Legend of the Bocilla Seaport
Not so long ago in a time when the new world was the Americas and Europe was old and set in their ways, a young man by the name of Jonathan BoCosta fell in love with the family maid, Francesca Rosabella.
His family was against their union and wouldn’t let Jonathan marry the beautiful young girl. She was known to be quite a talented artist, but after all, she was a commoner and Jonathan was to be the next King of their small country.
Jonathan BoCosta was so in love with Francesca that he decided to leave his family, be cut off from the only life he knew and look for his fortune in order to marry the love of his life.
He left home in 1838 for the life of piracy where he earned the position of Captain, and promised he would come back for Francesca. He was willing to do anything for his marriage and the life of piracy demanded much from him.
With stolen funds from his family, Captain BoCosta had a reputation of playing it safe, but deep down he was quite a risk taker. Once on his way to Cuba from St. Lucia with a load of illegal tobacco, Captain BoCosta was forced to sail around a hurricane and ended up stopping short of his Cuban destination in Black River, Jamaica. Short on supplies and days away from Cuban waters, he knew there was not enough food or water to complete the journey. He rowed ashore to barter for supplies where he was met by Damerae, a feared Jamaican leader known worldwide for destroying any ship that ventured within sight of Jamaican waters.
Damerae threatened to kill BoCosta and his crew and to sink his ship, the “Valiente.” Captain BoCosta was a quick thinker, and needed to gain the confidence of a new crew, so he countered them by threatening to remove the sun from the sky at which time they would all freeze to death if he or his crew were harmed. The Jamaicans laughed, slapped him in irons and readied their boats.
While rowing out to pillage the Valiente, the air temperature dropped and the sky went dark. The Jamaicans, in fear of their lives, rushed back to shore and begged parlay. They overloaded the Valiente with water and supplies, and Captain BoCosta turned his rudder towards Jamaica to never return.
How did he do it? Captain BoCosta was a seasoned sailor and knew that there was an eclipse at noon. By the time the Jamaicans figured out what had happened, the Valiente was long gone. Captain BoCosta was okay with the fact that his ship could never be seen in Jamaican waters again, his final destination was much further north- Southwest Florida’s coast.
The Valiente, a ship of great speed and strength, was ambushed in the dark by gun runners off the coast of Florida in 1841. He was taken prisoner and put into slave labor at their southwest Florida hideout about 100 miles south of Tampa, the Bocilla Seaport on Pine Island, land that was also home of the feared Calusa Indians years earlier.
Meanwhile, after years of waiting and no word from Jonathan, Francesca was growing sick with the loss of her love and decided to not wait but to follow and find him. She had long since been dismissed by the royal family, so in 1842 with nothing to lose she stowed away on merchant clothing ship that was Cuba bound determined to find Jonathan.
Francesca was a long, lean and very determined girl who came from a very resourceful family. They were all hunters and fishermen who traded their game for needed goods. She had worked hard all of her life and found a person, who for a small price, helped her be hidden way on the merchant ship. It certainly wasn’t easy for Francesca. To be the only female and able to find food, water and other comforts on a daily basis was quite challenging.
Francesca was driven and knew that whatever painful and difficult situation she was to endure now would be worth it knowing that it was an opportunity to be reunited with Jonathan. In 1843 off the coast of Cuba, known pirates of the area attacked the merchant vessel that Francesca sailed thinking it was full of treasure. Upon finding that the cargo had little value to them, the pirates became hostile and killed everyone onboard except for the only female, Francesca.
They took her into slave labor and deposited her at their Southwest Florida home port that is now known today as St. James City, a growing village at the southern end of the 17 mile long Pine Island.
Years passed and new government was starting to overpower the slave trades, yet Jonathan and Francesca had no idea that they were both on the same island. Jonathan thought Francesca was still home in Europe awaiting his return, and she couldn’t help but think that he had been lost or killed in the Caribbean.
Matlacha, known by locals as “A small drinking village with a fishing problem,” is a town between Pine Island and the mainland.
Jonathan had visited Matlacha from Bokeelia often to trade goods and Francesca sold art in a local gallery. One day a store owner stopped Jonathan in the street and said that they had a painting that looked just like him. He asked who painted it and the store owner said “A woman from St. James City named Francesca”.
He fell to his knees in tears and made his way south to St. James City where he found Francesca living a life of poverty and loneliness, yet her eyes were still full of hope.
By this time, the US government had completely overpowered the smugglers and slave trades leaving Jonathan and Francesca open to live a life of their choice. They made their way to the tropical northern end of Pine Island to establish their new lives in Bokeelia, also known to natives as “Bocilla”.
Away from slave labor and gun runners, they were able to build an honest life and business around trade that the growing population of Pine Island wanted and needed.
Thus began- the Bokeelia Trading Company.
For the rest of their lives Jonathan and Francesca worked together in a tropical paradise and the business they created still provides clothing, coffee and goods today.
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Writers note:
I sent this to dozens of people on Parchment Paper rolled into a scroll tied with a string in a plastic bottle with sand and shells. The last paragraph said, "They're getting married at the Tarpon Inn on Bocilla and you're invited." It was my wedding invitation....
Jim Griffiths
Publisher, Nautical Mile