Bill Eisenlords. age 13, of Tucson AZ

What are the Everglades?

The Everglades are over in the southeast corner of the United States. There a big finger of land separates the Atlantic Ocean from the Gulf of Mexico. It is a peninsula of low‑lying land and the sea has trespassed upon it many times. There are still some 30 000 lakes resting in hollows down to the old sea bed. In some areas the sea still merges with the land to form marshes. The Everglades is one of these marshy areas in.. of course.. the state of Florida.

There was a time when the Everglades were much bigger. Then it was discovered that the marshy land could be drained. A number of canals were cut from the sea to Lake Okeechobee. They drained off the water and left tracts of new land high and dry.

In 1943 it was decided that part of the original Everglades should be preserved in its original state. An area of 2,000 square miles was set aside as a national park. The Everglades National Park is second in size only to Yellowstone National. Park.

The .area is far south in tropical regions. Part of it is swamp land covered only with sturdy sawgrass. Parts are overgrown with dense foliage of great beauty. There is tropical timber and on the fertile islands between the bayous oaks,  palms and pines thrive together. But the most common tree of the Everglades is the beautiful cypress.

The cypress is a relative of the old and stately sequoia. It is an evergreen of fine.. delicate foliage. It grows knee‑deep in the waters of the swamps and the bayous. Often its tall branches are draped in misty Spanish moss  a frothy relative of the pineapple.

Tropical flowers thrive in the warm climate. Thomas Edison spent many of his later years searching for orchids in the tall tropical trees of the Everglades. Some 25 different kinds of orchids thrive in this tropical wonderland. Some plants are hundreds of years old bearing thousands of blossoms. They add their patches of vivid color high in the dense green foliage of the trees.. Certain areas of the park are favorite nesting grounds of the elegant  snowy egret.

In the southwest section giant mangroves grow 60 to 100 feet talk At low tide  oysters may be seen clinging to their roots. And here the giant sea turtles often come ashore. These monsters of the deep return to the land only to lay their eggs.

To the north of the park the Seminole Indians have made their homes. They farm on the rich island’s fish in the streams and hunt for birds and deer in the forested areas. These Indians are glad to act as guides and pole you in their boats through the wonderland of the Everglades. But certain parts of the Everglades are so wild and overgrown that they have never yet been explored.