IMMOKALEE PIONEER MUSEUM AT ROBERTS RANCH

The Immokalee Pioneer Museum at Roberts Ranch is one of five free Collier County Museums. Originally home to cattleman Robert Roberts and his family, this 13-acre historic site and museum provides visitors with a rare opportunity to experience daily working life on a Southwest Florida pioneer homestead and citrus grove from the early 1900s. Exhibits, programs, and fifteen carefully preserved original buildings and features tell the story of the cow hunters, ranchers and pioneer-spirited families who struggled to tame this vast wilderness prairie on the edge of the Big Cypress Swamp. The Museum offers individual self-guided tours and group educational programs for children and adults.

Tuesday – Saturday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm1215 Roberts Avenue West, Immokalee, FL 34142

239-252-2611 • CollierMuseums.com

GOLD SPONSORSTHANK YOU!

SILVER SPONSORS

Cattle Drive & Jamboree

Event Guide

March 9 l 7:30 am – 4:00 pm

EVENT SUPPORTERS

Official colors: Pantone Green #355 Pantone Brown #477

BRONZE SPONSORS

ROBERTS RANCH

CATTLE DRIVE START

COWSCOMEHOME

Safe Viewing Areas No Standing Zone

For your safety, please remain on curbed sidewalks and away from the edges of roadways. **Please do not stand in medians**

CATTLE DRIVE ROUTE MAP

Shuttle service is provided from Roberts Ranch to Main Street or you are welcome to walk to the parade route. Visitors may view the cattle drive from inside the Roberts Ranch perimeter fence. Shuttle drop off and pick up locations are marked. Shuttle service will begin from Roberts Ranch at 8:00am to the parade route. Return shuttles will resume at 10:30am, after the cattle drive.

Shuttle Bus Stop

Honoring Immokalee’s Past, Present, & Future

THE BROWN FAMILYIn 1786, a young William Henry “Bill” Goodhind boarded a ship for a new life. After travelling from England to Havana to Key West, he jumped ship and made his way up the Caloosahatchee, and then to Gopher Ridge – what the Immokalee area was traditionally called. Changing his

name to Brown, and marrying Jane Jernigan, he started a family and set up the first trading post on the edge of Big Cypress Swamp. The Seminole would exchange pelts, hides, and plumes and other products of the Everglades with the dry goods brought in by ox cart from Fort Myers. Brown’s Boat Landing would serve as a commercial hub in the vast wetland and served to cement relationships with the family and the Seminole, whose trust Bill had earned. Some of those relationships continue to this day.

The Brown family moved into Immokalee in 1908 and were one of the few other pioneer families in the area when Robert Roberts and his wife Sarah brought their small cattle herd and seven of their nine kids by ox cart to the area (the other two were born on site). At the request of the descendants of Robert Roberts after last year’s cattle drive, the descendants of William Henry “Bill” Brown have travelled back to Immokalee from England, New Mexico, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, and across Florida to ride in this year’s drive.

ROBERTS AVENUE WEST

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1 4H Pancake Breakfast ($5 • 7:30 am - 9:00 am)2 Shuttle to Cattle Drive Route3 Kids’ Korral4 Second Stage & Historical Reenactors • Blacksmith • Branding • Loom Weaver • Soap Making • Honey Bees • Swamp Cabbage • Cracker Cast Net Making • Traditional Craft Vendors

5 Bleachers6 Alligator Pen7 Main Stage8 Dance Floor9 Seating Tent10 Beer Tent11 Food Vendors12 Exhibitors13 Cow Pasture14 Horses

Shuttle Bus Stop

Restrooms

EVENT MAPMain Entrance

11:00 am Welcome & Introduction of Honored Guests

11:15 am Country Rhythm Cloggers

11:45 am Alligator Wrestling by Billy Walker

12:15 pm Dusty Rose Duo

1:00 pm Dancing Horses of Rancho la Familia Soto

1:30 pm Mariachi Pancho Villa

2:30 pm Alligator Wrestling by Billy Walker

3:00 pm Lester Beleau

MAIN STAGE SCHEDULEEVENT SCHEDULE SECOND STAGE SCHEDULE7:00 am Parking Opens at Roberts Ranch

7:30 AM - 4-H Pancake Breakfast ($5/person) 9:30 AM

8:00 am Shuttle to Cattle Drive Route Begins

9:00 AM Roberts Ranch Opens to Visitors

9:15 AM - Road Closures on SR29/Main Street 10:30 AM

9:30 AM - Cattle Drive on Main Street to Roberts Ranch 10:30 AM (begins off-site)

11:00 AM - Welcome, Introductions, Entertainment 4:00 PM

12:15 Pm Roping & Whip Cracking Demonstration Cowboy Poetry by Clint Raulerson

1:30 pm Barnyard Banter with the Immokalee Branch Library

1:50 pm Swamp Cabbage Demonstration with Clayton Walker

3:00 pm Seminole Storytelling by Jay Osceola

FLORIDA CATTLE INDUSTRY HISTORIC TIMELINE

1521 Juan Ponce de León abandons Spanish cattle on Florida’s west coast after his settlement attempt fails

1565 Organized ranching begins in support of St. Augustine and Spanish missions across northern Florida

1600 20,000 head of wild cattle (descendants of abandoned Spanish cattle) roam Florida

1700s Seminoles are the major cattle producers in Florida

1800-1850 American pioneers establish free-range cattle ranches; cow-hunters (known as Florida Crackers) manage cattle

1860s As the Civil War progresses, beef supplies in most Southern States dry up. Florida becomes the only beef supply available to the Confederates. Union forces on the Florida coast continually battle Confederates for cattle herds.

1897 Early settlers rename the growing community Immokalee, a Seminole word meaning “my home.”

1914 Roberts family moves to Immokalee from Ona, Florida in three ox-carts.

1949 Florida Fence Law signed into law ending free-range ranching and cow-hunting

1952 Red Cattle Company growth peaks at 107,000 acres

1980 Red Cattle Company dissolves

1994 Roberts Family Trust donates the family farmstead to Collier County Museums

With performances throughout the day by Immokalee’s own Mariachi Dancers and the Boys & Girls Club Dance Troupe.

REMEMBERING CELEBRATION WITH DOVE RELEASEJoin us at sunrise at the Roberts Ranch visitor center as we share stories and photos to honor of those who have lived and touched the lives of others in the Immokalee community. The

celebration will be concluded with a dove release!

Presented by

Come out Friday and Saturday night!JOHN JIMMIE MEMORIAL RANCH RODEO

Gates open Friday at 6:00 PM, Saturday at 5:00 PM

John Jimmie Memorial Arena1195 Seminole Crossing Trail, Immokalee

Separate ticket required.

SUNDAY MARCH 10