Okeechobee, Florida


	The Battle of Okeechobee was the bloodiest battle of the Second Seminole War which was the result of Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act forbidding native Americans east of the Mississippi River. It took place December 25, 1837 when troops under the command of Col Zachary Taylor attacked a band of Seminole Indians north of Lake Okeechobee.


			In 1896, Peter Raulerson created a homestead and cattle range along the bend of Taylor Creek. The creek became an important economic site, allowing fisherman and others to unload their goods. The town later became known as one of the wildest settlements east of the Mississippi.


	Tantie Huckabee, a school teacher, built a frame school house for the children and started the settlement’s first post office. The one-room schoolhouse was built in 1907 and used as a school until 1916. “Tantie” became the name of both the post office and the community. In 1912 the name "Tantie" was changed to Okeechobee, derived from the Seminole words meaning Big Water.



	However, little else was changed until the railroad started coming in 1915. Since the early 1900's, the area around Lake Okeechobee has been Florida’s seat of agriculture. Today, farming, cattle, dairy and fishing are integral parts of the local economy.