A visit to Slabsides: the rural retreat of nature writer John Burroughs
Today I am taking you to the rural retreat of the nature writer John Burroughs. John Burroughs writings were quite unusual for the time. His essays were not academic philosophies on the natural world, but rather depicted his day to day observations of the nature that surrounded him. His writings in the first person brought people directly into the woods as he observed these. This proximity to the daily happenings of the natural world helped people to develop an understanding of the many activities that took place around them and as a result helped many to build an empathy with nature, at a time when business and development activities were oftentimes not considered for their impact on the environment.
Importantly, Burroughs’ writings served as the template for the modern nature essay. By highlighting the importance of the natural world, John Burroughs’ work helped to pioneer the nature conservation movement, leading to some of the sustainability efforts underway today. His writings helped to instill a sense of wonder as to the beauty as well as an understanding of the importance of nature in people’s lives.
Today you will also have a chance to hear from John Burroughs’ great granddaughter Joan Burroughs, who talks to us about her great grandfather, why his writings were important and about the cabin itself.
The log cabin known as “Slabsides” was built in 1895 by naturalist John Burroughs and his son to serve as a place where he could write amidst the nature by which he was so inspired. The small hut was named Slabsides due to the rough hewn timbers with bark still attached from which the cabin was constructed.
Deep in a thick woods, the cabin was also was used as a place where John could meet with his many followers and admirers. Among the many thousands of people who journeyed to meet the famous nature writer was President Theodore Roosevelt and the industrialist and car manufacturer Henry Ford. Students from nearby Vassar College and pilgrims from around the country provided a steady stream of visitors to this remote spot.
To reach the cabin you must walk along a trail, densely flanked by trees on either side. Just before one reaches the cabin you come across a tree where a wooden plaque has been mounted with a quote from John Burroughs, who believed that life’s most precious resources were books, friends and nature.
Once inside the simple structure one is met with an interior that looks as though the writer only left a short while ago. Burroughs’ desk is covered with his writing quills, an ink-stained blotter and reading materials. His small dining table is set, ready for a warm soup and vegetables from his garden for two.
Much of the cabin is crafted from materials that were available nearby in the forest. A branch choked by a twisted vine was used for part of the fireplace mantel, while another serves as an armrest for a bench made of birch.
Across the bed is laid the blue and white “homespun” bedspread that the writer’s mother had woven him from crops from the family’s flax fields. Nearby is an oil lamp for night reading. It is thought that John Burroughs became such a wonderful writer as from the time he learned to read he spent most of his free time reading as many books as he could get his hands on!
John Burroughs loved the simplicity of life in the small cabin. It allowed him to concentrate on his work without the complexities and intrusions of day to day life. In one of his essays called “Far and Near” Burroughs wrote “Life has a different flavor here. It is reduced to simpler terms; its complex equations all disappear.”
Today the cabin has been given the designation of a historic landmark. The cabin and the surrounding woods are open to visitors who can walk the same trails that John Burroughs did and experience firsthand the wonders of nature.
