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Show 360 in the desert." He was pleased by the gardens, orchards, and flowers surrounding the houses in Salt Lake and Pasadena. He reported the reclamation, redemption, and recreation of men who turned from get-rich-quick schemes to the steady work of agriculture. These individuals sprinkled his narratives. He admired the aims of Livingston Stone of the United States Fish Commission, who worked on the McCloud River, restoring wasted waters and extending the range of food fishes. Mono Joe Boler had decided to raise hay instead of mining at the foot of Bloody Canyon, and was now worth $30,000. The children of Utah were "Utah's best crop," and certainly her most plentiful; they seemed "remarkably bright and promising." But in all this praise, there remained an attitude of waiting; Muir respected the energy of these home builders, but wondered about their future; he was compelled to articulate their prayers, but reserved judgment. Like John Wesley Powell, he knew that the prayers of men were not always answered. He warned in 1877 in Nevada that he did not want to give the impression that agriculture was, or ever would be, of major importance in the Great Basin, that the limit had already been approached. Lumber in Nevada was also limited, and "of an inferior kind." Nevada's largest crop was pine nuts, "perhaps greater than the entire wheat crop of California," though "Fortunately for the Indians and wild animals that gather around Nature's board, this crop is not easily harvested in a monopolizing way-" This reference to California's agricultural monopoly shows that Muir knew the |
