suggested to the writer by Mr. Abbott Kinney, of Los Angeles, then a member of the State Board of Yosemite Commissioners, that the club establish a public reading-room and bureau of information such as originally contemplated by Professor Senger. The matter was brought to the attention of the commission, and it was agreed that the state should grant the use of a building, to be furnished and equipped by our club, the salary of the custodian to be shared equally by the commission and the Sierra Club. The old Sinning cottage, opposite the present superintendent's office, was fitted up during the spring of 1898, and the club was most fortunate in securing the services of Mr. William E. Colby as the first custodian. The headquarters were maintained in this way for several years, though with difficulty, since after the first three years the State Commission was obliged to withdraw its financial support, due to lack of funds. Finally, after the death of Professor Joseph Le Conte in the valley, in 1901, it was decided to erect a memorial lodge, which should also be used as a permanent headquarters. A fund of $6000 was raised by subscription, and the beautiful stone building with its bronze medallion of Professor Le Conte over the fireplace was finished and dedicated in 1904.

One of the most important developments in the history of the club, which came about this time, was the organization of the annual outings in 1901. In 1900 Mr. Colby was elected to the board of directors, and made secretary, and through his efforts and those of Mr. E. T. Parsons the directors authorized the annual outing feature. The first outing was in the Tuolumne Meadows in 1901, the second in the Kings River Cañon, and the third on the Kern. Since the beginning, the outings. have steadily grown in size and perfection of organization, until now they stand out as the most popular single feature of the club and a model for other mountaineering clubs.

The most important piece of work in which the club has ever engaged was the passage of a bill through the legislature receding the Yosemite State Park to the Government, and the subsequent acceptance of it by Congress as a part of the national park. Ever since the creation of the Yosemite National Park, the state park, originally established June 30, 1864, required an entirely needless duplication of administration within the

boundaries of the larger grant. This recession was vigorously opposed by many of the members of the legislature, and by some of the press as well, and it is generally conceded that except for the strenuous work done by the Sierra Club the bill, carried as it was by so small a margin, would never have gone through. The good effects of this combination can now be easily recognized. Whereas the state was never able to appropriate over $10,000 per annum, and usually less, Congress gave $250,000 last year for the Yosemite National Park, and we are asking for $319,000 this year.

About 1904, members residing in the vicinity of San Francisco suggested the idea of local Sunday walks which could be arranged by a committee and announced in advance, thus giving those who could not afford the time for the summer outing an opportunity to enjoy the beauties of nature in a milder way. These first walks were announced in the advertising columns of the daily papers each week, but soon this was replaced by the regular printed schedule as at present. The local walks have proved a great success, and these, together with the outings, have done much to bring the membership of the club up to its present large figure.

An increasing number of members from southern California led to the establishment of the Southern California Section with headquarters in Los Angeles in 1905, when the revised by-laws were adopted by vote of the club in April of that year. It has erected through private subscription the John Muir Lodge in the Santa Anita Cañon.

In 1912 it was called to the attention of the directors of the club that the famous Lambert Soda Springs property was for sale. In order to prevent its passing into improper hands, Mr. Colby promptly took an option on the property, and a year later the entire amount of the purchase price was raised by subscription amongst the club membership. After the death of Mr. E. T. Parsons, in 1914, it was decided to erect on the property a suitable stone building, to be known as the Parsons Memorial Lodge. This was accordingly done in 1915, at an expense of about $3000. It is now open in charge of a custodian each summer.

One of the recent good deeds of the club has been the sav

ing of the remarkable and unique Devil's Postpile from destruction. When an application was filed with the Bureau of Forestry for a permit to blast it into the river to form a dam for power purposes, the directors took the matter up at once, and by personal letters to President Taft succeeded in having both the Postpile and the Rainbow Fall made into a national monument.

The Sierra Club conceived the idea of the John Muir Trail, for the starting of which the legislature appropriated $10,000 two years ago. We need an additional appropriation to finish it and money to extend it northward to Lake Tahoe, and all members of the club should urge the members of the state legislature to appropriate the $20,000 required for its completion. The greatest work which lies before us this winter is the passage through Congress of a bill which shall create a Greater Sequoia Park, including the headwaters of the Kern, Kaweah, and Kings rivers, and a small portion of those of the San Joaquin.

