The Silverado Squatters

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The scene of this little book is on a high mountain. There are, indeed, many higher; there are many of a nobler outline. It is no place of pilgrimage for the summary globe-trotter; but to one who lives upon its sides, Mount Saint Helena soon becomes a center of interest. It is the Mont Blanc of one section of the Californian Coast Range, none of its near neighbors rising to one-half its altitude. It looks down on much green, intricate country. It feeds in the spring-time many splashing brooks. From its summit you must have an excellent lesson of geography: seeing, to the south, San Francisco Bay, with Tamalpais on the one hand and Monte Diablo on the other; to the west and thirty miles away, the open ocean; eastward, across the corn-lands and thick tule swamps of Sacramento Valley, to where the Central Pacific railroad begins to climb the sides of the Sierras; and northward, for what I know, the white head of Shasta looking down on Oregon.

The author's experiences at Silverado were recorded in a journal he called "Silverado Sketches," parts of which he incorporated into Silverado Squatters in 1883 while living in Bournemouth, 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 for Treasure Island (1883).

Genres: Classics, Nonfiction, Travel, History, Westerns, Literature, Memoir

108 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, and a leading representative of English literature. He was greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling and Vladimir Nabokov.

Most modernist writers dismissed him, however, because he was popular and did not write within their narrow definition of literature. It is only recently that critics have begun to look beyond Stevenson's popularity and allow him a place in the Western canon.

Reviews

[Lorna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Silverado Squatters: Six Selected Chapters has been in my library for many years, this beautiful leather-bound book ensconced in a beautiful box fitting for the literature of Robert Louis Stevenson. So today, I read this lovely book, six chapters from his book, The Silverado Squatters. As an added bonus, it turns out that this book was published by Levenger Press in Delray Beach, Florida, our home away from home in Florida. Throughout this little treasure of a book, there were beautiful watercolor scenes by noted landscape and travel artist, Earl Thollander. Also of note in the book was the beautiful calligraphy by Mandy Young.

Robert Louis Stevenson travels to meet the woman he is to marry in Monterey, California. After having met and fallen in love with Fanny Vandegrift in France, they married on May 19, 1880 in California. Because of his failing health, they first went to Calistoga, California. Unable to afford it, they then went to an abandoned three-story bunkhouse at a derelict mining camp called Silverado. And it was here they squatted for two months during the summer. The experiences of Robert Louis Stevenson during that summer were recorded in a journal that ultimately became Silverado Squatters.

“If wine is to withdraw its most poetic countenance, the sun of the white dinner-cloth, a deity to be invoked by two or three, all fervent, hushing their talk, degusting tenderly, and storing reminisces—for a bottle of good wine, like a good act, shines ever in the retrospect—if wine is to desert us, go thy ways, old Jack. . . . And at the same time, we look timidly forward, with a spark of hope, to where the new lands, already weary of producing gold, begin to green with vineyards,.”

[Sarah Fowler Wolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're familiar with the area (Sacramento/Napa/San Francisco) and can picture everything perfectly—down to the weather, wildlife (or lack thereof!), and wind patterns—you'll find this a particular delight, as I did. Replete with Stevenson's humor, really enjoyable.

Some problematic attitudes toward other cultures, of course, unfortunately.

[Terry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being originally from Northern California, I enjoyed these essays about Stevenson’s time on Mount St. Helena and the early times of Calistoga. Otherwise, I would probably recommend his adventure novels be read in front of this collection.

[Scott Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is somewhat of travel memoir for Robert Louis Stevenson who spent about one year in California before returning to Europe (and ultimately Samoa, where he died & is buried). It is a story of Stevenson and his new bride "squatting" in the abandoned housing of an old mine, the Silverado. The abandoned silver & gold mine is on Mt. Saint Helena near the Napa wine country town of Calistoga. Stevenson describes the natural beauty of the area, providing an entire chapter on looking down upon the "Sea Fogs." He also describes the nascent Napa Valley wine industry, visiting pioneer wineries of Schram and M'Eckron. The most disturbing aspect of the book is the attitude portraying Chinese and Jews, perhaps reflecting a not-so-tolerant era. Another excellent book regarding Stevenson's California days is "From Scotland to Silverado" edited by James D. Hart.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I do not believe this story deserves such a low rating as three stars. Nonetheless I have given such an appraisal simply because the story was uninteresting to me.
Robert Louis Stevenson's writing is amazing, and flows with something like a poetic air. However, the tale he wove with these words was less than intriguing.
It took me quite awhile to slog through and I dearly hope I do not have to read it again.

