Mount Shasta Annotated Bibliography Chapter 22 Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays

Mt. Shasta has been used as the setting for fiction and non-fiction books and magazine articles. Travel writing was the first literary genre to focus on Mt. Shasta. Among the earliest of such travel writings were California publisher James Mason Hutchings' 1857 personal description of the mountain, Fitz Hugh Ludlow's uniquely written 1864 account of a two-week Mt. Shasta sojourn with Albert Bierstadt, and R. E. Garczynski's Shasta journey published in William Cullen Bryant's immensely popular 1872 Picturesque America. Travel writing continued throughout the late 19th and all of the 20th Century, including works by well-known authors like Mary Austin and English journalist- artist William Simpson. Novels featuring Mt. Shasta began with the 1873 Joaquin Miller classic Life Amongst the Modocs: Unwritten History. Other 19th Century novelists such as Bram Stoker, William Morrow Chambers, Daniel Boone Dumont, and Mary Glascock, used Mt. Shasta as a setting for their romances and adventure novels. See especially Duncan Cumming's 1897 "A Change with the Seasons; or, an Episode of Castle Crags" for a little known but creative work of American fiction about the lives of the well- to-do San Franciscans who would come each year to summer at Castle Crags tavern. Several remarkable works of 20th Century prose stand out: actor Hal Holbrook's 1959 autobiographical account of a summit climb, scientist Liberty Hyde Bailey's 1905 account of a Shasta sunrise, educator George Wharton James's 1914 philosophical account of the importance of Mt. Shasta as an enduring teacher of California, and science-fiction writer Robert Heinlein's imaginative 1940s' Shasta short-story. One interesting French short story, untranslated unfortunately, details multiple levels of racism and self-criticism among a black family living near the mountain. This story, by Maryse Conde, and entitled "Mount Shasta, altitude 15,000 Pieds," somehow underscores a lack of deep emotional conflict in most of the Mount Shasta literature. Nonetheless, the entries in this section represent a wide variety of thoughts and emotions provoked by the spectacular mountain setting.

[MS167].          Austin, Mary 1868-1934.  California: The Land of the Sun.  New York: The Macmillan Company, 1914. Embossed color representation of Mt. Shasta on cover.     Mary Austin summarizes her impressions of Mount Shasta and says:  "Shasta will have done its best for you if it enables you to quake in the very marrow of consciousness" (p. 143).
      The author was one of California's best known 19th century novelists. She penned this collection of non-fiction travel essays as a tribute to her favorite state. Combined with the color reproductions of watercolors by the English artist Sutton Palmer, the book, with its strikingly beautiful cover, is in many respects a work of art in itself. Note that the book is a travel guide however, and at times the writing suffers from being overly pro-California.
      Sutton Palmer's paintings, commissioned for this book, include views of Mount Shasta, Castle Crags, and the McCloud River.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS167].

[MS638].          Bailey, Liberty Hyde 1858-1954.  The Outlook to Nature.  New York: Macmillan Company, 1905. Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey is considered to the founder of modern American agricultural science. He is best known today to gardeners and agriculturalists for his definitive Hortus Americanus, in print in its most recent edition as Hortus Third: A Concise Dictionary of Plants Cultivated in the United States and Canada. 
      The Outlook to Nature contains Bailey's extraordinarily personal and timeless observations about Mt. Shasta:  "It is worth while to cherish the few objects and phenomena that have impressed us greatly, and it is well to recount them often, until they become part of our being. One such phenomenon stands out boldly in my own experience. It was the sight of sunrise on Mt. Shasta, seen from the southeastern side from a point that was wholly untouched by travelers. From this point only the main dome of the mountain is seen. I had left the Southern Pacific train at Sisson's and had ridden on a flat-car over a lumber railroad some eighteen miles to the southeast. From this destination, I drove far into the great forest, over old lava dust that floated through the woods like smoke as it was stirred up by our horses and wagon-wheels. I was a guest for the night in one of those luxurious lodges which true nature-lovers, wishing wholly to escape the affairs of cities, build in remote and inaccessible places. The lodge stood on a low promontory, around three sides of which a deep swift mountain stream ran in wild tumult. Giant shafts of trees, such shafts as one sees only in the stupendous forests of the far West, shot straight into the sky from the very cornices of the house. It is always a marvel to the easterner how shafts of such extraordinary height could have been nourished by the very thin and narrow crowns they bear. One always, also, at the great distance the sap-water must carry its freight of mineral from root to leaf and its heavier freight from leaf to root.
      "We were up before the dawn. We made a pot of coffee, and the horses were ready, --fine mounts, accustomed to woods trails and hard slopes. It was hardly light enough to enable us to pick our way. We were as two pygmies, so titanic was the forest. The trails led us up and up, under spruce boughs becoming fragrant, over needle-strewn floors still heavy with darkness, disclosing glimpses now and then of gray light showing eastward between the boles. Suddenly the forest stopped, and we found ourselves on the crest of a great ridge: and sheer before us stood the great cone of Shasta, cold and gray and silent, floating on a sea of darkness from which even the highest tree crowns did not emerge. Scarcely had we spoken in the miles of our ascent, and now words would be sacrilege. Almost automatically we dismounted, letting the reins fall over the horses' necks, and removed our hats. The horses stood, and dropped their heads. Uncovered, we sat ourselves on the dry leaves and waited. It was the morning of creation. Out of the pure stuff of nebulae the cone had just been shaped and flung adrift until a world should be created on which it might rest. The gray light grew into white. Wrinkles and features grew into the mountain. Gradually a ruddy light appeared in the east. Then a flash of red shot out of the horizon, struck on a point of the summit, and caught from crag to crag and snow to snow until the great mass was streaked and splashed with fire. Slowly the darkness settled away from its base; a tree emerged; a bird chirped; and the morning was born!
      "Now a great nether world began to rise up out of Chaos. Far hills rose, first through rolling billows of mist. Then came wide forests of spruce. As the panorama rose, the mountain changed from red to gold. The stars had faded out and left the great mass to itself on the bosom of the rising world,--the mountain fully created now and established. Spriggy bushes and little leaves--little green-brown leaves and tender tufts of herbs--trembled out of the woods. The illimitable circle of the world stretched away and away, its edges still hung in the stuff from which it had just been fashioned. Then the forest rang with calls of birds and a hundred joyous noises, and the creation was complete!" (pp. 57-61) (pp. 44-48 in the 1911 ed.)     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS638].

[MS257].          Baker, Olaf.  Shasta of the Wolves.  New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1945. First published in 1919. Illustrated by Charles Livingston Bull.     This book apparently has no connection to Mount Shasta other than the use of the name 'Shasta' for the main character.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS257].

[MS1163].          Behme, Robert Lee.  Shasta and Rogue.  New York: Simon and Schuster, 1974. This book apparently has no connection to Mount Shasta other than the use of the name 'Shasta' for one of the main characters. Shasta and Rogue are the names of two coyote pups brought up in a household in the Sierra Nevada mountains.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS1163].

