The Silverado Squatters(1883) is atravel memoirbyRobert Louis Stevensonof his two-month honeymoon trip withFanny Vandegrift(and her sonLloyd Osbourne) toNapa Valley,California,in 1880.
 2nd U.K. edition 1886 | |
| Author | Robert Louis Stevenson |
|---|---|
| Language | English andScots |
| Genre | Short stories |
| Publisher | Chatto and Windus |
Publication date | 1883 |
| Publication place | Scotland |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
Background
editIn July 1879, Stevenson received word that his future American wife's divorce was almost complete, but that she was seriously ill. He left Scotland right away and travelled to meet her inMonterey, California,(his trip detailed inThe Amateur Emigrant(1894) andAcross the Plains(1892)). Broken financially, suffering from a lifelongfibrinous bronchitiscondition, and with his writing career at a dead end, he was nursed back to health by his doctor, his nurse, and his future wife, while living briefly in Monterey,San Francisco,andOakland.His father having provided money to help, on May 19, 1880, he married the Indianapolis native, whom he had first met in France in 1875, soon after the events ofAn Inland Voyage.Still too weak to undertake the journey back to Scotland, friends suggestedCalistoga,in the upper Napa Valley, with its healthy mountain air.
Summary
editThe couple first went to the Hot Springs Hotel in Calistoga, but unable to afford the 10dollarsa week fee, they spent an unconventionalhoneymoonin an abandoned three-story bunkhouse at a derelict mining camp called "Silverado" on the shoulder ofMount Saint Helenain theMayacamas Mountains.There theysquattedfor two months during summer, putting up makeshift cloth windows and hauling water in by hand from a nearby stream while dodgingrattlesnakesand the occasional fog banks so detrimental to Stevenson's health.
The Silverado Squattersprovides some views of California during the late 19th century. Stevenson uses the firsttelephoneof his life. He meets a number ofwine growers in Napa Valley,an enterprise he deems "experimental", with growers sometimes even mislabeling the bottles as originating from Spain in order to sell their product to skeptical Americans. He visits the oldest wine grower in the valley, Jacob Schram, who had been experimenting for 18 years at hisSchramsberg Winery,and had recently expanded the wine cellar in his backyard. Stevenson also visits apetrified forestowned by an old Swedish ex-sailor who had stumbled upon it while clearing farmland—the precise nature of the petrified forest remained for everyone a source of curiosity. Stevenson also details his encounters with a local Jewish merchant, whom he compares to a character in aCharles Dickensnovel (probablyFaginfromOliver Twist), and portrays as happy-go-lucky but always scheming to earn a dollar. Like Dickens inAmerican Notes(1842), Stevenson found the American habit of spitting on the floor hard to get used to.
His experiences atSilveradowere recorded in a journal he called "Silverado Sketches", parts of which he incorporated intoSilverado Squattersin 1883 while living inBournemouth,England, with other tales appearing in "Essays of Travel" and "Across the Plains". Many of his notes on the scenery around him later provided much of the descriptive detail forTreasure Island(1883).
Legacy
editTheRobert Louis Stevenson State Parknow encompasses the area where the Stevensons stayed. The entrance to the park is at the summit ofState Route 29.A new trail has been constructed in recent years. TheRobert Louis Stevenson MuseuminSt. Helena, California,is dedicated to Stevenson.
Resources and editions
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Editions
- Full textatProject Gutenberg
- HTML versionfrom theUniversity of Virginia.
- HTML version with scanned images,from theLibrary of Congress
- VersionfromWilliam Ernest Henley'sThe Novels and Tales of Robert Louis Stevenson,volume 15. Published by Scriber's and Sons in 1905. Scanned online viaGoogle Books.
- Versionpublished by Scribner's and Sons in 1905 with a preface byFanny Stevenson.Scanned online via Google Books.
- The Silverado Squatters(New York: Scribner's, 1923) Limited edition of 380 copies printed byJohn Henry Nashwith portrait and decorated headbands byHoward Whitford Willard
- The Silverado Squatters,audiobook, Blue Pylon Creative (2005).ISBN0-9765765-0-3
- The Silverado Squatters,reprint,Tauris Parke Paperbacks(2009).ISBN1-84511-990-8
Resources
- Silverado MuseuminSt. Helena, California,devoted to Robert Louis Stevenson.
