Creator
Geo[rge] Hansen
Recipient
[John Muir]
Transcription
GEO. HANSEN
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT
2705 HEARST AVENUE, BERKELEY, CAL.
ADVISORY ARCHITECT TO PARK COMMISSIONS,MUNICIPALITIES AND CHEMETRY ASSOCIATIONS
Spt.20th., 1902.
My dear Sir,
What a beautifull thing to be alone just the[illegible]n when you ought to be alone from company of strangers, those that you do not feel like embracing and shedding your tears a on their necks. But I wished for wife and babe when your letter, your message of sound and echo from hill-tope and valley banks came to me this morning. But the mother in called away to cheer the old and very sick mother up home in [illegible]- County, and the babe, of course, had to go along to shed sunshine and heaven's hope into the sould of the brave old pioneer that faced the plains in '50. So I was alone, as I had sent away to market the lady that takes care of my wants while alone. If only my legs were limber, I feel sure I would have sunk on my knees as I have not done since a boy. But I had to satisfy my overflowing heart in cries and sobs, and then feel stranger and more eager to work than ever. Cripple that I am, I could not dream of a man on the globe that could tempt me to change mv lot. Not even you, wholesouled friend, a man so overwhelming in his frankness, in his naturalness as you, you protege or the sequoias . I have a wife as noble an the sugar-pines that she is born under, and a child, that is as I told you "just a California sapling ". To win to [illegible] care and tenderness of her and to guard and care for the growth of the latter : could a man seek more sacred duties ? Since I walk on fours, I an like a child, I an closer to the ground, and I feel that I am stranger than when I walked " erect", and was less conscious of the bottom that gave me life.
Do not let me write more today. It is only a few weeks since I an up from a sickbed, so weak that the good wife had to turn me to change my
[03057]
aching bones, I have to write lots more today, and I will find some booklets for you that no print [illegible] hands ever shall turn into halftones. They are only for soul that are deep and still as mountain lakes and that defend the [illegible] and pinnacles against civilization (socalled). They will reach you when I can get then out, and I trust I will be able to get then to you a week hence, when they-forgive my thought-may be to you, what your messages were to me: my [illegible] for tomorrow.Dont you feel like I do, that the passing of coin taints, or at least affects our most noble deeds ?
How glad I am that we made such lucky investment when, twelve years ago, we invested in lots for a home where no structure can take the view from us an the eye sweeps from [illegible] Island to San Rnfael, and wide out into the Seven Seas. That is medicine for sick and well alike.
I wish for the day that I car see face to face the men whom our child will love. If fate decides different, make free to pat on the back the young sapling who may tramp "Contra cost" some day when he grows up.
Messages like -yours smell of the woods and discount drugs,
Sincerely yours
[illegible]
Location
Berkeley, Calif.
Date Original
1902 Sep 20
Source
Original letter dimensions: 27.5 x 21.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Hansen, George, "Letter from Geo[rge] Hansen to [John Muir], 1902 Sep 20." (1902). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 4735.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/4735
Resource Identifier
muir12_0648-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 12, Image 0648
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
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.
Pages
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
