Footnotes:[by the editor of the 1918 original of this text]:[1]This essay was written early in 1875.[2]The wild sheep of California are now classified asOvis nelsoni. Whether those of the Shasta region belonged to the latter species, or to the bighorn species of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, is still an unsettled question.[3]An excerpt from a letter to a friend, written in 1873.[4]Muir at this time was making Yosemite Valley his home.[5]An obsolete genus of plants now replaced in the main byChrysothamnusandEricameria.[6]An early local name for what is now known as Lassen Peak, or Mt. Lassen. In 1914 its volcanic activity was resumed with spectacular eruptions of ashes, steam, and gas.[7]Pronounced Too’-lay.[8]Letter dated “Salt Lake City, Utah, May 15, 1877.”[9]Letter dated “Salt Lake City, Utah, May 19, 1877.”[10]Letter dated “Lake Point, Utah, May 20, 1877.”[11]Letter dated “Salt Lake, July, 1877.”[12]Letter dated “September 1, 1877.”][13]Letter written during the first week of September, 1877.[14]The spruce, or hemlock, then known asAbies Douglasiivar.macrocarpais now calledPseudotsuga macrocarpa.[15]Written at Ward, Nevada, in September, 1878.[16]See footnote 5.[17]Written at Eureka, Nevada, in October, 1878.[18]Now calledPinus monophylla, or one-leaf piñon.[19]Written at Pioche, Nevada, in October, 1878.[20]Written at Eureka, Nevada, in November, 1878.[21]Date and place of writing not given. Published in theSan Francisco Evening Bulletin, January 15, 1879.[22]November 11, 1889; Muir’s description probably was written toward the end of the same year.[23]This tree, now known to botanists asPicea sitchensis, was namedAbies Menziesiiby Lindley in 1833.[24]Also known as “canoe cedar,” and described in Jepson’sSilva of Californiaunder the more recent specific nameThuja plicata.[25]Now classified asTsuga mertensianaSarg.[26]NowAbies grandisLindley.[27]Chamæcyparis lawsonianaParl. (Port Orford cedar) in Jepson’sSilva.[28]1889.[29]A careful re-determination of the height of Rainier, made by Professor A. G. McAdie in 1905, gave an altitude of 14,394 feet. The Standard Dictionary wrongly describes it is “the highest peak (14,363 feet) within the United States.” The United States Baedeker and railroad literature overstate its altitude by more than a hundred feet.[30]Doubtless the red silver fir, now classified asAbies amabilis.[31]Lassen Peak on recent maps.[32]Pseudotsuga taxifoliaBrit.[33]Thuja plicataDon.[34]Muir wrote this description in 1902; Major J. W. Powell made his descent through the canyon, with small boats, in 1869.Note from the transcriber:A phrase Muir uses that readers might doubt: “fountain range,” by which he means a mountainous area where rain or snow fall that is the source of water for a river or stream downslope. So it is not a typographical error for “mountain range”! Another odd phrase is “(something) is well worthy (something else)” rather than “well worth” or “well worthy of.” He uses this at least twice in this work.—jg
[1]This essay was written early in 1875.
[2]The wild sheep of California are now classified asOvis nelsoni. Whether those of the Shasta region belonged to the latter species, or to the bighorn species of Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, is still an unsettled question.
[3]An excerpt from a letter to a friend, written in 1873.
[4]Muir at this time was making Yosemite Valley his home.
[5]An obsolete genus of plants now replaced in the main byChrysothamnusandEricameria.
[6]An early local name for what is now known as Lassen Peak, or Mt. Lassen. In 1914 its volcanic activity was resumed with spectacular eruptions of ashes, steam, and gas.
[7]Pronounced Too’-lay.
[8]Letter dated “Salt Lake City, Utah, May 15, 1877.”
[9]Letter dated “Salt Lake City, Utah, May 19, 1877.”
[10]Letter dated “Lake Point, Utah, May 20, 1877.”
[11]Letter dated “Salt Lake, July, 1877.”
[12]Letter dated “September 1, 1877.”]
[13]Letter written during the first week of September, 1877.
[14]The spruce, or hemlock, then known asAbies Douglasiivar.macrocarpais now calledPseudotsuga macrocarpa.
[15]Written at Ward, Nevada, in September, 1878.
[16]See footnote 5.
[17]Written at Eureka, Nevada, in October, 1878.
[18]Now calledPinus monophylla, or one-leaf piñon.
[19]Written at Pioche, Nevada, in October, 1878.
[20]Written at Eureka, Nevada, in November, 1878.
[21]Date and place of writing not given. Published in theSan Francisco Evening Bulletin, January 15, 1879.
[22]November 11, 1889; Muir’s description probably was written toward the end of the same year.
[23]This tree, now known to botanists asPicea sitchensis, was namedAbies Menziesiiby Lindley in 1833.
[24]Also known as “canoe cedar,” and described in Jepson’sSilva of Californiaunder the more recent specific nameThuja plicata.
[25]Now classified asTsuga mertensianaSarg.
[26]NowAbies grandisLindley.
[27]Chamæcyparis lawsonianaParl. (Port Orford cedar) in Jepson’sSilva.
[28]1889.
[29]A careful re-determination of the height of Rainier, made by Professor A. G. McAdie in 1905, gave an altitude of 14,394 feet. The Standard Dictionary wrongly describes it is “the highest peak (14,363 feet) within the United States.” The United States Baedeker and railroad literature overstate its altitude by more than a hundred feet.
[30]Doubtless the red silver fir, now classified asAbies amabilis.
[31]Lassen Peak on recent maps.
[32]Pseudotsuga taxifoliaBrit.
[33]Thuja plicataDon.
[34]Muir wrote this description in 1902; Major J. W. Powell made his descent through the canyon, with small boats, in 1869.
Note from the transcriber:
A phrase Muir uses that readers might doubt: “fountain range,” by which he means a mountainous area where rain or snow fall that is the source of water for a river or stream downslope. So it is not a typographical error for “mountain range”! Another odd phrase is “(something) is well worthy (something else)” rather than “well worth” or “well worthy of.” He uses this at least twice in this work.—jg