Creator
[John Muir]
Recipient
[Annie] Wanda [Muir]
Transcription
[letterhead]
Aug. 1 1888
My dear Wanda
Your nice good letter came yesterday & I was very glad to get it far gladder then you know for I had not heard a word from home since I left you all. & when I got to this town I went very quick & in a very anxious frame of mind to the post office expecting to find five or six letters but there was none at all & I was very sorry for I wanted so much to hear that you & Helen & Mama & everybody were well. I had to go to a hotel & felt very sad & had a sore heart. Keith got two letters & next day his wife came. He said, "never mind Muir everybody is well at your house & things are so smooth
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[2]
& regular they never thought there was anything to write about. but you will get a letter soon anyway. Then I went again to the post office & waited a long time for my turn & asked the main in the office if there was a letter for John Muir & spelled the name for him, M.u i. r but after looking over a big lot of letters he said No, & shook his head. Then I went again & again until I thought there was no use going any more but Keith said yesterday "Muir lets go to the Post Office You are sure to get a letter today" & so I went with him as I was soon going to leave Seattle & I thought I must try once more before going away
[2]
[letterhead]
into the woods & sure enough the man gave me your letter & I opened it & looked anxiously down the page until I came to the place where you said we are all well & I was very glad for I was afraid that Helen might be sick then I read all the letter & found it very interesting from beginning to end.
Papa has not been very well since he left home but feels better now
Yesterday Mr. Keith & I went on a little steamboat to Port Blakeley across the sound from here & looked at the big sawmills & walked into the woods to see the trees & the flowers & we had a good time & got back here at
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of them lean over & spread on the ground like vines. All the ground is covered with them for miles & miles. The leaves are large & firm & handsome & the flowers are pink bells. I wish you could see them here are a few that I gathered for you but they will all be withered before you get them some day I will take you into these beautiful wild woods & there you will see the deal little vine that is called Linnean I found one flower for you most of the flowers have faded a month ago.
Your rhyme or rim as you
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[in margin: give my love to everybody at both homes & take good care of little Helen Your loving Father]
call it is very good I think & I hope you will send me some more. Tell mama that I expected to leave this town three or four days ago,. but had to wait for others to get ready Tomorrow we go across the mtns by the [Snowhomish?] Falls then through the woods by Green River to Mt Ranier. Guess I will not be able to climb to the top of it, & the weather is not safe but I will see some of the glaciers at least & the grand old trees
Goodbye send your next letters to Portland In about 2 weeks I may be there
Location
Seattle, W[ashington] T[erritory]
Date Original
1888 Aug 1
Source
Original letter dimensions: 26.5 x 15.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from [John Muir] to [Annie] Wanda [Muir], 1888 Aug 1." (1888). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 1772.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/1772
Resource Identifier
muir05_1098-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 05, Image 1098
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
6 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
