Kissimmee Basin: The Northern Everglades
Seminole Tribe of Florida Cattle Ranching Operations and Rodeo
By Rick Smith
July 7, 8 and 9:
Thursday July 7: Drove from home in Port Salerno, FL to Okeechobee to meet Elam and his daughter Laura at the Hampton Inn (great hosts!) to get ready for an early morning shoot with the Seminole Tribe at Brighton, FL. Elam and I had a very fine wide ranging discussion about the project and related issues.
Seminole Tribe Cowboys
Seminole Tribe Cowboys
Friday, July 8: Met Elam and Laura in the lobby at 4:55 a.m., grabbed coffee and headed out to Brighton. Met up with Alex Johns, Deputy Director, Seminole Tribe Natural Resources Dept., and a principal cattle rancher for the tribe. Alex and six Seminole ranchers, including 12-year old daughter of one of the cowboys, were going to work 300 head of young heifers with dogs (and horses) to get them used to being herded, and invited us along. But first stop was at “Alice’s Restaurant” for a quick breakfast. It was lightly drizzling as we headed out to the Seminole Tribe’s wide open spaces near Brighton, but we were worried about hard rain and our ability to film in the rain. Umbrellas and plastic garbage bags anyone? As we came through the gate into the ranch, the rain increased. Alex and friends offloaded their horses in the beautiful gray light of that special time “just-before-dawn” but shadowed by clouds. We got outstanding film, however, as they headed out to begin the roundup. We set up the camera and waited. The rain stopped and as the sun rose we had a friendly visitor – a meadowlark – who welcomed us to the neighborhood by singing an upbeat melodic song. We bet each other which opening along a half-mile stretch they’d be driving the herd through. After about 45 minutes, it turned out to be the one on the left. Before that, from a mile away, we could just hear the whistles, whip cracks, dog barks and voices of the ranchers, the dogs; and the mooing of the herd. The rain stopped, the light was perfect and as the riders and dogs worked the herd, we were absolutely impressed by the scene and got all down on film. They drove the herd closer and when they reached a distance of some 50 yards from the camera, Alex Johns and the ranchers had the herd circle for what seemed like an hour but in reality was about 10 minutes. The teamwork of the riders, horses and dogs was fantastic, and every time a heifer would break out it was mere seconds before it was back in the herd. We moved back to the trucks and trailers and got good shots of the “load-up”. We were very thankful to have this excellent opportunity to get up close to a very professional cattle operation, we thanked Alex and the others, and said we hoped to see them at the Seminole Brighton Rodeo on Saturday. Friday afternoon Elam and I picked up some outstanding background shots along one of the Kissimmee River oxbows in a large live oak hammock.
Seminole Tribe Cowboys - Alex JohnsSeminole Tribe Cowboys - Alex Johns
Seminole Tribe Cowboys
Saturday, July 9:
Arrived at the Seminole Brighton Rodeo Arena at about 3:30 and caught the last part of the youth rodeo. What great riders! The young folks were having great fun at barrel racing, steer roping, etc. Seminole Tribe Historian Willie Johns greeted us and helped us get situated. It was about 93 degrees outside but the four huge fans under the arena roof made a great difference in temperature and it was about 10-15 degrees cooler inside the arena. Took a break until 6:00 when the Eastern Native American Rodeo Association rodeo began for the adults. Met guest artist Brad Cooley, his wife Linda, and son Brad Jr. Brad Cooley is a well known sculptor and his bronze sculptures of Seminole Tribe heroes was on display. Bronc ridin’ was the first rodeo event and that made for exciting film. Throughout the rest of the evening, Elam and Laura continued to shoot film and stills from vantage points throughout the arena. Great shots of 5- year old Trebor Johns on his daddy’s horse in the staging area. The steer wrestling, calf and steer roping, and barrel racing events were well covered. The bull riding event came last and provided crowd pleasing fast-paced action. It was a great day at the Brighton rodeo.
Seminole Tribe Rodeo
Seminole Tribe RodeoSeminole Tribe RodeoSeminole Tribe RodeoSeminole Tribe Rodeo
