Not a Pleasure Excursion

American Alligator laying on a cypress log on the west end of Billy`s Lake in the Okefenokee Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Georgia, USA. October 22, 2020. ©www.williamwisephoto.com. Please don’t steal my images. Download and use legally at Dreamstime.com

EXCERPT FROM THE 1875 OKEFENOKEE EXPLORATION BY THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION

“We are receiving applications daily by letter and in person, to join our expedition in the Okefenokee swamp. We desire to state again, that as it is not a pleasure excursion, we must necessarily restrict our party to those who will assist in accomplishing the objects of the expedition. Persons desiring to penetrate the mysteries of this terra incognita must make up their minds to abandon every comfort and prepare themselves to meet the utmost exposure and fatigue while in the swamp. Clothing and shoe leather are treated very unceremoniously by the water and briars and one should consider himself fortunate to come out with enough cloth upon his person to hide his nakedness.”  – The Atlanta Constitution, October 22, 1875.


​In 1875, The Atlanta Constitution published the dramatic headline: “We now announce to our readers, and the people of Georgia, that we are fitting up an expedition for a complete and thorough exploration of Okefinokee. The full details of the plan and expedition will be published soon – if they come out alive.” Over the next months, the paper released many exciting stories from the Okefenokee Swamp.

iNaturalist observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63689911

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