[MS382].          Bowen, Helen Gilman.  Mount Shasta or Bust.  Los Angeles, Calif.: 1978. Story based on an 1890s diary. Title is misleading, for although Mount Shasta is mentioned once or twice early in the book as a symbol of the West, the mountain is neither visited nor mentioned again.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS382].

[MS2046].          Burks, Arthur J. 1898.  Listen to the Mountain: my personal silent interview with Mount Shasta.  Lakemont, Ga..: CSA, 1963. 96 p.; 18 cm.   Photocopy+Bnd     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2046].

[MS259].          Campbell, Bartley Theodore 1843-1888.  My Partner [play]. In: Campbell, Bartley Theodore 1843-1888.  The White Slave and Other Plays.  Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University Press, 1965. First published circa 1879.     A play about pioneer times and gold mining life in Siskiyou County. The play was performed during the 1880s in the U.S., England, and Germany.
      Mount Shasta is represented in the dialogue and in the scenery requirements: "MAJOR BRITT (on a stump orating as a politician): "I am full of admiration of this lovely scene--look about you--the moon like a beacon in motion, afloat upon a sea of azure; the dark pines whispering to each other, the river flashing like liquid silver, and singing as it flows, while the great dome of Shasta, clad in its mantle of eternal snow, shames by its purity and proportion the fabled fabrics of pagan Rome." SAM: "Bully for Shasta!"  JIM: "Bully for Pagan Rome!" (p. 57).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS259].

[MS1].          Campbell, John Francis.  My Circular Notes : Extracts from Journals, Letters Sent Home, Geological and Other Notes, Written while Travelling Westwards round the World from July 6, 1874, to July 6, 1875.  London: Macmillan and Co., 1876. 2 vols.     Contains the cultural and geological observations of an Englishman who came to Mt. Shasta in Sept., 1874. The author stayed for several days in the Mount Shasta region as part of a journey southward by stagecoach along the Oregon-California trail. He describes with insight and humor the people, climate, and geology of "Yrika," "Berry-Vale," "Shasta Bute," "Black Bute," "Soda Springs," "Slate Creek," "MacLeod" River, etc. (Vol. 1, pp. 130-143).
      The author makes perhaps the first comparison in print of Mt. Shasta to Mt. Fuji, albeit it with reversal, when he says that: "The first thing I saw in Japan was a mountain as big as 'Shasta' or 'Mount Hood;' of the same form as Etna; a volcano, covered near the top with snow. It was Fuji San, commonly called Fujiyama" (Vol.II, p. 272). As a whole, the book records a remarkable attempt by one man to understand volcanic and glacial activities on a world-wide basis.
      Campbell wrote that he sent samples of Shasta's volcanic rock from which the age of the mountain would be determined. The author previously published a book entitled Frost and Fire and was presumably accustomed to scientific methods of geological observation.  The book contains a full-page reproduction of the author's own drawing of Mount Shasta (Vol.I, p. 137).      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS1].

[MS2213].          Conde, Maryse.  Mount Shasta: altitude 15,000 pieds. Conde, Maryse.  Pays mele: nouvelles.  Paris, France: Robert Laffont, 1997. pp. 199-209.   French language only; not translated into English.     A fictional short story of travel. Concerns a young intellectual black man born in McCloud. He teaches around the world and mets in Berkeley a black Guadaloupe woman who has blond hair ("Chez moi, on m'appelle 'chabine doree'"). They marry. The two return to McCloud on a visit to his parents' disfunctional family, and reminisce and confront multiple levels of racism and self-criticism. This is one of the more serious Mount Shasta stories; and which because of its depth of racism issues serves to point out the the lack of depth of many white-only cultural travel accounts of the mountain.      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2213].

[MS2070].          Croy, Dick.  The Shasta Gate.  no place, electronic book: Boson Books, 1999. Equals about 220 pages of an average size novel.   This printed copy is 219 pages of 8.5 by 11 inches.      Ficton. 'New Age Fiction' according to the publisher. An editorial review from Amazon.com states: "Although The Shasta Gate is a serious first novel examining love, consciousness and the nature of reality, author Dick Croy is aiming at a much larger audience than such a description is likely to attract. ....A fascinating element of the book are the myths and legends surrounding Mt. Shasta, the majestic extinct or, in the view of the story, inactive volcano in northern california where Catherine's wealthy but remote father owns an Arabian Horse ranch which is her refuge. Ram, the ranch's overseer, is mentor (a sort of native American guru) to the spoiled but appealing young woman and encouages her to listen for the lessons the mountain has to teach her this summer.'     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2070].

[MS2042].          Cumming, Duncan 1860.  A Change with the Seasons; or, an Episode of Castle Crags.  Dunsmuir, CA: Dunsmuir Pub. Co., 1897. 171 pp.    The author was editor of the Dunsmuir News.     A novel. A well-written account of the love life of the young and witty aristocratic people of San Francisco social families (the 'Four Hundred' families) who would come to the Tavern of Castle Crags each summer. Two of the young gentlemen are stunned, as are all the other travelers and guests, by the singular beauty of one of the recent married arrivals. The novel concerns the jaded lives and honest dreams of the characters, and delineates the remarkably unscrupulous morals of all involved. This novel is unique in giving a glimpse into the sort of inner lives lived by the guests at the Tavern of Castle Crags in the 1880s (the novel concerns an era earlier than the publisher's 1897 date of printing). The Tavern was one of the most fashionable society resorts in California at the time. Contains some great descriptions of lightening storms in the Crags. Stylistically, the author places interesting comments about his construction of the characters, for example "This scene is growing too sad. If I kept on this way I would have to kill him off. I may have to kill him off yet, or marry him to a widow. (p. 92).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2042].

[MS2045].          Davis, Mary Montague.  Betty Bradford, Engineer.  New York: The Macmillan Company, 1930. vii p., 1 l., 244 p. incl. illus., plates.; front; 21 cm.   Illustrated by Ruth King. Illustrated lining-papers. With drawing of Mount Shasta.     Mount Shasta.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2045].

[MS366].          Drannen, William F. 1832-1913.  Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains.  Chicago, Ill.: Rhodes and McClure, 1899. Autobiographical material. Mount Shasta is mentioned in the context of returning from Klamath Lake in 1856. The author states that "...I intended to pass west of the Snowy Butte instead of east of it, as we did coming in. This butte has since been called Shasta Mountain, and it is one of the grandest sights that ever the eye of man beheld. It flouts the skies with its peaks of everlasting snow, gleaming like a vast opal under the sunshine, or peeping out in rainbow-tinted glints, from among the rifts of the clouds that rake along its sides. Often long streams of glittering white stretch from its peaks, far out into space, and these are called 'snow banners.' My object in passing west of Shasta was to strike the headwaters of the Sacramento and follow that river to the city of Sacramento. Late in the evening we struck a beautiful region, since known as Shasta Valley (pp. 265-266). 
      Contains Shasta region Indian stories. The author accompanied a group of men, under the command of a  Col. Elliot, from San Francisco east to Honey Lake and thence north to Klamath Lake. Their purpose was to establish a fort at Klamath Lake.  Hoping to obtain some horses they engaged in a fight with Indians near the shores of Klamath Lake. The author says that "The next morning, as soon as it was light enough to see to scalp an Indian, the boys took twenty-one scalps, and we had fifty-two horses, some of which were extraordinary good ones of that class" (p. 259).
      Contains several pages of Drannen's account of discovering a group of five Indians running a herd of about sixty horses in Shasta Valley. Figuring that the horses were stolen, Drannen and his men kill all five Indians. Drannen narrates the moonlight attack: "When within ten feet of the Indians, Jones and Riley both rose to their feet and fired three shots, Jones firing both pistols at once, and they killed two Indians as they lay and killed the third one as he raised to his feet. The other two ran, not offering to fight at all, but Jones and Riley got them before they had gone further than a few steps. This fight occurred about sixteen miles east of Yreka, near Little Shasta" (p. 268).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS366].

