William Bartram
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William Bartram (April 20, 1739 -July 22, 1823) was an American naturalist, the son of John Bartram.
In 1773, he set off alone on a four-year journey through eight southern colonies. He made many drawings and took notes on the native flora and fauna, and the native American Indians. He found great cooperation from Ahaya the Cowkeeper, chief of the Alachua band of the Seminole tribe. In 1774, he celebrated Bartram's visit to his principal village at Cuskowilla with a great feast. When Bartram explained to the Cowkeeper that he was interested in studying the local plants and animals, the chief was amused and began calling him "Puc-puggee," or "the flower hunter." But, he also gave him free reign to explore his territory on Payne's Prairie.
Bartram returned to Philadelphia in January, 1777 and spent his later years working at the Bartram's Garden. During this period he compiled the most complete list of American birds up to that time.
Upon his return, Bartram published his journal in 1791, under the title Travels through North and South Carolina, Georgia, East and West Florida, the Cherokee Country, etc., which was considered at the time to be one of the foremost books on American natural history. In addition to its contributions to scientific knowledge, Travels is noted for its original descriptions of the American countryside, which in turn influenced many of the Romantic writers of the day. William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and François René de Chateaubriand are known to have read the book, and its influence can be seen in many of their works.
In 1802 Bartram met the school teacher Alexander Wilson and began to teach him the rudiments of ornithology and natural history illustration. Wilson's American Ornithology includes many references to Bartram and the area around Bartram's Garden.
Bartram spent most of the final decades of his life in quiet work and study at his home and garden in Kingsessing, refusing several requests to teach botany and declining an invitation from Thomas Jefferson to accompany an expedition up the Red River in the Louisiana Territory in 1806. He died at his home at the age of 84.
See also
Bibliography
- Travels and Other Writings (Thomas Slaughter, ed.) ([The Library of America],1996) ISBN 1883011116
External links
Writings by Bartram
- [The Travels of William Bartram.]
- [Bartram Seeks News of the Creeks and Seminoles.]
- [Bartram Wakes to the Call of the Wild Turkey.]
- [Bartram on the Live Oak and Florida Forest.]
External links
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