Creator
John Muir
Recipient
Theodore H. Hittell
Transcription
Martinez, April 7, 1899.
My dear Hittell,
I have read the Bear book. & on the whole I found it interesting. An introduction fully explaining the time & circumstances of your meeting Adams & what became of him is very important There is a great deal of vagueness all through the book which if you can clear up from your original notes or from information from his friends or acquaintances will be a grand improvement. His main camp he says was on the [Merced?] - a North Fork 40 miles N.W. from Yosemite Now he could not get half this distance from Yosemite in a N.W. direction on any branch of the Merced. 40 miles would take him across the Tuolume & on to the Slanislaws or nearly. It seems too there was a wagon road to this wild camp
2
He speaks of shooting an Old Mountain sheep which weiht 75 lbs. an old ram. I dont believe a specimen could be found less than twice this [weight?]. Nor do I believe he found any wild sheep near the "Mariposa River." Nor any such huge caves & dens of bears & wolves as he describes. There is so much of this obscurity & so many errors the book has an unreal air When with so much genuine & wonderful adventure it should be the most interesting wild book of its time. The style in part I dont like - weak & inflated, "when taken from the cage my condition was one of entire insensibility". His goods were "all consumed in a great conflagration" etc etc. But the [illegible] is the deadliest fault. How much of this you will be able to clear away I dont know. As to the Eastern publishers bring out the book you can find out only by submitting it to them. Ill return it to Payot Upham & Cos [store?].
With best wishes & congratulations
[in margin: [on?] Mrs Hittells [illegible] from [illegible] I am truly Yours John Muir]
Location
Martinez [Calif.]
Date Original
1899 Apr 7
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to Theodore H. Hittell, 1899 Apr 7." (1899). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 2375.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/2375
Resource Identifier
muir10_0733-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 10, Image 0733
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The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust.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
The Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley. 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
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