[MS538].          Dumont, Daniel Boone.  The Witch of Shasta, or The Man of Cheek: A Romance of California .  New York: Beadle, 1889. Lengthy pulp novel with extensive dialogue. A tale of miner's poverty and moral turpitude in and about the mining town of Glengarteny located somewhere near Mt. Shasta. Few references are made to the true geography of the Mt. Shasta region. The witch of Shasta is Maria Frias, the widow of noted horse thief Austin Frias. Maria wanted to kill the man who murdered her husband. Much of the book revolves around the effects of poverty. Thievery,  robbery, and general conniving are important themes in this story.
      An interesting book about human nature, and although a 'dime novel' it is well-written.
      Major D. Boone Dumont was the author of "Silver Sam"; "Colonel Double Edge"; "The White Crook"; "Old River Sport";  etc.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS538].

[MS767].          Fairchild, Lucius 1831-1896.  [letter dated Sept. 22, 1851]. In: Schafer, Joseph.  California Letters of Lucius Fairchild.  Madison, Wis.: State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1931. Fairchild came to California in 1849. In 1851 he wrote of plans to visit the "Shasty" Valley. He says: "I shall go to the city next week and then to Navada [Nevada] City on business for Mr. Steele who is to meet me at Sac. and am going to Shasty Valley, where he lives, with him to mine this winter. He says that we can make money there and I am willing to go any where I can do that for money I must have if it is to be had by honest and fair means if not I shall come to you poor as you say you will receive the prodigal son money or no money" (p. 119).  Other Fairchild letters in this book mention the "Shasty" Valley.
     One letter written from Scott's bar, on Nov. 17, 1854, indicates that Fairchild had successfully settled in Siskiyou County. He says: "As far as money matters go, I cirtainly have no cause to be blue as we have been doing well and in fact first rate on that Rich Claim we bought into last year. It has paid over $2500. clear to us this summer..." (p. 180).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS767].

[MS2176].          Fullerton, Hugh S. 1873-1945.  Jimmy Kirkland of the Shasta Boys' Team.  Philadelphia: J. C. Winston, 1915. 270 pp.; [4] leaves of plates; ill; 19 cm.   Illustrated by Charles Paxton Gray.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2176].

[MS45].          Gaer, Joseph 1897.  Bibliography of California Literature: Pre-Gold Rush Period.  1935, reprinted 1970 by Burt Franklin. Photocopy. Abstract from the SERA Project 2-F2-132  (3-F2-197) California Literary Research. 69pp.     Bibliography of books printed before 1849 relevant to the early literature of California, may provide leads to Early Mount Shasta descriptions.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS45].

[MS837].          Garczynski, R. E.  Northern California: With Illustrations by R. Swain Gifford. In: Bryant, William Cullen 1794-1878.  Picturesque America: Or, The Land We Live In. A Delineation by Pen and Pencil of the Mountains, Rivers, Lakes, Forests, Water-falls, Shores, Canons, Valleys, Cities, and Other Picturesque Features of Our Country. With Illustrations on Steel and Wood, by Eminent American Artists .  New York: D. Appelton and Company, 1872. pp. 412-431.   2 Volumes.     Picturesque America  was one of the first great American illustrated travel books. The book was illustrated and written, by eminent artists and authors, with the intention of presenting to the reader many of the less  known but magnificent places within the borders of the United States. The chapter on Northern California contains engravings of "Castellated Rock [Castle Crags], "Mount Shasta," and "Pilot Knob." Of Mount Shasta the author writes pages of descriptive prose. He states that: "The stupendous proportions of this great snowpeak would alone be sufficient to rivet the attention of every traveller. But to these must be added a most wonderful play of color. The lava forming the body of the mountain, which penetrates often through the snow-part, is of a pale rosy hue, and, when the sun shines on this, it has a splendor which words are too weak to render adequately. The snow, with its pure, white, fleecy fields, is in many places diversified by great glaciers of ice and yawning crevasses, in whose depths are shadows of the most intense blue. Upon the veins of the ice the sunbeams fall with refracted glory, giving forth the most wonderful opalescent tints. Here, in some places, the hues are green as emerald; there, in others, there is a lurid purple, interstriated with a tender pink. In other spots, the prevailing tone is a rich cream-color, perfectly translucent. The snow, too, has its colors, but generally glows with an incandescent fire under the welcoming kisses of the solar rays. So beautiful, so varied, are the effects produced by the mingling colors of lava, of snow, and of ice-enamelling, that, for days, the beholder cannot consider other things" (p. 422).
      Contains the steel engraving "Mount Shasta" by James D. Smillie (facing p. 424).      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS837].

[MS940].          Garton, Ray.  Dark Channel: Evil has Entered a New Age and this Time it Speaks through a...  Bantam Books: New York, 1992. Horror novel. Makes frequent reference to Mt. Shasta and to a fictional character named Hester Throne and his 'Universal Enlightened Alliance at the foot of majestic Mount Shasta' (p. 71).      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS940].

[MS187].          Glascock, Mary W.  Dare.  San Francisco, Calif.: The California Publishing Company, 1882. A novel about a young woman named Dare Brent. Some of the action takes place near Mount Shasta. Chapter V is entitled "A Trip to Shasta" and Chapter VI is entitled "A Stay at Soda Springs." This is a novel about character: "Dare was an anomaly of the age; she was independent. She hated society with a holy hatred; conventionalities tired her. The restlessness in her eyes was reflected in her manners, and she was prone to be abrupt" (p. 7). The Mount Shasta region was a favorite summer resort for San Franciscans in the 1870s and 1880s. The author conveys a sense of the thoughts and pleasures of the summer season in the Mount Shasta area. For example, the waters of Soda Springs were a great attraction: "With morning came an invitation to taste the natural soda-water. They plunged the glasses into the spring, and brought them full to overflowing with a liquid clearer than distilled dews, effervescing as champagne of Rheims. They tasted: all the cobwebbed Burgundy hidden in the stone vaults of Europe could not rival it. They quaffed and quaffed again. It was condensed Sierra air, filtered and purified by moonshine until it reached perfection. 'If the gods had drunk of this, they would have forsaken Olympus and hied to Shasta,' Dartmore exclaimed enthusiastically, as he held up his goblet to the light, full of seething, crystal liquid." (p. 90). One group of the fictional summer visitors climb to the top of Mount Shasta.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS187].

