Title:
Letter from [John Muir] to [Robert Underwood] Johnson, [19]05 Mar 23.
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:
[Robert Underwood] Johnson
Date:
[19]05 Mar 23
2008
Type:
Text
Format:
Image/jpeg2000
Identifier:
muir15_0353-md-1
Source:
Original letter dimensions: 22.5 x 14.5 cm.
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The unpublished works of John Muir are copyrighted by the Muir-Hanna Trust.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:
(Copied from notebook marked 1905 , letter 3) Martinez, Mar. 23, '05. Dear Mr. Johnson: I knew that the management of
the public lands in question had been transferred to the Bureau of Forestry of the Agricultural Department, but I got the
impression somehow that the National Parks were not included in the transfer and that they would continue to be protected
by soldiers under direction of the Secretary of the Interior. Anyhow, I suppose no important change will be made for the coming
season. What a glorious chance this gives to the President to distinguish himself and bless all the world, but politicians,
I fear, will try as hard as ever to get in their deadly work in spite of all we can do. Can you tell me whether the superintendents,
guards, rangers, etc. of the Parks and Be serrations have yet been brought under Civil Service rules. If not, the services
of the military can hardly be spared By the way, a lot of talk has been going on here about turning the Hetch Hetchy Yosemite
Into a reservoir by a dam 150 feet high, and I saw it stated in the newspapers that Pinchot had been detailed to examine into
the merits of the scheme and that he had reported to the President and the Secretary of the Interior that the damming of Hetch
Hetchy would not injure the National Park or detract from its beauties or natural wild grandeur. But I cannot believe that
Pinchot, if he really knows the valley, has made any such statement, for it would be just the same as saying that flooding
Yosemite would do it no harm. This damming of Hetch Hetchy and Lake Eleanor is an old scheme that we had to fight ten or twelve
years ago. As good a reservoir can easily be made outside of the park, though at greater cost. I hope the Fates will be kind
to you and send you all out here this summer. I want to have a long talk with you about the management of the Valley, now
that we have at last got it out of the hands of the California politicians. Faithfully yours, JOHN MUIR Mr. R. U. Johnson,
The Century Magazine, New York.