Crumbs From The Cracker Barrel

There are three categories of Florida Crackers but only one has survived in local folklore.  The original term was applied to early settlers of the sunshine state.  When the territory finally left the control of Spain for the second time and was traded to the U.S. government in the early 19th century, Spanish rule was still the law of the land what there was of it.  The resident Spaniards had little use for the new English settlers and disdainfully referred to them as Quaqueros, a term meaning Quakers which they applied to all Protestants.  The settlers simply misunderstood the word as cracker and the nickname stuck.  (It should be noted that some pioneering Georgia families were also known as Crackers.)

The modern definition of a Florida Cracker is that of a dying breed:  a native born and raised resident who can trace his or her roots back several generations.  Today, the vast majority of the state’s population consists of transplants from other states and countries.  U.S. Senator Bill Nelson is a bonafide Florida Cracker.
 
Remington art via Wikipedia

By far the most “glamorous” of the cracker trilogy is the Florida cowboy.  The state’s cattle industry began to flourish in the late 19th century but ranching was different than it was in the old west.  Cowboys were  referred to as cow hunters because the six months between roundups cattle roamed huge pastures dotted with cypress heads (a polite term meaning swamp) and oak hammocks which were and are akin to riding a horse through a brier patch.

La riata (the rope) or lariat  was useless in this environment so bullwhips and cowdogs were utilized instead.  The crack of the whip is what resulted in the Cracker nickname for the Florida cowboy.  The dog of choice was, and still is, the Leopard Hound–a short-legged spotted animal bred specifically for flushing cows out of inaccessible areas.
 
Remington art via Wikipedia

Hunting scrub cows was not a one day event.  Often weeks would pass before all the animals would be located scattered over miles of pasture before fencing became popular.  Therefore, permanent, albeit crude, shelters were judiciously erected to offer overnight protection from rainstorms and panthers if not from mosquitos and rattlesnakes.