[MS26].          Gray, Bob.  Forests, Fires, and Wild Things.  Happy Camp, Calif.: Naturegraph Publishers, Inc., 1985. Autobiographical accounts of many Mount Shasta events. With humor and a bit of sympathy at times, the author recounts the people and places which have made his life continually interesting. Mr. Gray was a Forest Service Ranger in the area (mostly in the McCloud Ranger District) from 1942 until 1976. Highlights include accounts of the hippies of the '60s and '70s (pp. 226-229), Mrs. Ballard and the Saint Germain Foundation (pp. 237-238), and storms, especially the Columbus Day storm of 1962 (pp. 224-225). Also contains dozens of accounts about forest fires, animals, trees, hunters, loggers, and forest management.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS26].

[MS1290].          Greenleaf, Stephen.  Iris: John Marshall Tanner. In: The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories.  New York: Carroll and Graff Publishers, Inc., 1988. pp. 444-462.   Short story set in northern California, about a hitchhiker, a baby, and a babynapping ring. Contains descriptions of Mt. Shasta: "The mountain itself, volcanic, abrupt, spectacular, had been held by the Indians to be holy, and the area surrounding it was replete with hot springs and mud baths and other prehistoric marvels. Modern mystics had accepted the mantle of the mountain, and the crazy girl and her silly bug [a Volkswagen] fit with what he knew about the place and those who gathered there. What didn't fit was the baby she had foisted on him."     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS1290].

[MS546].          Grimwood, Ken.  Replay.  New York: Arbor House, 1986. Fiction. A novel about a 40-year old man's repeated opportunities to live the same age over and over again, with full memory of each cycle. One gets wiser each time. Mt. Shasta serves as a setting for a romantic interlude during a train ride north. Elsewhere in the novel Mt. Shasta is described as seen from the air. One of the characters is described as having been raised in Redding, California, near Mt. Shasta.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS546].

[MS21].          Heinlein, Robert Anson 1907.  Lost Legacy. In: Assignment in Eternity: Four Long Science Fiction Stories by Robert A. Heinlein.  Reading, Pa.: Fantasy Press, 1953. pp. 129-226.   First published as 'Lost Legion' by Lyle Monroe (pseud of Robert Heinlein) in Super Science Stories, October, 1941 (copyright 1941 by Fictioneers, Inc.). Also published in England as a seperate book entitled Lost Legacy.     Science Fiction. Dust jacket states that "Telepathy, teleportation and other powers--these are the lost legacy of the human race." The plot revolves around the gradual realization by a group of modern visitors to Mount Shasta that northern California's 18th Century Catholic mission founder, Fra Junipero Serra, had ordered a fellow monk to begin a community on Mt. Shasta. According to this science-fiction novel, even Ambrose Bierce, the philospher-jounalist who disappeared in 1914, had come to the mountain and was still alive as a leader of the secret community.
      Heinlein writes fictionally that: "When Fra Junipero Serra first laid eyes on Mount Shasta in 1781, the Indians told him it was a holy place, only for medicine men. He assured them that he was a medicine man, serving a greater Master, and to keep face, dragged his sick, frail old body up to the snow line, where he slept before returning. The dream he had there--of the Garden of Eden, the Sin, the Fall, and the Deluge--convinced him that it was indeed a holy place. He returned to San Francisco, planning to found a mission at Shasta. But there was too much for one old man to do--so many souls to save, so many mouths to feed. He surrendered his soul to rest two years later, but laid an injunction on a fellow monk to carry out his intention. It is recorded that this friar left the northernmost mission in 1785 and did not return. The Indians fed the holy man who lived on the mountain until 1843, by which time he had gathered about him a group of neophytes, three Indians, a Russian, a Yankee mountainman. The Russian carried on after the death of the friar until joined by a Chinese, fled from his indenture. The Chinese made more progress in a few weeks than the Russian had in half of a lifetime; the Russian gladly surrendered first place to him. The Chinese was still there over a hundred years later, though long since retired from administration. He tutored in aesthetics and humor. 'And this establishment has just one purpose,' continued Ephraim Howe. 'We aim to see to it that Mu and Atlantis don't happen again. Everything that the Young men stood for, we are against. We see the history of the world as a series of crises in a conflict between two opposing philosophies. Ours is based on the notion that life, consciousness, intelligence, ego is the important thing in the world.' For an instant only he touched them telepathically; they felt again the vibrantly alive thing that Ambrose Bierce had showed them and been unable to define in words. 'That puts us in conflict with every force that tends to destroy, deaden, degrade the human spirit, or to make it act contrary to its nature. We see another crisis approaching; we need recruits. You've been selected'" (pp. 157-158).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS21].

[MS719].          Holbrook, Hal 1920.  Prologue. In: Holbrook, Hal 1920.  Mark Twain Tonight! : An Actor's Portrait. Selections from Mark Twain Edited, Adapted, and Arranged with a Prologue.  New York: Ives Washburn, Inc., 1959. pp. 45-60.   In his prologue Holbrook describes his 1954 ascent of Mt. Shasta. His 15 page account is the record of a man not quite in shape and terribly alone on the mountain, caught in an attempt beyond his capacity. Needing to get away from New York, and having recently read a book on the conquest of Everest, he says: "I found that I could go to Switzerland or Chile, but that the plane fare to these places was formidable. An alternate choice was to fly out to the west coast and ski on the glacier on Mount Shasta" (p. 46).
      At one point, rocks whizzing by, he reflects: "I thought to myself, 'Well isn't this something? Everybody back home told me I was going to kill myself out here and now it's going to happen on the very first day.' The humor of this struck me and I started to laugh. I threw my head back and laughed and laughed as one rock after another went whistling past" (p. 54).
     The climbing was difficult for Holbrook: "My breathing terrified me, and the insistent and loud hammering of my heart seemed to be a warning. It beat into my ears and frightened me. Perspiration leaked down into my eyes and stung them. My body began to feel dismembered....I began to crawl on my hands and knees. I crawled along for a count of five, stopped, and then crawled some more. Soon I began to fall down after every count of five, and remain that way awhile. I struggled up and began to count four, then three. I lost all track of time, all sense of counting; there was only the consciousness of rising my hands and knees and groping a few feet forward and falling down again. My cheek pressed against the surface of the hard snow and it felt so cool and comfortable there. I would have liked to have stayed that way forever but it would not have been wise. I began to recall all the times in my life when I had been knocked down by one thing or another and had somehow got up and gone on again. This was the same routine, I thought; this was the pattern of life itself - 'just one more damned thing after another,' as Mark Twain had put it. I braced myself on all fours and slowly drew myself up again, crawled another step forward, and fell flat" (p. 60).
      Holbrook tried for the summit but did not make it. He did ski on Shasta's glaciers, and thus achieved one of the goals he had set for himself. He also spent time at the Sierra Club hut, and humorously says: "On the wall of the cabin was a large printed sheet with some history about Mount Shasta and the people who had climbed it. I was interested to find that, among others, a nine-year-old boy had got to the top. I began to dislike him immediately" (p. 56).      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS719].

