Death in the Everglades: The Murder of Guy Bradley, America's First Martyr to Environmentalism

By Stuart B. McIver

Book Overview

Death in the Everglades chronicles the demise of one of 20th-century Florida's most enduring folk heroes. The murder of Guy Bradley represents a milestone not only in the saga of the Everglades but also in the broader history of American environmentalism. This fascinating biography of his abbreviated but eventful life is emblematic of the struggle to tame the Florida frontier without destroying it. As Stuart McIver unfolds the story behind this famous but little-known crime, he also provides a window into Florida history during the creation of modern South Florida.

In 1901, at the urging of Audubon Society leaders and the American Ornithologists' Union, the Florida legislature enacted a bird protection law that provided for the hiring of local game wardens, and a year later Guy Bradley assumed the dual role of Monroe County's game warden and deputy sheriff. For the next three years, from 1902 to 1905, Bradley matched wits and sometimes weapons with an array of plume hunters and other nefarious characters, some of whom were strangers but many of whom were friends or acquaintances of the warden or his family. In the end, Bradley was shot and killed by Walter Smith, a man he had known for nearly a decade. How this murder came about, what happened to Smith and others left behind, and how Bradley's demise and subsequent controversies affected the environmental movement are intriguing questions that frame McIver's richly textured narrative.

With the instincts and skills of a master storyteller, McIver--long one of Florida's most historically minded journalists--has recaptured a tale for the ages, a story of personal sacrifice and collective awakening that altered the course of the state's natural and human history. Bradley should not be forgotten, and this book should not be overlooked by anyone seeking a full understanding of how the Everglades became a treasured but imperiled place.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0813034426
• ISBN13: 9780813034423
• Release Date: September 2009
• Publisher: University Press of Florida
• Length: 216 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Great book

The story of Guy Bradley was one I was told by a ranger in the Everglades when I was about 11 or 12. How everything fell into place was something I had always wondered about. This book gives a lot of great history of south Florida. Being one of a rare breed I was born and raised in Central Florida so I find it somewhat of a treat to find books like this. BUY IT, YOU WILL LIKE IT!

AN ENTERTAINING AND WELL-WRITTEN BOOK

I have read Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, An Illustrated History by Mr. McIver and thought that was a great book. But his newest one is even better! It is a fascinating story not only about the struggle between Walter Smith and Guy Bradley, but also about the plume trade and its major players, the Audubon Society's foundations, important people in South Florida's history who had their hands in the plume trade, and just interesting stories about "the way things were" in the late 1800s early 1900s.He interviewed several significant historical people and their descendents, mostly in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when he originally attempted to write this book. 25 years later, he has created a masterpiece. He has obtained an amazing amount of research information, and the reader will be very happy he spent time to read it.