Creator
John Muir
Recipient
[James] Hay
Transcription
[4]
& even our bright sunshine became brighter. Well I suppose we may safely & sadly guess as the Yankees say that this is not to be Nature takes care to scatter people over the earth as winged seeds are scattered but I shall always be glad that I saw so many of you together those two memorable days at Birkenhead and then I shall also hope to see some of the boys here. I'm pegging away at the ranch work & at my books but make slow headway. Have published nothing since I returned though I submitted to an interview by a newspaper man the results of which i sent copies of to Mrs. Lunam It didn't amount to much. Tell Peggie that Wanda & Helen are studying hard. They have a teacher all to themselves & Helen can read now as well as write. Here are their pictures for her. Good bye. Heaven bless you all. Ever your loving cousin John Muir
01746 [1]
Martinez, California
U.S.A.
November 18th
1893.
My Dear Cousin Hay
I received yours of Sep 28. & the forwarded letters when I reached home Oct. 16th & should have written you then & would have done so had I not been bewitched with work & pleasure in meeting my family & friends after so long a ramble. Braid seas are roarin between us again, but after seeing you all face to face & sharing your home life distance is made of non effect as far as love & respect are concerned. And I am sure that much as I enjoyed Gods works in the icy rocky regions of Norway & Switzerland & the communion of literary & scientific
[2]
men & women, the greatest good of the summer to me is the acquaintance I made of my cousins at Dunbar Dumfries & Birkenhead. You have become part of my life now & I feel rich & am proud of you all. I was about two weeks at New York seeing literary folk & giving some directions about two articles on Alaska that the Century Co are about to publish. Then I went to the capital, Washington to see if I could do anything for our forests by confining with the government officials. Thence I went to Chicago - saw friends there & more of the [big?] show. Then made a special trip to Portage to see mother & my three sisters
[3]
Anna, Joanna, & Sarah, & you may guess how long & eager our talks concerning Kith & Kin & Scotland were. I found them all well. Mothers memory on everything scotch is as keen as ever, & she asked me many questions that I could not answer satisfactorily about the younger relatives. I gave her one of the photographs of yourself which interested her much of course & she seemed to remember you all. I wish you could all come out here in grand triumphal company. Mr James & Hardy, Mrs James & Hardy, Mrs John Mrs Jeffrey the unconscionable [illegible] Miss Robinson Wee Paggie the boys Mrs & Maggie Lunam Susan Gilroy & Jane Mather Then surely our Contra Costa hills would break forth into singing
Location
Martinez, Calif.
Date Original
1893 Nov 18
Source
Original letter dimensions: 21 x 26.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to [James] Hay, 1893 Nov 18." (1893). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1015.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1015
Resource Identifier
muir07_1413-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 07, Image 1413
Copyright Status
Copyrighted
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, click here to view the Holt-Atherton Special Collections policies.
Owning Institution
Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. 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
Pages
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
