William Bartram and UWS Vol 42 #2

Gene Page makes reference in the article," There is History in Manatee Springs" to William Bartram, and interestingly the relation to Evelyn Dudas. Who is William Bartram? In the 1770's he wrote a book called, "Travels" , which is the first written description of the springs in Florida. He successfully visited a part of Florida after the violence of the Spanish occupation and Indian conflicts, and provided a very detailed accounting of these springs. One description is how clear the Suwannee river was, which in that era at least half the water was from springs, so he was able to describe plants and fish without the benefit of scuba.

Bartram was born in PA in 1739 to John Bartram a botanist and naturalist (he has a book as well) and consorted with B. Franklin. William went with his father on several expeditions drawing flora and fauna including a first trip to Florida in 1765 and explored the headwaters of the St. John river. William returns to Florida in 1774 and explores the Alachua Savannah (now Paine’s Prairie) goes over to the Suwanee (june-July) then visits Mobile, Pensacola (we have a Bartram Park here), and onto New Orleans and Lake Pontchattrain.

His description of Manatee on the Little St. Juan (now Suwanee) is very interesting (PartII, Chap. VII…caution, Manate consumption is discussed). He has many mentions of sinkholes and Karst including a visit to a Florida geyser…that started and erupted for days….after some research i think I figured out where it (Alligator Hole) is and have visited the area but have yet to make it to the source. Bill

The Article has the Wrong Date, Bartram was at Manatee in 1774.