Ponce de Leon, who discovered these islands in
1513 caught over 100 sea turtles here and subsequently referred to this small group of
islands as the "Las Tortugas" (The Turtles). To warn mariners
that there was no fresh water available, charts soon read "Dry Tortugas". During
the 1600's and 1700's the area around these islands were used by pirates as a base for
attacking merchant shipping in the Gulf.
After the War of 1812 a group of
forts, from Maine to Texas was envisioned to provide defense for the lifeline of commerce
to and from the Mississippi river and the southern coastline of the United States of
America. In 1819 the Dry Tortugas became U.S. territory when the King of
Spain sold Florida to the United States for five million dollars.
The Tortugas are a
pivotal turning point for ships bound from the Atlantic to the Gulf of Mexico, and many
ran aground on the surrounding reefs. Funds were appropriated by Congress in 1822
and by 1825, a 65-foot tall white lighthouse was built on Bush Key (now called Garden Key
and the site of Fort Jefferson) to provide warning to sailors about the dangers of reefs
and shoals surrounding the Dry Tortugas. The light was produced from 23 lamps in
14-inch reflectors.
Garden Key is located in the center of the
circular group of islands. Being miles from the edge of the reef, the low tower soon
generated complaints from mariners, as ships continued to run aground,
providing a good livelihood for south Florida wreckers (salvagers). Making
matters worse, the first keeper (retired Major John Flaherty) failed to do his job
properly and the windows of the cupola and the lantern glasses were often black with soot.
In his defense, Flaherty's wife Rebecca wrote a letter to the President's wife complaining
about their provisions, lack of social life, travel opportunities and mosquitoes. The
condition of the lighthouse improved when Flaherty was transferred to Sand Key Light in
1826.
In 1844, while witnessing
increased tensions between Spain and England, President John Tyler signed an order to
begin building Fort Jefferson. The fort would allow the Navy to control the shipping
between the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, and the eastern United States.
In 1845 the islands became a military reservation
and construction of a massive brick fort began in 1846. Note the two
different colors of brick. The lighter colored bricks on the lower part of the fort were
supplied by a Southern brick company. During the Civil War, the fort was a Northern post,
and the darker colored brick completing the top of the fort was supplied by a Yankee
company from New York.
The fort's ambitious design called
for 450 guns in three tiers, making it the most heavily armed fort of the time. Designed
to house 1500 men, the fort has eight-foot thick walls and stands forty-five feet high.
There are six sides, four of equal length and two shorter sides that conform to the
island's irregular shape. Construction of the moat was also an engineering
challenge. In 1850 the officer's quarters were completed, and the fort was
officially named Ft. Jefferson, after our country's 3rd President - Thomas Jefferson.
Fort Jefferson occupied
the entire island, surrounding the lighthouse. Inside, is a 17-acre
quad with plenty of room for gardens and exercise areas. Though construction on the fort
itself was begun in 1846 and continued for 30 years thereafter, it was never really
finished. The walls reached their final height of 45 feet in
1862. The challenges of an inadequate foundation base to support its
weight, the effects of salt air on iron gun bay doors and reinforcement rods, malaria and
repeated yellow fever epidemics, and advances in weaponry combined to frustrate its
completion.
The invention of the rifled cannon during
the Civil War rendered the walls of the fort vulnerable to destruction and made the fort
itself somewhat obsolete. Nonetheless, the six interconnected
bastions and moated walls are all in place, nearly complete and fully open to inspection,
along with many of the original cannons, mortars, and other implements of 19th century
war.
By 1852, it was determined that another taller
lighthouse was needed, this one to be built on Loggerhead Key. The old tower on Garden Key
was reduced to a harbor light and renamed "Tortugas Harbor Light", with a 4th
order lens. An 1873 hurricane severely damaged the lighthouse, causing a new tower to be
built of boiler plate iron on top of the walls of the fort. A fire in the keeper's
outhouse destroyed many of the buildings of the fort in 1912. The keepers dwelling and the
three story barracks were destroyed. After the fire, the lighthouse was automated until,
in 1921, it was finally discontinued.
Though never directly involved in
hostilities, during and after the Civil War the fort began to be used as a federal
prison for deserters and other criminals. Its most famous inmate was
Dr. Samuel Mudd the
Maryland physician who was sentenced to life in prison for
complicity in the murder of President Abraham Lincoln because of his role in setting the
broken leg of Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.
In 1874 the army completely abandoned the fort
after several hurricanes and a yellow fever epidemic. Two years after Dr.
Mudd's tireless efforts to fight the yellow fever epidemic that overwhelmed the fort's
garrison in 1867, he was pardoned. While touring the fort stop by and see the cell Sam
("your name is mudd") occupied.
It wasn't until 1898 that the military returned,
in the form of the navy, which used the facilities as a coaling station
during the Spanish-American War, remembered only by its fueling of the USS
Maine on its fatal voyage to Cuba in 1898. The fort was also used from 1888 through
1900 as a quarantine station, and was garrisoned again briefly during World War I.
In 1908 the area was designated as a
bird reserve and transferred to the Department of Agriculture. On January 4, 1935 it was
designated as Fort Jefferson National Monument by President Franklin Roosevelt, the first
marine area to be so protected. On October 26, 1992 the monument was upgraded to National
Park status in a bill signed by President George Bush.
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