Creator
John Muir
Recipient
[Henry F.] Osborn
Transcription
Los Angeles, Cal., June 1, 1910325 West Adams Street,My dear Mr. Osborn:-Many thanks for the copy you sent me of your long good manly letter to Mr. Robert J. Collier on the Hetch-Hetchy Yosemite Park. As, I suppose, you have seen by the newspapers, San Francisco will have until May 1, 1911, to show cause why Hetch-Hetchy valley should not be eliminated from the permit which the government has given the city to develop a water supply in Yosemite Park. Meantime the municipality is to have detailed surveys made of the Lake Eleanor water-shed, of the Hetch-Hetchy, and other available sources, and furnish such data and information as may be directed by a board of Army Engineers appointed by the President to act in an advisory capacity with Secretary Ballinger. Mr. Ballinger said to the San Francisco proponents of the damming scheme-"I want to know what is necessary so far as the Hetch-Hetchy is concerned". He also said: "What this government wants to know and the American people want to know is whether it is a matter of absolute necessity for the people of San Francisco to have this water supply. Otherwise it belongs to the people for the purpose of a national park for which it has been set aside". Ballinger suggested that the Lake Eleanor plans should be submitted to the engineers at once so that they could have them as a basis for ascertaining if the full development of that watershed is contemplated, and to make a report of its data to the engineers as its preparation proceeded so that they may be kept in immediate touch with what is being done. Of the out-04777
"come of this thorough examination of the scheme there can be no doubt, and it must surely put the question at rest for all time, at least as far as our great park is concerned, and perhaps all the other national parks.I have been hidden down here in Los Angeles a month or two working hard on books. Two or three weeks ago I sent the manuscript of a small book to Houghton Mifflin Company, who expect to bring it out as soon as possible. It is entitled ""My First Summer in the Sierra,"" written from notes made forty-one years ago. I have also nearly ready a lot of animal stories for a boys' book, drawn chiefly from my experiences as a boy in Scotland and in the wild oak openings of Wisconsin. I have also re-written a lot of autobiographical notes dictated at Mr. Harriman's Pelican Lodge on Klamath Lake two years ago. Next month I hope to bring together a lot of Yosemite sketches for a sort of travelers' guide book, which ought to have been written many years ago.So you see what with furnishing illustrations, reading proof,and getting this Yosemite guide book off my hands, it will hot be likelythat I can find time for even a short visit to New York this summer.Possibly, however, I may be able to get away a few weeks in the autumn.Nothing, as you well know, would be more delightful than a visit to yourblessed Garrisons-on-the-Hudson, and I am sure to make it some time erelong, unless my usual good luck should fail me utterly. With warmest regards to Mrs. Osborn and Josephine and all the family I am, my dear Mr. Osborn,Ever faithfully your friendTo Prof. Henry F.Osborn, John MuirAmerican Museum of Natural History New York City04777"
Location
Los Angeles
Date Original
1910 Jun 1
Source
Original letter dimensions: 27 x 20.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Muir, John, "Letter from John Muir to [Henry F.] Osborn, 1910 Jun 1." (1910). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 5019.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/5019
Resource Identifier
muir19_0445-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 19, Image 0445
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
2 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
