A land Remembered

A land remembered by Patrick D. Smith tells us of a story about the MacIvey family who lays roots in Florida and is told of their years in the state through 3 generations. Tobias, the main character, leaves the state of Georgia for Florida in search for a better life for his wife and kids. While his transition to Florida was swift, his living conditions were not. At first Tobias and his family lived off of the things he could only kill. Mosquitoes would come in and destroy a herd of cattle and their cabin caught fire. With the civil war in full affect, it was hard for any food or supplies to even venture down to Florida. It wasn’t until Tobias ran into a man named Keith Tiger, a Seminal Indian, where he actually learned how to make food and money for his family. Keith Tiger should Tobias how to round up, sell, grave, and to fatten cattle for the market and his family. Tobias was the one character that stood out to me because of his bravery and his father figure on how to provide for his family. In the pages of 19 and 20, his bravery stood out to be a man of not discriminating. Not only did he house a runaway slave but he stood up for his Seminole friends. Three men on horses started whipping the Indians, and Tobias stood his ground, shot a dog, and threatens the men. To me this is a sign of a man who is American and is standing up for those who can’t.

After years of cattle herding, Tobias eventually ventures into a new money making business of orange groves. Thought Tobias was a great man, and his work earns him a life-long reputation as a good and decent man, he feels that he failed to meet the needs of his wife and family.  After many years in the state of Florida, Tobias gets attacked by many mosquitos and catches malaria.  Though Tobias is temporarily healed by and Indian medicine man, he soon dies toward the end of his sons section of the book. The malaria catches up with him when he tries to save his orange groves from the freeze, and being too weak to do any action, the cold soon took over. I honestly was not looking forward to reading this book, just based on the fact that I am not a big reader, but after I read it I felt a sense of pride. Now driving through Florida I can feel a sense of pride in our rich history and because of the way Patrick D. Smith wrote his story, he made the imagery so clear to me. From the last field trip we had in downtown Fort Myers, our first tour guide asked us what the word “cracker” meant. Clearly this word cracker could be applied to Tobias. Yes he didn’t come from Ireland or Scotland, but he traveled down to Florida, with little in his pocket and made something for his family. 

Just a picture i found that i feel describes the MacIvery lives in Florida 

http://patricksmithonline.com/RickPowers/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Anewbeginning800x533.jpg


this is the same map from the book. 

http://activerain.com/blogsview/797309/-a-land-remembered-florida-s-early-history-or-where-the-
name-cracker-originates