompson stayed with him on their way back after picking up Jane and family upon their return from the West.
*Richard Hamilton (p.24), lived close to 100, stayed in the islands 50 years. Learned what he knew from Chevalier, who he called a “mean old man”. Married to Mary Weeks, father of John Leon, Walter, Gene, Liza (these 3 born in 1880s) and Ann (born in early 1890s). Was the grandson of Chief Chekaika. Came back to Florida where his grandfather was at Pavioni at the time. In 1888, he sold his claim of Pavioni to Chevalier and went to Possum Key. Hamilton calls Watson, who bought Pavioni from Chevalier, a good neighbor. Hamilton said mosquitos were so bad that he moved his family from Possum Key to Trout Key, also known as Morman Key. Hamilton sees himself as Indian, but others call him mulatto.
*John “Leon” Hamilton (p151) —with his brother, Gene, started a fishing camp in Woods Key. Married Sarah Johnson…age 14…she was friends with Bet Tucker. In 1899, sold claim on Mormon Key to Watson, moved 10 miles south to Lost Man’s River.
*Sarah Hamilton (Johnson) (p105)—daughter-in-law to Richard and Mary Hamilton. Married to Leon Hamilton.
2nd Hamilton family, not related to Richard Hamilton’s family:
James Hamilton—Father of Frank, Lewis, Jessie. He farmed the Atwell land after Watson left Chatham River because of the Tuckers’ deaths. On his death bed in 1910, he tells sons that his real name is James Hopkins and that he came from a rich Baltimore family. He said he had killed someone in a duel and had to change his name and leave Maryland. Justice George Storter said to his sons afterwards, “You boys come into this world with the name of Hamilton, so you might’s well go out of it the same way.”
Frank Hamilton, father of Sammie, Dexter, husband to Blanche (daughter of Jim Daniels). His, father James lived with him and his family, In October 1910, Watson came to see them in his boat. He was menacing and James Hamilton and did not come down to the river to greet him but aimed his rifle at him from behind the window. Blanche went down to greet him and stood between him and window to block Frank from shooting him. This was just before the big hurricane came.
Lewis Hamilton (brother of Frank) —married to Jennie Roe, who claimed she was raped by Mr. Watson.
*Sammie Hamilton (p.244)— son of Frank. Sammie’s grandfathers are James Hamilton and Jim Daniels. His brother is Dexter.
Lt. Colonel Harney, he was sent on expedition to kill Chakaika in 1840. This expedition involved the first white men to traverse the peninsula of Southern FL (p.44)
*Bill (WW) House (p.47)—son of Daniel (DD) House. 30 years old, strong florid man. Worked for Chevalier for several years. Describes hunting collector birds… page 47. Also collected eggs, such as the Swallow Tail kite ($15/egg) with the Frenchman. Was almost shot by Watson when he took Frenchman by the Watson land, before Watson built the White House. Worked for Hamilton when Frenchman was in Key West. Bill House said about Mr. Watson: “If lawmen; was hunting him across four states, it was not our business…cepting Chevalier, we all liked the man…we seen from the first that he was a good farmer and a generous neighbor, and for many years we done our best to forget the rest.” Bill married Nettie Howell. Bill and Dan House also were prospectors in British Honduras. Bill and his brothers, Dan and Lloyd, and his father, DD, were the leaders of the posse that killed Watson in 1910. His sister, Mamie, is married to Ted Smallwood.
Daniel David (DD) House— silver in his brows, mustache…DD House, lived on the hammocks back of Chatham River. Father of Bill, Dan and Lloyd, and Mamie (Smallwood). Married to Ida House.
Ida House (Borders) DD’s-wife…does not like Watson.
Jim Howell—lived at Chokoloskee, father of Nettie Howell.
Nettie Howell— daughter of Jim Howell. Married Bill House
Tant Jenkins—half-brother to Henrietta Daniels and Jim Daniels. Half uncle to Henry Thompson, but not much older than him. Thompson and Tant ran boats for Mr. Watson for many years.