[MS886].          Holmes, Howard 1849-1924.  The California Sleuth; Or, the Trail of the Gold Grandee. A Story of Shasta.  New York: Beadle and Adams, Apr. 6, 1877. Source: Baird and Greenwood.     Holmes also wrote three other novels of Shasta in the same dime novel series: Captain Velvet's Big Stake Or; the Gold Goths of No Man's Ground., A Romance of Shasta  (Aug.15, 1888). Captain Sid, the Shasta Ferret; Or, the Rivals of Sunset  (Feb. 26, 1890). A Romance of the Rattlesnake Mine. Keen Kennard, the Shasta Shadow; Or, the Branded Face. A Wild Romance of the Sierras  (Oct, 21, 1885).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays/40. Find List.  [MS886].

[MS31].          Hotchkiss, Bill.  Spirit Mountain.  New York: Bantam Books, 1984. A Mt. Shasta novel "freely adapted from Joaquin Miller's 1873 Life Amongst the Modocs" (p. iv). The Hotchkiss novel uses many of the characters from the Miller novel, including "the Prince," "Pookina," "Klamat" etc. This book is a blatant plagiarism of Miller's plot and characters; however some justification is given by the author when he points out that people don't read Miller anymore, and that Miller had some truth to tell (p. vii). Contains a prologue giving a brief biography of Miller. This prologue also contains a reference to Shasta and Shastina as being "the Great Bear and the Bear's wife" (p. vii).      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS31].

[MS558].          Hutchings, James Mason 1820-1902. Mount Shasta. In: Hutchings' California Magazine. May, 1857. Vol. 1. No. 11. pp. 482. Hutchings' California Magazine was one of the first nonpolitical general-interest journals in California. The 11th issue of the magazine presented Hutchings's own first-hand opinion of the Mt. Shasta region. He writes: "Mount Shasta-- This is one of those glorious and awe-inspiring scenes which greet the traveler's eye and fill his mind with wondering admiration, as he journeys among the bold and beautiful mountains of our own California. One almost wishes to kneel in worship as he gazes at the magnificent, snow covered head and pine girded base of this 'monarch of mountains;' and even as you ascend the valley of the Sacramento, Mount Shasta appears to you like a huge hill of snow just beyond the purple hills of the horizon; and is a constant land-mark upon which to look, and which one unconsciously feels himself constrained to notice, as something even more remarkable and inviting than the green and flower-covered valley beside him" (p. 482).
      Accompanying the article is a wood-block engraving of Mt. Shasta as seen from the Shasta Valley.  22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS558].

[MS319].          James, George Wharton 1858-1923.  California: Romantic and Beautiful., The History of its Old Missions and of its Indians; A Survey of its Climate, Topography, Deserts, Mountains, Rivers, Valleys, Islands and Coast Line; A Description of its Recreations and Festivals; A Review of its Industries; An Account of its Influence upon Prophets, Poets, Artists and Architects; and some reference to what it offers of delight to the Automobilist, Traveller, Sportsman, Pleasure and Health Seeker.  Boston, Mass.: The Page Company, 1921. First published in 1914.     Chapter XII is entitled "From the State Capitol at Sacramento to Mount Shasta." James says of Mount Shasta: "This is so sublime a peak and so wonderfully romantic in its history and associations that a special chapter is devoted to it" (p. 85). He explains that: "Mount Shasta is the Fuji San of California. It has not yet been made sacred, but that is because the Californian is neither as religious nor practically wise as is the Japanese. It stands out dignified, solitary, majestic, impressive, fourteen thousand four hundred and forty four feet above sea level, and from the moment one gains his first glimpse of it in ascending the Sacramento River Canyon until he bids it adieu on crossing the Siskiyous it dominates and controls him. ....An altar it surely is, for it lifts up men's hearts to the sun-lit sky, to the serenity of the stars, to the pure blue of the atmosphere, to the majesty and strength, the nourishment and beauty it contains" (pp. 195-196).
      He adds that: "Mount Shasta is an enduring teacher of unselfish giving, a never--silent asserter of the truth that man receives but to give-he is God's steward, and the higher his intellect and skill allow him to reach into the blue of the heavens to arrest the wealth-laden clouds, the greater is his responsibility as well as his glorious opportunity to give, GIVE, of that which has so generously come to him (pp. 199-200)".
      Of the Mount Shasta region he says: "This is the summer playground for a large portion of the population of the central part of the State. The Mount Shasta region is beginning to come into its own. Fuji San in Japan is not more glorious than this stupendously majestic monarch that guards the northern gateway of California" (p. 12).
      The book also contains a chapter titled 'California's Influence upon Art' (pp. 393-399). James states that "But no such person can come to California, sketch from nature, and not be led speedily and unconsciously away from all unnatural and artificial limitations" (p. 395). He cites the example of William Keith, (who possibly portrayed Mt. Shasta more times than any other 19th Century California artist), and says: "...here in California, however, I have seen this magic influence at work. I have watched William Keith, hair white as snow, eye dimmed with years, yet the fire of youth in his soul, paint with a fervor that seemed almost feverish, so keen was his desire to catch the visions inspired by his beloved California trees and mountains" (p. 396).
      This book contains a bibliography of suggested readings on the history and natural history of California (p. 413-416). Contains full-page photographs, of Mount Shasta (facing p. 199, note that caption is mistakenly switched with the caption for the Sacramento River photograph facing p. 203), and Castle Crags (facing p. 200). Also note that Joaquin Miller's relationship to Mount Shasta is discussed in Chapter XXVI: "The Influence of California Upon Literature" (pp. 380-392). Some of Miller's poetry about the region is included and two other poets who wrote about Mount Shasta are discussed.
      G. W. James was known for his dozens of books about California and the West; his best-known books today are those on the Grand Canyon and on Indians and Indian basketry. For a time he was editor of the magazines The Craftsman and Out-West magazine. Much of his effort throughout his lifetime was devoted to the teaching of literature.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS319].

[MS2041].          Jensen, Lin.  Bowing to Receive the Mountain.  Carmel, CA: Sunflower Ink, 1997. 111 p.: 21 cm.   Essays by Lin Jensen ; poems by Elliot Roberts. Watercolor of Mount Shasta by Scott Robert Hudson; photograph by Rudy Giscombe on cover.      "Lin Jensen writes prose from a clearly secured center--his love for birding and his commitment to Buddhism; Elliot Roberts writes poetry from the edges of the circle--a Balinese crazy man's song, his wife's coming out of a dressing room, his father's death. Placed together, essays and poems, for both writers, created new meanings, new awareness; a synergy." (Book jacket) . The mind of the mountain called Shasta (p. 74-79).      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2041].

