Transcription:
Martinez, Dec. 29, 1906 Dear Professor Osborn I heartily wish you all a happy New Year, and congratulate you on your election
to the Secretaryship of the Smithsonian Institution, also I congratulate you on your firm pluck and good sense in declining
the honor When I first heard the news I said a great honor for Osborn and the Institution, well won and well done, but how
can he leave his vastflocks and herds outspread over all the Continent and when I readyour letter to the Chancellor I was
glad. May you live long, free and strong, to finish your own great work- a work worthy of grandold Huxley, and believe me
faithfully your friend John Muir Note Referring to Professor Osborn's explorations and Collection of fossil vertebrates
for the American Museum of natural History which began in 1891 03796