By looking at the letters, artifacts, and diaries of Muir and his family members, we can better understand what life was like here in the Muir–Strentzel Home. The correspondence between Muir and his family show that the women in his life played an important role in his success as a rancher, author, and conservationist. These letters also showcase their individual talents, education, and independent spirit.
Allow us to introduce the women who lived in the Muir–Strentzel house: Louisiana, Louie, Wanda, and Helen. Each of these women were involved in the daily operations of the ranch and each one had her own unique story. From Louisiana’s gripping account of her journey from Texas to California, to Helen’s loving letters to her father in his later years, these words were penned initially for the benefit of loved ones. Now, they speak to us about lives full of courage, curiosity, dedication, and adventure.
They lived during the Victorian era when many women were expected to dress and behave like “ladies”, confined to domestic activities like cooking and sewing. However, in California—the Wild West, many women were able to defy these expectations. Louisiana, Louie, Wanda, and Helen pursued interests such as outdoor adventure, botany, engineering, real estate, and business.
The women in John Muir’s family were not only an important support system for him, but were also accomplished, capable, and exceptional individuals.
Louisiana Erwin Strentzel
John Muir’s mother-in-law, Louisiana Erwin Strentzel, demonstrated the spirited and determined courage women needed to survive life during the pioneer days of America. While she suffered great losses, illnesses, and hardships, she protected and supported her family on their journey to a life of contented prosperity. Like her Victorian peers, Louisiana documented her experiences in letters and journals. She bore three children with her husband, Dr. John Strentzel, whom she married in 1843: a daughter, Louisa “Louie” Elizabeth Wanda (1846), a son, John “Johnny” Erwin Burcham (1848), and another daughter, Carlotta “Lottie” (1851). Lottie only lived 4 months and Johnny passed away at age 9.
Drawn by the gold rush in 1849, the Strentzels packed up their belongings and children and joined a wagon train along a harrowing journey west to California. Once there, the family established a ferry, hotel, and store along the Tuolumne River serving men heading to and from the gold fields. Later, they took up farming along the Merced River, but lost the farm in a flood. Around the same time, Louisiana fell ill and was confined to bed for over 3 years.
In 1853 the family moved to the Alhambra Valley near the town of Martinez, California. Dr. Strentzel bought 20 acres of land to experiment with a wide variety of fruit growing. Louisiana helped run the family business by managing the Chinese workers who cooked the meals and worked in the orchards. She made sure her only remaining child, Louie, received an extensive education and pursued her talent as pianist.
In Louisiana’s Words
When John Muir proposed marriage to her daughter, Louie, Louisiana Erwin Strentzel jotted down her excitement in her journal on June 17, 1879:
“Mr. Muir is the only man that the Dr. and I have ever felt that we could take into our family as one of us, and he is the only one that Louie has ever loved, altho’ she has had many offers of marriage. O, can we ever feel thankful enough to God for sending us this man.” Quote courtesy of Martinez Library Historical Collection.
In 1884, Louisiana’s daughter, Louie, accompanied her husband, John Muir, on a trip to Yosemite, leaving her parents and 3-year-old daughter, Wanda, home in Martinez. Louisiana and Louie wrote letters back and forth during the excursion. In her July 14 letter Louisiana wrote:
“The baby is just as well and sweet and happy as she can be…she writes letters every day to ‘dear Mamma and Papa’ and is always asking ‘when you are coming home’”
Baby Wanda probably scribbled the “note” to her vacationing parents across the top of the page.
Louisa “Louie” Wanda Strentzel
Louisa Wanda Strentzel Muir, affectionately known as Louie, was John Muir’s wife. She was his steady companion, writing critic, and shrewd business partner. Born in Texas in 1847, the family moved to Martinez in 1853. Louie attended college at Miss Atkins Young Ladies Seminary, today known as Mills College. She turned away many suitors until she met John Muir in 1874. She liked his creativity and industriousness, and they developed a strong friendship before becoming engaged in 1879 and marrying in a small ceremony in 1880. Even before having two daughters of her own, Wanda and Helen, Louie was devoted to her family, choosing to marry later in life so that she could assist her parents with their fruit ranch.
