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Sierra Club Bulletin 



the higher regions of the range the wanderer will long find solitudes and 

 mountain peaks unspoiled by man. 



First of all, in spirit, Muir shares these joys with his friend, then re- 

 veals his heart in his letters. True friendship ever reaches far beyond 

 the lives of those who find it. We feel with him the passion pure for God 

 and His creation. Each mountain peak that Muir ascended calls us still 

 to worship as in distant years they called their friend and prophet. With 

 him we see again the holy morning's Alpine glow crown Shasta's dis- 

 tant summit, and by his side, in spirit led, our hearts respond in glad 

 thanksgiving. 



While we commend these letters of John Muir to the attention of all 

 who are his true friends, we suggest that acquaintance with our great- 

 est prophet of nature, and that of the land he loved, be further formed 

 through his Mountains of California, Our National Parks, The Yosemite, 

 and Travels in Alaska. Then will one roam through the valleys and over 

 these mountains of God with seeing eye and understanding heart, while, 

 perchance, the vision of eternal beauty that was his will become one's 

 own. Le Roy Jeffers 



"Alaska Days Every lover of nature and of the mountains will find 

 WITH lasting enjoyment in this volume of Alaskan travel and 



John Muir"* adventure, and in the account written by John Muir 

 entitled Travels in Alaska. Mr. Young first went as a missionary to the 

 Indians of Southeastern Alaska in 1878. There he was visited in the sum- 

 mer of 1879 by Dr. Sheldon Jackson and other leaders of the Presby- 

 terian denomination. With them went John Muir, already famous for 

 his articles on the mountains of California. 



Establishing their headquarters at Fort Wrangell, the party chartered 

 a steamer to visit the Indian villages and to explore the canons of the 

 Stickeen. They found inspiring scenery between the precipitous walls of 

 the river, where beautiful groves of evergreen were carpeted with flow- 

 ers, and singing waterfalls filled the air with music. 



Late one afternoon, John Muir, who was always an indefatigable 

 walker and mountain climber, started with Mr. Young for a distant peak 

 from whose summit they expected to view the sunset. They sauntered 

 along botanizing and enjoying the unfolding landscape as they ascended 

 the mountain. After crossing a glacier and climbing the cliff to a point 

 near the summit, they realized that they must proceed more rapidly if 

 they were to complete the ascent. Pressing forward, Muir fairly slid up 

 the mountain, while Young followed as fast as he was able. In crossing 

 a gulley Young's footing gave way and he found himself sliding down- 

 ward with both shoulders dislocated. He was unable to check himself 

 until he actually overhung a thousand-foot precipice. Whistling in order 



* Alaska Days with John Muir. By S. Hall Young. New York: Revell. 1915. 

 $1.00 net. 



