This companion lecture to the “Collier’s Cavalry” exhibit at Museum of the Everglades explores the conception, history, and influence of Barron Collier’s motorcycle police force that patrolled the Tamiami Trail in its early years. Considered the earliest incarnation of the Collier County Sheriff’s Department, the SWMP was protecting and serving on the roads of the Sunshine State a full decade before the inception of the Florida Highway Patrol. Their mandate to “suppress lawlessness of every kind in that portion of Collier County patrolled by (them)” included everything from the polite admonishment of speeding tourists to arresting poachers and bootleggers.
