On the Trail with William Bartram: The 5 Best Stops for Recreating the Naturalist’s Journey through the Sunshine State
Before Lewis and Clark, there was the intrepid William Bartram.
William Bartram was born to be an explorer. From the time he was just a boy, he was fascinated by the natural world. He honed his talents in both botany and drawing; his desire to understand and record the world around him was insatiable. However, as he grew into adulthood, Bartram tried working in offices and printing shops – respectable, profitable jobs – but it was no use trying to shut himself away from the sun.
“Bartram always longed for the outdoors.”1
In 1765, the 26-year-old Bartram accompanied his father, John, on a journey that would change his life and set him on the course to cementing his legacy in the annals of American – and Floridian – history.
Today, we’re retracing parts of William Bartram’s Floridian journey to create the most breathtaking, nature-centric road trip you’ll ever embark on. So grab your favorite Crayola pencils and your journal – you’ll definitely want to record this adventure!
St. Johns River
433 N. Palmetto Ave., Sanford, FL
William Bartram wasn’t only pursuing his own passion, but his initial venture into Florida was also family-driven (as many of the best vacations are). He wrote to his father about his “great desire in Going with thee. . .to be a help and Comfort to thee in what Ever afflictions or trouble thee should meet within thy long and tedious Jurney.”2
Bartram’s father was undertaking the “jurney” as “the King’s botanist.”3 The mission was to explore the new, southern territory Britain had just acquired from Spain. That territory was, of course, La Florida, Land of the Flowers. The very name must have given both botanist Bartrams a thrill, for it meant “flowery, covered with flowers, land of the flowers or abounding in flowers.”4
(It was especially fitting when William Bartram was eventually nicknamed “Puc-Puggy,” or “flower hunter” by a friendly Seminole chief. Bartram was the flower hunter in the land of flowers!)
John and William set out from St. Augustine on a frosty, December morning, embarking on an intel-gathering expedition of the magnificent St. Johns River. At least one Saint Augustine attraction that John and William Bartram would still recognize today is the Castillo de San Marcos. Built from coquina, this fort has stood the test of time and canon balls for over 300 years! However, the Bartrams weren’t in Florida for St. Augustine’s amazing architecture.
The real highlight of their expedition was floating down Florida’s longest river (and most important waterway) in a dugout canoe.5 They covered more than 500 miles in two months; John kept careful records of soil quality and plants while William preserved all they saw as sketches in his trusty notepad.
Today, you can explore the St. Johns River in a vessel that’s a little more seaworthy: a sternwheeler! You can book passage on this paddle-wheeled ship (called the Barbara-Lee) for an afternoon of wildlife spotting with fresh, chef-made lunch in climate-controlled comfort. Cruises with the St. Johns Rivership Co. are a great way to see the freshwater wonders of Florida in style!
Salt Springs
13851 FL-19, Fort McCoy, FL
William Bartram had become so enamored with Florida during the expedition with his father that he decided to settle down along the St. Johns River and establish an indigo plantation.6 However, Bartram was more suited to artistic applications of the color blue; the farm failed, and he had to return to Pennsylvania. (Bartram’s conscience had also become increasingly heavy regarding the practice of slave-owning.7) Despite the embarrassment of the disastrous indigo farm, an invisible string had latched onto Bartram’s heart, permanently anchoring a piece of his spirit to Florida.
In 1774, there was a tug on that string, and William Bartram made a joyous return to the South. Bartram’s second Floridian expedition was financed by the notable English physician, Dr. John Fothergill. Still, it was undertaken without his father, who had struggled with bouts of malaria on the first expedition and was now in his seventies.
As Bartram sailed down the St. Johns River once again, he noted the grand magnolia trees, with blossoms that were “large, perfectly white, and expanded like a full-blown rose,” as well as the “long moss,” or Spanish moss, which swayed from the branches of the cypress trees – nature’s ornamentation.8 Such pleasant scenes are still present along the St. Johns River today.
The north-flowing river runs for 310 miles, so there’s plenty to see along its banks and so many great places to stop and take adventurous detours. One of our favorite St. Johns stops seems to have been William Bartram’s, too: the beautiful Salt Springs.
Of course, Bartram visited other springs, too, such as Blue Spring, Wakulla Spring, and Manatee Springs – the latter of which he named – and we highly recommended visiting all three! Nevertheless, while Bartram certainly admired these springs, his love for Salt Springs really bubbles forth in his writing.
Perhaps out of sentimentality for the trip, he had shared with his father, or perhaps because he simply wanted to observe its beauty once again, William Bartram stopped at Salt Springs in 1774, just as he had done with dear old dad back in 1765-66.
William Bartram’s exploration of Salt Springs (which he called Six Mile Spring) “inspired his most famous romantic prose.”9 Indeed, Bartram’s descriptions of Florida shaped the Romantic Movement in Europe, and his imagery was used in the poetry of literary giants like William Wordsworth.10
At Salt Springs, Bartram was particularly captivated by the “armies” of fish that were “sailing or floating like butterflies in the cerulean ether” – especially the trout which “freely passes by the very nose of the alligator, and laughs in his face.”11
Bartram’s unique perspective, which brings every creature to life with little asides and inner monologues, is one of the most charming aspects of his literary style. When you visit this glittering freshwater gem and take a dip in these “perfectly clear and transparent” waters, maybe you, too, will hear the laughing of a playful trout.
