In 1881, Paul Kroegel's family began homesteading along Florida’s Indian River; 22 years later, he became its bird refuge's warden for $1 a month

In the 1880s, the Sebastian area had almost no roads and very few trails. The Indian River was the main way to travel, while alligators, snakes and mosquitoes made life on the frontier difficult. For Paul Kroegel, that wild landscape became home. It also brought him close to the brown pelicans that would eventually shape his life and help change the history of wildlife protection in the United States.

In 1881, C. F. Gottliob Kroegel and his sons, Paul and Arthur, filed for one of the first homestead patents in the area. More than two decades later, Paul would become the first warden of the Pelican Island Reservation. The information is based on a report by Pelican Island Conservation Society, which in turn sourced its information from the Spring 2009 issue of "The Express", newsletter of the Indian River County Historical Society.

How did Paul Kroegel become connected to Pelican Island?

Kroegel’s family homestead eventually included 160 acres, with most of it on upland and the rest in the Indian River. The property also included Barker’s Bluff, a large Ais Indian shell mound that had long been a landmark for people traveling along the river.

Paul lived on top of the mound, giving him a clear view of the river and its wildlife. From there, he could see a small mangrove island where hundreds of brown pelicans returned to roost and nest.

His interest in the birds grew into something much bigger.

Kroegel became increasingly concerned about plume hunters and sportsmen who shot birds from boats. At the time, there were no laws protecting the pelicans. He often took his sailboat onto the river to try to stop the shooting.

In 1893, the American Ornithologists’ Union made Kroegel a game warden. He then began pushing for stronger protection for the pelicans.

Dr. Frank Chapman, an ornithologist also fighting plume hunters in Florida, became part of the effort. He wintered across the Indian River from Micco at Mrs. Latham’s Oak Lodge. Known as “Ma” Latham, she helped keep Kroegel informed when visitors who might support the cause were coming through the area.

When did Pelican Island become a protected refuge?

The campaign eventually reached the federal government. On March 14, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt signed an Executive Order creating the Pelican Island Reservation. Just weeks later, on April 1, 1903, Paul Kroegel was appointed the nation’s first warden. His salary was $1 a month. His job was not exactly quiet. Kroegel received a large flag to place on Pelican Island, but instead put it near his dock. Boats approaching the area would blow their horns when they saw it. That became his signal to get into his sailboat and move between the pleasure boats and Pelican Island.

At times, he even fired his gun as a warning. The refuge’s early history was also tied to scientific work. Beginning in 1901, George Nelson, a botanist, zoologist and photographer at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, spent winters in Florida studying brown pelicans.

Kroegel’s son Rodney accompanied Nelson to the Fellsmere marshes, where they collected live snakes, turtles and other specimens. A collection of Nelson’s hand-painted glass wildlife slides is now held by the local Environmental Learning Center.

Kroegel remained involved in public life as well. From 1905 to 1918, he served as county commissioner for the northern part of St. Lucie County.

He remained Pelican Island’s warden until 1920, when the federal government discontinued the warden service. Kroegel lived until 1948.

How did local residents continue protecting Pelican Island?

The protection of Pelican Island did not end with Kroegel. The refuge and surrounding Indian River lands faced new threats in later decades. In the 1960s, developers sought to purchase river bottom near Pelican Island under Florida’s policy of selling state-owned submerged land. Local residents responded by forming the Indian River Preservation League. Their efforts succeeded. In 1963, rather than selling the river bottom to developers, the Trustees leased it to the refuge. That same year, Pelican Island was declared a National Historic Landmark.

Another fight came in the 1980s over Jungle Trail, a historic public road that had provided a buffer between development and the refuge waters. Local citizens again organized to save it.

Jungle Trail survived and is now a Florida Greenway and part of the National Register of Historic Places. It also helped create a public viewing area for Pelican Island.

During the 1990s and early 2000s, more uplands were acquired to expand the buffer around the refuge and connect it with the beaches of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge.

Today, the Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge covers more than 4,359 acres of mangrove islands, bottomlands and uplands. It includes public facilities, hiking trails and a boardwalk that takes visitors through the area's history.

The story of Pelican Island has therefore stretched far beyond the work of one man. It began with a family homestead, grew through Paul Kroegel’s determination to protect brown pelicans and continued through generations of local residents who fought to preserve the surrounding land.

On the refuge’s 90th anniversary, the Sebastian Area Historical Society and the Indian River County Historical Society produced a small booklet. Sue Kennedy Holbrook wrote:

“The story of the preservation of Pelican Island is the story of commitment … the commitment of Indian River County’s earliest settlers to the surroundings they called ‘home’. It is a story of their descendants’ preserving the past to protect the future.” That commitment remains part of the story of Pelican Island today.

FAQs

When did Paul Kroegel become a warden?
He became the nation’s first warden on April 1, 1903.

How much was Kroegel paid?
He earned $1 a month.