Creator
John Muir
Recipient
[Annie Kennedy] Bidwell
Transcription
Hamilton Nevada September 11th 1878.
Dear Mrs Bidwell,
I was refreshed & delighted by your long, bright, hearty letter, so full of real sympathy, & friendly interest for all of which I must thank you before I write another line. & next I hasten to congratulate you on your happiness in having your name associated with so interesting a little wild flower As soon as I saw it, before reading your account of it I said, “This bonnie wee poly [illegible] must be new”. He is indeed a neat & jolly little fellow, though not belonging to the very first families of Floras Kingdom. His near relatives the Eriog[illegible], are developed in great beauty & abundance throughout the plains & mountain ranges of this vast region. You must indeed [underlined: study] botany. You cannot yield your heart to Gods precious plant people too unreserved by your opportunities are excellent. With so clear & whole [illegible] & far-seeing a soul as Gray to cheer you on, & so fine a field at home & in the near mountains. You must go ahead
[Page 2]
& the farther you go the greater will be your joy. Every creature belonging to God when lovingly studied leads up to himself along a way that ever becomes more & more brilliantly lighted; & no terrestrial way is more delightful to human feet than flowers. Never mind very much about your plants being new. They are all new, & everyone of them is full of God. Think what hosts of new friends you will make among those handsome people of God & how they will lighten & brighten & enrich your life, go on, go on, & see how they will extend your vision. This is the center of the great white Pine [mining?] excitement. No less than 28,000 claims were made, only 15 of which are now worked, & of these only one – the Eberhardt gives much hope or money. Hamilton & Treasure City are silent now. but Natures work goes on gloriously Our course from here his southward along the W[illegible] Pine Range, about eighty miles – thence eastward to the Snake Range & on across Utah. Our address will be [underlined: Hamilton Nevada] until the end of the month, having made arrangements to have our letters forwarded from here. hearty regards to the [general?]
[in margin: Your home must be very beautiful with its fruits & flowers. & that grand magnaminous old fig tree - “Resting under a vine or fig tree” is laden with meaning in this sunbeaten land, With more thanks I am ever Cordially yr friend John Muir]
Location
Hamilton, Nevada
Date Original
1878 Sep 11
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to [Annie Kennedy] Bidwell, 1878 Sep 11." (1878). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 442.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/442
Resource Identifier
muir03_0899-md-1.pdf
File Identifier
Reel 03, Image 0898
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
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
