University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons John Muir Newsletters John Muir Papers Fall 8-1-1997 The ohnJ Muir Newsletter, Fall 1997 The ohnJ Muir Center for Regional Studies Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmn Part of the American Studies Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons, and the United States History Commons Recommended Citation The oJ hn Muir Center for Regional Studies, "The oJ hn Muir Newsletter, Fall 1997" (1997). John Muir Newsletters. 51. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmn/51 This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by the John Muir Papers at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in John Muir Newsletters by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NEW INTIMACIES OF A NEW ENGLAND TRIP: JOHN MUIR's 1898 ExcuRSION BY J. PARKER HuBER 's note: Parker Huber, a regular contributor to these Yose-mite for the Atlantic. He tried to rest. Mostly, he dished out here excerpts and discusses a few days ofJohn Muir's life delect-able anecdotes: "I have picked up quite a lot of companions the pages ofMuir's journal of 1898 and from his letters.) to whom I preach daily. some of them preachers.,4 Until Buffalo, where he parted, "feeling very weak & sick,,5 according to his Muir's extensive travels included five trips to New England, journal. He added in a letter to his daughter that "The horrible food occurred in 1893, 1896, 1898, 1903 and 1911. His longest and eternal jolting and carbonic acid upset my stomach.,6 Dyspep­ to New England came in late summer and autumn of sia was his diagnosis. Dining car menus of the era show the in­ This visit had three phases: first an overnight on Cape Cod, fluence of the region crossed, and typically included soup, fish or is considered here, followed by a tour of the South; next a roast beef, lettuce salad, a choice of vegetables and for dessert, ice train crossing of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine cream, cake or pies.7 At the Spaulding Hotel in Duluth, Muir had a by a stay in New York; and closing with a weekend in beefsteak breakfast. 8 Aboard ship, boiled Lake Superior trout, u"'"'u"'. _, of western Massachusetts before starting home to . corned beef and cabbage, pork and beans were the fare.9 Always, California. his elixir oflife, tea. From Boston & Providence Railroad Depot on Park Square Boston Muir went directly to the Adams House at 553 Washington Street, John Muir arrived in Boston, Massachusetts, at ten a.m. on four blocks east, presumably by livery. There he took a room for 17 September 1898, completing a ten-day transcontinen­ one dollar, bathed, changed clothes and read a message from had taken the northern route from San Francisco to Charles Sprague Sargent, Director of the Arnold Arboretum. 10 Oregon, to Spokane, Washington. East from there over Sargent had invited Muir and William M. Canby of Wilmington, Rocky Mountains via the Great Northern Railway. Across the Delaware, to see the southern Appalachian forests. The previous Plains where one of the train's engines was replaced by summer the trio had traveled to British Columbia and Alaska to and another and another. From St. Paul, Minnesota, he view western trees. The summer of 1896, Sargent and Muir had a night train to Duluth in time for "the last steamer of the surveyed forests from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean for the through three of the Great Lakes- Superior, Huron, Erie­ National Forestry Commission, which Sargent headed. Sargent after three nights in Buffalo, New York, where he boarded dedicated to Canby his just completed volume 12 of The Silva of 7: 10 p.m. train for New England, emerging at daylight from North America ( 1891-1902). 11 He had bestowed the same honor Mountain tunnel in northwestern Massachusetts. Fifty-four on Muir in the previous volume, which appeared earlier that year. earlier, July 1844, Thoreau had walked over Hoosac Moun­ " .. .it made my heart jump with joy as no other honor I have · in the opposite direction on his way west to ascend Saddleback received ever did, Muir wrote to Sargent. 12 In response, Sargent · (now Greylock), which he saw from the West Summit wrote Muir, declaring, "For if there is any man who loves and Mountain (2,018') six miles west. Muir's train knows trees, and knows how to write about them better than south through Connecticut and Rhode Island.1 anybody else, you are the Fellow., 13 New landscapes and people engaged him. His eyes absorbed wonders. He wrote Cape Cod goldenrod all across the continent. great is goldenrod. 