Creator
Geo[rge] G. Mackenzie
Recipient
[Robert Underwood] Johnson
Transcription
[1]
Raymond, Fresno Co. Cal., Feb. , ’91.
Dear Mr. Johnson: I enclose herewith two letters for publication. The longer one I hope that you will be able to have published in the N.Y. Times or Post. Please do all you can to get the Times to publish it, as I suspect that the Commissioners believe that the Times has withdrawn its countenance of our efforts. I know that they have been industriously trying to defame my reputation by private attacks, and I do not under estimate the extent of their influence. Not that I am hurt in feeling in the slightest degree thereby, for I am not at all tender-skinned in matters of that kind, having had too much experience in rough newspaper warring to be over-sensitive. What I would mind would be the success of their attempts to shut me off from publication in these articles which are the best supports of the cause. The other letter, you will see, is prepared especially for use in Boston. I thought you might have some literary friend there who could get the letter published in one of the Hub dailies. I consider Boston as possibly our best stronghold. Of course I expect pay for publication of these letters, altho’ I wish that I did not have to say so. But, if they are used, I would gladly out of the pay contribute two or three dollars to buy some copies that might be sent to some friend of
10358
[2]
yours in San Francisco, for distribution where they would do the most good. And I would like two or three copies of each for myself. I have written tonight to the Overland to withdraw my article on the military question – altho’ it probably would not have been published anyway. I was tempted to inquire, in one of the enclosed letters, about the allusion to “blackmail” in the letter from H.K. Field (whoever he may be) copied in the Commission’s report. There are some suits pending against the Y. stage Company for personal injuries by stage accidents, and I suspect that there is some connection between one of them and Field’s reference. However, having nothing sure to go on, I thought best to overlook the matter. I think however, that Secretary Noble ought to demand an explanation from Field. But that is only a suggestion. The Commission’s report ought to be a thorough means of their own destruction. I would give my left arm willingly to pay for the pleasure of sitting at a table with a Senate committee, with that and the Commission’s other reports in my hand, and the liberty to cross-question Mr. Irish and his pals, and some of the stable-birds of Yosemite. The elaborateness with which Irish has worked up the tissue of falsehood in the report is not
[3]
a little amusing to me, showing that the Commissioners are hugely bothered to defend themselves — [neither?] evidence of which is their washer woman’s style of calling names. They are evidently ragingly angry – at least Irish is – and so “make fools of themselves.” I am writing for a copy of the report of June last, referred to in my enclosed letters. Unfortunately I have lost my copy, and so cannot quote verbatim. But as soon as I can get a copy, I will send to the Examiner a short article placing in [illegible]aposition what Davidson says about the Grove, and what the Commissioners said in June. If the Century should think it proper to notice the last report of the Commissr’s, would a similar presentation be about as effective as any? The commissioner’s report has done me much good – cleared my mental atmosphere somewhat, and put the blood in better circulation. If those fellows would like a report every where I would be as lively as a cricket.
Yours Very Truly
Geo. G. Mackenzie.
I date my enclosures at San Francisco, but that is merely a convenience, as “Raymond” is unknown generally.
06358
Location
Raymond, Calif.
Circa Date
1891 Feb [ ]
Source
Original letter dimensions: 28.5 x 20.5 cm.
Recommended Citation
Mackenzie, George G., "Letter from Geo[rge] G. Mackenzie to [Robert Underwood] Johnson, 1891 Feb ." (1891). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 64.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/64
Resource Identifier
muir07_0102-let.tif
File Identifier
Reel 07, Image 0101
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
3 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
