William Bartram

William Bartram. Artist, Naturalist, Explorer. In 1775 William Bartram sat on the banks of the Oconee River and filled his journals with drawings and stories of plants and animals never before recorded. , Clear, rocky rivers filled with fish and forestss of huge trees...", Bertram described this area before settlement. he learned to draw and gather specimens from his father, John Bertram, who served as royal botanist for the colonies. They roamed the southeastern wilderness with guides, mapmakers, and surveyors, collecting, and recording plants in what recently had been Native American hunting grounds., (captions) , William Bartram . 1739-1823, Bertram sketched and named the Franklin tree for his friend Benjamin Franklin. Extinct in the wild by the mid-1800s, living specimens are descended from those Bertram collected., Bertram sketched hundreds of new botanical specimens, as well as 200 new species of birds. He drew a wild olive, cardinal, wild plum, coral honey-suckle, and a fish to document his discoveries., Bertram's travels took him through the lands of the Creek, Cherokee, and Seminole tribes. he wrote at length about their cultures and beliefs. Bartram understood the relationship between humans and nature. His journals inspired Henry David Thoreau, William Wordsworth, and John Muir, founder of the Sierra Club.