Ludis Jenkins—Married to Mary Anne Daniels mother of Netta. Ludis is Netta’s stepfather. His son is Tant Jenkins. Ludis committed suicide.
S.S. Jenkins, worked for Watson
Gilbert Johnson, lives on Wood Key, father of Sarah, who married Leon Hamilton.
Sheriff Knight—suspected Watson of killing Tuckers, deputized Gene Hamilton and others to investigate.
Walt Langford—Cattleman, bank president in Ft. Meyers, married to Carrie Watson. Son of Doc Langford. Was wild and irresponsible before marriage, killed a cowboy by accident during incident where they are tormenting an older black man. Dr. Winkler intervened, but scuffle caused Langford to shoot another man by accident. Langford becomes a respected leader in Ft. Meyers.
Thomas Lawson, Surgeon General, who in 1838 led U.S. Army against the Spanish Indians.
Gregorio Lopez, married to Lovie Lopez. Lives at Chokoloskee.
Little Joe, black man worked for Watson, under foreman Leslie Cox Witnessed Cox kill 3 people, Hannah Smith Green Waller, and Dutchy Melvin. Watson was present when Melvin was shot. Little Joe first reported murders to Hoad Storter on October 14. He said he thought that Watson was behind the 3 murders but then recanted.
Jim Martin—former sheriff of Manatee County…reported to Frank Tippins (sheriff) Ft. Meyers, that Tuckers were killed at Lost Man’s River.
C.G. Charlie McKinney—storekeeper and postmaster of Chokoloskee Bay before Ted Smallwood took over. He also was a pundit and wrote about local news in the American Eagle. Charlie, married to Kathleen Demere.
Dutchy Melvin—A Key West desperado. Burned down cigar factory, killed a lawman, was convicted but escaped a chain gang and went to work for Watson in 1909 and Watson made him the foreman because everyone was afraid of him. He and Watson quarreled over payment and Melvin put salt in thousands of gallons of syrup, then took off for NY and taunted Watson with a letter from NY. He had nerve to come back again in 1910, tried to run Leslie Cox off so that he could have his job back. Dutchy was murdered by Leslie Cox at the Watson property in 1910…after murders of Hannah Smith and Green Waller. He was killed in front of Mr. Watson.
Mikauski—Indian Tribe. Richard Hamilton traded with them. He said they were the last of the true Indians left in the Islands, did not make a treaty with whites. They hid in the Big Cypress.
Josephine (Josie) Parks (Jenkins)—half-sister to Henrietta (Netta) Daniels, Tan’s sister. Had a daughter named Jennie (father unknown). She also had a daughter by Mr. Watson, named Pearl, and a baby by him in 1910, but she lost the baby while she was holding it up in a tree as the hurricane came through. She survived but the baby was found dead afterwards. Married to Albert in 1910. She had 7 husbands, including one she had twice.
Pavioni People (also called Calusas) —Indigenous People who first settled on the big mound.—Last of the big fishing Indians.
Henry Perrine, famous botanist, killed by Chekaika.
Will Raymond a fugitive—one of first settlers on the Chatham River lived on Pavioni—camped with wife and daughter in a palmetto shack. The Frenchman, Chevalier lived there before him. Raymond was hiding out from law, they found him, killed him. His widow sold claim to this land to Watson for $250.
Adolphus (Dolphus) Santini—Watson slit his throat, but Santini survived. 1877 filed claim for 160 acres Chokoloskee Island. Was a good farmer, tomatoes, sugarcane and other vegetables. Took produce to Key West, which was largest city at time, 18,000, compared to Fort Meyers that had about 700. (P.55) Elijah Carey told story about the night Dolphus was drunk in Key West. Confronted Watsonl…told him that Florida would not give him preemption papers, unless he paid debts to society. Watson swore that he never meant to kill Santini, “if he had he would have done it.” Watson paid Santini $900 not to take him to court…and that settled the matter. Dolphus was also the name of one of Watson’s horses.