[MS575].          Kipling, Rudyard 1865-1936.  American Notes.  New York: Standard Book Company, 1930. First published circa 1887-1889.     Rudyard Kipling traveled around the world from 1887 until 1889. His notes from this trip were periodically published in journals in India. During his voyage he visited the United States, and on a train from San Francisco to Portland he noted that: "When the train took to itself an extra engine and began to breathe heavily, someone said that we were ascending the Siskiyou Mountains. We had been climbing steadily from San Francisco, and at last won over four thousand feet above sea-level, always running through forest. Then naturally enough, we came down, but we dropped two thousand two hundred feet in about thirteen miles. It was not so much the grinding of the brakes along the train, or the sight of three curves of track apparently miles below us, or even the vision of a goods-train apparently just under our wheels, or even the tunnels, that made me reflect; it was the trestles over which we crawled, --trestles something over a hundred feet high and looking like a collection of match-sticks" (p. 71).
      Mount Shasta is not mentioned in this book. Note that Kipling's remarks about crossing the Siskiyous are an aside within his more serious narrative, describing the train ride, in which he quotes a California poem about the destruction of the pine trees. Kipling says that: "The thin-lipped, keen-eyed men who boarded the train would not read that poetry, or, if they did, would not understand. Heaven guard that poor pine in the desert and keep its top in the sky!" (p. 71).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS575].

[MS11].          Ludlow, Fitz Hugh 1836-1870. On Horseback into Oregon. In: The Atlantic Monthly. July, 1864. Vol. 14. No. 81. pp. 75-86. Also published verbatim as a part of Ludlow's book Heart of the Continent  New York, 1870.     An unusually imaginative and well-written account of the travels of the American artist Albert Bierstadt and his companion, the author, Fitz Hugh Ludlow. Concerns their 1863 trip up the Sacramento canyon from the present Redding area to Mount Shasta. He states at the outset that they '...burned to see the giant Shasta, and grew thirsty for the eternal snows of the Cascade Range still farther north.' (p. 73). On the trail, in view of Shasta, he states: 'Eagles were sailing, like a placid thought in a large heart, far over our heads in the intimacy of a spotless sky...' (p. 79). Ludlow poetically details the week and a half the two travelers spent lodging at the Sisson house near the western base of Mount Shasta. This is one of the few early accounts of Mr. J. H. Sisson, his wife, their house, and the resort activities, including complementary details of the cuisine. Mention is made of dozens of Bierstadt's sketches in oils of Mount Shasta. Ludlow wrote with a picturesque imagination and he described everything in grandiose terms, as for example an account of the Dog Creek Indian who had "a great cap made out of an entire grizzly cubskin, the claws very nicely preserved and dangling behind, while the head curved forward on top like the crest of an old Greek helmet" (p. 80).  Ludlow's narrative is undoubtedly the most unconventional, and at the same time most engaging, of all early travel writings about Mt. Shasta. 22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS11].

[MS2048].          Macpherson, Michael Colin.  Remembering.  Mt. Shasta, Calif.: Green Duck, 1995. 210 p.; 22 cm.   Cover art: 'Lemuria,' by Kay Ekwall.     "The Sacred Mountain calls Susan Langley. She and her husband, Jeff, leave their comfortable Mill Valley home and move to the tiny spiritual community of Mount Shasta. What begins next is a journey of awakening and remembering. Susan and others awaken to their true identity: They are the Family of Light and they have come to the Planet for a Divine Purpose--to co-create a Heaven on Earth. But first they must survive the New World Order."(Book jacket) . Contains references to Count Saint-Germain.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2048].

[MS2047].          Macpherson, Michael Colin.  Homecoming.  Mount Shasta, CA: Green Duck Press, 1996. aii; 250 p.; 22 cm.   Second in the "Family of Light" trilogy.     Fiction. Contains references to Count Saint-Germain     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2047].

[MS318].          Markham, Edwin 1852-1940.  California: The Wonderful.  New York: The Edwin Markham Press, 1923. A history and travel guide to California and other places on the west coast, written by the California poet Edwin Markham. Contains a chapter entitled "Last Glimpses of the Mountain Glory" (pp. 295-297) describing Mt. Shasta. Of Mount Shasta the author is most eloquent: "....From time immemorial, Shasta has been a wonder and a sign to Indian and Caucasian on land and sea.
      "The mountain is beautiful in any hour, standing lonely and supreme, clothed in mystical samite--the white of eternal snows--a silent and massive pyramid outlined against the sky. But, flushed by the evening Alpenglow, he rises to a supernal loveliness. In this luminous hour the mountain burns with an amethystine luster that seems unearthly--burns with a supernal radiance, as if all the dawns since the Youth of the world were mingled in one transcendent splendor of the falling night.
      "Evermore an unspeakable sublimity hovers over this mountain Agamemnon of the old wars of ice and fire and flood. His glaciers are still alive on the northern declivity; his volcanic craters were cooled only yesterday as we reckon it in the almanac of geology; and his serene head is crowned with eternal snow" (p. 295).
      Cover of the book portrays Mount Shasta. Contains beautiful full-page photographs including:  "Mossbrae Falls, Shasta Springs" (p. 253) and "Mount Shasta, the Wonder of the Sacramento Valley" (p. 261). Also contains a reproduction of an 1855 lithograph of Shasta City (p. 128) and a rare photograph of California writer Mary Austin (p. 368).
      Markham achieved a wide reputation at the turn of the century for his books of poetry including "A Man with a Hoe and Other Poems" which contained a poem about Mount Shasta (see Markham 1899).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS318].

[MS540].          Moon, William Least Heat.  Blue Highways.  New York: Fawcett Crest, 1982. First published ?     Popular non-fiction book of the 1980s. The author states that: "The highway rose again into another volcanic region. Mount Shasta, sixty miles west, isolated by its hugeness, haloed in clouds, looked like a Hokusai woodcut of Mount Fuji. Perhaps it is in the immensity of space around Shasta or the abundance of high peaks in the West that diminishes a mountain of such size and perfection in the American imagination, but in almost any other country, a volcano so big and well-made as Shasta would be a national object of reverence--as in fact it once was to the first men who lived under it" (p. 224).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS540].

[MS591].          Morrow, William Chambers 1853-1923.  A Man: His Mark.  London: 1900. Also published the same year in San Francisco.     This is a novel set in Mt. Shasta. The book begins: "One forenoon, in the winter of the great storms that swept the Pacific States, Adrian Wilder, a tall, slender, dark young man, stood in front of Mt. Shasta and watched the assembling of the elemental furies to do their work in the mountains" (p. 7).
      The novel is a romance tracing the struggles of a well-bred young woman tragically battered in the storm. A tree falling upon the stage coach in which she and her father rode killed her father. She lives with Wilder, alone in his cabin for four months, all the while trying to understand the mind of Wilder who shows little affection for her. He in turn pretends to be a physician in order to help her back to health. Concealing from her the death of her father, Wilder himself becomes ill, contracts pneumonia and dies at the conclusion of the book. He leaves behind a letter of his actions, and a profession of love for the lady. The real doctor arrives and explains to the young woman that Wilder had come to the mountain to ease a broken heart, and that he had spent "the winter in unremitting study and self-mastery" (p. 239). His noble actions were for her good, but his life ends tragically.
      Early in the book the author writes: "In the summer, now past, the environs and flanks of Mt. Shasta had sparkled with the life and gayety of hundreds of seekers for health and pleasure, --the wealthy thronging a few fashionable resorts, the poorer constrained to a closer touch with nature and the spirit of the vast white mountain; but now they were gone, and the splendid wilderness was left to the savage elements of winter" (p. 12).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS591].

