Spillin the Tea...The Foot Point Flock
By Paul Tollefson
Contributor
Bluffton has always been an outdoorsman’s dream. From the endless creeks of the May and Colleton Rivers to the thousands upon thousands of acres of woods, fishing and hunting have always been a way of history and life in the area.
Laura Floyd knows this area all too well. Having been raised in the Lowcountry, she got her first boat when she was eight years old and has always grown up on the water and in the woods. Whether she was crabbing, shrimping, fishing, coon hunting or chasing bucks, Laura is an outdoor fanatic.
In the late 70s and into the 80s, Foot Point Plantation (now the Colleton River) was looking for a caretaker. Harry Cram had moved to his new place at Potato Island and sold Foot Point. Cram had known Laura for some time and knew that she would be perfect to watch over the land, and he recommended her to the new owners.
Although it took some time to settle into her new spot, Laura and her husband John quickly fell in love and made it their home. They had wonderful get togethers on the weekends with their friends of Bluffton and Hilton Head and loved being able to explore the vast amounts of woods and the waters of the Colleton River.
Laura had at Foot Point what she could only refer to as an “animal sanctuary.” She had chickens, horses, roosters, goats, turkeys, ducks, dogs, and well as her rehabilitated fawn, Beau. She and John also bred and raised Bluetick Coonhounds. It was a perfect spot for all of the animals to roam free without worrying too much about them running off. There were ample places for the animals to call home, as Cram was also a lover of animals and had many stables and outbuildings. Laura mentioned that many times, the animals would just roam freely around the house.
One story that she remembers all too well is during the 80s, there was about a 40-acre site of land that had been cleared by a prior owner that was to house an industrial site. Well, this cleared piece of land held thousands of once buried Indian artifacts. Laura remembers fondly being able to walk around and always finding arrowheads as well as old pottery. Laura and her friends would accumulate buckets full of this stuff.
One day, Laura was on her horse, Etowah, and she planned on having a nice ride down to the cleared site while getting some spring sun and hunting for some artifacts. As she was getting ready to leave, Beau the fawn, who Laura raised, was going to tag along as well. The other animals saw all this happening, and in Noah’s Ark fashion, they all started forming a line behind Laura on her horse and the deer!
There was Seadog the beagle, Mr. Duck, Joel the turkey, May the milk goat, Real Estate the rooster and her other goat, Heidi. They all formed a line and meandered their way down to the Colleton River like one big family!
After some time in the sun on the bluffs of the Colleton, Laura heard the familiar sound of an outboard motor coming closer and closer. She threw a shirt on to cover her bathing suit and saw a fishing boat with three men racing full speed toward the bluff. They slowed as they drew closer and when they were within shouting range, she heard them yell.
“Ma’am, please don’t be startled! But we tell a lot of fishing stories, some true and some not so true. But there is no way ANYONE is going to believe us when we tell them about you and your flock of animals hanging out right here on the Bluff!”
Paul Tollefson is the Director of Tennis at the Hampton Hall Club in Bluffton. He found his love for the Lowcountry in early 2002 after graduating high school and unsure of what career path he was destined towards. After moving from Hilton Head to Bluffton he became enthralled with the history of the town and the people and cultures that called it home for many generations. He has found a passion in writing and enjoys being able to share the stories and pictures of long-time locals. He is the co-creator of the Facebook page “Bluffton Then and Now”.