[Yann · Rating 4 out of 5]

En plus des trois ouvrages autobiographiques de Stevenson relatifs à son escapade en Californie, de nombreux documents et lettres viennent compléter un appareil critique bien fourni et éclairant. J'ai beaucoup aimé cette rencontre et ce voyage.

[Georgetowner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly well written, if not always engaging. More than a story, it is a series of observations on a truly unique adventure. Stevenson's turn of phrase and imagery is remarkable, and at times laugh-out-loud funny! All that said, though the book is quite short, there were still times I felt I was slogging though to the next truly great moment. Even still, I highly recommend this book especially if traveling in the Napa region. I bought it in one visit to the RLS museum, and read it several years later when back in Napa.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

My edition of this book, which I had never previously heard of, was printed for the Silverado Museum, in California.

Knowing the area a little, I was fascinated by RLS’s descriptions of the area, although I wouldn’t have thanked him for a honeymoon there!

The cultural attitudes are problematic in this day and age but as a snapshot in time, this was an enjoyable read.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, interesting little book about the Napa/Sonoma area in the late nineteenth century.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this little book at the Petrified Forest gift shop west of Calistoga. Robert Louis Stevenson, a Scottish author, spent the summer of 1880 squatting in the abandoned Silverado mine on the slopes of Mount Saint Helena just north of Calistoga, as a form of honeymoon with his new wife, her son, and their dog Chuchu. There is a short chapter about the Petrified Forest in the book and I was curious what he thought. One amusing thing is that it took Stevenson 2 hours of arduous traveling by coach to reach the Petrified Forest, whereas it took me about 5 minutes while traveling at 40-55mph down a smooth road. Stevenson was far more fascinated by the discoverer and proprietor of the Petrified Forest than the actual trees. C. Evans was "a brave old white-faced Swede" who had once been a sailor. They bonded over their shared Scottish experiences, as Evans had sailed on Scottish ships. "Here was a man, at least, who was a Swede, a Scot, and an American."
"And the forest itself? Well, on a tangled, briery hillside... there lie scattered thickly various lengths of petrified trunk... It is very curious, of course, and ancient enough, if that were all. Doubtless, the heart of the geologist beats quicker at the sight; but, for my part, I was mightily unmoved. Sight-seeing is the art of disappointment." I 100% agree with Stevenson's assessment. The only twist is that Stevenson's visit and 1-star review have added a (thin) new layer of history to the site. The petrified log that he was unimpressed by is called the Robert Louis Stevenson Tree, and the gift shop, of course, now hawks his book.

And the book itself? Well... I doubt that anyone's heart beats quicker at the sight of this book, and for my part, I was mightily unmoved. Sometimes, reading is the art of disappointment. It was amusing to see California through two unusual perspectives - one, from an old-timey 1880s perspective, and two, from the perspective of a European who was trying to view it as exotic. Despite Stevenson's best efforts at playing up the grizzly bears and the dazzling blue sky, he can't help but admit throughout most of the book that California was really mundane and disappointing. He starts off with his passage through Vallejo: His hotel, the Frisby House, "was a place of fallen fortunes, like the town. It was now given up to labourers, and partly ruinous..." Dinner there was characterized by "the great variety and invariable vileness of the food". He is a bit more forgiving to the wine he encounters in Napa Valley: "Wine in California is still in the experimental stage... the wine is merely a good wine; the best that I have tasted better than a Beaujalois, and not unlike." But he thinks it has a good future - "the smack of Californian earth shall linger on the palate of your grandson."

He really doesn't like his neighbors at Silverado, the Hansons. He calls one of them a Caliban - "He had the soul of a fat sheep, but, regarded as an artist's model, the exterior of a Greek God." "I do not think I ever appreciated the meaning of two words until I knew Irvine - the verb, loaf, and the noun, oaf; between them, they complete his portrait." He doesn't have much better to say about the few other residents of Silverado. He seems to have contempt for the lazy, stuporific lifestyle of his neighbors. He calls the Toll House "a fine place, after all, for a wasted life to doze away in."