[MS495].          Morse, Elizabeth E. Impressions of Mount Shasta. In: Mount Shasta Herald. Mt. Shasta, Calif.: June 14, 1928. Botanist Miss Elizabeth Morse, while doing botanical research in the Mt. Shasta region, was asked by the local newspaper's editor to give her impressions of the mountain. Morse states that she has lived in mountainous regions in many different countries, yet that Mt. Shasta has "a beauty and uniqueness all its own." She concludes by stating that "As the glow of the setting sun rests upon the whitened peaks, one beholds a scene of unsurpassed loveliness; no one less than a veritable poet could select phrases which might depict the beauty of the filmy clouds which hang caressingly about the summit."     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS495].

[MS172].          Most, Howard Henry.  Shasta, Mountain of Mysteries.  Los Angeles, Calif.: Crescent Publications, 1978. A novel based upon the legends of Mount Shasta. The preface contains the following synopsis: "This is a story of a lumber town, Konwakiton, a lofty mountain, Shasta, and its people. All are intertwined in a series of mysteries, tragedies and catastrophes of great dimension. There is much of the occult, the psychic phenomena, the unexplained happenings of creatures deeply rooted to the past. There is courage, bravery, and love, all in the face of great danger. The principal characters are Charles Henry Maine, a tall, handsome, ambitious machinery salesman in his mid-thirties who is traveling for the first time in the far west; Dan McCloud, owner and general manager of Konwakiton Mills; Rosalinda McCloud; his vivacious wife; Cynthia McCloud, their beautiful daughter; Aton, a lumberjack; Thor, a man-god of supernatural powers; and Vulcan, the evil king of the inner city of Mount Shasta."
      Lemuria, the legend of the bells, Krishna, the Yaktavians, and other myths figure in the narrative. Contains a chapter about an eruption of the mountain. Contains a bibliography of written sources used in creating the novel (pp. 156-157). The author also acknowledges the help of spiritualist Pearl Dorris and mountaineer Edward Stuhl, who were both well-known Mount Shasta residents at the time and who provided background material for the book. Cover photo of Mount Shasta by the celebrated Pacific Northwest photographer Ray Atkeson.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS172].

[MS68].          Peixotto, Ernest Clifford 1869-1940.  Romantic California.  New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1910. Travel writing by a noted California writer and artist. The Shasta chapter contains references to interesting Indian place-names of the Shasta region: Shasta is the Indian "A-tah", home of the great spirit (p. 210). The middle fork of the McCloud river is called the "Winnie-mem" (p. 210). The author spent several days at the famous estate of "The Bend" of the McCloud River, in the company of several other distinguished guests including the president of the University of California, an eminent historian from Oxford, and a German doctor of philosophy (p. 210). The chapter ends with a description of Mt. Shasta - "Ever in the background, lording it over its mighty domain, great Shasta reared its head, King of Mountains, its shoulders clad in royal purple, its brows whitened with eternal snow" (pp. 218-219).
      Facing page 204 is a beautiful black and white reproduction of the author's Mount Shasta painting.
      Note that a revised edition of this book, not containing the Mount Shasta painting, appeared in 1927. The revised edition contains black and white line drawings of the Shasta region, but none of the mountain itself.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS68].

[MS368].          Ruiz, Shirley.  Journey to High Places: ...A Spiritual Evolution.  Walnut Creek, Calif.: Shastar Press, 1987. From the back cover notes: "On January 22, 1981, a plane crash near the summit of Mt. Shasta, California, claimed the life of Shirley Ruiz's youngest son. Upon viewing his body .... She chose to embark on a journey to seek higher truth, and encouraged by the spirit of her son, she undertook a spiritual odyssey that led her to many teachers, provided her with an abundance of tools, and urged her to travel to the four corners of the world in her quest." Three chapters are about the author's journeys to Mt. Shasta in 1982, 1983, and 1984. Cover artwork is a painting of Mount Shasta and the Egyptian pyramids.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS368].

[MS33].          Russell, Ashley Howard.  Siskiyou Trail.  Portland, Ore.: Binfords and Mort, 1959. Historical fiction of life in northern California and southern Oregon during the early 1850s. Story takes place in the Siskiyou Mountains, Yreka, Shasta Valley, Southern Oregon, etc. Contains a photograph of Mount Shasta. Cover painting by the author depicting Mount Shasta.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS33].

[MS2123].          Simmons, Edward.  From Seven to Seventy: Memories of a Painter and a Yankee.  New York, NY: Harper and Brothers, 1922. "With an Interruption by Oliver Hereford"     Edward Simmons, an educated easterner, gives a full account of life at Sisson's Tavern and Strawberry Valley around the year 1875. Simmons, by his own account, was in need of a job and was hired as general help on the farm, table waiter at meal time, bar tender, and village postmaster. (p. 87). Contains many anecdotes about J. H.  Sisson himself and especially about his glass eye which often was pointing the wrong way. Contains one of the best accounts  of what a beautiful sunrise on Mt. Shasta might signify: "We do not get these sensations often in our lives, and when we do we do not always recognize what they mean. A Bach prelude in its rhythm, accord, and beauty of sound; a dancer who at moments seems to reach that perfect co-ordination of movement and balance; and certain color combination - always put a stop to light thinking, and there is-a pause. If we touch the the realm of high beauty, we enter the realm of high thinking, and no matter if the effect is produced by the hind legs of a dancer or the thumb of a sculpter, if we get there, we are at the edge of the goal and something whispers: "be Careful; tread slowly; you are on sacred ground.' (pp. 83-84). Overall a highly readable account of Mt. Shasta in the 1870s. Simmons became a noted American artist.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2123].

[MS878].          Simpson, William 1823-1899.  Meeting the Sun: A Journey All Round the World, through Egypt, China, Japan, and California, Including an Account of the Marriage Ceremonies of the Emperor of China.  London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1874. Contains English artist-correspondant William Simpson's first-hand account of the Modoc war (pp. 356-383), with illustrations of Mt. Shasta, the Lava Caves, and many Modoc War scenes. He was impressed with Mount Shasta: "My first love in art was a Highland mountain, and I have been a Mountain Worshipper ever since. Fate has privileged me to visit many shrines of this faith,--the Alps, the Caucasus, the Himalayas, the mountains of Abyssinia; now I can add to this list Fuji-yama in Japan, and the Sierra Nevada of California, where I have seen Mount Shasta and the YosemitŽ Valley" (p. 358). Simpson's illustration of Mt. Shasta appears facing p. 371.     
     As noted elsewhere, William Simpson was 19th Century England's greatest war correspondent. His drawings of the Modoc War and Mount Shasta found their way to the front pages of the London Illustrated News, and they kept England graphically informed of the intricacies of the lava field terrain (see Hogarth 1972). Simpson was amused and concerned at the level of terror, revenge, and bloodthirstiness among the Yreka and Modoc area whites. He would admit, however, to a certain amount of fear himself: "A Special Correspondent is thrown into many and various experiences, but to be travelling in a wild region, with the country haunted by fierce and desperate Indians, and the certain fate before you that if you are caught your body will be left so mutilated that your nearest relatives could not identify it, while your scalp will ornament the shotpouch of a savage, was new to me, although I have had about as fair a share of adventure as most of my class" (p. 364). Simpson's account of the Modoc War treats the Indians mostly as a valiant warriors caught in a historical drama begun during the Gold Rush days.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS878].

