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Life and Death on the Loxahatchee: The Story of Trapper Nelson
"Life and Death on the Loxahatchee" is both the story of a real-life “Tarzan” and the people who grew up with him along Florida’s first wild and scenic river. Vince Nelson was unique, but also a symbol of all those who fished, trapped, ploughed and hammered out hardscrabble lives on the Jupiter-Tequesta riverfront in the days before it became golf courses and mega-mansions.
Who was Trapper Nelson? He was born in 1908, the sickly son of a landless Polish peasant. Over the next sixty years he would wrest from the wilderness eleven hundred acres along Florida’s most breathtaking jungle river. Along his life’s journey Nelson became the Legend of the Loxahatchee, with as many faces as the people who thought they knew him.
Hobo, trapper, hunter, alligator wrestler, gambler, celebrity host, charmer of snakes and women alike, this modern Tarzan’s life ended as mysteriously as he had lived it. On a steamy July day in 1968, a friend found Trapper Nelson dead in his jungle paradise, his torso torn open by a shotgun blast. Many people had a motive. So did Trapper himself. Draw your own conclusions as you read interviews with his family, friends, and those who insist that his spirit still roams the old campsite.
Who was Trapper Nelson? He was born in 1908, the sickly son of a landless Polish peasant. Over the next sixty years he would wrest from the wilderness eleven hundred acres along Florida’s most breathtaking jungle river. Along his life’s journey Nelson became the Legend of the Loxahatchee, with as many faces as the people who thought they knew him.
Hobo, trapper, hunter, alligator wrestler, gambler, celebrity host, charmer of snakes and women alike, this modern Tarzan’s life ended as mysteriously as he had lived it. On a steamy July day in 1968, a friend found Trapper Nelson dead in his jungle paradise, his torso torn open by a shotgun blast. Many people had a motive. So did Trapper himself. Draw your own conclusions as you read interviews with his family, friends, and those who insist that his spirit still roams the old campsite.
180 pages, Paperback
First published November 10, 2006
4 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
James D. Snyder
20 books35 followers James D. Snyder, author of the newly-released The Music Makers, has won numerous awards for historical fiction novels ranging from the genesis of Christianity to the Spanish discovery of Florida to the story of a young woman caught up in high-stakes blockade-running during the Civil War. “The common thread among them,” he says, “is an effort to help the reader grasp the essence of a dramatic historical period through the lives of individuals who lived through it.”
In addition to his novels, author Snyder writes and speaks about the colorful history surrounding his home on the Loxahatchee River in South Florida. Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee is a pictorial history of Jupiter-Tequesta, FL while Black Gold and Silver Sands describes the hard-scrabble beginnings of Palm Beach county. A Trip Down the Loxahatchee shows the river’s beauty through the eyes of 52 painters and photographers. Life and Death on the Loxahatchee tells the story of a larger-than-life “Tarzan” who fascinated locals until his mysterious death. A Light in the Wilderness shows how a lone lighthouse in forlorn Jupiter became the magnet that drew a throng of early settlers.
Jim Snyder has been a writer and editor since graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and The George Washington University graduate school of political science. Beginning in the 1970s he founded what would become the largest independent Washington news bureau for business and medical magazines. In 1984 it became Enterprise Communications Inc., with its own magazines and trade shows.
In 1997, when the company was sold to Thomson-Reuters Corp., Snyder was able to pursue a second career as author-historian. Today he is also active in several organizations to protect the Loxahatchee River and its rich history.
In addition to his novels, author Snyder writes and speaks about the colorful history surrounding his home on the Loxahatchee River in South Florida. Five Thousand Years on the Loxahatchee is a pictorial history of Jupiter-Tequesta, FL while Black Gold and Silver Sands describes the hard-scrabble beginnings of Palm Beach county. A Trip Down the Loxahatchee shows the river’s beauty through the eyes of 52 painters and photographers. Life and Death on the Loxahatchee tells the story of a larger-than-life “Tarzan” who fascinated locals until his mysterious death. A Light in the Wilderness shows how a lone lighthouse in forlorn Jupiter became the magnet that drew a throng of early settlers.
Jim Snyder has been a writer and editor since graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and The George Washington University graduate school of political science. Beginning in the 1970s he founded what would become the largest independent Washington news bureau for business and medical magazines. In 1984 it became Enterprise Communications Inc., with its own magazines and trade shows.
In 1997, when the company was sold to Thomson-Reuters Corp., Snyder was able to pursue a second career as author-historian. Today he is also active in several organizations to protect the Loxahatchee River and its rich history.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 11, 2022
A Light in the Wilderness by James Snyder is a well-researched book on Florida’s appealing history. The author provides the reader with interesting information about the construction of the Jupiter lighthouse in South Florida in 1860. It became a center point for hunters, surveyors, Civil War blockade runners, Union gunboats, and pioneer farmers.
