Title:
Letter from John Muir to Members of Congress, 1908 Jan 12.
Creator:
John Muir
Publisher:
DNA
Contributor:
Members of Congress
Date:
1908 Jan 12
2008
Type:
Text
Format:
Image/jpeg2000
Identifier:
muir17_0056-md-1
Source:
Original letter dimensions unknown.
Language:
eng
Coverage:
[place unknown]
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The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust.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:
PREVENT THE DESTRUCTION OF THE YOSEMITE PARKTo the Members of Congress:A question of national importance has arisen upon which
everyone should be informed before it is too late. Our great national parks, Nature's wonderlands, reserved as places of rest
and recreation for everybody,are now in danger of being destroyed.Year after year attacks have been made on the famous Yosemite
National Park under the guise of development of natural resources.Right now, the most determined attack of all is being made
by the City of San Francisco,which is trying to get possession of one of its grandest features, the Hetch-Hetchy Valley,as
a reservoir site for a water supply.This would eventually mean the exclusion of the people from one half of the entire park
and the destruction of many of its most wonderful features.In 1903 Secretary Hitchcock denied this application, but the present
Secretary of the Interior has been persuaded to grant this destructive privilege under certain restrictions.Realizing that
the grant is revocable at the pleasure of any future Secretary,a bill has been introduced in Congress and its advocates are
trying with desperate haste to get the grant confirmed before the country at large knows anything about it.In behalf of all
who appreciate the grandeur and majesty of our great mountain parks and who believe that they should be preserved in pure
wildness, I urge you to oppose this unnecessary and destructive water scheme.Faithfully yours,January 12, 1908.John Muir04577