Title:
Letter from John Muir to [Herbert] Gleason, 1914 Jun 10.
Creator:
John Muir
Publisher:
University of the Pacific Library Holt-Atherton Special Collections. Please contact this institution directly to obtain copies
of the images or permission to publish or use them beyond educational purposes.
Contributor:
[Herbert] Gleason
Date:
1914 Jun 10
2008
Type:
Text
Format:
Image/jpeg2000
Identifier:
muir22_0394-md-1
Source:
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Language:
eng
Coverage:
Martinez [Calif.]
Rights:
Copyrighted
The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust.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://library.pacific.edu/ha/forms
Muir-Hanna Trust
1984
Transcription:
(In response to a letter of condolence on the death of Mr. Parsonsand speaking of my plans for an Alaska trip.) Martinez,
June 10,1914. Dear Mr. Gleason: We all feel the loss of our friend and fellow worker verykeenly. He was about the last
man in our Club that any of us would expectto lose so suddenly, so full he was of the strength of the hills. None has done
more for the Sierra Club than he has ever since he joined it. - ever faithful in every fight for the right, however great
the number of the faithless.I thank you very much for the fine pictures of him just received. The one where he is standing
alone is very good, the best I have seen. It must be published in the Club Bulletin. I'm glad you are going to Alaska. You
should have gone there years ago, for your own good and for your lectures, if nothing else. As to getting pictures to illustrate
my little book of travels, I don't see how you can add to the collection I have on hand, for you cannot follow my track, except
to the few places touched by the steamships. Had you been with me on my canoe trips, it would have been glorious. I have
made six trips to Southeastern Alaska and one to Unalaska and the Arctic regions lasting six months. There will be more than
one of these icy volumes if I live long enough to write them. The present volume is nothing like a general description of
the vast country, but only a lot of little notes of study travel, and I mean to select the illustrations that go into it instead
of letting the publishers do it for me. Be sure to come straight to our house on your wav. Ever years faithfully, John
Muir. (Postscript) Drear Mr. Gleason: When I wrote yesterday I forgot to answer your question about the Alaska weather.
On my first trip in 1679 I was in the Wrangell region about seven months, and here are some weather notes from my journal:
About one-third of the summer days were cloudy, with very little or no rain, a third decidedly rainy, the other third clear.
Of 147 days beginning May 17th of this year there were 65 on which rain fell, 43 cloudy without rain, and 39 clear. In June
rain fell on 18 days, in July 8 days, in August 15 days,in September 20 days. But on some of these days there was only a few
minutes'rain, scarcely enough to count; and even the bleakest and most bedraggled specimens usually had a flush of late or
early color to cheer them, or some white illumination about the noon hours. Be sure to call on your way, both going and coming,
for I want to see what you get and consult you on the reproduction of my sketches. Faithfully yours. 05771