Orlando, Florida

===Orlando Reeves===

Historians agree that likely no soldier was named Orlando Reeves.<ref name=Dickenson2001>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2001-01-28/news/0101260436_1_lake-eola-park-city-of-orlando-orlando-reeves |title=Mystery of Name Tracked Down Long, Winding Trail|last=Dickinson |first=Joy Wallace  |date=January 28, 2001 |work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 3, 2017 }}</ref> [[Folklore]] is that Reeves was acting as a [[Border guard|sentinel]] for a company of soldiers that had set up camp for the night on the banks of [[Lake Eola|Sandy Beach Lake]].<ref name="Dickinson, Reeves">{{cite book|last=Dickinson|first=Joy Wallace|title=Orlando : city of dreams|year=2003|publisher=Arcadia Pub.|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-0-7385-2442-9|pages=13–14, 24}}</ref> Several different lakes are mentioned in the various versions, as no soldiers were in what is now downtown during 1835.<ref name=Andrews1994>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1994-11-13/news/9411100492_1_lake-eola-orlando-reeves-seminoles |title=The Legend of Orlando's Name Crumbles Under Expert Scrutiny|last= Andrews|first= Mark|date= November 13, 1994|work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 4, 2017 }}</ref>

The legend grew throughout the early 1900s, particularly with local historian Olive Brumbaugh (or Kena Fries<ref name="Dickinson, Reeves" />{{verify source|date=March 2017}}) retelling in various writings and on local radio station [[WDBO (AM)|WDBO]] in 1929.<ref name=Andrews1998 /> Another historian, Eldon H. Gore, promoted the Reeves legend in ''History of Orlando'' published in 1949.<ref name=Andrews1998>{{cite web |url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1998-01-18/news/9801161380_1_lake-eola-orlando-reeves-orlando-public |title=Legendary Orlando Reeves Was A Remarkable Man – Or Was He?|last= Andrews|first= Mark|date= January 18, 1998 |work=Orlando Sentinel |access-date=March 3, 2017 }}</ref> A memorial beside [[Lake Eola]] – originally placed by students of Orlando's Cherokee Junior School in 1939 and updated in 1990 – designates the spot where the city's supposed namesake fell.<ref name=Dickenson2001 /><ref name="Dickinson, Reeves" />

Conflicting legends exist. One legend has Reeves killed during an extended battle with the Seminoles after being field promoted after his platoon commander fell.<ref name=Andrews1998 /> An in-depth review of military records in the 1970s and 1980s, though, turned up no record of Orlando Reeves ever existing.<ref name=Andrews1998 /><ref name=Dickenson2001 /><ref name="Dickinson, Reeves" /> Some versions attempt to account for Reeves having no military records by using the name of other people named Orlando that exist in some written records – Orlando Acosta; however, not much is known about Acosta or whether he even existed. Another version of the story has Orlando Reed, supposedly an Englishman and mail carrier between Fort Gatlin and [[Fort Mellon]], allegedly killed while camping with his friends near Fort Gatlin.<ref name=Andrews1998 />

A second variation also places the story in 1835 during the Second Seminole War. This name is taken from a [[South Carolinian]] [[cattle ranching|cattle rancher]] named Orlando Savage Rees. Rees owned a [[Volusia County]] [[sugar mill]] and [[plantation]], as well as several large estates in Florida and [[Mississippi]].<ref name=Andrews1998 /> Rees' sugar farms in the area were burned out in the Seminole attacks of 1835 (the year Orlando Reeves supposedly died). Subsequently, Rees led an expedition to recover stolen slaves and cattle. In 1837, Rees also attempted to stop a peace treaty with the Seminoles because it did not reimburse him for the loss of slaves and crops.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney">{{cite book|last=Dickinson|first=Joy Wallace|title=Orlando : city of dreams|year=2003|publisher=Arcadia Pub.|location=Charleston, South Carolina|isbn=978-0-7385-2442-9|pages=24–25}}</ref>

Rees could have left a pine-bough marker with his name next to the trail; later residents misread "Rees" as "Reeves" and also mistook it as a grave maker.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney"/> In subsequent years, this story has merged with the Orlando Reeves story (which may have originally incorporated part of Dr. Gatlin's story).<ref name=Andrews1998 />

On two separate occasions, relatives of Rees claimed their ancestor was the namesake of the city. F. K. Bull of South Carolina (Rees' great-grandson) told an Orlando reporter of a story in 1955; years later, Charles M. Bull Jr., of Orlando (Rees' great-great-grandson) offered local historians similar information.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney"/> Unlike Orlando Reeves, who cannot be traced to any historical record, the record is considerable that Orlando Rees did exist and was in Florida during that time. For example, in 1832, [[John James Audubon]] met with Rees in his large estate at Spring Garden, about 45 minutes from Orlando.<ref name="Dickinson, Cheney"/>