Focus Magazine of SWFL Cheers To Your Style | Page 118

Founder of the Koreshanity, Cyrus Teed.

The Koreshans created Estero’s first general store and post office along the banks of the Estero River.

The Spaniards enlisted help from Carlos’ own cousin, Phelipe, to
lure the king and several of his commanders to a secluded spot
somewhere (reportedly in Estero) where they were slaughtered
and beheaded. Phelipe is said to have become a puppet of Spain
for a time, but he too was eventually assassinated. The Calusa
remarkably withstood Spanish conquest centuries longer than
any other aboriginals were able. Resistance finally waned after
the 1702 war between Spain and England; a conflict that led
to the arming of other Native American tribes who eventually
ventured into Calusa territory in conjunction with slave raids.
The Calusa were literally out-gunned. Disease had also taken
its toll. Some were believed to flee to Cuba, but here in Florida,
the shell mounds and artifacts are all that remain of this once
great civilization. Today, one of the region’s greatest archeological treasures can be found on what is known as Mound Key.
Located in Estero Bay, researchers believe this small island was
historically known as “Calos,” the very capital city of the Calusa
civilization. Visitors can only access Mound Key by way of canoe,
kayak or other vessel, but that’s easily accomplished by taking a
short journey on the Estero River.
Officially deemed as integral to Florida’s Statewide System of
Greenways and Trails, the Estero river is a six-mile long waterway that gently ebbs in a windingly westward fashion from
Estero toward the estuary waters of Estero Bay and the Gulf of
Mexico. The river’s brackish waters are a great place to go fishing, bird watching or simply escape distractions of the modern
world. While paddling beneath the fertile canopy of vines and
branches encompassing the narrow river, the jumping mullet,
stalking alligators and ever vigilant heron and crane combine
to impart a sense that you’ve just stepped back in time. That
feeling is further driven home upon turning a bend beside the
preserved compound of the 19th Century settlers credited for
founding modern Estero.
These pioneers were devotees of an interesting physician who
also dabbled in alchemy, philosophy and earth sciences before
assuming the more demanding role of messiah. His name was
Cyrus Teed, and he was a distant cousin of the Mormon prophet
Joseph Smith. Teed’s emergence as messiah was apparently or1
18 FOCUS of SWFL 2014