The Wacissa at Goose Pasture

Fall Friday Float

Girl From Immokalee

This song goes out to all the fellas I know with ties to Big Cypress..Oh joy...I may get to float The Ichetucknee this weekend.....or hunt ivory bills in The Aucilla Wildlife Management forest..along the Wacissa....



Girl From Immokalee
by Raiford Starke

Well, its Saturday night and the sun's gone way down
I'm gonna take my chances in this funky little cow town
I saw her late last night down at the gamin palace
Now I'm spendin my roll on my pretty little Alice

She's the girl from Immokalee and the only
way I wanta be
is under a chikeee
with my girl from Immokalee

I seen her ridin' in the rodeo
And down at Miner's Market
I seen her workin' in the orange grove
That's where I'd meet her after dark, yeah

Well, her daddy was from Mexico
He came for the harvest
And her mama is a Seminole
From out of Big Cypress

She's the girl from Immokalee
And the only way I wanna be
Is under a chikee
With my girl from Immokalee

I hear people talkin their schemes

Down at the Million Dollar Log

Well, I'll be dreaamin all a my dreams

With my girl from Immokalee

She's the girl from Immokalee

and the only way I wanta be is under a chikee

She's the girl from Immokalee

and the only way I wanta be is doin the Seminole boogie

With my girl from Immokalee

"mico sucios"

Lake Miccosukee is a prairie lake in north western Jefferson county. The Indians who lived along its' shore lived in hollowed mounds and were covered all over in mud. Ponce De Leon's lieutenant Diaz de la Torre y Gonzaga-Palacios remarked that they looked like dirty monkeys and hence the name.... Some years later, General Jackson kindly burned down their village of three hundred homes. The Second Seminole War was led by Osceola...[In a dungeon down in St. Augustine, Chief Osceola wept]...they spoke the Hitchiti dialect.
This is an egret roost in the southeastern area of this prairie lake.
The lake is thick with , tussocks, swamp lily pads, and moorhen paths....

Toklan....Nakni...Tayki...hakla, hica, impa.....O:ki......Ni:lha:si.....

Twilight on The Wacissa: Storm Season

Like Peggy, I had to get out to see what the river looked like after all our rain. I left much later in the day on Thursday last week, since I am gainfully employed....It was difficult to get to the Wacissa with all the flooded roads and it took me over an hour because the way I normally go was blocked at Bucklake and the bottom of the Alford Arm behind my house, again at Chaires, again at Baum and again at 90. Much of this water was overflow from Black Creek which flooded my friends home's in the Micosukkee Land Coop. I did finally get to 59 which was clear and then I had a straight shot.

The river was very full, as full as I have ever seen it and of course it looked different. Like Peggy, I noticed lots more gators and in fact, I ran over a couple while I was paddling. There was very little floating vegetation and the river flowed freely with no log impediments. It was after seven o'clock in the evening when I got out and it rapidly got dark. The river was very misty and foggy and it was difficult to see. I felt that the river was full of gators because it was deeper and I was careful to watch as I paddled. I too, went into some coves which had heretofore been unpassable because of low water depth. The fog and mist hung over the river like a veil....

My time on the river is measured now, but when it gets cooler and visibility in the trees is better I will take some longer floats.