Artifact+Bag

=**Artifacts from Florida Forts**=

**St. Augustine Artifacts**
====**Coquina Rock**: Coquina is know as "the stone that saved St. Augistine." It was used most famously to build the wall of Castillo de San Marcos. The stone has been mined in Florida for over 400 years.It has the ability to absorb cannonballs fire which makes it the perfect material to build forts. ====

[[image:http://www.easttennesseewildflowers.com/images/Coquina.JPG width="956" height="352"]]
==== **Cattail:** Cattail are a very hardy plants that can grow anywhere that has slow moving water. They are especially prominent in marshes and other swampy areas. Early settlers found cattails to be a very bounteous plant with many uses, such as a raw food source and a raw material. It contains a root and a rhizome, which stores all of its food over the summer to prepare it for the following springs growth. The bulbs, which exist as a food source all winter, can be peeled, boiled, or dried and ground into flour. One acre of cattail can produce up to 32 tons of flour. In the fall, the plant releases a seedpod, which is very soft, down-like material, that can be used to stuff pillows and mattresses. ====

[[image:http://www.cattails.info/images/cattails_8yyb.jpg width="935" height="341"]]
==== **American Beauty Berry:** This plant is a member of the Lamiacae family. It's scientific name is Callicarpa Americana. Callicarpa is made up of two Greek words- kallos, meaning “beautiful” and kapros, meaning “fruit”. This plant is native to the southeastern states. It is known for more than just its beauty, for more than it's wildlife importance, but for its folklore uses. It is used as a mosquito repellent, for snake sickness, and for itchy skin. The berries are also edible and taste similar to a blackberry. Many early settlers used them to make beauty berry wine and jam. ====

==== **Spanish Moss:** Spanish moss, which is also referred to as Florida moss, long moss, or graybeard. It is not considered a true moss. It is actually a epiphytic plant that grows on another plant, without the need of nutrients from the host plant, because they make their own food. Many people refer to these plants as air plants. This is because they do not have traditional roots, they have aerial roots. It attaches itself to it's host plant by the use of its long, scaly stems. The scales are what catches moisture and nutrients from the air to feed the plant. The water-trapping ability of the plant allows it to survive long periods without moisture or rain. In extreme drought situations, the plant becomes dormant until moisture returns. The settlers of St. Augustine, also used Spanish moss to stuff pillows and mattresses. This material was said to be cooler and comfortable due to the natural insulating properties of the plant. The moss, also could be hung from fences, or wires to provide privacy. ====

==== **Oranges:** The orange culture was developed by the Spaniards of St. Augustine. The trees were considered the ornament of wealth. Almost every home was surrounded by orange trees, nearly shutting out all of the sunlight into the home. The air was aromatic due to the leaves and the fruit, but during the spring bloom, the blossoms were soo over powering that even ships at sea could smell them. When the ships at sea could smell the blossoms, they knew they were near the fort of St. Augustine. The early settlers sold the oranges for $1 - $3 per 100. Due to many reoccurring incidents of freezing weather, St. Augustine is no longer blessed with the orange trees, the ornament of wealth. ====

. [[image:http://www.treehugger.com/orange-grove-photo width="945" height="347"]]
==== **Maize (corn):** Maize is the Indian word for corn. Early settlers used all parts of the maize for various things, other than just eating. The husk was used to wrap cigarettes, as a dish, pot scourer, and to remove stains from clothing. The stigmas from the maize were used as a diuretic. The cob was used for fuel for fires and toilet paper. The leaves, stalks, and roots served as fertilizer. The kernels of corn were said to be used to predict the course of an illness, by dropping them into a bowl of atole, and waiting to see how many kernels sank and how many floated. ====

[[image:http://soilcrop.tamu.edu/photogallery/cornsorghum+/images/corn%20ears.jpg width="939" height="335"]]
**Cord grass (marsh grass):** This is a picture of cord grass taken at the site of Fort Mose. The fort was built in 1738 on marsh land next to the Tolomoto River which provided a perfect ecosytem for marsh grass. This grass was used to continue an ancient art of basket weaving by native Africans who fled slavery from the British Carolinas. The African citzens of Fort Mose made these baskets to store food, catch fish, and to hold household items. Later around 1760, the freed slaves of Fort Mose used this grass to make fanners to process the rice they cultivated before migrating to Cuba where they still practices this ancient art of grass weaving. Today you will find this grass decorating golf courses and school yards, although one would have to search high and low to find an African artisan who still weaves baskets and fanners.  **Palm fronds:** This is a picture of a palm frond chosa at Fort Mose. Around the year 1738, palm fronds where use to build chosas. The walls and roof of these huts would have been built out of woven palm fronds according to Dr. Kathleen Deagan an archeologist from the Florida Museum of Natural History who discovered remains of such structures. The exact details used to make these huts do not exist today alrhough Deagan believes the villagers used Spainish, Indian, and African influences in their design of the huts because of the weave techniques. In addition palm fronds where sharpened and used to make fish gigs. Today palm fronds are seen as yard debris and no longer used in modern day construction.

Fort Mose Artillery Inventory of 1759

 * Iron Cannons, 3 pounders, mounted on carriages – fair condition 2 ||


 * Iron Stonethrowers of half a pound – good condition 4 ||


 * Equipment sets for the cannons – fair condition 2 ||


 * Equipment sets for the stonethrowers – fair condition 4 ||


 * Cannon balls for the cannons 14 ||


 * Stones for the stonethrowers 28 ||


 * Pounds of gunpowder – good condition 40 ||


 * Pounds of matchcord for firing ordinance – good condition 12 ||


 * Cloth cartridges for charges of gunpowder – fair condition 14 ||


 * Cloth cartridges for grapeshot – fair condition 14 ||


 * Cloth cartridges for powder for the stonethrowers 28 ||


 * Cloth cartridges for grapeshot for the muskets 28 ||


 * Gunpowder horn with firing pins – good condition 2 ||


 * Large chests or bins for storing munitions 2 ||


 * Muskets – fair condition 24 ||




 * Report by Captain of Artillery, Don Manuel de Barros, 4/20/1759 ||


 * Source: AGI, Santo Domingo 2604 ||


 * Fort Christmas Cannon:** This is a picture of a cannon from the present-day Fort Christmas which is a replication of the actual fort. The replication was built as an exact replica of the original fort.


 * Fort Christmas Outside:** This is a picture of the outside of the present-day fort which is a replication of the original fort which was burnt to the ground. Both the original and the replication of Fort Christmas were made of Cypress and Cedar wood.