Letter from [John Muir] to [Charles F. Lummis], [ca. 1904 Nov].

of course water for cities must be had at whatever cost but there is no need of going into the worlds park for it. for there is a glorious abundance in the snowy Sierra outside of it available for a dozen San Franciscos The great charm of the Hetch Hetchy scheme is the comparative cheapness of the required reservoir dams. The Tuolumne River flows out of the level floored Hetch Hetchy Valley through a narrow gorge forming an ideal dam-site. The Upper dam-site is also an attractive one to the engineer, while the basins above them are very extensive. The Yosemite dammed would be the best reservoir of all, but few sane folk would recommend putting it to such use. Cathedrals with dammed doors & windows would make good storage tanks & some of the dollar-people in Christ\u27s time thought the temple a good place for money changing.https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmcl/29347/thumbnail.jp