Muir, Helen Excerpt, Page 3

From Helen to LMW - 2/26/43 My Stickeen He was a fine Collie dog, given to me when he was about 4 months old by a family friend named Elliot, who had a ranch in Franklin Canyon and raised fine Collie dogs. The name Stickeen was given him because it seemed a nice thing to hand it on to another dog of our\u27s, but we never called him the full name in every day life, it was too hard to call, so Stickeen was shortened down to Keenie and we always called him that. He was a wonderful dog, truly noble, brave and true. There were other dogs before these, but Tawny and Keenie were the outstanding ones in my life. Papa was very fond of Keenie and did his best to comfort him when I was away, and spoke of him in many of his letters. DANCES: I can remember only one neighborhood dance Papa took me to. It was at the Elliot ranch, where Keenie was born. A neighborhood get- to-gether and the dance floor was huilt out under some great old shade trees. It was in the late summer of 1906, soon after I returned from my year at Adamana. Papa seldom attended such affairs, but for some reason he decided to go. He stood back and talked with the older people while I danced and talked with friends I had not seen for over a year. Ho, Papa never danced. He had no objection to Wanda and I learning to dance, and Mama engaged a girl dance teacher to come to our home and Wanda and I learned in the big parlor to dance the two step and waltz and polka. (This was about \u2798 or \u2799- We learned to two-step to the music of Dewey\u27s Victory march Later while Wanda was at the University at Berkeley she took me down for dances at the Gamma Phi house, or would send for me and I would gohttps://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmr-all/1197/thumbnail.jp