How fast were the Calusas on the water?

A possible roadblock to my research, and "Braveheart"?

My plot for Calusa Gold is based on a group of Calusas traveling by water across the Gulf of Mexico to the Aztec nation near present-day Veracruz, Mexico. While researching this topic, I wanted to answer several questions: to find out how fast they could have traveled, whether they might have used sails or just paddles/oars, and how large their vessels might have been.

The first question wasn’t too hard. I read that Glades Indians, which included the Calusa, could travel between Key West and Havana in dugout canoes in about 24 hours. This distance is 90 miles. This is about 3.75 miles per hour. (I know boat speed is usually calculated in knots, but please bear with me.)

The distance from the Calusa capital of Mound Key in Estero Bay, Florida to Veracruz, Mexico is 1343 miles. Using the speed of 3.75, I determined the Calusas could have traveled to Veracruz in about 14 days. None of this is scientific, I know, but at least it’s somewhat logical. Plus, my book is fiction, so I can live with 14 days.

The second questions wasn’t too hard either. I have found no evidence of the Calusas using sails. I was optimistic about this, as I hoped this might make my Veracruz trip more plausible. I think I remember seeing something that mentioned them using sails, but I have looked back and can’t find it, so I will not include that in my book.

Finally, I have done some looking at what the Calusa canoes were like. According to the First Florida Frontiers website, the Calusa canoes were about 15 feet long. Several other sites mentioned them making their canoes out of cypress or pine logs.

This painting, from the First Florida Frontiers website shows Calusas on one of their dugout canoes.

So all this was interesting, but I have since learned that my plot idea is not really plausible after all. I contacted Dr. William Marquardt, former curator of South Florida Archaeology and Ethnography and Director emeritus of the Randell Research Center in Pineland, Florida, and author of several important books including The Calusa and Their Legacy: South Florida People and Their Environments. I asked him some questions about my research, and was honored when he kindly replied with some thorough answers. Dr, Marquardt did say the Calusas generally stayed close to shore and never ventured anywhere as far as the distance to Veracruz.

This left me with a big decision. In order to stay completely historically accurate, I could ditch my plot idea and think about a different way for the Calusas to get to Mexico. But having them travel by land just doesn’t make sense to me, and isn’t any more accurate than going by water.

Then I thought about “Braveheart.” It has been my favorite movie for a long time. I love the story and the action and the history behind it. I have heard many people complain that it’s not accurate. Some seem to enjoy pointing out flaws in the film and all the things that “never really happened.” Well, I don’t care about all that. William Wallace, played by Mel Gibson in the film, was a real person, and he did fight for Scottish independence. He’s also still a significant figure in Scottish history.

To give you some proof of his importance, here is a picture I took a few years ago at the entrance to Edinburgh Castle:

Wallace’s statue is the one on the right.

So how does the story of Wallace apply to Calusa Gold? Well, I am going to stick with my original idea and have my Calusas paddle across the Gulf of Mexico. Most of the details in my book are accurate, and there are some real similarities in the Calusa and Aztec cultures and in what happened to both as a result of their contact with the Spanish Conquistadors. I still think there is a good story here, so I am going to keep writing. I’m at 43,080 words and think it will be about 100,000 when it’s finished.

Please let me know what you think. Do you think I’m making a mistake is sending my Calusas across the water?

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