A Land Remembered

In 1908, Sol decides to leave the homestead. He says, “I can stand it being lonely out here, but every time I ride through the woods or go into the grove or tend cows, there’s a ghost looking at me” (363). He leaves the cattle and orange groves in the care of Ron Clayton and his family. Tom Lardy, whom Sol hired to replace Frog, is permitted to stay on the farm indefinitely with his wife, Jessie.

After leaving the MacIvey homestead, Sol travels to the land his father bought in South Okeechobee near the Seminole village. Over the next three years, Sol uses dredges to transform the area into farmland.

In 1911, Sol decides to visit Toby for the first time since they met. During the visit, Sol learns that Keith died five years earlier of old age. When Toby discovers that Sol is responsible for transforming the land around Pay-Hay-Okee, he is outraged. Sol tells him he’s supplying food for the cities, to which Toby responds:

‘Animals have to eat too, and so do birds, and so do we! Will your infernal machines not stop until they come here and crush my mother’s grave? I hope they never enter this swamp, or go to Pay-Hay-Okee.