Creator
John Muir
Recipient
[Robert Underwood] Johnson
Transcription
Martinez Dec. 15/06
Dear Mr Johnson:
Through all the last three trouble-filled years I have not written a single line for the press. Since our return from Arizona I have been repairing earthquake damage to the house. We are now quietly settled for the winter & I hope to try my pen once more.
As to G. W. James, he is an unscrupulous ex-minister who tries to get hold of anything in anyway to make money. The letters he has got possession of are a lot written long ago to Mrs Carrs wife of Prof. Carr under whom I studied at the State University of Wisconsin. Some are about 40 yrs old, but most were written from Yosemite when I lived there
2
since Mrs Carr's death several years ago I have been sorry I did not get possession of them as I wanted them for my studies & first impressions etc, they were filled with About 3 yrs before Mrs C died she lost her memory to so great extent the court appointed a guardian to manage her property, & it must have been about this time that James got hold of them from her or her son or guardian probably saying he would return them. Have you seen those he published in the Craftsman for March,/05? his article in Impressions [Quarterly?], December 1904 If not Ill send you a copy. He had the impendence to send me a lot. I wrote & told him he had no right to publish or keep those letters, & he answered never a word. One of them would make a good magazine article. I kept no
copy of them or notes & if I can't get them away from James I would rather let him publish them notwithstanding the fringe of sentimental rubbish he draws around them.
He is a cunning fellow, still I may be able to find out just how he managed to get his hands on them Strange how smart & how mean many ex ministers are.
We must now take up the Yosemite Park management. Do you know any good landscape gardener If only Olmstead were alive
I congratulate you on the grand extinguishment of Hearst
With kindest regards to you all I am ever faithfully yours John Muir
Location
Martinez [Calif.]
Date Original
1906 Dec 15
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to [Robert Underwood] Johnson, 1906 Dec 15." (1906). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 3597.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/3597
Resource Identifier
muir16_0439-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 16, Image 0439
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
American Academy of Arts and Letters. 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
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