Louie loved music and was an avid pianist and violinist. Helen Muir wrote that besides “nature’s music” or “some violin or some voices”, John Muir did not like other kinds of music and actively disliked piano music. However, Muir’s many trips away from home meant Louie had the space to demonstrate her talents on the grand piano in peace, which sat in the West Parlor. She had a large collection of German composers as well as popular songs of the day.
Louie, like Muir, loved nature, but she preferred its gentler side favoring of flowers and orchards to the fierce wilderness Muir sought out. Though a quiet woman herself, she understood Muir’s innate need to seek mountains and adventure. She encouraged him to leave his work on the ranch and visit Alaska, the southern deserts of Arizona with their daughter Helen, and of course, the high Sierra Nevada.
Louie Muir was a quiet, but resolute woman. She skillfully managed the fruit ranch while John Muir was frequently away. Louie preferred to remain in Martinez, where she was busy raising a family, spending time with friends, and donating her efforts to local community organizations. The wise words of her letters indicate her wit, the music she owned demonstrates her musical talents, and the words spoken about her by her children and friends give witness to her unique and warm spirit.
Louie was a talented pianist. “California, A Grange Song” was just one of the many pieces of music she owned. The lyrics speak of the beauty of California and the strength of its people. You can see the original sheet music and read the lyrics in the exhibit case.
In Louie’s Words
Over the course of Muir’s many trips away from home for business or to seek out wilderness, he and Louie exchanged letters. Muir wrote of his adventures, the trials, or joys he had faced that day. Louie in turn told Muir about the children, how she was running the ranch in his absence, and sent prayers and encouragement. Muir was grateful for the stability she gave to his life, and which allowed him to pursue his higher calling of advocacy for wilderness. It was Louie who encouraged him to share his experiences with a wider audience, writing in a letter, “Dear John, the Alaska book and the Yosemite book must be written, and you need to be your own self, well and strong to make them worthy of you.
”Louie only accompanied Muir on an adventure once, to Yosemite in 1884. Both parents fretted about their daughter Wanda, only 3 years old at the time. They spent their days hiking and exploring the Sierra. Despite what this humorous sketch of Muir’s might suggest, Louie enjoyed her time in Yosemite. However, while on her trip she fretted about her young daughter and home, so following her Yosemite trip, she preferred to remain in Martinez, managing the ranch in Muir’s absence.
Annie Wanda Muir Hanna
The Muir’s first daughter, Annie Wanda, was named after her grandmother, Anne Gilrye Muir. Her friends and family called her “Wanda” after her mother’s middle name. When she was born in 1881, Muir wrote, “I am now the happiest man in the world.” Shortly after Wanda’s birth, and at Louie’s persuasion, Muir left for Alaska writing the first of many letters to her demonstrating his longing for home and family.
After her sister Helen’s birth, Wanda adopted the role of protective older sibling. Her letters to her father often included updates about the family and life on the fruit ranch. Wanda continued the role as caretaker throughout her life. She loved to hike in the hills, play the violin, and was an active member of Gamma Phi Beta Sorority at the University of California. After her marriage in 1905 at age 24, Wanda moved into the adobe house on the property with her new husband and college sweetheart, Thomas Hanna. Here in Martinez, they cared for their 6 children and 3 adopted children, maintaining a close relationship with Muir throughout his life. Muir joined the family for breakfast every morning.
Wanda participated in many civic activities, following in her grandmother’s and mother’s footsteps. She worked for the school board and headed various women's clubs, was an active Sierra Club member, and opened the family home to the city’s youth. Today, many of her descendants continue her legacy of service through involvement in environmental organizations.