The actual "house" that Stevenson lived in with his family at Silverado was basically a dilapidated, abandoned miners' bunker. It was surrounded by a pool of large rocks that made it dangerous and almost impossible to walk around. There was apparently almost no life in the surrounding forest except for two birds that didn't know how to sing ("the only bird I ever knew with a wrong ear"), four crickets, and millions of rattlesnakes. I'm shocked that he didn't encounter black widows. He does speak endearingly of what he calls "bores" - "a black, ugly fly" that would bore holes in the wood planks of the walls. Those were probably carpenter bees.

The things that Stevenson finds joy in are related to nature - the brilliant azure sky; the ocean of stars on one particularly clear night; the sea fogs that he could observe from above from his perch on the mountain; the outline of Mount Saint Helena; and the crisp, dry air and perfect stillness of Silverado.

One last nasty thing that basically spoiled the book - Stevenson devotes two full chapters to anti-Semitism. It turns out that one of the most important men in Calistoga is a Russian Jewish merchant/"usurer". Stevenson can't bring himself to use his real name so he gives him a stereotyped nickname, "Kelmar". He actually never names any of the Jewish people he meets by their real names, instead using stereotyped nicknames for them - "Mrs. Kelmar's" friend is dubbed "Abramina". He likes to call them "Hebrews", and in the beginning he is so taken by them that "almost they persuaded me to be a Jew." However, he detects something unnatural and sinister about their generosity and friendliness towards him, and he reveals that all of rural California was enslaved to the Jews - "all the people we had met were the slaves of Kelmar... we ourselves had been sent up the mountain in the interests of none but Kelmar; that the money we laid out, dollar by dollar, cent by cent... should all hop ultimately into Kelmar's till." To be fair to Stevenson, he is equally derogatory to "Poor Whites", to "Chinaboys", and to basically anyone else who isn't his wife. In my opinion, "it was the times" doesn't really excuse Stevenson. He plays into the stereotypes to the point that it makes him a worse observer of reality and therefore a worse writer.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting view on early California history. The place seemed so small then.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clever, funny, descriptive ... Not a honeymoon I'd envy, but a wonderful description to make you feel you were there.

[Robert Vincent · Rating 5 out of 5]

This short read for me was magnificent! I had read it in my youth when I had no idea of the setting or, did I know much about the author. Reading today I was able to track the locations on the internet and accompanying maps, many of which I have been to in person. Since the book itself relates Stevenson’s personal experiences I learned much about him supplemented by internet information. I truly had a vicarious experience in following him and his wife as they travelled, settled in the deserted silver mining camp town of Silverado. The story is also full of the interesting characters they encountered.

The added appeal of Silverado Squatters is the vocabulary and descriptive writing of the author that so engages the reader. I even had to check with Webster for some of the definitions; certainly, some words were probably 19th century words not often used today. The adventure was set as they experienced it in 1875. After I had finished reading the book, I scanned over it again from the beginning to absorb even more detail and contemplated my highlights and margin notes.

The intro, titled the same as the book title was a geography lesson centered on Northern California’s Napa Valley wine country and deserted silver mining towns along with other sites still on the map today including Mt. Saint Helena. It gave me great pleasure to look over the map finding Calistoga, Tamalpais, Vallejo and more familiar places in Lake, Sanoma and Marin counties.

Stevenson’s anticipation as he ascended to Silverado was described simply even in biblical terms, “’I to the hills lift mine eyes!’ There are days when thus to climb out of the lowlands, seems like scaling heaven”.

Then, Stevenson used a whole chapter to describe, “One Sunday morning” when he arose very early to observe a “sea of fog” filling the valley below. Here is but a glimpse of his elegant description of his breathless look upon the scene:

“But to sit aloft one’s self in the pure air and under the unclouded dome of heaven, and thus look down on the submergence of the valley, was strangely different and even delightful to the eyes. Far away were hilltops like little islands. Nearer, a smoky surf beat about the foot of precipices and poured into all the coves of these rough mountains. The colour of that fog ocean was a thing never to be forgotten. For an instant, among the Hebrides and just about sundown, I have seen something like it on the sea itself.”

