We returned from our wanderings last week. On the whole had a fairly good time. I had a good glimpse of a large section of the country. I spent 10 days in Washington, then went to Ky. where I stayed till 1st of June, & joined wife2 & Julian3 in Chicago June 5th. I found Wm O'Connor4 better than I expected to; his mind loc.01155.002_large.jpg seems clear & strong, & his lameness not very bad. But there is probably little chance of his ever being any better. A sea voyage is the thing for him, but he will not go. He has probably got that horrible disease called progressive locomotor ataxia I saw him several times at his office. He felt a little insecure in his place, but I don't believe he will be disturbed. Washington was very beautiful & I was glad to be there again. My sleep was very poor while in Ky, but I think of it as the finest country I have yet seen—that is the blue grass loc.01155.003_large.jpg region of it; much ahead of anything I saw in Ill. or Ind. or Ohio. I went to St Louis, & sailed from there up to Quincy on the Missippi. I was ten days in Chicago, the N.Y. of the west, & destined to be an enormous city. We stopped at Cleveland with friends, then at Niagara & at Utica. Julian saw many wonders & got many ideas. I am very glad to be home again. It is getting to be a great bore for me to gad about to see things. I hope you are better than when I saw you. You should make a determined attempt to keep your bowells open. loc.01155.004_large.jpg It makes me shudder when I remember what you said about their torpidity. I could not live a month so. Your head would be all right if you could keep your bowells open. Frank Baker5 said that an outward movement, such as chafing & kneeding of them by the hands would be a great help. Why can you not have your boy do that for 1/2 hour each day, also drink a good deal of water. Hathern Spring water6 from Saratoga would be good. Also a wet towel over the liver. Drop me a line how you are, & if you have any plan to get away from C. for the summer.
With love J Burroughs loc.01155.005_large.jpg loc.01155.006_large.jpg 1886 1885Correspondent:
The naturalist John Burroughs
(1837–1921) met Whitman on the streets of Washington, D.C., in 1864. After
returning to Brooklyn in 1864, Whitman commenced what was to become a decades-long
correspondence with Burroughs. Burroughs was magnetically drawn to Whitman.
However, the correspondence between the two men is, as Burroughs acknowledged,
curiously "matter-of-fact." Burroughs would write several books involving or
devoted to Whitman's work: Notes on Walt Whitman, as Poet and
Person (1867), Birds and Poets (1877), Whitman, A Study (1896), and Accepting
the Universe (1924). For more on Whitman's relationship with Burroughs,
see Carmine Sarracino, "Burroughs, John [1837–1921] and Ursula [1836–1917]," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).