Downtown Fort Myers Field Trip

On Thursday june 27th our class visited Downtown Fort Myers to learn about the people and the environment of Fort Myers. The main thing that stood out to me during the field trip was this collage.

This image alone explains for the most part how fort myers was found and how it came to be the fort myers we see today. On the far left you can see a group of seminole indians and the boats they were sipped out of fort myers on. Then to the right of them you can see the infamous indian chief Billy Bowlegs. Behind Billy you can see the "Fort Myers" and the union troops in front of him. To the right of them is the railroad and train that really boosted the industry here in fort myers. Then the long bridge that was built across the river for people to cross and the cattle to symbolize how big of a cattle town Fort Myers was.

Another thing that really caught my attention during the field trip was the monument of an eagle flying that was built outside of the courthouse. This eagle was carved out of a huge tree that once stood there but had died from being stuck by lightning too many times. When the city was going to remove the dead tree a local artist offered his time for free to make this carving in order to please the city.

Also it was amazing to know that many influential people that carved the way of the world and how we live today had lived in Fort Myers. People such as Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone who are all actually in a huge statue in the middle of a fountain in downtown Fort Myers.