Bartram and Alabama
William Bartram sat out from his Philadelphia home in March 1773 on a botanical expedition to the southern colonies. The self-taught artist, funded by wealthy English patron Dr. John Fothergill, was in search of new plants for English gardens. He traveled some 2,400 miles through the South, including British colonies and the territories of the largest Indian nations in the region.
Travels, an account of Bartram’s four-year journey was published in 1791 and has been described by one literary scholar as “one of the most delightful books...anybody ever read.”
In addition to collecting plants for export to England and his family’s nursery business, Bartram produced drawings and descriptions of the many people and places he visited, providing modern readers an unparalleled view of the early South.
Bartram and Alabama
In mid-June 1775, Bartram left Augusta, Georgia, with a large caravan of traders headed for Muscogee Creek towns and then to Mobile. By early July, they crossed the Chattahoochee River, entering what is now Alabama, and Bartram visited several Creek towns including Coweta, Yuchi, and Apalachicola. By mid-July, he was on the major trade path to the Creek towns on the Tallapoosa River. During his time among these towns, he observed a number of ceremonies and had the opportunity to view firsthand Creek architecture, sample their cuisine, and observe their customs. By the end of July, Bartram was in Mobile. Invited to Farm Hall, the plantation of Major Robert Farmar, he explored the Tensaw Delta.
Journey Across the South
Bartram arrived in Charleston in the spring of 1773 and spent the next four years on a series of journeys that took him deep into Creek and Seminole territory in Florida; the Appalachian Mountains, where he visited Cherokee towns; through the colony of Georgia into the Creek Nation; south to Mobile and Pensacola and then all the way to the Mississippi River. Travels describes in vigorous prose his botanical discoveries as well as his many adventures along the way. He is largely silent on the growing troubles that resulted in the American Revolution and divided both the colonies and Indian Nations.
Bartram’s Botanical Exploration
Bartram’s journey was spent finding, collecting, and describing plants and animals scientifically, many for the very first time. In all, Bartram reported over 600 species of plants and animals, including birds, reptiles, and mammals. He described over 350 species of plants in Travels, of which 130 were new to science at that time. His book provided the most complete list of North American birds then known. His “restless spirit of curiosity” is evident in his writing and his art as he sought not only to describe a plant or animal but to relay how it felt to see or smell or touch the specimen in its environment. His quest for knowledge earned the respect of indigenous people, who honored him with the name Puc Puggy translated from the Muscogee language by Bartram as “Flower Hunter.”
Bartram’s Enduring Legacy for Alabama
Two of Bartram’s botanical discoveries are closely associated with Alabama. The oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia Bartr.), which he observed in Georgia and the Creek Nation is our state wildflower. The beautiful flowering shrub is much beloved by gardeners today. Modern hybrids of this singular native shrub occupy centerstage in gardens worldwide.
Less known is the largeflower evening primrose (Oenothera grandiflora), a gangly perennial with “pompous” yellow blooms that open in the late afternoon and attract night pollinators with what Bartram deemed “an agreeable scent.” The plant grows naturally in a limited area around modern Stockton, Alabama in Baldwin County. Seeds collected by Bartram were sold in Europe and for a time it was popular in European gardens.
Bartram and Native Peoples
William Bartram’s first trip to the South occurred in 1765, when he and his father toured the new British colony of East Florida and attended a conference between the British and the Lower Creek Indians. His two visits south brought him into repeated contact with Creeks, Seminoles, and Cherokees. In addition to his book, he left a number of other writings on southern Indians. In his book Travels, he recounts his meetings with many individuals and his adventures in Indian towns. The fourth part of his book is entirely devoted to discussion of Indian culture. Taken together, his precise descriptions provide one of the most thorough and unbiased sources on eighteenth-century tribes, making him one of America’s earliest ethnographers.
Bartram supplied the George Washington administration with a position paper designed to influence America’s first Indian policy. He called for a peaceful solution to the troubles between the new American nation and the southern Indian tribes and spoke in support of what came to be known as the “civilization” policy, which was put into operation by the first treaty negotiated under the United States Constitution. Thirty-one Creek chiefs traveled to New York, the seat of government at the time, and signed the Treaty of New York in August 1790. Among them was Alexander McGillivray, a bicultural Creek of extraordinary power, wealth, and talent from the town of Hickory Ground on the Coosa River.
Bartram Describes Creek Towns
Bartram’s visit to the Creek towns in what is now Alabama was short but memorable. In all, he visited seven Creek towns. He entered homes, admired Creek architecture and design, viewed gardens and fields, noted clothing and material culture, attended solemn rituals in the townhouse, and enjoyed a wedding with a feast and dancing. Most importantly, he left incredible descriptions of these towns and even provided architectural diagrams. Scholars have used his writings and diagrams, along with the archaeological record and accounts by others, to visually reconstruct historic Creek towns. Modern readers can enter these towns virtually by reading Bartram’s Travels.
The Bartram Trail Today
From the moment of its publication, Bartram’s Travels fascinated readers. His influence on scientific study of the South is well documented, as is the impact his melodic prose had on Romantic poets and novelists in both Great Britain and France. Bartram’s precise descriptions of southeastern Indians is valued as a historical source. After his return to Philadelphia, he mentored and advised the first generation of America’s natural scientists. But perhaps Bartram’s greatest legacy is his enthusiastic love of and respect for the natural world. Trails, preserves, forests, and even highways proudly mark locations visited by Bartram. His discoveries as well as his sense of wonder continue to enchant those who follow in his footsteps.
In the mid-1970s, citizen groups from across the South came together to form the Bartram Trail (BTC) Conference. Devoted to the study of William Bartram and his world, the BTC has supported trail markers in eight southern states, worked to identify historic and natural landscapes associated with Bartram, and advocated for their protection and preservation. For more information, visit bartramtrail.org.