In Wanda’s Words
When Wanda was young, Muir’s letters to her included fanciful descriptions of his adventures and often a sketch, some flower pressings, or small rocks. In this letter, he describes to her his encounter with a chained bear that bit his hand as Muir tried to feed it an apple. He wrote:
7-year-old Wanda was proud of the fact that she wrote her Papa letters “all alon”. She wrote her father poems, updated him about the family, pets and orchards, and conveyed her desire for him to come home. In this letter she responds to her father's story about the bear and expresses her desire to someday see the places he describes.
“Dear Papa, your two letters reached me safely with the flowers and there were so lovely. I was sorry that the bear caught your hand. How I wish I could go with you and see the lovely flowers and trees and climb the mountains and see the glaciers and drink the cold pure glacier water. Papa please bring me some of the bonny spireas and sweet wild roses.”
Wanda wrote a glowing report to her mother from one of the Sierra Club outings she attended with John Muir and Helen in 1902. The girls knew their father was an important man, but on these trips, they were thrilled to discover Muir’s leadership abilities, enthusiasm for the Sierra Club, and spirit of fun the mountains brought out in their father. In this letter, Wanda discusses attitudes towards college educated women of the day:
“Speaking about college, what do you think? Yesterday we had a meeting of college women here in camp... It was held on the top of a big granite boulder and there were 60 college women, including both alumni and undergraduates, and representing about twenty different colleges. Twenty-seven of us were frat girls. Isn't that a pretty good showing for a place like this, and ...isn't it a fine answer to the people who say that college girls are weak and good for nothing generally? For there wasn't one of us that could not walk comfortably walk twenty miles, or if necessary, do anything that has to be done around a camp from cooking a camp meal to packing a mule.”
Helen Muir Funk
Helen Muir Funk was John Muir’s younger daughter. Although several illnesses throughout her life kept her mostly at home, in her heart she had an adventurous spirit. She enjoyed hiking, climbing, riding her horse, reading about football, playing her guitar, and observing plants and animals. Most of all she enjoyed watching the trains come through the Muir property. She bought numerous train magazines and hoped to one day become a mechanical engineer. Unfortunately, her poor health made attending school difficult. She spent the majority of her time at home, often helping her father by typing his manuscripts. She also enjoyed writing her own stories and her father hoped that she might follow in his footsteps.
After bouts of pneumonia and tuberculosis, Helen moved south to Daggett, CA. Her doctor insisted that a drier climate was the only cure. There she met her husband, Buell Funk, and together they had four children. They bought and sold real estate in addition to running an alfalfa ranch. A friend said that Helen had a convertible that she drove “quite fast” along the dry washes in the desert. After her husband’s death, she moved to Spokane, WA. When the National Park Service began restoring the Muir mansion, she was very helpful in sharing memories of what the house looked like in the early 1900s.
In Helen’s Words
Helen spent a great deal of time helping her father by typing his manuscripts. She also enjoyed writing her own stories and her father hoped that she too might one day become a nature writer. In this letter to her, dated April 30, 1910, Muir wrote about his manuscript on Pelican Bay and throws in a bit of encouragement for Helen’s writing:
“I am thinking of taking the animal stories out of it and publishing them separately in a volume for children and wise old people. I hope you have not given up all thought of writing a desert book. Alfalfa and cattle ticks need not take up all your time and attention and aspirations.”
In search of a dryer climate to improve her health, Helen moved to Dagget, CA in the early 1900s. In a letter to her sister Wanda July 12, 1908, Helen wrote:
“...It’s really great weather. I sometimes stop to think that it is funny I enjoy it so, but the fact remains I do. I ride morning and afternoon, as usual, and sometimes when I sail forth toward the corral for Art, when the mercury stands at 112° in the shade, Dick remarks that if he didn’t have anything more to do than I have, he'd "have sense enough to stay in the shade". He said once that he didn’t like to say I was "crazy" but a "gal" that would ride all afternoon in such sun when she didn’t have to, "wasn’t normal." I’m thin, but feel perfectly well, and eat much more than I did when you were here, and I am most cheerful.”
