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Show 350. He spoke in Thoreauvian terms when he told his fellow citizens that in the American West they had "Laplands and Laboradors, . . rivers of mercy as sacred as the Himalaya born Ganges." And the "Pah Ute Indian . . . Bedouin of the California deserts," roamed the Great Basin. Muir seemed to have caught the spirit of Bryant's Picturesque America, and was bringing out a western version. Yet westerners did not come to their wonderful scenic areas. Of Yosemite, Muir noted, "Not quite 33 per cent of all the visitors to this famous place are Californians." Was it "because so many from this state can go at any time that they never go?" Or maybe, he reconsidered, it was easier for a New Yorker to visit England than for a Californian to visit Yosemite. Yosemite needed free roads. "There is too much Niagara," Muir said, referring to the destructive commercialization of that scenic area, which was just gaining national attention. America had the scenic resources, but she needed to appreciate them. Despite the downturn in tourism to the Valley during the summer of 1876, as a result of the Centennial expositions, Muir was pleased to see increased family camping, as a more leisurely method of enjoying Nature. But really, he seemed pleased by any kind of tourism he saw. Such indiscriminate praise for tourism sounded like this: The regular tourist, ever on the flow, is one of the most characteristic productions of the present century; and however frivolous and inappreciative the poorest specimens may appear, viewed comprehensively, they are |