Creator

[John Muir]

Recipient

[Louie Strentzel Muir]

Preview

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Transcription

[2]dim white slopes seen as through a veil darkly becoming fainter & fainter as the flakes thicken & at length hide all the land. Last evening I went ashore with the Captain & saw the few chief men of the place & the one white woman & a good many of the [illegible]. We were kindly & cordially entertained by the agent of the Alaska Com. Co Mr Greenbaum, & while seated in his elegant parlor could hardly realize that we were in so remote & cold & silent a wilderness. While we were seated at our ease discussing Alaskan & Polar affairs a knock[3]came to the door & a tall hoary majestic old man slowly entered whom I at once took for the Russian priest but to whom I was introduced as Dr Holman. He shook hand with me very heartily & said Mr Muir I am glad to see you I had the pleasure of knowing you in San Francisco. Then I recognized him as the dignified old gentleman that I first met 3 or 4 years ago at the home of the Smiths at San Rafael & we had a pleasant evening together. He has been in the employ of the Alaska Com. Co here for a year caring for the health of the Companys Aleats. His own01002[6][in margin: I am multiplying letters in case some be lost. & a thousand kisses to my child] We have not yet commenced to coal so that we will not get off for the north before Sunday. There is a schooner here that will sail for Oregon (Shoalwater Bay) in a few days by which I will send 4 or 5 letters. The 3 or 4 more that I intend writing ere we leave this port I will give to the Agent of the Company here to be forwarded by the next opportunity in case the first batch should be lost. Then others will be sent [words crossed out] from St Michael by the company’s steamer & still others from the Seal Islands, & from points where we fall in with any vessel homeward bound. Good night to all.

Location

Oonalaska, [Alaska]

Date Original

1881 May 18

Source

Original letter dimensions: 20 x 25 cm.

Resource Identifier

muir04_0556-let.tif

File Identifier

Reel 04, Image 0556

Copyright Statement

The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies of images and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit them, see http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections/Fees-and-Forms-.html

Owning Institution

University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.

Copyright Holder

Muir-Hanna Trust

Copyright Date

1984

Page Number

Page 2

Keywords

John Muir, correspondence, letters, author, writing, naturalist, California, correspondent, mail, message, post, exchange of letters, missive, notes, epistle

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