Transcription:
Chicago. May 26, 1893. My dear Wanda: I was very, very glad to get your letter at Portage, It was there waiting for me
when I got to Grandma Muir's house. I let Joanna and , Sarah and Annie and all of them read it, and they said what a good
letter it was and how glad they would have been if you had been with me. I told them that both you and Helen would soon be
old enough to travel, and then you would come and see them Grandma Muir is quite well and does not seem to change much, though
she is eighty years old. Annie is about the same as when she was in California, and Joanna's little girls are very sweet and
good, especially Bessie. They stayed out of school and followed me all over town the day I was there. Tell Mama I called
on Mr. Rodgers, and he and many others asked kindly for uncle David and Aunt Stte. Stte's father and mother came to see me
in the evening and asked all about her and David, and wished they were not too old to go to California. I also called on Stte's
brother and he seemed anxious to go to California - also on Stte's brother-in-law, who is just determined to sell out and
go to raise grapes and peaches, etc. The fair is very big. Some of the buildings would reach all the way across Alhambra
Valley and half way up Frank in Canyon for all I know. But the show of canned peaches, crockery, buggies, stuffed owls, and
things don't interest me so very much. The whole show is nothing to my own two sweet babies. With much love, my dear Wanda
and Helen - all I have, I am Your loving papa, John Muir. 795