Creator
John Muir
Recipient
[Strentzel Family]
Transcription
1419 Taylor St San Francisco Dec 5th 77Friends Three, I made a capitol little excursion over your Mount Diablo & arrived in good order in San Fran’ after that fine rest in your wee white home. I s[illegible]tered on leisurely after bidding you goodbye enjoying the landscape as it was gradually unrolled in the evening light. One charming bit of picture after another came into view at every turn of the road & while the sunset fires were burning brightest I had attained an elevation sufficient for a grand comprehensive feast. I reached the summit a little after dark & selected a sheltered nook in the chaparral to rest for the night & await the coming of the sun. The wind blew a gale but I did not suffer much from the cold. The night was 00761
[Page 2]
keen & crisp & the stars shone out with better brilliances than one could hope for in these lowland atmospheres. The sunrise was truly glorious. After lingering an hour or so observing & feasting & making a few notes I went down to that halfway hotel for breakfast. I was the only guest. While the family numbered four well attired & intellectual looking persons who for a time kept up a solemn quakerish silence which I tried in vain to break up. But at length all four began a hearty spontaneous discussion upon the art of cat killing solemnly & decently relating in turn all their experiences in this business in by gone time embracing everything with grave fervor in the whole scale of cat all the way up from sackfuls of purbli[illegible] kits to tigerish Tours. Then I knew that such knowledge was attainable only by intellectual New Englanders. My walk down the mtn’-side across the vals’ & thro’ the Oakland hills was very delightful, & I feasted on many a bit of pure picture in purple & gold Natures best.
[Page 3]
& beheld the most ravishingly beautiful sunset on the bay I ever yet enjoyed in the lowlands. I shall not soon forget the rest I enjoyed in your pure white bed or the feast at your fruity table. Seldom have I been so deeply weary - & as for hunger Ive been hungry still in spite of it all & for aught I see in the [illegible] of the stomach may go hungry on thru’ life & into the grave & beyond. Heaven forbid a dry year! May wheat grow! With lively remembrances of your rare Kindness I am very cordially yr friend John Muir 00761
Location
1419 Taylor St., San Francisco, [Calif]
Date Original
1877 Dec 5
Source
Original letter dimensions: 31 x 20 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to [Strentzel Family], 1877 Dec 5." (1877). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 389.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/389
Resource Identifier
muir03_0644-md-1.pdf
File Identifier
Reel 03, Image 0643
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, click here to view the Holt-Atherton Special Collections policies.
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
