Creator
John Muir
Recipient
Emily [O. Pelton]
Transcription
absolutely immortal, & what- ever Heaven may have in store for you in after years You have at least one friend while John Muir lives ---- Remember me warmly to Mr Pelton & N A Wright. I am sorry to learn the death of Mrs Newton - - - Had I been able to leave Yosemite I should have seen you ere this but Heaven Keeps me to my mountain task with an iron grip loving though it be. Do you remember Prof Carrs wife she was at Mondell once or twice. She was friendly to me while I was a student & ever afterwards. pro Carr is now connected with the Cal State University. They have sent me many pressing invitations to spend winter with them but as I said I am rockbound Yosemite Valley Feb 19th [1872]Dear friend Emily, I was really glad to hear from you. I wrote you at least two letters since receiving yours of last spring. I began to fear that I had lost you all together. I am glad to hear that you are coming here next season You will be sure to find me without any trouble. I have never had any pictures of myself since that of yours wh I suppose is the one I let Mrs Pelton have You will find me at Blacks Hotel. I left Mr Hutchings because he was not kind to me. I am in every way independent & will beIn all these years since your I have been isolated somehow I don't mould in with the rest of mankind & have become far more confusedly bashful than when I lived in Mondell. Now Emily there is a whole letter all about myself wh is a literary sign that I have not committed for some time Farewell ever heartily yrs John Muir
most happy to see you & help you to see Yosemite. You will require no photograph to know me, the most suntanned & round shoulder- ed & bashful man of the crowd (if you catch me in a crowd), that's me. I will be here for some years, as last fall I began a careful study of the ancient glacier system of this portion of the Sierra for the Boston Academy of Science A sort of preliminary survey of the Glacial basin of Yosemite Creek was published in the New York Tribune of Dec 9th (Daily) wh will give you some idea of the manner in wh my life is spent. Some winter letters of mine may also appear in the Tribune as soon as the snow blockade is broken. Last Dec' we had a glorious jubilee of waterfalls, of wh I wrotean account, It will probably appear in next months "Overland" If it does I hope you will see it. How gladly I would welcome Mrs Pelton here & wee Fannie who would have been more than half a woman ere this. I would like to see you all. How fast those yrs have flown. How you must laugh at the memories of my odd appearance, among you all. I remember rebuking you & Mr Lovewell without mercy for silly chat, old Mr Newton too for irreveren ce & all of you for sins of some kind or other, & something else I remember Emily - Your Kind words to me the first day I sw you Kind words are likely to live in any human soil, but planted in the breast of a Scotchman they are
2Yosemite ValleyFeb. 19th.[1872]Dear friend Emily,I was really glad to hear from you. I wrote you at least two letters since receiving yours of last spring. I began to fear that I had lost you all together.I am glad to hear that you are coming here next season. You will be sure to find me without any trouble. I have never had any pictures of myself since that of yours wh I suppose is the one I let Mrs. Pelton have. You will find me at Blacks Hotel. I left Mr. Hutchings because he was not kind to me. I am in every way independent and will be most happy to see you and help you to see Yosemite. You will require no photograph to know me. The most suntanned and round shouldered and bashful man of the crowd (if you catch me in a crowd) that's me. I will be here for some years, as last fall I began a careful study of the ancient Glacier system of this portion of the Sierra for the Boston Academy of Science, A sort of preliminary survey of the Glacial basin of Yosemite Creek was published in the New York Tribune of Dec. 9th (Daily) wh will give you some idea of the manner in wh my life is spent. Some winter letters of mine may also appear in the Tribune as soon as the snow blockade is broken.Last Dec'we had a glorious jubilee of Waterfalls, of wh I wrote an account. It will probably appear in next months "Overland". If it does I hope you will see it. How gladly I would welcome Mrs. Pelton here and wee Fannie who would have been more than half a woman ere this. I would like to see you all, how fast those yrs have flown. How you must laugh at the memories of my odd appearance among you all. I remember rebuking you and Mr. Lovewell without mercy for silly chat, old Mr. Newton too for irreverence and all of you for sins of some kind or other. And something else I remember Emily - your kind words to me the first day I saw you • Kind words are likely to live in any human soil, but planted in the
2—Feb. 19th, 1872breast of a Scotchman they are absolutely immortal, and whatever Heaven may have in store for you in after years You have at least one friend while John Muir lives.Remember me warmly to Mr. Pelton and N. A. Wright. I am sorry to learn the death of Mrs. Newton.Had I been able to leave Yosemite I should have seen you ere this but Heaven Keeps me to my mountain task with an iron grip loving though it be.Do you remember Prof. Carr's wife, she was at Mondell once or twice. She was friendly to me while I was a student and ever afterwards, Prof Carr is now connected with the Cal. State University. They have sent me many pressing invitations to spend winter with them, but as I said I am rockbound. In all these years since I saw you I have been isolated, somehow I dont mould in with the rest of mankind and have become far more confusedly bashful than when I lived in Mondell - Now Emily there is a whole letter all about myself wh is a literary sin that I have not committed for some time.Farewell, ever heartily yrs,John Muir.
Location
Yosemite Valley
Circa Date
[1872] Feb 19
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to Emily [O. Pelton], [1872] Feb 19." (1872). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1427.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1427
Resource Identifier
muir02_0689-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 02, Image 0689
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
Wisconsin Historical Society. 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
4 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
