TRAPPER NELSON – THE MAN, THE MYTH
2/16/2023
Explorer
(Photo/Narratively.com)
Born in 1908 in New Jersey and a former resident of Mexico and Texas, the muscular outdoorsman known as “Tarzan of the Loxahatchee” set up a homestead in the then almost-unreachable Loxahatchee River that runs through Riverbend Park in the 1930s.
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Entrepreneur
(Photo/Jonathan Dickinson State Park)
Nelson established a zoo, which brought the local gentry from nearby Jupiter Island and Palm Beach to buy tickets.
He wrestled alligators to the delight of visitors, who paid for the show. He charmed snakes, as well as the local population. He trapped and lived off animals on his homestead near Riverbend Park.