Indians, Pirates and Vacationers, OH MY!

This wonderful place we call paradise has been here for centuries.

Sure it looked different than it does now, but it was home to a few other folk before it was “settled” in the 1800’s. Who were these early inhabitants? The Calusa Indians (Calusa means “fierce people”) were the first documented inhabitants of our island and their influence can be found all over Southwest Florida, including the Mound Key Historic Site near Fort Myers Beach and the community of Pineland on Pine Island.

The Calusa that survived diseases such as yellow fever and measles carried by the European settlers eventually left the area for Cuba and other points south, and the tribe ceased to exist by the late 1700’s. Legend says that Sanibel and its surrounding islands then became a haven for pirates, most notably Jose Gaspar. Who knows what pirate bounty is buried beneath our shell-strewn beaches?

So when was the island “officially” settled? Technically speaking, not until the 1870’s but, as early as 1833, pioneer settlers were on Sanibel and petitioned the U.S. Government to build a lighthouse at Point Ybel, known today as Old Town on the east end of the island. This wouldn’t materialize until after the Civil War; and the decades in between saw the Seminole Indians making their home on and around the island; keeping fisherman and would-be settlers from putting down roots. In 1870 Sanibel Island was deemed a lighthouse reservation by the federal government, and in 1884 the Sanibel Lighthouse began to light the way for ships sailing the Gulf of Mexico. It has remained in continuous operation since then and still provides direction for maritime travelers around the island.

Stay tuned for Part 2 - “Sanibel’s Agricultural Past and the Arrival of the Seasonal Vacationer”.