Introduction
Local areas usually enjoy a wealth of information stemming from a protected context, which may provide modern inhabitants with a sense of the historical perspective belonging to their territory. A number of significant themes and developments are concentrated, permitting a chronological telescoping of the past, which is particularly interesting for historical investigation. The local area covered here has developed through various periods, with traditional rural societies built around a typical northeast situation of striped farming stretching into ancient forest on high ground, with swidden cultivation rising through the Iron Age and medieval feral animal management imported into the region through the Italian circuit in the 17th century. The area has attracted various modern influences from agricultural expansion with associated migration in- and out-movement over the years, through modern agronomy to bushmeat and ivory eco-spanning economics.
So, this local area located in the upper-cross triangle in Bangem, Green Mountain in the western region of Cameroon, where three villages are found, has recently combined into the Kenjom community. Geographically, the people live in a primeval valley with distinctive surrounding mountain slopes, the upper section covered with rocky soils and prolific evergreen rainforest. On the lower slopes, there are soils of volcanic and quartz origin supporting semi-evergreen forest with higher secondary regeneration, extending through the plateau with cleared areas and swamps used in particular for cocoa and garden crops. Singular geographical features marking the limits of the village area could be appropriate. This research covers events that have affected local people. Research methodologies employed are archival and oral traditions from local narratives found in Cameroon. Some water-washed documents at the archives in Bangem will be translated as we proceed. All negative local history in Western culture has been slandered or blackened to levels of extinction; if I do not attempt to reconstruct these events, they will disappear from the sphere of human thought. But where their full truth is found, they should resound in whichever way societies think fit. The analyses are backed by some autobiographical elements, and personal photographs of these local events are presented as some visits were made to the field during my visit to Cameroon. It is hoped that locals, who have inherited these experiences, benefit in their own way and become aware of the interest in recovering the knowledge of themselves about the impact of historical events on their societies.
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Indigenous Communities
Throughout its history of human occupation, evidence indicates that individuals belonging to several Indigenous nations have maintained connections and attachments to the region surrounding the site. Anishinaabe, Dakota, Cree, and Métis traditional territories overlapped in the vicinity. The Indigenous heritage related to the site tells not only of the lives of people and families, but about their social structures, sacred ceremonies, and histories. There are traces of societies, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, that resided in the Fort Qu’Appelle area dating to time immemorial. The first Euro-Canadian arrivals often came to the area from the east as fur traders, missionaries, or soldiers, but following treaties and agreements with First Nations, several began to homestead and set up permanent residences in the Qu’Appelle Valley. Euro-Canadian settlers initially had limited impact on the Indigenous nations who remained the predominant residents in the area; however, as the settlers’ estates grew, organizers actively began efforts to build better relations and trade with the Indigenous. In the area, intersecting patterns of cooperation, intermarriage, and trade also began to occur, as well as conflict. Stories of individual spiritual, military, and trading experiences occupy both the public and personal realms in local narratives. The area's Aboriginal and fur trade-related sites reveal significant cultures and interactions, economies, and ways of life interconnected with the wider world. Various archaeological evidence and oral histories from the area reveal the dynamic associations between the Euro-Canadians and the newcomers. Research has also suggested that a number of collaborative efforts between these non-Aboriginal and Aboriginal populations laid the groundwork for irrigation, land management, and transportation programs in the valley that were realized decades later. In a harsh area, irrigation, transportation, and community development have been fundamental.
Colonial Period
During the early colonial period, the world was experiencing a surge of European exploration and settlement in the Pacific area. European states saw new lands as a source of revenue and materials to support their economies, while missionaries wanted to Christianize the people of Oceania. These early explorers were interested in the resources imported from the New World, such as gold, silver, furs, wood, and cheap labor. French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville was the first European to visit the area of the Pilbara in June 1768. After he left, the next explorer, this time on an English ship, was William Dampier, who explored the Dampier Archipelago in 1699. Dampier documented his contacts and relationships with the local Indigenous population, including interactions and observations of their social systems, political structures, ceremonies, laws, and obligations during his explorations. By exchanging names and presents, Dampier gained entrance and made it easier to travel between countries. He wrote that some people admired these presents and were willing to trade, while others were jealous of the attention these presents received and used violence to intimidate and threaten the English. Such writings influence our understanding of the history of the peoples of the Pilbara. Early colonial power introduced new laws and customs, iron and cloth, doctors and diseases, and food sources and trade items to the Pilbara peoples, which would influence their society and culture in the hundred years that followed. Over 250 years have passed, and despite this intervention, Western Desert and Pilbara Indigenous cultures, with landlords and belief systems, politics and rituals, have lived on and are practiced today.
Industrial Revolution
In the past, the community was made up of isolated towns and villages with simple economies. Little industry existed. Local inhabitants worked within their community, perhaps in agriculture, the family home, or a village-based craft or trade. Beginning in the late 18th century in many places in the developed world, however, things changed. The introduction of large-scale factories, labor-saving machinery, and new methods of business organization saw local farming areas become centers of industry and urban growth. Slowly but steadily, the community began to experience industrialization and urbanization, as this chapter explores. Urban centers of industry and trade are a hallmark of the modern United States. Unlike other historical chapters, though, many textbooks make only passing references to the crucial transformation in the structure and nature of the community that led to these urban developments. Industrialization and urbanization resulted in related significant events that forever changed the nature of the community and its inhabitants. The Industrial Revolution was initially powered by steam engines, and after the 1900s by the internal combustion engine. Coupled with this was an unprecedented explosion in population, in part due to the Industrial Revolution. By 1850, many local areas of the United States were already poignantly experiencing the consequences of urbanization.
Modern Era
The population of both Grenada and Bonita Springs has continued to grow over the years. The growth in the post-World War II period has largely resulted from an influx of residents migrating to Southwest Florida from other northern states. Many of these residents relocated to the Grenada/Bonita Springs area to take advantage of the state’s temperate climate. Since that time, the region has diversified its economic base from a nearly exclusive focus on agriculture, primarily vegetables, citrus, and commercial fishing to industry and services. As a result of this diversification, the dominant employment sector shifted from agriculture to manufacturing, construction, trade, finance, insurance, real estate, and services.
Detailed data are incomplete, but among the industrial sectors, the area has attracted businesses involved in growing and processing fresh-cut and fresh-ground produce, accounting for much of the area’s growth. More recently, the area’s economic makeup has undergone further shifts with a dramatic decline in agricultural and service sectors. During the early 2000s, a significant effort was made to revitalize and revamp the historic commercial centers throughout Southwest Florida, including those located within Bonita Springs. The Village of Estero was incorporated as a village in 2014, north of Bonita Springs and along the U.S. 41 corridor.
Properties reflecting the various cultural and architectural trends and developments continue to be found in the Bonita Springs Study Area. These properties together represent the development of the region over time while also contributing to the unique character of the greater area. Over time, many long-time residents and newcomers looked to establish roots in the community. The historic settlement patterns and socioeconomic factors, although present for many years, faced challenges in more recent times, including the environmental effects of uncontrolled development, unmanaged growth, and a lack of regional planning. The negative effects can still be seen in the area today as residents work to address concerns such as transportation, shading, pollution, and overall sustainability. However, positive growth has decades-long roots, as demonstrated in prehistory periods, and the lands continue to maintain their aesthetic, environmental, recreational, and agricultural values, including purposeful outdoor leisure activities.
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