Henry Short. Bob House said his father raised Henry. A good shooter, Henry was black with ���wood complexion”, who R. Hamilton said, “made him look more Indian than black.” Henry was a fisherman, hunter, and worked for Watson and the Frenchman.
Ted Smallwood—Postmaster and store owner on Chokoloskee Island, tried to talk townsmen in putting down guns before they shot Watson. Scared of “killing in cold blood.” At one time Ted had 250 avocado trees on Chokoloskee Island and shipped barrels to Punta Gorda.
*Mamie Smallwood (p.205), wife of Ted Smallwood, Bill House’s sister, daughter of Daniel (DD) House. Feels compassion for Watson’s 3rd wife Edna.
Hannah Smith—Mr. Watson hired her in 1910. A very large woman, Smith was known as the Ox-Woman. She “cut and burned and hacked her way across the Everglades by cart.”Hannah was murdered by Leslie Cox in 1910 at the Watson house.
Belle Starr, Queen of the Outlaws—Watson was charged with murdering her in Indian Territory in 1889.
Captain R.B. Storter, owned boat, Bertie Lee, owned store across the bay from the Smallwood’s.
George Storter, brother of R.B. hunts with Henry Short, has two sons. A justice, he officiates marriages.
*Hoad Storter (p.262), son of R.B Storter, brother of Claude. Fished with Henry Short.
*Frank Tippins—Born in Arcadia…First worked as a “printer’s devil” for the newspaper in Ft. Meyer. After working on the newspaper, he became a cow hunter, also worked at an Indian mission, owned a livery stable, and then became Sheriff in Ft. Meyers.
*Henry Thompson ...Lived near Watson on Chatham River. Met Watkins in Half Way Creek in 1892. Thompson cut buttonwood around Bay Sunday and the Chatham River, and ran it to Key West.
Wally and pregnant wife Bet Tucker— Couple who live on the Atwell land at Lost Man’s River. They are murdered…presumedly by Watson when they won’t leave the land after he buys claim to the property.
Old Man Green Waller—came to work for Mr. Watson at Chatham Bend. Brought Hannah Smith to work there also. Murdered by Leslie Cox.
Mr. Edgar J. Watson (E.J) (Mister Watson) (main character0 came to Half Way Creek in 1892. Born in SC in 1855, lived in North Fl, and in, Oklahoma and Arkansas before coming to S. Florida. Great shot, good farmer, fisherman, and the only person to turn a profit in the islands. Wanted for murder in Arkansas and North FL, also another murder in Arcadia.
Jane Watson, E.J’s 2nd wife. Stepmother of Rob Watson, mother of Carrie, Edgar and Lucius. She moves family to Ft. Meyers (into Doc Langoford’s house) in 1897, then has her own home in 1898 and dies there in 1901.
Edna Watson, E.J’s 3rd wife when book opens…mother of Ruth Ellen, Amy, son Addison, friend of Mamie Smallwood, Ted’s wife. Left the islands after Watson’s burial in Ft. Meyers.
Carrie Langford (Watson) (p.66) —Daughter of E.J and Jane Watson. Carrie marries Walt Langford, who is bank president and property owner in Ft. Meyers.
(Old Man) John Weeks—Pioneered farming at Cape Sable. was one of first to settle on the island, then sold half to Santinis, then Ludis Jenkins, Tant Jenkins’ and father. Ludis Daniels daughter married Nicholas Santini, his stepdaughter, Netta Daniels, is Henry Thompson’s mother.
Mary Hamilton (Weeks)—Catholic, wife of Richard Hamilton. Mother of John Leon, Walter, Gene and Liza. Daughter of John Weeks. Hamilton took Mary Weeks from Chololoskee to Pavioni on the Chatham River. Mary’s sister, Sally married Jim Daniels, and their daughter, Blanche Daniels married Frank Hamilton, whose father was James…no relation to Richard Hamilton. Mary’s mother, Elizabeth was a full-blooded Seminole, the granddaughter of Chief Osceola. -
One afternoon he showed my mam the beautiful swallow-tail hawk, kiting back and forth across the trees. Ton-sa-be, he said, very slow and careful, so his little daughter would remember it forever, the sun and the bird and the shining water-grass west of the hammock. Tonsabe. That word come rumbling out of him like a voice out of the earth. He told her how, seen from above, that bird’s wings reflected the sky blue, but only God could see it from above, so tonsabe was God’s bird, sent to watch over us.
