Creator
Louie Strentzel Muir
Recipient
Grandma Muir
Transcription
Yosemite Valley July 10, 1884 Dear Grandma, Your letter of the 7th came last night. I was very anxious about the baby and had almost made up my mind to start for home this morning, with Mr. & Mrs. [Portens] those friends who came to our house with Mrs. Magee. They reached here last Saturday. John went with them yesterday to Vernal & Nevada Falls which are now magnificent in the evening. We dined with them at Cooks’ Hotel formerly “Blacks”. I was not able to climb for my sick time came Monday eve- so I have had to rest most of the time since trying to get strong enough to climb the higher peaks. Willis [Hound/Hand] left Tuesday morning. He proved to be a fine climber I saw a great deal. We liked him very much. We left [Barnards] Hold because John could not eat anything there & began to look like a ghost. Here at [Leidig] the table is very nice, delicious fresh trout almost every meal, sweet bread & butter ect. & a good soft bed. So John now looks very much better & next week he will go up to Lake Teneiya [Tenaya] & beyond to see the snow. Just now received Grandpa’s telegram [of yesterday] saying “All well, do not hurry down,” How thankful we are for every message from home. Between times I get almost wild to see the baby. I do not think I can bear to stay away more than another week and still there is so much, so much to see in this beautiful Wonder-land! Oh how [ ] wish you could all be here with us. How the baby’s eyes would shine looking at the “Bonnie Waterfalls” so many so many and the dear little flowers & [fern] & the ground pines & Cedars growing so tall and straight “up to the sky” [It] is very warm to day, [Therm] 87 [degrees], & we have arranged to ride again to the Bridal Veil hall & to see the Merced [Rapids] Cascades. We rode there last Monday with old Galen Clark.- Oh the beauty that no words can even faintly convey to the sight of those far away --------------- O my precious baby, my baby! If only I could hold you in my arms for one little hour, and here your sweet voice and kiss you over and over and over! Next year you must come with Grandma & Grandpa because mama cannot be happy without her own sweet baby. Just now a carriage drove to the door and a lady & gentleman & 2 little girls arrived from Alameda Co. [county]. One was only 4 years old, the sweetest little girlie with long straight hair & bright eyes, & she was not the east bit tired but ate her dinner and then ran about the veranda playing & laughing with little Jennie June [Leidig] who is just 3 yrs. old. I could not help crying a little for my own little Wanda and I thought- oh so many things about seeing her playing here among the flowers & kissing her hands to the “bonnie waterfalls”! O Grandma watch over her every moment till I come, let other things go. Next week we shall see many lofty peaks & grand trees far up on the heights if all goes well, and then to hope a few more days will bring me swiftly to my baby. John will stay longer & go on up to the glaciers & the Sequoia forests. Tomorrow at 6 o’clock we start for Glacier Point, & shall stay all night at McCauleys where there are 2 twin boys, about 3 yrs. old Write every day a few lines about the baby
Location
Yosemite Valley, CA
Date Original
1884-07-10
Source
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Recommended Citation
Muir, Louie Strentzel, "Letter from Mrs. Muir [Louie Strentzel Muir] to Grandma Muir, 1884 Jul 10" (1884). John Muir Correspondence (PDFs). 6718.
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/muir-correspondence/6718
Resource Identifier
1884 Jul 10 Louie to Grandma
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
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 https://www.pacific.edu/university-libraries/find/holt-atherton-special-collections/fees-and-forms-
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
4 pages
Keywords
Environmentalist, naturalist, travel, conservation, national parks, John Muir, Yosemite, California, history, correspondence, letters
