TennesseeTennessee
lthough there is no hard evidence to prove that Bartram traveled in Tennessee, it is quite possible that he crossed what is now the Tennessee North Carolina border during his exploration of Cherokee lands in the spring of 1775. He had had every intention of visiting the “Overhill towns” of the Cherokee (located in Tennessee) but was forced to cut his trip short due to Indian hostility:
“…upon serious consideration it appeared very plainly that I could not, with entire safety, range the Overhill settlements until the treaty was over, which would not come on till late in June, I suddenly came to a resolution to defer these researches at this time, and leave them for the employment of another season and a more favourable opportunity.”(l21)
Since present-day Tennessee was considered part of North Carolina in Bartram’s day, there is, of course, no specific reference in his Travels to crossing a border into the state. For that reason and because his geographical descriptions here are rather vague, it is not certain whether he entered the state at all. If he did, and it is entirely possible, he would have entered Tennessee through either Polk or Monroe County and traveled briefly in the area now covered by Cherokee National Forest before returning to safer territory.
It is regrettable that the “other season” and “more favorable opportunity” to which Bartram referred never materialized and he was unable to undertake a more extensive exploration of Tennessee.
121. Bartram’s Travels, p. 366, Harper’s Naturalist’s Edition, p. 231.
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