Chokoloskee is on the north end of Ten Thousand Islands in the Everglades. The Census has the population at 391. Chokoloskeet is joined to Everglades City by a man-made causeway.

There are dozens of air boats in Everglades City and Chokoloskee. They take tourists for noisy rides down mangrove tunnels and grass flats.

The business model here has changed from commercial fishing to rum smuggling to marijuana importation to tourism over the last 100 years. Our Captain, tells us that he is the 5th generation born here.

In the 1980s, these remote population centers became notorious as drug smuggling hubs. The captain admits that the towns have lots of "felons" who received a "higher education" at the federal penitentiary because of the war on drugs. He mentions the term “square groupers”, meaning floating bales of marijuana.

In 1983, more than 300 were arrested in Everglades City and nearby Chokoloskee. That's probably close to the entire male population. It was also a center for rum smuggling during the prohibition era. "There are two expression that no one uses in this town anymore," the Miami News quoted an unidentified resident as saying. "One is that this town is going to pot. The second is that we are waiting for our ship to come in."

Read Bob's Blog here

See the video at this Youtube address, or view below in Pliny.

Phred Firecloud

25.05.20 Front Page

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