About the Photo

This drawing was created by Everglades pioneer Robert Lee Storter Jr. and depicts a 1913 baptism service at Mr. McKinney’s Landing on Chokoloskee Island, where minister Tom Crews baptized forty people following a revival. Storter later recalled the event as “a very precious memory” that he would “never forget,” inspiring him to preserve the moment through this illustration of early spiritual life in the Everglades.

Rob Lee Storter Jr. (1894–1987) was one of the most important early chroniclers of life in the Everglades region. Born in the town of Everglade to a pioneering family that arrived in Southwest Florida in 1881, Storter grew up among the Ten Thousand Islands, Everglade, and Naples during a time when the region remained one of America’s last frontiers. His uncle, George Storter Jr., is considered the town founder. He opened the first post office and built the home that now serves as the center of the Rod & Gun Club. Through Rob’s books, journals, stories, sketches, paintings, and carvings, he preserved firsthand accounts of pioneer life, hunting camps, church revivals, trading posts, alligator hunters, Seminole neighbors, and the hardships of living in the isolated frontier communities of early Southwest Florida.

The Museum of the Everglades holds a significant collection of Rob Storter material, including original drawings, writings, photographs, and interpretive resources connected to his life and work. His recollections are especially valuable because they serve as primary-source accounts from someone who personally witnessed the transformation of the Everglades from an isolated frontier settlement into a connected modern community. Many of the stories, people, and events he described were never formally documented elsewhere, making his work an essential resource for interpreting local history.

In the lecture Faith on the Frontier: A Brief History of Churches in the Everglades Area, Storter’s writings and artwork are being used as primary historical sources to help explain the role of faith and religion in early Everglades communities. His drawing and description of the 1913 baptism at Mr. McKinney’s Landing provides a rare firsthand glimpse into frontier revival culture in the Everglades. His words vividly capture both the emotional atmosphere of these events and the importance of church gatherings in isolated pioneer communities, where religion often served as one of the few sources of social connection, hope, and shared identity.