This park along the Loxahatchee River is named after an Englishman in one of the most interesting accounts that happened in this area.

Jonathan Dickinson's party shipwrecked on the shores near Hobe Sound on September 23, 1696. He was a Quaker from Philadelphia who had a trading business in the Caribbean. As soon as his party was ashore with everyone surviving the wreck, they were attacked and captured by local Indians who carted off all the ship's salvaged goods for their own use. Mainly trade goods like corn, tobacco, cloth, ect. The Indians stripped all the clothing off the terrified party, even the clothes off Dickinson's wife and infant child. Dickinson's party was taken back to the local village as prisoners.

During this time England and Spain had stopped fighting each other and made peace, but nobody informed the Indians of the situation. Any English ship wrecked on these shores meant certain death for the crew from the local natives. But since the Indians were not really fluent in Spanish or English, the captives were able to confuse them enough so they weren't sure what the crew's nationality was. The prisoners were traded from village to village up the coast, to whichever was the more powerful chief, or Casseekey, capturing the ship's loot that the previous village had.

The Indians that Dickinson described were Ais and Jeaga Indians. Their main diet is whatever they could hunt, fish, or harvest off local plants. They are not seen cultivating crops. Dickinson also described the council ceremonies with the black drink used, and war ceremonies where spells are cast upon the enemy.

Dickinson's journal is a tale of hardship. The crew undergoes roasting heat from the sun or freezing temperatures with frost on the ground. Many of the crew die of starvation and exposure to the temperature extremes. Their lives are constantly threatened by the Indians. Finally, the crew was found by the Spaniards after travelling a great distance up the Florida coast.

If ever you think that you have it bad, read "Jonathan Dickinson's Journal," or "God's Protecting Providence." This book was a classic in early American literature, and praised as showing how God can protect even under the worst situations. I recommend it because it is very exciting reading. During the 20th century the book was edited and republished by Professor and Mrs. Charles Andrews of Stuart, Florida. One of their discoveries while working on the modern edition is that the Indian mound that their house was built upon is the very site of the village where Dickinson's party stayed.

While visiting Jonathan Dickinson State Park, take the boat tour up the Loxahatchee River to the camp of Trapper Nelson; the home of a former resident who can only be described as a 20th century mountainman. He died a mysterious death in 1968, but the legend lives on.

Mount Elizabeth, Indian Riverside Park, Jesen Beach:

I haven't been to this one yet, so if anyone has a report, please let me know.
A large midden dating 2000-3000 years ago.

The Elliott Museum:

This museum in Stuart does have an interesting display of Seminole clothing from around the 1890'. Next to the gift shop is a display of a Seminole camp from that time period. What is nice about the man and woman mannequin wearing traditional Seminole clothing is that you can move around the display to easily observe the wonderful construction. The Seminole clothing was collected by Sterling Elliott, the former owner of the estate, whose extensive collections of toys, shoes, Victorian clothes, or antique cars makes up the museum collection.

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© 1998, 2002, 2007 Chris Kimball
Note: None of this material can be reproduced without written permission from the author.