Then he devoted another chapter to “A Starry Drive” returning to Silverado. I never knew so much could be said about the beauty of the night sky. Even astronomers would be thrilled to read this artist writing.

In reading “Silverado” I could place myself in another time and even recall unseen visions that grip the mind with nostalgia. This book took me away to another time and place where books as this bring relief from the daily commotion the 21st century sometimes puts upon us…

[Michael McCue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silverado Squatters is a short book, each chapter is really a story that could stand on it's own. This could be classed as a travel book. In 1880 Robert Louis Stevenson and his newly married wife along with his nearly grown stepson traveled to San Francisco and then on to the Napa Valley. The Stevenson family found free lodging in the abandoned Silverado Mine on the upper slopes of Mt. St. Helens. The chapters talk about the climate and the vegetation of the area as well as the people. Having grown up not far from there I enjoyed his description the part of the world I've known best. I have never read such a good description of the morning coastal fogs in my home state. Stevenson may have been one of the first published authors to write about California wines. Wine had been grown in California since the time of the Missions but it the second half of the Nineteenth Century growers were trying to grow better grapes and make good wine. Stevenson commented favorably on California wine but noted that it did not sell well even in San Francisco because so many insisted that only French wine was worthy.

Stevenson was a 19th Century man and he carried the prejudices of his time. His attitudes toward Jews, Chinese, Native American and poor white residents were off putting to me. But he was a product of his time. Perhaps I would have given The Silverado Squatters five stars if not for that.

[George McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Some have lived in the country, finding delight in their own family affairs. Their ambition was the same as that of kings; to lack nothing, to obey no one, and to enjoy liberty - the essence of which is to live just as you please." - Cicero

No real story here. I picked this up after moving to Sonoma County, and this is a delightful little travelogue (without the actual travel) about RLS' honeymoon in the summer of 1880 near Calistoga, squatting at an abandoned silver mine. He is an excellent writer, and an astute and witty observer of the people he meets along the way. His descriptions of the terrain, countryside and weather are all a joy.

In 1880, Napa was transitioning from a gold mining economy to grapes, and it is neat to see how prescient he was about how the winery trade would develop.

"There is no foreign land; it is the traveller only that is foreign"

His description of Sonoma/Napa: "A fine place, after all, for a wasted life to doze away in"

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not really preview what this story was about, just that it was set in California in the late 19th century (published 1884) and was by Robert Louis Stevenson. I was expecting a tale of adventure dealing with miners and such. Instead, this is somewhat of a travel memoir that the author wrote when he and his wife visited California, and ended up spending time "squatting" in an old building at an abandoned silver mine in the Calistoga area. It was okay. Like many authors of that time period, he uses a lot of words to describe every scene and activity, but I did mind. Written well before the age of television, cell phones and short attention spans. :-)

[Justin Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The happiest lot on earth is to be born a Scotchman. You must pay for it in many ways, as for all other advantages on earth. You have to learn the paraphrases and the shorter catechism; you generally take to drink; your youth is a time of louder war against society, of more outcry and tears and turmoil, than if you had been born, for instance, in England. But somehow life is warmer and closer; the hearth burns more redly; the lights of home shine softer on the rainy street; the very names, endeared in verse and music, cling nearer round our hearts.'

[Lauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hard but eloquent read. RLS is a flowery writer and I mean that in a good way. I felt as transported as possible considering how hard it was to relate to certain concepts (I.e. toll house) and not knowing a fair number of words (contumelious, chary, sachems, and ladings to name just a few). I like to read about pioneers and while I didn’t fully understand what was going on in this story, I enjoyed reading about the history of of St. Helena & Calistoga and overall appreciated RLS’s tone, language and storytelling.

[Kim Kaufman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best part of the book are the sketches before each chapter. I love visiting Calistoga and Napa Valley so the book’s view of the area in the 1880’s is interesting. But reading Stevenson’s view of the local people, Jews and Chinese as well, is quite racist and elitist. It was his choice to vacation is such a rustic and out of the way place. Instead of being grateful for the assurance given, he is critical.

[Erick · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing to me how he can write about something so simple and uninteresting yet so perfectly make you feel like you are there. He captures your interest by the deep realism and understanding of humans and how they see the world. The subject was not that interesting but the writing is so so good.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of Stevenson's nonfiction and his typical turn of phrase and low-key humor are evident here, but it's a pretty skimpy effort. Disappointing overall and as a result the typical bigotries of the 19th century are more wince-inducing than they would be in a more fully fleshed work. I think it's most likely to appeal to the Stevenson completist or the California history buff.

