Creator
R[obert] U[nderwood] Johnson
Recipient
John Muir
Transcription
The Players,
Sixteen Gramercy Park
[New York], July 5, 1906.
/Dear Muir:
Sound the loud timbrel o'er Yosemit-ee!
Jehovah hath triumphed: His forests are free!
You have perhaps noticed that the bill to accept the recession of the Valley trust became a law on the 11th of June. Finis coronat opus! I hope there is no darkey in that woodpile! You remember that when in the month of June, 1889, you and I planned the details of the campaign for a Yosemite National Park, one of the chief objects in our mind was to create a reserve which should be so well managed by the national government that California would be glad to merge into its protecting environment the long mismanaged valley. This having worked out exactly as planned, I send you my congratulations on the accomplishment of our hearts' desire. The Sierra Club, which under your leadership bore the brunt of the fight for Recession must be very happy. I am sorry to hear that it was burned out and lost all its archives; but it will live in its ashes and do battle for outraged Nature -- the Big Trees next, which the misguided will now wish to cut down for the building of the new San Francisco.
I must write to Colby for the Club record of its service to the state and nation in defense of the forests and to send my congratulations and good wishes.
I hope all your expectations of good health for yourself and thegirls are being realized. How I wish I could have you for my guide to theGrand Canyon, as I did to the Yosemite! Perhaps another year. Now I must keep near my desk.
I am, thank Heaven, in good health and enjoy my work. Mrs. Johnson is in Florence. She will return early in the fall. My children and grandchildren are also well. So I have much to make me happy in spiteof the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of a moderate income.
I hope you are not failing to make record of your eventful days. Begin with the most important things and work downward. In the new interest which the world has in California that Yosemite Guide seems an imperative duty. The days come and go and we are all getting older. Look into thy heart and write. I think of you often, my dear Muir, and wish I could tell you all my wonderful experience at Vesuvius.
Faithfully yours,
R. U. Johnson
03746
Location
[New York]
Date Original
1906 Jul 5
Source
Original letter dimensions: 17.5 x 21.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Robert Underwood, "Letter from R[obert] U[nderwood] Johnson to John Muir, 1906 Jul 5 ." (1906). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 3550.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/3550
Resource Identifier
muir16_0307-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 16, Image 0307
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
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
