Creator
Walter Brown
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
Yosemite Valley July 10th 1884.My dear [sister?] Wanda, Mamma & Papa got the two new letters that you wrote & Mammam & Papa are very glad beacuse the letters said that you are all right & not crying at all & wailing like a good girl & a sweet baby for mamma & papa to come home. & we are coming home soon to our own sweet baby. Mamma & papa got on to [illegible - the?] cars & the [poogh poogh? or perhaps choogh choogh?] pulled up to Stockton & there are many mosquitoes in Stockton & they stung Mamma & wouldn't let her sleep,. & then we got on to the cars again & another [poogh poogh? or perhaps choogh choogh?] pulled us to Milton. & Milton is a very hot place & we were all wet with sweat. & then we came out of the cars & got into a big buggy & six brown horses with long tails trolled fast & galloped some of the time & pulled us to Copperopolis & then the horses were tired & the man
011382that was driving them put them in the stable & gave them a drink of water & some hay to eat & some barley. & got some more horses to pull the buggy to a funny looking little town & its name is Chinese Camp. & then the horses got tired again & they were all dusty & wet with sweat & so the man put them in the stable & gave them some water & hay & barley & then the poor things were all right. & just now a man came to papa when he was writing this letter & said "is this Mr. Muir", & papa said yes. & then the man gave papa a little letter from Grandpa & the letter said "All well, do not hurry down". & then more horses pulled the buggy up & down man big hills through many bushes with pretty flowers on them & big trees with beautiful cones hanging on the branches & we saw many squirrels
011383with long tails & the squirrels were afraid of the horses & so they ran fast up the trees & began to bark like Bruno, & shake their long tails, but the did not bark so loud as Bruno, & some of the squirrels were gray & some of them had yellow stomachs & they all had whiskers & bright shining eyes, & we couldn't catch them & sometimes we jumped out of the buggy to gather pretty flowers that were growing under the big trees. & here is one of the trees, & here is one of the flowers, & here is one of the squirrels.[three sketches]And then we came to Yosemite Valley, & the horses stopped & mamma & papa jumped out of the buggy & went into a big house to live, til we got home but the people in the big house did not give us anything
011384good to eat, & the bread was sour & the butter too old to eat & the meat was tough & the tea & coffee very bad & so we came away to another big house & we get many good things to eat now & we wish baby could come too see the pretty flowers & the big trees & the white water falling far down out of the sky. But baby will come with Mamma & papa some other time when she is a little bigger. This morning the man that keeps the big house that we are living in brought about 20 little fishes all covered with pretty red & yellow spots for Mamma to look at & Mamma said to the man that had the fishes, "Are these catfish" & the man said "no these are trout" & that made papa laugh for catfish have beards & whiskers & trout have no whiskers but Mamma did not know that. [Then?] the man fried the trout & brought them to us to eat for our breakfast & he brought some ice cream too for our
011385breakfast & papa said to Mamma "What a funny breakfast this is ice-cream & catfish instead of much & milk but we had mush & milk too & venison & mutton & ham & eggs & bread. but the funniest things were the little spotted fishes & the ice-cream. An Indian man with long black hair, who never washed his face caught the fishes in a big creek that people call the Merced River A little boy that lives here has a funny little tiny donkey that has long ears & big sleepy eyes & the boy climbs up on to the donkeys back & ships him & makes him trot trot trot up & down the valley & the boy never falls off & everybody looks at the donkey because it looks so little & funny. There are many mules here too & horses & cows & some queer little dogs. & quails & robins & owls. & they make a loud noise some times neighing & lowing & braying & barking & singing & piping but the falling water coming down out of
Location
Kansas City, Mo
Date Original
1886 Jul 12
Source
Original letter dimensions: 25.5 x 21 cm.
Recommended Citation
Brown, Walter, "Letter from Walter Brown to John Muir, 1886 Jul 12." (1886). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1567.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1567
Resource Identifier
muir05_0095-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 05, Image 0095
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
5 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
