Publisher's Synopsis
Matanzas. In Spanish it means massacre. In 1838, long before the overseas highway or US-1 connected the Florida Keys with the mainland, Dr. Henry Perrine moved his young family from Palmyra, NY to Indian Key, FL so he could establish a horticultural center to develop new plant crops for the U.S. Less than 2 years later most of the island's residents were killed in a vicious surprise Indian attack. 16-year-old Hester Perrine and some of her family narrowly escaped to tell their story. A story of ships, tropical islands, Indians, a handsome midshipman, and a harrowing escape!