Creator
John Muir
Recipient
David [Gilrye Muir]
Transcription
happiest days & scrap portions of my life were in that old slant walled garret & among the smooth creeks that trickled among the sedges of Fountain Lake meadow In recalling the mechanical achievements of those early days I remember with satisfaction that the least successful one was that horrid guillotine of a thing slicing off gophers heads Those money receipts are all right, You say that business is dull but that you expect to live through it all, certainly you will, As a family we are pretty firmly united & you know that no one tree of a close clump can very well fall, In my walks through the forests of humanity I find no family clump more inwoven in root & branch than our own. I have completed the saw mill here It works extremely well. If not a "kirk & a
[in margin: mill. I have at least made a house & a mill here]
March 24. Yours of Feb 8th recd.
(Social) [1870] Yosemite March 20 Dear Brother David G
Your last of Jan. 6th reached me here in the rocks two weeks ago I am very heartily glad to learn that your dear wife, & wee ones have escaped from sickness to health-"Ten weeks of fever" Mercy what intense significance these four words have for me after my Florida experiences-We were taught to believe that Providence has special designs to accomplish by the agency of such afflictions I cannot say that I have the requisite amount of faith to feel the truth of this but one invariable result of suffering in a love knit family is to deepen affection & sympathy
[in margin: I am glad to hear of [illegible] and [illegible] health & of the welfare of the [twin?] Joanna My love to all JM]
to quicken all the powers that develop compact units from clusters of human souls I am sitting here in a little shanty made of sugar- pine shingles this sabbath evening I have not been at church a single time since leaving home. Yet this glorious valley might well be called a church for every lover of the great Creator who comes within the broad overwhelming influences of the place fail not to worship as they never did before The glory of the Lord is upon all his works; it is written plainly upon all the fields of every chime & upon every sky but here in this place of surpassing glory the Lord his written in capitals I hope that one day you will see & read with your own eyes
00499
The only sounds that strike me tonight are the ticking of the clock, the flickering of the fire & the. the love songs of a host of peaceful frogs that sing out in the meadow up to their throats in slush, & the deep waving roar of the falls like breakers on a rocky coast Your description of the sad quiet & deserted loneli- ness of home made me sorry & I felt like returning to the old farm & take care of father & mother myself in their old days but a little reflection served to show that of all the family my views & habits & dis- position made me the most incapable for the task You stirred a happy budget of memories in speaking of my work-shop & laboratory. The
[Original letter in possession of David Gilrye Muir]
YoSemite, March 20, [1870]
Dear Brother David G[ilrye]:
Your last of Jan. 6th reached me here in the rocks two weeks ago. I am very heartily glad to learn that your dear wife and wee ones have escaped from sickness to health. "Ten weeks of fever" -- mercy, what intense significance these four words have for me after my Florida experiences. We were taught to believe that Providence has special designs to accomplish by the agency of such afflictions. I cannot say that I have the requisite amount of faith to feel the truth of this, but one invariable result of suffering in a love-knit family is to quicken all the powers that develop compact units from clusters of human souls.
I am sitting here in a little shanty made of sugar-pine shingles this Sabbath evening. I have not been at church a single time since leaving home. Yet this glorious valley might well be called a church, for every lover of the great Creator who comes within the broad overwhelming influences of the place fail[illegible]not to worship as he never did before.
The glory of the Lord is upon all his works; it is written plainly upon all the fields of every clime, and upon every sky, but here in this place of surpassing glory the Lord [has] (his) written in capitals. I hope that one day you will see and read with your own eyes.
The only sounds that strike me tonight are the ticking of the clock, the flickering of the fire and the love songs of a host of peaceful frogs that sing out in the meadow up to their throats in slush, and the deep waving roar of the falls like breakers on a rocky coast.
Your description of the sad quiet and deserted loneliness of home made me sorry, and I felt like returning to the old farm to take care of father and mother myself in their old days, but a little reflection served to show that of all the family, my views and habits and disposition made me the most incapable for the task.
You stirred a happy budget of memories in speaking of my work-shop and laboratory. The happiest days and scrap portions of my life were in that old slant-walled garret and among the smooth creeks that trickled among the sedges of Fountain Lake meadow.
In recalling the mechanical achievements of those early days I remember with satisfaction that the least successful one was that horrid guillotine of a thing slicing off gophers' heads.
Those money receipts are all right. You say that business is dull, but that you expect to live through it all. Certainly you will,--as a family we are pretty firmly united, and you know that no one tree of a close clump can very well fall. In my walks through the forests of humanity I find no family clump more inwoven in root and branch than our own. I have completed the sawmill here. It works extremely well. If not a " Kirk & a mill" I have at least made a house and a mill here. I am glad to hear of Maggie's and Sarah's health, and of the welfare of the twins and Joanna.
My love to all.
J. M. [John Muir]
March 24. Yours of Feb. 8th rec'd.
[Year 1870 supplied as Muir refers to completion of sawmill, which he commenced in Dec. 1869, probably]
Location
Yosemite
Circa Date
[1870] Mar 20
Source
Original letter dimensions: 20.5 x 25.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to David [Gilrye Muir], [1870?] Mar 20." (1870). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1327.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1327
Resource Identifier
muir02_0219-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0219
Collection Identifier
Online finding aid for the microform version of the John Muir Correspondence http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0w1031nc
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, see http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections/Fees-and-Forms-.html
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
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
