Creator
John Muir
Recipient
[Anna R.] Dickey
Transcription
[Original letter returned To Mrs. Anna R. Dickey]
Martinez, Oct 12, 1902
Dear Mrs. Dickey:
I was glad to get your letter. It so vividly recalled our memorable ramble, merry and nobly elevating, and solemn in the solemn aboriginal woods and gardens of the great mountains, common-place, sublime and divine. I seemed to hear your voice in your letter, and see you. gliding, drifting, scrambling along the trails with all the gay good company, or seated around our many campfires in the grand illuminated groves, etc., etc., etc.- altogether a good trip in which everybody was a happy scholar at the feet of Nature, and all learned something direct from earth and sky, bird and beast, trees, flowers, and chanting winds and waters; hints, suggestions, little-great lessons of God's infinite power and glory and goodness. No wonder your youth is renewed and Donald goes to his studies right heartily.
To talk plants to those who love them must ever be easy and delightful. By the way, that little fairy, airy, white flowered plant which covers sandy dry ground on the mountains like a mist, which I told you was a near relative of Eriogonum, but whose name I could never recall, is Oxytheca spergulina. There is another rather common species in the region we traveled, but this is the finest and most abundant.
I'm glad you found the Mountain Hemlock, the loveliest of conifers, You will find it described in both my books. It is abundant in Kings River Canyons, but not beside the trails. The heather" you mention is no doubt bryanthus or Cassiope. Next year you and Donald should make collections of at least the most interesting plants. A plant press, tell Donald, is lighter and better than a gun. So is a camera, and good photographs of trees and shrubs are much to be desired.
I have heard from all the girls. Their enthusiasm is still fresh and they are already planning and plotting for next year's outing in the Yosemite, Tuolumne, and Mono regions...Gannett stayed two days with us, and is now, I suppose, at home. I was hoping you might have a day or two for a visit to our little valley. Next time you come to the city try to stop off at "Muir Station” on the Santa Fe. We are only an hour and a half from the city. I should greatly enjoy a visit at your Ojai home, as you well know, but when fate and work will let me I dinna ken... [You should see Marian's photographs. They are fine and tell our Kern Kaweah story nobly.] Give my sincere regard to Donald.
Ever faithfully yours,
JOHN MUIR
[Envelope addressed Mrs. Ernest M. Dickey, Nordhoff, Cal. This is the Mrs. Anna R. Dickey of later correspondence]
03074
Location
Martinez [Calif.]
Date Original
1902 Oct 12
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to [Anna R.] Dickey, 1902 Oct 12." (1902). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 4754.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/4754
Resource Identifier
muir12_0714-trans.tif
File Identifier
Reel 12, Image 0714
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
1 page
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
