Whenever human or animal feet stepped upon the floating land of Okefenokee, it trembled. This phenomenon gave the swamp its Native American name, Okefenokee, -trembling earth.-

Okefenokee's beginnings in what is now southern Georgia and northeastern Florida can be traced back seven thousand years, when rivers veering toward the Atlantic Ocean created a massive ridge that held back a deep bowl of sand. Seeds and other organic matter drifting on its surface spawned floating islands. Over this fragile, now sedentary terrain flow many streams that feed two rivers--the Suwanee, emptying...