Creator
[John Muir]
Recipient
Daniel Beard
Transcription
Camping, walking, etc. [Apr. 1907]
Dear Mr Beard:
I would like to encourage walking in wild places, that so our boys may gradually grow up out of natural hunting blood-loving savagery into natural sympathy with all our fellow mortals,- plants and animals as well as men. Therefore as a so-called Top Notch I would suggest something like this-
Walking
The walker making the best excursion in pure wildness. Not necessarily the longest & most dangerous excursion up the highest mountains, through the deepest woods, or across the widest torrents, glaciers or deserts; but the one however short or long, rough or smooth, calm or stormy on which the able fearless walker sees most, learns most, loves most, & leaves the cleanest track, heart & mind growing naturally like trees, gathering inspiration from everything about him & growing however slowly up out of natural savagery into natural
03858
all-embracing sympathy. Overcoming all blood lust, carrying neither guns or traps, drawing no pleasure from the pain of any of his fellow mortals however lowly; as for example, from the so-called gameness of terrified fishes rushing, gasping struggling for life. Whose camp grounds are never marked by scarred trees, blood sports, bones or any thing unsightly, & who learns to regard everything about him as friends & neighbors,- the stars, the earth, plants & animals as well as men-
03858
Boy Scouts -
From Woman's Home Companion
Oct. 1907
Location
[Martinez, Calif.]
Circa Date
[1904 Apr]
Source
Original letter dimensions: 28 x 21.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from [John Muir] to Daniel Beard, [1904 Apr]." (1904). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 3687.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/3687
Resource Identifier
muir16_0731-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 16, Image 0731
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The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust.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
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
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