[Eileen McCauley · Rating 2 out of 5]

The chapter describing the Mt St Helena and the surrounding area was so beautiful it made me want to explore the area. The other chapter I enjoyed described the night sky. The rest of the book was weak and some stereotyping, especially of a Jewish storekeeper, was unpleasant.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Silverado Squatters

Silverado Squatters is both interesting and amusing. There is much info on the time and place post ‘gold rush’ and great, clever descriptions. His characterization of the Jewish owner of the local store is typical of his period but warm.

[Mandy Debord]

Excellent and inspiring description of early 20th century Napa Valley. For this native Napan, was inspired to hike the Oat Hill Mine Trail to walk where RLS rode and wrote.

[Bill Jenkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok. About Stevenson’s hellish trip from England to San Francisco. Largely a description of characters he met along the way. Stevenson doesn’t have a very high regard for Americans of any race.

[Tim Wester · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very descriptive but not much story line

[Lisístrata · Rating 2 out of 5]

Muy buena prosa, pero si no lo hubiese leído no me habría perdido nada.

[Ostap Bender · Rating 1 out of 5]

This slim volume was really only of interest to me because it detailed Stevenson's wanderings in Northern California, including a Petrified forest and early Napa Valley wineries.

Quotes:
On travel:
"It is very curious, of course, and ancient enough, if that were all. Doubtless, the heart of the geologist beats quicker at the sight; but, for my part, I was mightily unmoved. Sight-seeing is the art of disappointment."

On wine (CA wine has come a long way since 1883):
"A nice point in human history falls to be decided by Californian and Australian wines. Wine in California is still in the experimental stage. ... The smack of Californian earth shall linger on the palate of your grandson."

On Jews and the power of money to make one free:
"Take them for all in all, few people have done my heart more good; they seemed so thoroughly entitled to happiness, and to enjoy it in so large a measure and so free from after-thought; almost they persuaded me to be a Jew. There was, indeed, a chink of money in their talk. They particularly commended people who were well to do. 'He don't care - ain't it?' was their highest word of commendation to an individual fate; and here I seemed to grasp the root of their philosophy - it was to be free from care, free to make these Sunday wanderings, that they so eagerly pursued after wealth; and all this carefulness was to be careless."

On capitalism:
"The village usurer is not so sad a feature of humanity and human progress as the millionaire manufacturer, fattening on the toil and loss of thousands..."

[James Frase-White]

A most interesting honeymoon, spent in an old mining camp, on Mount Saint Helena in California, Stevenson rarely mentions his new wife. He does a remarkable job in fleshing out the other characters in his tale, including an odd "respectful anti-semitism" no doubt fashionable in that time, and some curious thoughts and bright observations of the fellow inhabitants of the mountain. Most impressive are his physical depictions of the the mountain: the fog rolling in, like a great andulivian flood, while he remains above it, and the beauty and quiet of the night in this refuge. He also enjoys the company of Joe Strong, an artist who comes for a visit. Strong, a Hawaiian missionary's son, who will later resurface in RLS's Pacific journeys, and will later be stricken from all his later works after a family feud--this is a side reference worth investigating, as well as the skillful paintings of Mr. Strong, which deserve a wider audience. The book is charming, and will definitely transport you to 100 years past, and is well worth the journey. According to the book, by the way, there is no evidence that Stevenson was there to prospect silver, as was touted by a California outdoor reference guide to the nearby RLS State Park.

[Snow Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice little novella of Stevenson's rustic honeymoon on a mountain above Calistoga in a deserted mining camp. I chose this book because I wanted to read a story with my boys that had mellifluous writing, with more complex vocabulary but was still accessible. This was a good choice, since we had familiarity with "A Childs Garden of Verses" and "Treasure Island", and the local tie in. Each chapter is a little vignette, making it a good choice for bedtime. It was a delight to read aloud, with language that really sang. My older son was able to grasp the story line, despite the circumlocutious sentence structure. My youngest made me laugh with his comment "The words are so long. I forget them so fast."