Paynes Prairie Preserve
100 Savannah Blvd, Micanopy, FL
William Bartram was fascinated with all of Florida’s wildlife, describing each creature in fun and vivid ways. He compared alligators to dragons, described the gopher tortoises’ size as being big enough for a man to stand on, and conveyed the size of a flock of brightly-plumed Carolina parakeets by saying they blocked out the sun.12
Today, the Carolina parakeet is extinct, but it lives on in Bartram’s magnum opus pages, Travels. That’s part of the magic of William Bartram – his book is a time capsule of a bygone Florida. Luckily, some places, like Paynes Prairie Preserve, are also time capsules – living time capsules – that continue to be a haven for much of the wildlife Bartram encountered.
Dragon-like gators, wild horses, and almost 300 species of birds still reside among the grassy seas of the preserve.13 American Buffalo and deer also roam here, and Bartram took great delight in describing the scene – and inner thoughts – of a deer on the prairie:
“The bounding roe. . .lifts aloft his antlered head, erects the white flag, and fetching a shrill whistle, says to his fleet and free associates, ‘follow;’ he bounds off, and in a few minutes distances his foe a mile; suddenly he stops, turns about, and laughing says, ‘how vain, go chase meteors in the azure plains above, or hunt butterflies in the fields about your towns.'”14
Bartram’s anthropomorphism of the creatures he encounters is the same kind of magic Walt Disney conjured when he made a mouse who could whistle and steer a steamboat. Bartram was just 150 years too early for the big screen.
Paynes Prairie filled Bartram to the brim with inspiration, just as Salt Springs had. Whether you need to replenish your creative juices or just need a day away from the office, a pleasant walk through this gorgeous, protected landscape will take you back with William to a simpler moment where there is nothing to do but marvel at the divine.
Palatka, Florida
While much of William Bartram’s journey was wayfinding in the wilderness, he also encountered civilization from time to time. As he continued sailing down the St. Johns River, he came across a village near present-day Palatka and there befriended a group of Seminoles. While he was there, the Seminoles held a festival, which Bartram referred to as a “frolic” – one which must have shocked his Quaker sensibilities with its dancing and drink.
Nevertheless, Bartram observed and appreciated the culture that was so different from his own, staying for some days, experiencing generous hospitality and a feast of oranges and melons.15 He was even allowed to sit in on a council with the chief, Long Warrior.
One morning, while Bartram was busily drawing flowers in the village, he heard a distressed call for Puc-Puggy. The Seminoles had found a rattlesnake and were terrified of it; however, they knew Bartram liked to collect animals, so they asked the naturalist to kill it for them. With some reluctance, Bartram finally agreed to dispatch the snake.
“The men gathered around me, exciting me to remove him: being armed with a lightwood knot, I approached the reptile, who instantly collected himself in a vast coil (their attitude of defense) I cast my missile weapon at him, which luckily taking his head, dispatched him instantly, and laid him trembling at my feet.”16
Bartram did indeed add the dead snake to his specimen collection.
He also found himself instantly endeared to the entire village. Bartram fondly recalled how “. . .they all whooped in chorus, took me friendly by the hand, clapped me on the shoulder. . .shouting and proclaiming Puc-Puggy was their friend.”17
Sadly, the little Seminole village has since faded into nothing more than a memory, but with an annual festival, present-day Palatka keeps the memory of a shared friendship alive. Every April, the town hosts the “Bartram Frolic,” a celebration that educates through recreating the explorations and interactions experienced by William Bartram.18
Talented actors play Bartram and Long Warrior, bringing to life the men who lived almost two centuries ago. Guided kayaking, equestrian, hiking, and biking tours of the area let you traverse the same paths as Bartram and see Florida through his eyes. (The food trucks that come to town may be a little anachronistic. . .but who’s going to complain about yummy food? Not me!)
Welaka State Forest
Crescent City, FL
Following Bartram’s trail takes you through several distinct ecosystems – from waterways to savannahs to forests.
Welaka State Forest hosts a 5-mile footpath called the “William Bartram St. Johns River Loop,” which takes you along the river and through the woods.19 Wekala is one of 37 state forests that help preserve both wildlife and their natural habitats for future generations.20
On the trail, you’ll pass by dense thickets of palmetto leaves, through dappled sunlight, and beneath a towering canopy of pine and cypress trees, whose branches provide nesting areas for local eagles. Keep an eye on rustling brush by your feet – it might be a curious gopher tortoise! Fun fact: it was William Bartram who named the gopher tortoise. (He also named a craggy-looking tree after Benjamin Franklin.21)
Also located in the Welaka area is Mount Royal, one of Florida’s largest Indian mounds, which John and William Bartram first documented on their father-son trip.22 Bartram revisited the burial mound on his solo trip, writing, “At fifty yards from the landing-place, stands a magnificent Indian mount. About fifteen years ago, I visited this place, at which time there were no settlements of white people, but all appeared wild and savage.”23
Today this amazing earthwork is preserved and protected by the Florida Department of Historical Resources, so the archeological site remains similar to how it would’ve appeared to William Bartram on his second expedition.
With rapid urbanization, much of Florida has changed since Bartram’s time, but the spots on our list are still sure to take you back to 1774 when the War of Independence had yet to take place, and gopher tortoises had never been cataloged.
Bartram once said his “chief happiness consisted in tracing and admiring the infinite power, majesty, and perfection of the Almighty Creator.”24 We hope that as you trace the trail of William Bartram, you, too, will find happiness in admiring the natural beauty of our wonderful Sunshine State.
View this road trip on Google Maps.
Cover Image
Photo: Unsplash
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