"I am...homesick?" he would tell my children, to explain his tears. "That is how you say it? Sick of home?"
He went barefoot. Pap walked away from his last pair of shoes back in '98 and his feet still thanked him every day, is what he said. His boys took after him. Up until the day we left the rivers, 1947, there weren't one self-respecting pair of shoes in the whole family.
This whole darn foolishness of blood will be the ruin of this country. As Old Chevelier told Daddy Richard, human beings was all one shade when they first appeared on earth, and only turned into different-colored races when they scattered out across the continents. The way they breed around these days, the Frenchmen said, they were sure to wind up all one color again, and the sooner the better, too, he'd say, because life was terrible enough without this useless misery of color.
The earth was ringing in a silver light, the stars gone wild.
I mean, I loved her for the joy in her, and that sparkly laughter, but I was drawn hard to her, too. It wasn't only wanting her, it was like she was a lost part of me that I had to have back or I'd never get my breath.
Sometimes I rode all the way east to the Everglades, long silent days under the broad sky in the hard fierce light of the Glades country, lost in the creak of my old worn-out saddle and my horse blowing and hot wind whispering in the pines. For long years afterward I missed the stillness of the Big Cypress, the slow time of those horseback days, the hunting and fishing for the cow camp, the slow cooking fires, the simple sun-warmed tools of iron, wood, and leather, the resin scent of the pine ridges, the stomp of hoof and bawl of cattle, the wild things glimpsed, wild creatures, the echoing silence pierced far and near by the sharp cry of a woodpecker or the dry sizzle of a rattler, and always the soft blowing of my woods pony, a small short-bodied roan.
You had to wonder at the greed that drove rich businessmen to twist the law of the land they claimed to be so proud of, steal from the government by overcharging for their "patriotic" services, and do their best to cheat it of its taxes - not to make a living, either but to heap up money.
I've had enough of people, you know that? Enough of you and especially of me. First time in my whole damn life I ever thought I had enough of anything.
As a boy he was so open to life, so filled with curiosity, but when he came back from north Florida, something had thickened. He seems curious about absolutely nothing. -
Harken back to Matthiessen’s father pointing up the mouth of Lost Man’s River as he uncovered the bones of this saga for his son on their up the gulf coast in the early 20th century. What must that day and those lines have felt to him, for this story to have held captive one of the world’s greatest creative minds for the duration of his life? Matthiessen went on to spin gold of the worthy straw given him, accruing accolades as his resulting work on the trilogy this book spawned was awarded the National Book Award for fiction.
This and his ensuing two works form the three later he edited and rewrote as Shadow Country. So beautifully wrought are these books as to deserve reading, each in turn, culminating with the award winning masterwork. Here Matthiessen creates an intriguing narrative, taunting the reader to follow a man who lived to become mythic. As Watson is painted, so too detailed is a history of Florida as the vast natural bounty she offered and was raped of. Her settlers appear a melange including the original natives, runaway slaves, badlands escapees hiding from lawmen, post-war military men running from memories and MPs, hardworking outliers and their families who braved the wrath of nature.. on down through the wealthy seeking the golden sun who inspired masses of retirees.
Unmatched in scope and beauty this and his associated books take a place of honor atop my shelves where they function as mystery, fact, fiction, psychology, natural history.. the list goes on and on. From the opening the river’s mouth offered, Matthiessen wove current upon current to inform. This fable agreed upon, a product of the treatment of the land and her inhabitants by generations of come-heres whose impact upon themselves at their own hand also features prominently. May observation of these broader patterns spawn future empathy for our planet and fellow occupants.
