According to local folklore, a cowboy named Bunk Baxter would make his way to Orlando Florida in the mid-1880s on the occasional weekend and wrestle an alligator in the middle of Orange Avenue, which at the time was a dirt street.

This story may have been written off as a myth or forgotten as it was passed on from generation to generation.  But lucky for us, on one of those eventful weekends in the Florida Heat, a photograph was captured of "Bunk", sitting atop a gator in the middle of the street, surrounded by a crowd of men and women looking on in awe.  

Although perhaps difficult to believe, the odd photo eventually became the iconic image of Orlando's colorful early history, and in the early 2000s, a life-size bronze statue of the man and "gator" was sculpted by Scott Shaffer and placed in the city's Heritage Square.

But this crazy story doesn't end there. After the sculpture was created, historians began to question whether it was a gator or a crocodile this man wrestled into submission and became skeptical if the man was really Cowboy Bunk Baxter or a Meat Market Manager; Bud Yates. While this photograph definitely leaves many questions unanswered, we have no doubt that it represents the spirit of Florida and American Resilience. 

 Original Photograph