When I was still a kid, my father purchased an old fisherman’s shack and its accompanying tin-roofed boathouse on 3 acres fronting remote Mullock Creek, a tributary of the Estero Bay in the little West Coast (of Florida) settlement of Estero.  Mullock Creek was a long oxbow, saltwater river which snaked through a seemingly endless maze of mangroves and tidal pools.  My brothers,  my sister  and I used to take our canoe and paddle all day out into the bay.  Usually, our dog Spotty would follow, swimming in the creek for miles.  We always worried that the gators would get him but he was an unusually lucky or fast dog.

The first mystery to catch my attention on this journey was a long, less than one-foot wide wall in the water which blocked the creek access to the bay.  It was made of limestone materials and too unrecognizable to have been created by anyone during the past century.  It looked so natural yet defied any reasonable ecological explanation.  There was one cut-through channel which all boats and usually my canoe would use. Once past the water-wall, the whole beautiful bay opened up.

I was in search of the rumored pyramid-mound which the local fishermen indicated was in the center of the bay.  It contained a hidden lagoon where you could gain entry to the center of the island.  One day, after watching a small boat appear suddenly out of the mangrove shoreline, I found the hidden cove.  In the process, I had discovered “Mound Key”.

Credit RRC, Florida Museum of Natural History

This unusual island had tall eroded mounds that rose up so steep that you could see over the entire Estero Bay and out into the Gulf of Mexico.  The island had semi-arid regions with cactus and century plants.  It had flowering Royal Poinciana trees and curious Gumbo Limbos.  It had thousands of ancient shells, conchs, whelks and clams. Most interestingly, it had canals and what I would later learn to be a symmetrical “water court.”  And then there were the pyramid mounds!!

Decades later, I would find out that Mound Key was actually Calos, the legendary capital of the Calusa people.  Frank Hamilton Cushing, the early twentieth century anthropologist talked of being shown a bar of Spanish gold from the children of religious settlers on the island.  He came across plenty of other ancient artifacts.

As it turns out, King Carlos of the Calusa personally greeted Pedro Menendez de Aviles and Juan Ponce de Leon in 1566 with a gala feast, hundreds of dancing women, regal plumage festooning him and the queen, and torch-lit canals leading the Spanish into the capital.  In order to hear the rest of the story, however, you will have to join us on our Mound Key Expedition.  Though, I will reveal one mystery now.  The wall that I spoke of at the mouth of Mullock Creek was an ancient barrier created by the Calusa, who walked the shallow bay with their nets until the fish were blocked from retreat.  Without the wall, the fish could simply disappear into Mullock Creek and nearby Hendry Creek.  The Calusa were a very clever and advanced people.

The rest of the story is utterly fascinating.  I look forward to hosting some of you there on one of our future tours.

Note:
This 2.5 hour expedition is designed for groups of 20 people, minimum.  A smaller group may be accommodated, but requires a custom proposal. Departure time is dependent on tide.