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An Outdoor Guide to Bartram's Travels
From 1773 to 1777, naturalist William Bartram journeyed through the American South from the Carolinas to Florida to the Mississippi River. Bartram's classic account, Travels , documents what he a world of flora, fauna, cultures, and terrains unknown to most readers of his time―and, we too often assume, lost to us today.
An Outdoor Guide to Bartram's Travels reconstructs as closely as possible the original routes Bartram took. Featuring some fifty thoroughly tested and researched tours, the guide takes today's outdoor enthusiasts and history buffs along Bartram's path through what were once colonial towns and outposts, native kingdoms, and unspoiled wilderness. Some tours can be taken by car or bicycle; others can be taken only as Bartram himself would have traveled―on foot, by canoe, or on horseback. The tours are supplemented with more than 140 maps and photographs as well as informative sidebars and listings of nearby points of interest.
As the guide points out details of both the natural and manmade environments to be seen along each tour, it imparts an understanding of the forces at work on the landscape. Visitors to Paynes Prairie in north central Florida, for instance, are urged to notice not only networks of manmade dikes built in the last century but also evidence of current efforts to dismantle them and let the wetlands again manage itself.
At one level, the guide is an invitation into the past, to travel along with Bartram as he visits the lands of the American colonists, the Creek, the Seminole, and the Cherokee―all on the eve of the American Revolution. At another level, it is an invitation to the to see how the some parts of the American Southeast have changed in the last two centuries while others have survived in all their wild splendor. From the mountain grandeur of the Blue Ridge to the coastal beauty of Cumberland Island, from the formal gardens of Charleston to the False River plantations near the Mississippi River, the present answers the past in An Outdoor Guide to Bartram's Travels .
An Outdoor Guide to Bartram's Travels reconstructs as closely as possible the original routes Bartram took. Featuring some fifty thoroughly tested and researched tours, the guide takes today's outdoor enthusiasts and history buffs along Bartram's path through what were once colonial towns and outposts, native kingdoms, and unspoiled wilderness. Some tours can be taken by car or bicycle; others can be taken only as Bartram himself would have traveled―on foot, by canoe, or on horseback. The tours are supplemented with more than 140 maps and photographs as well as informative sidebars and listings of nearby points of interest.
As the guide points out details of both the natural and manmade environments to be seen along each tour, it imparts an understanding of the forces at work on the landscape. Visitors to Paynes Prairie in north central Florida, for instance, are urged to notice not only networks of manmade dikes built in the last century but also evidence of current efforts to dismantle them and let the wetlands again manage itself.
At one level, the guide is an invitation into the past, to travel along with Bartram as he visits the lands of the American colonists, the Creek, the Seminole, and the Cherokee―all on the eve of the American Revolution. At another level, it is an invitation to the to see how the some parts of the American Southeast have changed in the last two centuries while others have survived in all their wild splendor. From the mountain grandeur of the Blue Ridge to the coastal beauty of Cumberland Island, from the formal gardens of Charleston to the False River plantations near the Mississippi River, the present answers the past in An Outdoor Guide to Bartram's Travels .
- GenresTravel
432 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2003
30 people want to read
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February 15, 2021
I live just a few miles from some of the places that William Bartram visited for his classic book, “Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida…” published in 1791. It is a sublime joy to see my own neighborhood through the eyes of that great naturalist and writer.
“Travels” rates five stars in any format, but I strongly recommend the Naturalist’s Edition edited by Francis Harper. The introductory essay, detailed commentary on each stage of Bartram’s journey, an annotated index providing useful details on the flora, fauna, people and places, and a lengthy list of maps and references add up to more pages than Bartram’s account itself. All of that supplemental material is invaluable for appreciating the record that Bartram left.
The Naturalist’s Edition came out in 1958, and the locales traversed by Bartram have undergone sweeping change in the subsequent 60 plus years. So, anyone endeavoring to follow in the footsteps of William Bartram should consult some additional resources.
The Bartram Trail, in North Georgia and Western North Carolina, is a well-maintained hiking trail providing opportunities for day hikes and multi-day backpacking trips. Several volunteer groups help with trail maintenance and offer various trial guides and maps. While the designated Bartram Trail coincides with Bartram’s original route in some locations it is, at best, an approximation.
I am familiar with two full-length volumes, covering Bartram’s entire path through the Southeast and aimed at contemporary travelers.
