"Your father, like my own, was, I devoutly believe, a sincere Christian, abounding in noble qualities, preaching the Gospel without money or price while working hard for a living, clearing land, blacksmithing, able for anything, and from youth to death never abating one jot his glorious foundational religious enthusiasm. I revere his memory with that of my father and the New England Puritans--types of the best American pioneers whose unwavering faith in God's eternal righteousness forms the basis of our country's greatness.

Faithfully your friend
John Muir"