The Bartram Trail Conference Biennial Meeting
Montgomery, Alabama
October 24-26, 2003
PROGRAM
Friday Evening, October 24, 6:00 PM.
Registration and Welcome Reception for Bartram Trail Conference membership. Alabama Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave., Montgomery, AL. Following a buffet barbecue, we’ll be treated to a tour of the museum’s outstanding exhibit of Creek Indian artifacts. Professor Gregory A. Waselkov, co-author of William Bartram on the Southeastern Indians, will be our tour guide. Other museum and archival treasures relating to Bartram’s visit will also be on display.
Saturday, October 25, 8:30–4:30 AM
Alabama State Capitol Auditorium
“Bartram and Alabama: A Symposium on William Bartram’s Alabama Travels”
8:30–9:00 Registration Continues.
9:00–9:15 Opening Remarks
Kathryn H. Braund, President of the Bartram Trail Conference
9:15–10:00 Bartram in Alabama:
Mark Dauber, “The Lost Alabama Landscape of William Bartram”
10:00–10:45 Bartram Discoveries and Observations: Flowers
Brad Sanders: “A Lily by Any Other Name: The Cahaba or Shoals Lily and Bartram’s Wildflower Experience in Alabama”
10:45–11:00 Break
11:00–12:00 Bartram Discoveries and Observations: Bartram’s Indians
Kathryn Braund: “The Eagle-Tail Standard of the Creek Indians”
Craig Sheldon: “Where Bartram Sat: Creek Indian Architecture”
12:00–1:00 Lunch: boxed lunches provided. Collect your lunch and return to the auditorium to watch Bartram videos, chat with BTC friends in the foyer, or visit the Book Display.
1:00–2:00 Discoveries: Paper Trails
Mark Williams: “The Discovery of E. G. Squier’s Manuscript Copy of William Bartram’s Observations on the Creek and Cherokee Indians”
Nancy Hoffman: The Draft Manuscript of Bartram’s Travels
2:00–3:00 Discoveries: Trails and Places
Greg Lein, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources: “The Bartram Canoe Trail in Southeast Alabama”
Scott Couch of the Friends of Tuskegee National Forest with Joe Turham and Ray Vaughan of WildLaw: “Bartram’s Trail in the Tuskegee National Forest”
3:00–3:30 Break: Bartram books on sale in the lobby
3:30–4:30: Writing Bartram: An author round-table followed by questions from the audience and book signing.
Tom Hallock, From the Fallen Tree: Frontier Narratives, Environmental Politics, and the Roots of a National Pastoral, 1749-1826
John R. Ray and Malcolm J. Skove, Bartram Trail: Detailed Trail Guide with Maps
Brad Sanders, Guide to William Bartram’s Travels
Chuck Spornick and Bob Greene, An Outdoor Guide to Bartram’s Travels
Gregory Waselkov, William Bartram on the Southeastern Indians
Saturday Evening
We’ll convene at a local restaurant for a banquet followed by a special guest speaker, Dr. John Hall, Alabama Museum of Natural History, who will discuss Bartram’s botanical collection techniques.
October 26
9:00-3:00 Sunday Expedition and Program at Ft. Toulouse. Fort Toulouse-Jackson State Park is 10 miles north of Montgomery, AL off US Hwy. 231 in Wetumpka. Directions and a map will be available at the symposium.
9:00-11:00 Participants will assemble at Ft. Toulouse in the main parking lot. From there, we will be driven to a put in location along the Tallapoosa River for a canoe trip back to the fort. Canoe expedition to last approximately one to one and one-half hours. The BTC will provide canoes, but participants may bring their own canoe if desired. Along the way, naturalists and historians will discuss the historic Tallapoosa of Bartram’s day.
11:00 Participants will assemble for brief presentation on the history of Fort Toulouse (Dr. Jim Parker) and the ceremony of the black drink, a welcome and purification ritual practiced daily by Creek men and offered to visitors, including Bartram (Dr. John Hall and Dr. Craig Sheldon). Presentation includes information on the preparation and serving of black drink, with samples for the audience.
Noon Boxed Lunches provided. Following lunch, Johnny Molloy, author of Long Trails of the Southeast and numerous other trail guides will discuss the Bartram Trail in north Georgia/Pinhoti Trail in Alabama.
After lunch Participants will explore the site of Fort Toulouse, the reconstructed Indian village and fort and the botanical trail on their own.