The first is a 2003 book, “An Outdoor Guide to Bartram’s Travels,” by Charles D. Spornick, Alan R. Cattier, and Robert J. Greene. The guide contains dozens of maps indicating where Bartram’s trail can be explored via “foot, canoe, bicycle, horseback and car.” The structure of the book is based on Bartram’s five trips in the Southeast: initial explorations along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia and the Savannah River basin, his voyage to East Florida, his journeys to Cherokee Country and the Gulf Coast, and his return to Philadelphia.
Each section of book includes an overview of the historical context for the places Bartram explored. The guide goes on to describe national forest recreation areas, state parks and historic sites of interest to the modern visitor. The book is nicely illustrated and contains a helpful index.
Another book on my shelf is “Guide to William Bartram’s Travels, Following the Trail of America’s First Great Naturalist” by Brad Sanders (2002). His introduction and profile of William Bartram is concise and engaging, with valuable sidebars and sketches of Bartram’s circle of acquaintances. Especially welcome is a two-page chronology of Bartram’s travels in the Southeast.
In the more than thirty chapters that make up the book, historic context is provided for each of the regions that Bartram explored. Each chapter includes brief descriptions of recreation areas, historic sites and natural features, highlighted and formatted in a way that makes the book a real pleasure to browse.
Of the two books, “An Outdoor Guide” has a slightly more narrow focus on Bartram’s itinerary, and is probably a more handy choice to toss in the car for a day trip to a Bartram locale.
On the other hand, “Guide to William Bartram’s Travels” takes a broader view of the places to go and things to see within proximity to Bartram’s route. It is visually appealing and almost encyclopedic in the range of information it conveys, a helpful accompaniment to what could become a multi-week meander through “Bartram country.”
“Travels” rates five stars in any format, but I strongly recommend the Naturalist’s Edition edited by Francis Harper. The introductory essay, detailed commentary on each stage of Bartram’s journey, an annotated index providing useful details on the flora, fauna, people and places, and a lengthy list of maps and references add up to more pages than Bartram’s account itself. All of that supplemental material is invaluable for appreciating the record that Bartram left.
The Naturalist’s Edition came out in 1958, and the locales traversed by Bartram have undergone sweeping change in the subsequent 60 plus years. So, anyone endeavoring to follow in the footsteps of William Bartram should consult some additional resources.
The Bartram Trail, in North Georgia and Western North Carolina, is a well-maintained hiking trail providing opportunities for day hikes and multi-day backpacking trips. Several volunteer groups help with trail maintenance and offer various trial guides and maps. While the designated Bartram Trail coincides with Bartram’s original route in some locations it is, at best, an approximation.
I am familiar with two full-length volumes, covering Bartram’s entire path through the Southeast and aimed at contemporary travelers.
The first is a 2003 book, “An Outdoor Guide to Bartram’s Travels,” by Charles D. Spornick, Alan R. Cattier, and Robert J. Greene. The guide contains dozens of maps indicating where Bartram’s trail can be explored via “foot, canoe, bicycle, horseback and car.” The structure of the book is based on Bartram’s five trips in the Southeast: initial explorations along the coast of South Carolina and Georgia and the Savannah River basin, his voyage to East Florida, his journeys to Cherokee Country and the Gulf Coast, and his return to Philadelphia.
Each section of book includes an overview of the historical context for the places Bartram explored. The guide goes on to describe national forest recreation areas, state parks and historic sites of interest to the modern visitor. The book is nicely illustrated and contains a helpful index.
Another book on my shelf is “Guide to William Bartram’s Travels, Following the Trail of America’s First Great Naturalist” by Brad Sanders (2002). His introduction and profile of William Bartram is concise and engaging, with valuable sidebars and sketches of Bartram’s circle of acquaintances. Especially welcome is a two-page chronology of Bartram’s travels in the Southeast.
In the more than thirty chapters that make up the book, historic context is provided for each of the regions that Bartram explored. Each chapter includes brief descriptions of recreation areas, historic sites and natural features, highlighted and formatted in a way that makes the book a real pleasure to browse.
Of the two books, “An Outdoor Guide” has a slightly more narrow focus on Bartram’s itinerary, and is probably a more handy choice to toss in the car for a day trip to a Bartram locale.
On the other hand, “Guide to William Bartram’s Travels” takes a broader view of the places to go and things to see within proximity to Bartram’s route. It is visually appealing and almost encyclopedic in the range of information it conveys, a helpful accompaniment to what could become a multi-week meander through “Bartram country.”
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