The club is now in a flourishing condition. It has over 1800 members, and its income from dues and advertising is some $5000 per annum. Its publications fill nine volumes, and these contain practically all the results of exploration in the high Sierra during the past twenty-five years, as well as work in other mountain regions. Let every one then put his shoulder to the wheel, so that, as Mr. Muir says in his letter, "We will be able to do something for wildness and make the mountains glad."

TO THE MEMORY OF JOHN MUIR

BY C. HART MERRIAM

JOHN

OHN MUIR was doubtless more widely known and more generally loved than any other Californian. He was a famous wanderer, and left a trail that is well worth following. It leads to the mountains and forests, to health and happiness, and to a better appreciation of nature. While he loved the mountains and everything in them, his chief interests centered about the dynamic forces that shaped their features and the vegetation that clothed their slopes.

But, of all the objects in nature, trees appealed to him most strongly. These he knew as no other man has known them. They ⚫ were ever-present in his mind and formed an inexhaustible theme of conversation. On his walks and in his study he delighted to talk of their individual peculiarities, and with his pencil he would make rough but characteristic sketches showing the dominant distinctive features of each species. He knew the dates of flowering and the differences of the sexes, and could tell offhand the time required by the several pines for maturing their cones. In nearly every case he could recognize a tree at a distance by its general habit, and when specimens were shown him he could identify them at a glance by the branches, flowers, fruit, or bark.

To gratify his love of forests and increase his knowledge of them he traveled far, studying not only those of the Pacific Coast from Alaska and British Columbia to southern California, those of the Rocky Mountains from Montana to Arizona, those of the Eastern states in both the northern and southern Alleghanies and in the pine barrens and everglades of Florida, but also traversing Russia, Siberia, and India, visiting Australia, New Zealand, and the Philippines, and late in life even journeying to South America to see for himself the great tropical forests of the Amazon and the remarkable Araucaria of western Patagonia. Has any other human eye seen so many and diverse types of arboreous vegetation, or any other mind learned so much of the great forests of the world?

One often hears Muir spoken of as an authority on the animal life of the mountains. This is an error. For while he liked to see birds and mammals in the wilderness and about his camps, he rarely troubled himself to learn their proper names and relationships. Now and then a particular species impressed itself sufficiently upon his attention to appear in his writings, and in a few instances to form the subject of a special article or chapter. His accounts of the water-ouzel and Sierra red squirrel— which latter he confused with the Douglas squirrel of the coast -are real contributions to natural history, abounding in original observations, full of sympathy, and charmingly told. But for scientific study of the great army of small birds and mammals he cared little. Plants, on the other hand, were always dear to him; he knew the names of hundreds of species and could tell at what altitude and in what situation each was likely to be found.

He had a strong mechanical bent, was fond of machinery, quick to grasp principles of mechanics, and was familiar with the various applications of power. He loved to study the forces of nature, and was one of the first to recognize the part played by ice in sculpturing mountains, cañons, and valleys.

In 1870 or 1871 Muir took my father to Clouds Rest, from which lofty outlook he pointed with enthusiasm and conviction to the several channels through which deep rivers of ice had found their way before uniting to form the glacier that had plowed out and shaped Yosemite Valley. And later, when traveling together in the upper Tuolumne and Mokelumne regions, he often surprised me by the extent of his knowledge of the depth of the former glaciers and the details of ice action in those parts. It is a pity that his early studies of the ancient glaciers of the Sierra were not recorded in permanent form, but a matter of congratulation that his observations of those of Alaska have finally been published.*

Muir was a great talker, but not a loud talker. And although he usually monopolized the conversation, he was listened to

* See "On the Glaciation of the Arctic and Sub-Arctic Regions visited by the United States Steamer 'Corwin' in the year 1881." In U. S. Senate documents, 48th Congress, 1st session. Vol. 8, No. 204, pp. 135-147.

"Notes on the Pacific Coast Glaciers.' In Harriman Alaska Expedition. Vol. 1,

pp. 119-135. 1901

"Travels in Alaska." 1915.