The 29th annual Bartram Day will be held in Franklin on Saturday, May 20, to commemorate the journey of William Bartram through the region in the spring of 1775.

Bartam’s journey, documented in his diary compilation titled Bartram’s Travels, was primarily a plant-collecting mission. Plant collecting was all the rage during the period when European governments and wealthy individuals sanctioned botanists to bring back new specimens from new colonies around the globe.

Russell Townsend, a historian with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, will be the guest speaker at this year’s event, held at 10:30 a.m. at the Tassee Shelter on the Little Tennessee Greenway. Townsend, a trained archaeologist, will explain how the three tribes of Cherokee are related. He will also discuss how their history has progressed over the past several centuries to the present state of their culture as it now exists in Cherokee, one of the historical overtowns of Bartram’s time in the region.

Following a picnic lunch, there will be three hikes to choose from in the afternoon.

• A walk along the Little Tennessee River Greenway will begin at the Tassee Shelter and head south, crossing the Nickajack Bridge into Puc Puggy’s Meadow to end at Nonah Bridge and back.

• A work hike along the Little Tennessee Greenway will be led by Tim Warren, the N.C. Bartram Trail Society Maintenance Crew Chief. The work crew will touch up blazes, lop branches, remove invasives, and anything else that needs to be done to make the Greenway more enjoyable.

• A Billy Bartram Club hike will be led by Dan Pittillo. This walk along the Greenway is geared for children ages 2 to 12 accompanied by their parents or guardians. The group will explore for “critters” encountered along the way and learn their names and habits while having lots of fun. The Billy Bartram Club is made up of a group of families who meet monthly for planned nature-oriented activities. Its purpose is to introduce youngsters to the wonders of nature so that they develop a lasting connection to their environment and an interest in its preservation.

The connection between the four-mile Little Tennessee Greenway and the Bartram Trail also will be honored at this year’s Bartram Day. The Bartram Trail follows Bartram’s footsteps through the region, including the Cherokee middle towns of Echoe, Nikwasi, Whatoga, Jore, and Cowe on the banks of the Tennessee (or “Tanase” in Cherokee) River and its tributaries. Some of these towns, such as Whatoga, Jore, and Cowe, correspond to the present-day communities of Watauga, Iotla and Cowee. Others, like Echoe, are now only memories that exist as place names on maps. Of course, the legendary Nikwasi is the site of present-day Franklin through which the Little “Tanase” still meanders.

The Greenway and the Bartram Trail share a common path from Nonah Bridge to Tassee Park. The Greenway section from Nonah Bridge to Nickajack Bridge is called Traders Path, where Bartram apparently entered Nikwasi long ago. A field at north end of the Trader’s Path was bestowed with Bartam’s Cherokee name: Puc Puggy’s Meadow.

A section of the river itself is designated as the Bartram Trail Canoe Route for nine miles from the Riverside Road access point south of town to the take-out at Ulco Drive, the site of Tassee Park on the Little Tennessee Greenway.

The annual Bartram Day events will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Tassee Park and shelter along the Greenway.with refreshments. A North Carolina Bartram Trail Association business meeting will be at 10 a.m., followed by the guest speaker at 10:30 a.m. A picnic lunch will be held at noon, followed by hikes along the Greenway.

To reach Tassee Park, take Main Street to Depot Street and go about half a mile until the road ends. Turn left on Wells Grove Road, take a quick right on Ulco Drive, and make immediate left into Tassee Park.

For more information about the Bartram Trail go to www.ncbartramtrail.org or contact Olga Pader at 828.369.2457. For more information on the Billy Bartram Club contact Pittilo at 828.293.9661 or dpittillo@gmail.com.