Creator
Sarah [Muir Galloway]
Recipient
Emma [Muir]
Transcription
Martinez. Cal.
July 29, 1901
My dear Sister Emma: -
You have been in my mind often, I am wondering how you are enduring the intense heat of this summer weather. I fear it will be trying for you as you are not strong. The few days that have been about 100° or two and three over, in the shade, here are not so exhausting as with you on account of the [dryness?] of the atmosphere, right here, there has not been a night that we have not been glad to draw a blanket up before morning. We are quite near the Bay which will make a difference, but in the plains, and not so very far away
it has been intensely warm. some time since John went to Fresno, and from there to the Mountains, he suffered with the heat in going and coming, but among the mountains it was comfortable so many people go to the mountains in summer. Just now John, Wandie, and Helen are having a glorious time, they have been gone more than two weeks, they are with the Sierra Club and other friends, about a hundred in the company, they scatter in all directions from the Yosemite Valley, that wonderland, that takes people there again and again. They have also been at the big tree groves and many places among the mountains. When they gather around the great camp fire at
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night after supper they sometimes have lectures or talks. The girls wrote fine descriptive letters home, they have never been there before and are enjoying it exceedingly. Their father says they take to mountaineering as naturally as ducks to water. Maggie and I will never be able to take such a trip, we cannot climb and we could not endure the thumping and bumping of the sixty miles stage riding in getting to the Valley, then the heat in goinig across the San Joaquin plains is intense, Louie could not undertake that either. David and Ette are very busy people, David rents a lot of Orchard and vineyard land from John and with his own piece he requires a lot of help, mostly Japs, the white men
about three board at the house, and with Daniel and Will, you will see that there is a lot of cooking to do, and it is very hard to get house help, Ette works too hard and is not well either, the hot weather is very trying for her, she has had a cousin with her for some time, but is going home this week. Maggie is about as usual, she does a good deal of work, with a good deal of resting, but she has often bad nights, it so often is hard for her it get to sleep, then she is very weary and nervous the next day. She is expecting Jeanie for a visit, she expects to start about the 5th or 6th of August. When last we heard it was not decided whether Annie Waterman and Bernice would come, and it is possible that Colin may come
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at the same time, but that was not decided either when she wrote to me last. I will know after I receive another letter. You probably received the announcement of Grace's marriage which took place on June 12th. She has married her Doctor, so she will not need to go far to consult him now. They went to Buffalo, New York, also had a delightful time at Niagara Falls for their Wedding trip. They are nicely settled in Chicago; far enough out from the heart of the City to be where there is plenty of sunlight, trees, and grass. I had letters from Anna and Hiram lately, it has been very hot there as in other places, with so much dry weather that crops have suffered
They are all well, with no end of work to do. Kenneth is eight years old now and is attending school. Marjorie has not gone yet but has learned to read at home and can write me a little letter sometimes. In our last letter from Annie L - she says that her health is better, she has pleasant people in the house with her, a widow and her daughter. She also talks of the extremely hot weather, she says the grass in the yard is brown and dry. I also had a letter from Joanna a few days since, she has been quite sick again, she had neuralgia of the heart, or about the heart, she says that it took away her strength more than anything she ever had and effected her left arm so that she could scrcely use it.
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How the time passes, her Bernice, the baby that was born in our house is now twelve years old, she writes me such nice letters. Ethel is eighteen and Bessie fifteen, they are tall girls and getting on well in school. They are also very helpful about the house and thoughtful for their Mother. I wish her health was better, she never seems to be very strong, she speaks of the weather as having been "woefully" hot. The Ranch men are busy among the fruit, from the spring until about the end of November that work goes on, so many fine varieties of Cherrys first, then apricots, peaches, and apples, just now they are gathering and shipping peaches and pecans. next month the grapes will be ripening; some of the varieties come later, but
there are some kinds to gather until winter. There has been no rain since sometime in June, and not much in that month. They do not expect it here. The trees on the hills are green but the grass is perfectly brown and dry. The vineyards are beautifully fresh and green, and the Orchards are fresh and thrifty. Well Emma if you get tired reading this letter at once, just take it [out?] twice I shall hope to hear from you, or some one of the family, for I long to hear how you are all getting on. What do you hear from Anita? Is Sarah teaching as she thought of doing, Mabel will be attending the University, and Harriet will be with you I think. I will address this to the Office for we heard through one of Jessie Reid's letters that you had moved I can see the Doctor going back and forth to the Office as usual.
Love to all from Sarah.
Location
Martinez, Calif.
Date Original
1901 Jul 29
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Galloway, Sarah Muir, "Letter from Sarah [Muir Galloway] to Emma [Muir], 1901 Jul 29." (1901). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 4442.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/4442
Resource Identifier
muir11_0797-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 11, Image 0797
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
The Huntington Library, Muir Family Papers, HM 57349-57497. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Pages
8 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
