Before highways and high-rises, Florida was wild cattle country, and Bone Mizell was its most unforgettable cowboy.
Born Morgan Bonaparte Mizell in 1863 in Horse Creek, Manatee County, Bone had eleven brothers and sisters and was raised in the heart of Cracker country, where free-range cattle roamed through palmetto scrub and cypress hammocks. He grew into a tall, lanky man—6’5”, with a hawk-like nose, protruding chin, and legs that dangled past his stirrups. Known for his booming laugh, thick lisp, and constant mischief, Bone became the stuff of frontier legend.
A skilled cowhunter, Bone could identify every calf and brand on sight. He never went to school and barely read or wrote, but was so sharp that powerful cattle barons like Judge Ziba King made him foreman on massive herds. Still, he was more interested in moonshine and mischief than money or status.
He once paid an $85 gambling fine in poker chips, reminding the sheriff, “You said chips was the same as cash.” Another time, he reportedly lit his pipe with dollar bills. He slept outdoors most of his life, never married, and never owned a house, only sleeping in a real bed when he visited bordellos, where he was a favorite.
In 1895, famed Western artist Frederic Remington traveled to Florida for Harper’s Magazine. He met Bone and was instantly struck by his charisma. In his article “Cracker Cowboys of Florida,” Remington painted Mizell in a now-iconic work titled “A Cracker Cowboy,” depicting him atop a small Marsh Tackie horse, with a cow-dog nearby and palmettos at his back. The image introduced America to Florida’s forgotten cowboy culture and helped shape how the Cracker cowboy would be remembered—rugged, sun-scorched, and untamed.
Bone Mizell passed away in 1921 at a train depot, moonshine in hand. The cause of death? Officially: “Went to sleep and didn’t wake up.” He died with his boots on and was buried in Joshua Creek Cemetery, Arcadia. But his legend still looms large as a true Florida original.
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