October 11, 2019 Robert Louse Stevenson

As promised earlier:

Robert Louis Stevenson, author of Treasure Island, The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde and other adventure stories, came to Saranac thinking he had TB.   Dr. Trudeau found he did not and told him to stop smoking and spend time outdoors.  He ignored the advise about smoking but did the latter.

RLS called Saranac "The Little Switzerland in the Adirondacks."   He moved into two rooms in the Baker home, now known as the Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Cottage. 

The museum is a homage to the short life of a writer of great adventures with walls and shelves filled with items he received or collected on his travels around the world.  The resident-curator regales visitors with tales of Stevenson's life and his travels abroad.

Upon entering, visitors view a painting of Stevenson and his muse.

During the six months he was there his financial success was secured by the New York agents who accepted his copyrights and made his books popular reads.  He penned many successful poems and essays while in Saranac.  Posters advertising his books fill the walls.

Shelves are crammed with books and notes

and mundane items like this bathtub

 and the tree stump he liked to sit on near the fire.  Note the cigarette burns on the top.

He left New York, went to California, then sailed the Pacific.  He and his wife built a house and settled in Samoa

where they both died and are buried.  After his death, wealthy friends gathered the largest collections of his memorabilia and donated it for display in the home.