[In trying to sort out the links between tourism and development in Florida in the Nineteenth Century, I hit upon the importance of killing alligators. What follows in a shorted except from my conference paper to be delivered to the Western Historical Association meeting in Lake Tahoe later this week. I am still working on fitting it more directly to development, but I am certain that the connection is there and is on solid footing. Note: the footnotes have been stripped out of this version but may be added later when I have more time to do so.]

The main attraction of Florida for most visitors was the river itself, and its attendant flora and fauna, most spectacular of which were its alligators. The first instinct of tourists and travelers on the St. Johns River seemed to be to shoot any and all wildlife that they saw, especially alligators. When Henry Sanford steamed up the river as a tourist for the first time in 1870 his wife noted that the “river is full of alligators & it was amusing to me to see all of the men sitting on deck with their guns banging away at every wild thing that crossed their path,” though she proudly pointed out that her husband “quite distinguished himself as a shot & to crown his success he brought a large alligator to an untimely end.”

Dengue fever is back in Key West! After an 80 year hiatus dengue fever has returned to the Sunshine State as an oblique reminder of its long history of disease, pestilence and generally uncomfortable living. Come on down and join the fun!