[MS2135].          Stevenson, Robert Louis.  Silverado Squatters.  Ashland: Louis Osborne, no date. p. 7.   Robert Louis Stevenson on long distance viewing : '...but to one who lives on its sides, Mount Saint Helena soon becomes a centre of interest. ... From its summit..., for what I know, the white head of Shasta looking down on Oregon.' (p.7)     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2135].

[MS156].          Stoker, Bram 1847-1912.  The Shoulder of Shasta.  London: Macmillan, 1895. This edition was 'intended for circulation only in India and the British Colonies.'     A novel about a small group of San Francisco people who purchase a summer home high on the slopes of Mount Shasta. Contains many well-written descriptions of Mount Shasta, including the interesting observation that "There is something in great mountains which seems now and then to set at defiance all the laws of perspective. The magnitude of the quantities, the transparency of cloudless skies, the lack of regulating sense of the spectator's eye in dealing with vast dimensions, all tend to make optical science like a child's fancy" (p. 6).
      The plot revolves around the earnest attempts at self-improvement by a cultured but neurasthenic young woman named "Esse." Through mountain adventures in the company of "Grizzly Dick," a tall and handsome, yet hardened and perceptive local mountain man, Esse develops "that consciousness of effort which marks the border line between girl and woman" (p. 95). Bram Stoker was the author of Dracula.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS156].

[MS128].          Taylor, Bayard 1825-1878.  Prose Writings of Bayard Taylor: Eldorado.  New York: G.P. Putnam, 1862. 18th edition. First published in 1850 under the title Eldorado; or, Adventures in the Path of Empire: Comprising a Voyage to California, via Panama; Life in San Francisco and Monterey; Pictures of the Gold Region, and Experiences of Mexican Travel.     The author discusses how heavy rains spoiled his long standing wish for "a sight of the stupendous Shaste Peak, which stands like an obelisk of granite capped with gleaming marble, on the borders of Oregon, and perhaps an exploration of the terrific ca–ons through which the river plunges in a twenty mile cataract, from the upper shelf of the mountains" (p. 270). The use of the letter 'e' in the name of 'Shaste' was standard practice from between approximately 1844 and 1850, and should not be considered an incorrect spelling. The book Eldorado has long been considered a masterwork of first-person accounts from California's gold-rush days.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS128].

[MS2049].          Thompson, Donald R.  Under the Glacier.  Edmonton, AB: Commonwealth Publications, 1997. 339 p.; 17 cm.   Concerns unidentified flying objects. Science fiction. "After fifteen years of severe drought, the ancient glacier of Mount Shasta has finally melted away. Beneath it lies a secret that has lain silent for nearly three hundred years. But now, the truth is about to be discovered." (Book jacket).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS2049].

[MS30].          Wills, Ann Meredith.  Mountain Spell.  Toronto: Harlequin Books, 1985. A Harlequin 'Super Romance' novel. 'Super' is a euphemism to warn the reader that the book contains material for adults only. The story takes place around Mount Shasta, Mount Eddy, McBride Springs, Dunsmuir, etc. According to the introduction, the author, Maralys Wills, is actually a mother and daughter team. The mother grew up in Mount Shasta.     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS30].

[MS1291].          Wister, Owen.  The Serenade at Siskiyou. In: The Californians: The Best of the West.  New York: Fawcett Gold Medal, 1989. pp. 93-106.   First published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 1894, Vol 89, pp. 383-389.     Set in the town of "Siskiyou," with characters named after Mt. Shasta region people and places, such as "Miss Sissons," and "Jim Hornbrook." Two young men, never before involved in any crime, attempt to rob a stage and murder a man. The story revolves around the varying sentiments, by the townspeople, for and against lynching as well as for and against those who show humanitarian concern for the criminals. A picture of Mt. Shasta mounted upon a wall in the meeting room of the "Ladies' Reform and Literary Lyceum" is referred to several times as it and other pictures figuratively view happenings below. Owen Wister was the author of the famous 1902 novel The Virginian.      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS1291].

[MS52].          Wolfe, Thomas 1900-1938.  A Western Journal: A Daily Log of the Great Parks Trip, June 20 - July 2, 1938.  Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1967. Fourth printing 1980. First complete printing 1967.     In 1938 Thomas Wolfe came west to Portland and met two journalists who offered to take him along on a two-week drive around the West. Wolfe agreed, and kept a journal of the trip. Unfortunately Wolfe contracted pneumonia just a few days after completing the western trip described in his journal, and he died six weeks later. The journal was published posthumously. In his journal Wolfe describes in short passages the impressions of such places as Mt. Hood, Three Sisters, Klamath Falls, Weed, Mt. Shasta, Redding, Bakersfield, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Montana, and Washington.
      His description of Mount Shasta: "Mount Shasta--pine lands, canyons, sweeps and rises, the naked crateric hills and the volcanic lava masses and then Mount Shasta omnipresent--Mount Shasta all the time--always Mount Shasta --and at last the town named Weed (with a divine felicity)--and breakfast at Weed at 7:45-- and the morning bus from Portland and the tired people tumbling out and in for breakfast ..." (pp. 5-6).
      Thomas Wolfe, American novelist from North Carolina, was the author of several successful novels, including Look Homeward Angel, The Web and the Rock, and You Can't Go Home Again.      22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS52].

[MS645].          Woodman, Abby Johnson 1828.  Picturesque Alaska: A Journal of a Tour Among the Mountains, Seas and Islands of the Northwest, From San Francisco to Sitka.  Boston, Mass.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1889. Contains a chapter entitled "Mount Shasta and the Pass of the Siskiyous." The author wrote several pages about Mount Shasta as seen by him during a northward 1888 train ride. His stay in the region consisted of a one hour stop at Sisson's Station for lunch. His observations are thus limited in scope. Of value nonetheless are the author's comments about the "Mount Shasta of the imagination." He says of the view from Sisson's: "And here Mount Shasta stood in solemn majesty before us, not more than twelve miles distant. But not the Shasta I had longed so much to see. This was the Mount Shasta with broad shoulders, like great white wings extending far out upon either side. It looks high and massive and grand, but not the Mount Shasta before whose sublime majesty I had expected to bow down in reverence, tremulous with awe and admiration" (p. 26) But later he adds: "Still farther on in the valley we came to a place on our way where Mount Shasta, the Shasta of our imagination, that which we have all the while been hoping to see, stood full before us. Its awful height, its immaculate whiteness, its strength and immeasurable magnitude, and the broad, far stretch of its massive base,--all impressed me with a power equalled only by the awful presence of El Capitan. That Mount Shasta is sublime and majestic, far above all others that I have seen in California, I feel and know" (p. 29).     22. Literature: Novels, Plays, Essays.  [MS645].