Creator
Mrs. Brown [Therese Yelverton]
Recipient
[John Muir]
Transcription
[illegible]in the Valley mentioned
by Joseph [illegible]
in his Rumblings etc
[Envelope addressed to J.M.
stamped "Garotte", Oct. 1870 Calif.
[Autumn, 1870]
My [dear] Kenmuir:
What do you mean by not writing to me? Here are all the ferns turned golden, and the oaks and maple every shade of yellow, and the sky ten times as blue and the pines still tree more green, and the chipmunks are nearly letting me catch them, and everything is doing its duty but you. I have got my hero up to Glacier Point from whence he will soon come headlong down in spite of the interruptions from the Washington gentleman, the most noble the Marquis of Shijo, who took sick and I had to doctor him —- a charming young barrister with the most beautiful face you ever saw,- and I wish I had seen him sooner and would have had him for my hero,- with whom I spent a week (I mean the barrister) among your ferns right round your cottage. I told him all about you, how you fed upon Adiantums (your soul of course), green things and rocks in general. He asked if ever I assisted at your dessert. I said I did and wished I could make my whole meal with you. He said "he wished he was you". (I was sorry for him because his life lay amongst paltry quarrels and dusty parchments, and gave him some of my best ferns and dried flowers.) Not yours mind! I do my duty by you better than you by me.The only person glad when you went away was Washington, who said he was because your eyes were too bright blue when you talked to me -- that was because his were green, no doubt. Now I am really wishing for my trip to Mono. Do not let me think you American, for that would make me weep, and you are bound to make me glad. Only fancy, Hecate goes out of the Valley tomorrow! What a chance for you here! only the ribs and sundry bones of poor "groups taken" remain —- he has folded his house and put it in the mangle to be strength for next year.
Now don't heed so much scolding. Write me and then write the Mono trip without fail directly. When do I leave the Valley? I don't know, and never shall until I am out.
(?)
Very sincerely yours,
Mrs. Brown [Therese Yelverton]
[Date supplied because of evidence in "Summer with a Countess," Overland Monthly, Nov. 1871, that Mrs. Yelverton was in Yosemite Valley during the summer and autumn of 1870]
106
Location
Garotte, Calif.
Circa Date
[1870] Oct
Source
Original letter dimensions: 33 x 21.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Therese Yelverton, "Letter from Mrs. Brown [Therese Yelverton] to [John Muir], [1870] Oct ." (1870). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1357.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1357
Resource Identifier
muir02_0347-trans.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0347
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
Copyright status unknown
Copyright Statement
Some letters written to John Muir may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
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.
Pages
1 page
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
