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MILLY FRANCIS
locations
St. Marks, Florida
Most of the action takes place in or near the Spanish fort at San Marcos Apalache, situated at the confluence of the St. Marks and Wakulla Rivers near present-day St. Marks, Florida.
San Marcos Apalche
The site of the fort where Ambrister is executed, including remnants of the stone wall surrounding the yard and the cemetery, have been designated a historic state park and museum.
Apalachee Bay
The water route from the Gulf of Mexico to San Marcos goes through Apalachee Bay and then up the St. John River. The area is surrounded by impenetrable salt-water marshes that provide refuge for thousands of species of migratory birds. Milly watches her father paddle out to meet Jackson from here.
Wakulla Springs
Wakulla Springs flows out of the Florida aquifer to form the Wakulla River. Humans have inhabited the area for at least 12,000 years. Francis settles the remnant of the Red Sticks here after the Creek War. A number of movies have been filmed on location at Wakulla Springs, including several early Tarzan films and the underwater sequences in Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Apalachicola River
The Apalachicola River flows into the Apalachicola Bay about halfway between Pensacola and St. Augustine, Florida—approximately 50 miles west of San Marcos. In the early 19th century, it was the only way to get to the interior of Georgia from the Gulf of Mexico. Prospect Bluff overlooks the river a few miles upstream from the mouth.
Prospect Bluff Historic Landmark
In the 19th century, whoever occupied Prospect Bluff, a low bluff overlooking the Apalachicola River, controlled the river and access to the interior. The area was and still is remote, almost completely surrounded by swamps. The site of the "Negro Fort" and later Fort Gadsden is now a park managed by the U.S. Forest Service, although the site has been closed to the public since Hurricane Michael in 2018.
Fowltown
The site of the Creek-Seminole village of Fowltown is near Fort Scott in the woods surrounding present-day Bainbridge, Georgia. Jackson's army destroys the town to incite war and justify the invasion of Spanish Florida.
Fort Scott
North of Prospect Bluff, on the border between Georgia and Florida, the Chattahoochee and Flint Rivers merge to form the Apalachicola River. Fort Scott was located near here, although the dam that formed Lake Seminole has made the site inaccessible.
Flint River
In retaliation for the destruction of Fowltown, Creek warriors ambush the Scott party from the woods on either side of the Flint River, near present-day Chatahoochee, Florida.
First Hermitage
Although he later builds his famous mansion, in 1818 Jackson and his wife live in a two-story log house similar to this on his plantation outside Nashville.
Second Hermitage
Jackson began construction of his mansion shortly in 1819. Today Jackson’s home is a National Historic Landmark and museum. Andrew and Rachel are buried in a mausoleum on the grounds.
Eastern Oklahoma
The landscape of eastern Oklahoma bears little resemblance to the thick swamps and forests Milly grew up in.
Muskogee, Oklahoma
Colonel Hitchcock finds Milly in a one-room cabin, similar to this one, on the grounds of present-day Bacone College, where she is buried in an unmarked grave.
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