2 A weary Muir was moving. The group's destination Sargent had told him: "a spot where you will find a great many things to This image with others appeared ever so briefly in his journal interest you., 14 Sargent had enticed Muir to "pass a few days on letters home, despite "the swaying jolting jumbling car.,,l He the end of Cape Cod where my family goes for a few weeks every have worked more on his essays on animals and birds of summer, promising seclusion from Boston entertainment as well. 15 (continued on page 3) UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC page 1 NEWS NOTES: NEW BOOKS FROM THE JOHN MUIR CENTER LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG; 9. List Subscription Instructions: Send an e-mail message to [cut and paste into your e-mail]: The John Muir Center announces the continuation of its [email protected] with a one-line series of volumes based on the California History Institute command in the message body saying [substitute your first and conferences. The Center staff has completed the editing of the last name where indicated]: SUBSCRIBE CE-EE-JOHN-MUIR­ most outstanding papers from last year's conference devoted to EDUCATION Yourfirstname Yourlastname. The subject line is the work of John Muir. The volume will consist of over one irrelevant. We look forward to your participation! dozen essays, and it will feature an introductory essay written For questions, contact: Harold Wood, John Muir Education especially for this volume by the well-known Muir scholar, Project Coordinator, Sierra Club Environmental Education Frank Buske, Professor Emeritus of the University of Alaska. Committee, [email protected]. The chapters of the book, tentatively entitled John Muir in Historical Perspective, focus on various aspects of Muir's career. Muir and literature is one example; others are on Muir and various locales, such as Twenty Hill Hollow, the Pacific BACKPACKING FOR ACADEMIC CREDIT Northwest, South America and southern Africa and, of course, Yosemite. Other chapters will deal with individuals in Muir's Newsletter readers will be interested to learn of the exciting life such as Jeanne Carr, the Strenzels, Josiah Dwight Whitney, program of wilderness field studies sponsored by the Sierra Clarence King, C. D. Robinson, and John Swett. A final group Institute and scheduled for fall, 1997. As part of the Extension of chapters deal with Muir and the environment. A forthcoming Division of the University of California of Santa Cruz, a two­ issue will provide information on publisher, date of publication week backpacking session has been scheduled for September 2- and price when these details are set. 0ctober 17 to explore the ecology of the Sierra. A second session on California wilderness, or nature, philosophy and The John Muir Center is very pleased to announce that later religion, has been scheduled for September 10 to November 5. this year a volume containing some of the best presentations Each earns 15 units for enrollees. For detailed information, made to the 1995 History Institute on the topic of California and contact the Sierra Institute, University of California Extension, the Pacific Rim will be published in England by Routledge 740 Front St., Suite 155, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. The Institute Press. Studies in the Economic History of the Pacific Rim has also scheduled a number of field trips for the summer. They contains fourteen chapters, an introductory essay, and has been include one on the mountain ecology of the High Sierra (June edited by Professors Sally M. Miller and Dennis 0. Flynn of the 26-Julyl6) and another on nature philosophy and California's University of the Pacific and Professor John Latham of the Uni­ wilderness (July 15-August 18). These may be fully enrolled by versity of Swansea in Wales. As soon as the date of publication now, but contact the Sierra Institute about its waiting list. is announced, readers of this newsletter will be informed of the price and how to order their copies. JOHN MUIR EDUCATION DISCUSSION MAILING LIST The John Muir Education Discussion List is sponsored by the Environmental Education Committee of the Sierra Club to host discussions about the life and contributions of the Sierra Club's founder, John Muir. The purpose of the list is to aid Muir researchers, teachers, and enthusiasts. The list is quite new, but you can read the past postings to the Discussion List at: http:// www.sierraclub.org/education/john_muir_ education/1997 /. VOLUME 7, NUMBER 4 fALL 1997 New subscribers are welcome. Participants may discuss PUBLISHED QUARTERLY BY anything about John Muir. The list covers projects relating to the THE JoHN Mum CENTER FOR REGIONAL STUDIES Sierra Club's John Muir Education Project- the John Muir Day UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC, STOCKTON, CA 95211 Study Guide, the John Muir Youth Award program, and the John Muir Exhibit World Wide Web site, http://www.sierraclub. • STAFF • org/john_muir_exhibit. Teachers in K-12 or college teaching are especially invited to participate.