For generations, Florida was completely occupied by wilderness and wildlife until the Jupiter lighthouse attracted families to Florida, and now the coast is home to millions of families. Snyder also provides the history of Florida, from slavery to the building of the railroad, to the Civil War and many more historical moments. Vintage maps, letters, and rare photos are also used to describe the ancient story of how Florida survived the civil war.
Snyder has written a book that is not a big topic, and hard to find a book on the history of Florida being built from the ground up. However, the author has done his research, which shows in his book detailed accounts, maps, and images of historical figures that inhabited Florida. I enjoyed that the author started from the beginning when Southeast Florida was just wilderness and no one occupied the land, allowing the reader to get a complete picture of what Florida was many years ago.
If you are not one that is keen on history, this may be one book that is a little difficult to get through because it is factual, and it is similar to watching a documentary on the History Channel. For example, it was interesting to read that Florida was an integral part of the Navy, capturing over 100 Confederate ships. Interesting facts like this make this book a worthy and appealing read. The Jupiter Lighthouse brought diverse people together and served the local community.
A Light in the Wilderness is an engaging read that will have readers appreciating the history of Florida and how it became a prosperous state today. I highly recommend this book to history buffs and those who want something new to learn.
For generations, Florida was completely occupied by wilderness and wildlife until the Jupiter lighthouse attracted families to Florida, and now the coast is home to millions of families. Snyder also provides the history of Florida, from slavery to the building of the railroad, to the Civil War and many more historical moments. Vintage maps, letters, and rare photos are also used to describe the ancient story of how Florida survived the civil war.
Snyder has written a book that is not a big topic, and hard to find a book on the history of Florida being built from the ground up. However, the author has done his research, which shows in his book detailed accounts, maps, and images of historical figures that inhabited Florida. I enjoyed that the author started from the beginning when Southeast Florida was just wilderness and no one occupied the land, allowing the reader to get a complete picture of what Florida was many years ago.
If you are not one that is keen on history, this may be one book that is a little difficult to get through because it is factual, and it is similar to watching a documentary on the History Channel. For example, it was interesting to read that Florida was an integral part of the Navy, capturing over 100 Confederate ships. Interesting facts like this make this book a worthy and appealing read. The Jupiter Lighthouse brought diverse people together and served the local community.
A Light in the Wilderness is an engaging read that will have readers appreciating the history of Florida and how it became a prosperous state today. I highly recommend this book to history buffs and those who want something new to learn.
February 10, 2013
I am currently a docent (tour guide) at Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum. I picked this up to read because of that, but it got put off due to college-related reading. It got bumped to the top of my reading list because I needed a break from heavier works plus I agreed to give a presentation about the lighthouse's history on short notice (although the presentation ended up not happening after all).
This is the second book I've read by James Snyder (the first was Life and Death on the Loxahatchee: The Story of Trapper Nelson). I breezed through this book as the author is very readable and some of it was pretty interesting, fleshing out details about things I already partly knew. "Light in the Wilderness" covers the origins and construction of the Jupiter Lighthouse, Civil War events in and around the Jupiter Inlet, and local history (predominately about the lighthouse itself) up through what the author considers the end of the 'wilderness': the 1889 opening of the Celestial Railroad between Jupiter and Lake Worth. Unless a sequel is planned to cover lighthouse history from 1890 onward, I feel that information should have been at least summarized in the epilogue.
However, while the book is an easy read, the author's style here was a little odd. Few books I read include so many sentences ending in question marks and surely none include so many one sentence paragraphs (conversations in fiction books excluded). The author may be too accepting of some anecdotal stories as facts. The book also ends with a bizarre epilogue involving spiritualists and psychics which, despite their sincerity, strain credibility.
This is the second book I've read by James Snyder (the first was Life and Death on the Loxahatchee: The Story of Trapper Nelson). I breezed through this book as the author is very readable and some of it was pretty interesting, fleshing out details about things I already partly knew. "Light in the Wilderness" covers the origins and construction of the Jupiter Lighthouse, Civil War events in and around the Jupiter Inlet, and local history (predominately about the lighthouse itself) up through what the author considers the end of the 'wilderness': the 1889 opening of the Celestial Railroad between Jupiter and Lake Worth. Unless a sequel is planned to cover lighthouse history from 1890 onward, I feel that information should have been at least summarized in the epilogue.
However, while the book is an easy read, the author's style here was a little odd. Few books I read include so many sentences ending in question marks and surely none include so many one sentence paragraphs (conversations in fiction books excluded). The author may be too accepting of some anecdotal stories as facts. The book also ends with a bizarre epilogue involving spiritualists and psychics which, despite their sincerity, strain credibility.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews