Florida cracker

By the 1760s, the ruling classes in Britain and the American colonies applied the term cracker to Scots-Irish, Scottish, and English American settlers of the remote southern back country, as noted in a letter to the Earl of Dartmouth: "I should explain to your Lordship what is meant by Crackers; a name they have got from being great boasters; they are a lawless set of rascalls on the frontiers of Virginia, Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, who often change their places of abode.

In the late 19th century they were often called cowhunters, a reference to seeking out cattle scattered over the wooded rangelands during roundups.

Florida cattlemen's primary tools were dogs and cow whips to herd or capture cattle while also utilizing lassos.

It is considered a source of pride to be descended from "frontier people who did not just live but flourished in a time before air conditioning, mosquito repellent, and screens" according to Florida history writer Dana Ste.

The festival also incorporates local crafts and artwork, food vendors, a whip-cracking contest,[9] and living-history re-enactment of 19th-century homestead life.