Did Twain ever write anything about Yosemite?
I read recently that he, while in Tuolumne County, visited both Big Trees (in Calaveras County) and Yosemite. Is that known for sure? Did he write anything about this supposed visit to Yosemite?
As for circumstantial evidince, he does mention an owl (I think it was) in "The Bluejay Yarn" who was unimpressed by the doings of his fellow feathered friend (regarding his untiring attempts at storing acorns), but that the owl's equanimity was not surprising because neither had Yosemite impressed him.
So it does at least indicate Twain had seen "the" Yosemite; however, since Twain sometimes "waxed poetic" about other scenes of earthly delight (such as in Roughing It, while on the stagecoach, and in Life on the Mississippi, when viewing sunsets), it seems odd to me that he would not put pen to paper to describe what he saw/how he felt if ever in Yosemite. Was he that overcome by the grandeur that he witnessed there that he became uncharacteristically speechless, or unable to "scribble"?
So: is it known for a certainty that Twain visited Yosemite and, if so, could he have come across John Muir there? - B. Clay Shannon