Neighbour Dispute (to the death)

Great Canyon of the Sierra Yosemite, by Thomas Hill (1829 – 1908)

Quick Quotes 27.  This month we are looking at some entertaining quotes from A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, by John Muir.  Muir (1838-1914) was a celebrated naturalist known as “John of the Mountains”, a key figure in the push for the establishment of National Parks in the USA.  The following quote is taken from the 1916 edition edited by William Frederic Bade.  I’m sure most people reading this blog will have read about neighbour disputes in the newspapers at some point, which can sometimes escalate to extraordinary levels of obsession, but rarely as extraordinary as this:

Received another solemn warning of dangers on my way through the mountains…

As I was leaving, he repeated the warnings of danger ahead, saying that there were a good many people living like wild beasts on whatever they could steal, and that murders were some times committed for four or five dollars, and even less. While stopping with him I noticed that a man came regularly after dark to the house for his supper. He was armed with a gun, a pistol, and a long knife. My host told me that this man was at feud with one of his neighbors, and that they were prepared to shoot one an other at sight. That neither of them could do any regular work or sleep in the same place two nights in succession. That they visited houses only for food, and as soon as the one that I saw had got his supper he went out and slept in the woods, without of course making a fire. His enemy did the same.

My entertainer told me that he was trying to make peace between these two men, because they both were good men, and if they would agree to stop their quarrel, they could then both go to work.

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“Quick Quotes” are some bonus content for the blog. Each time I find an interesting or amusing little quote that does not really need any further explanation or background information, it will appear on Windows into History under this heading. You can keep updated each time I post a new entry by clicking on the follow button on the right of the screen. I welcome any comments or suggestions, and will consider guest posts.