NCBartramTrail.org

In September 2009, Dr. Dan Pittillo resigned from the Board of the North Carolina Bartram Society after serving as a Board member since the inception of the Society in 1977. Dan is the only remaining member of the original Board and the only one surviving who participated in the creation of the North Carolina Bartram Trail from its beginning in the 1970’s. During his 35 years of active involvement with the building and expansion of the trail, he has seen it grow from a gleam in the eyes of its founder, Walter McKelvey, to a well-maintained, more than 75-mile hiking trail popular with many outdoor enthusiasts. We thought Dan’s retirement would be an appropriate occasion to revisit for our membership the way the trail idea developed and was implemented and the context in which it was ultimately constructed and promoted.

Download Full Article Here

NCBTS Board Member, Dr. James Costa, recently wrote a wonderful, descriptive article describing the connections between Charles Darwin and William Bartram. We are pleased to make this article available for our web guests–please click below to download the full article:

On Charles Darwin’s Reading of William Bartram–Download Full Article

Check out this documentary by National Georgraphic which explores our neighbor, the Appalachian Trail:

Much of the Appalachian Trail is close to major populations – so how wild can it be? We will travel from South to North and explore the remotest corners of the A.T. and meet the scientists fighting to keep this wilderness wild. Join National Geographic on a rollercoaster ride of agonizing ascents and rewarding vistas — all courtesy of mountains roughly 480 million years in the making.. Well explore this 5 million step journey through the five distinct regions of the AT landscape and learn what it takes to keep this ribbon of green safe, healthy, and totally wild.

Read more here.

Follw this link to listen to the audio archive on WAMU’s website:http://wamu.org/programs/dr/09/05/03.php#26328

We learned of Jeremy’s tune about William Bartram by way of a listserve message posting of Dr. Kathryn Braund, president of the Bartram Trail Conference. BTS Newsletter Editor Ina Warren knew Jeremy as a teacher/naturalist from past conferences at the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont .

We were so impressed that we approached him and asked if we could share his music with our members and web guests. He graciously has offered a free download of The Second Travels of William Bartram. Jeremy is a songwriter and author, feel free to visit his website and support him. Scroll down for more information about Jeremy and lyrics to the song.

Listen to or download The Second Travels Of William Bartram (mp3)

As a bonus, Jeremy also has offered NCBTS web guests his instrumental ode to the Hemlock tree Tsuga Canadensis (mp3)

About Jeremy

Jeremy Lloyd is a native of Western Pennsylvania. Since 1996 he has lived and worked in Great Smoky Mountains National Park where he teaches environmental education and coordinates natural and cultural history programs. He has written two small books, Great Smoky Mountains National Park Pocket Guide & Journal and A Home in Walker Valley (forthcoming), both published by Great Smoky Mountains Association, in addition to a number of articles that have appeared in Smokies Life, Grays Sporting Journal, North Carolina Literary Review, and The Sun. In addition he’s recorded a number of albums in the folk/Americana vein. His music is available on CDBaby.com.

Lyrics

TRAVELS OF WILLIAM BARTRAM PART II

I come from Pennsylvania, land of milk and honey, an outdoorsman’s paradise
With paper, pen and pouch I aimed straight for Appalachia’s mouth to get spat out on some far distant shore

And it’s a long way back from where I came
And when I get back there will things still be the same
Don’t you wait up for me, I’ll be going slow
With an open hand I walk into the woods, deep in the woods,
That’s where I long to go.

Here on the second time around things look a little bit unsound
All my landmarks are in English furniture
And all my friends are gone, the ones who knew the songs
And lit up a bright new flame every year

And it’s a long way back from where they came
And when they get back there will things still be the same
Don’t you wait up for me, I’ll be going slow
With an open hand I walk into the woods, deep in the woods,
That’s where I long to go.

Now let me lay it out on the table,
let me speak the truth if I’m able
Even if my voice shakes some.
It’s a mess what you’ve done to the place,
half the freedoms and no more space,
It’s a crime, it’s a sin, it’s a disgrace.
So take your love down through the fields
Tale your love down to the water
Pollinate and wounds be healed
Second growth for sons and daughters

It’s a long way back from where we came,
And when we get back there will things still be the same,
Don’t you wait up for me, I’ll be going slow.
With an open hand I walk into the woods, deep in the woods –
That’s where I long to go.

Since 1984, Bill Landry, writer and producer of the Heartland Series has filmed stories of natural and cultural significance. The series began with the 50th anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Video segments are aired nightly on WBIR-TV’s NBC affiliate in Knoxville, Tennessee. They are also made available for sale to the public in DVD format. The very first Heartland Series segment was called “An Unlikely Explorer” and was about the travels of William Bartram. To celebrate the Park’s 75th anniversary, Landry and his film crew returned to the Nantahala National Forest in December 07 and July 08 and filmed another segment on the NCBT. The new segment aired in July.

Please click below to view two video segments from the Heartland Series: The Flower Hunter & Bartram’s Journey.

The NCBTS would like to thank Bill Landry, the Heartland Series and Knoxville TV station WBIR for providing us with this video and allowing us to share it with you.

Thank you so much!