The Silverado Squatters

Stevenson was a Scottish essayist, poet, novelist, and travel writer. His most famous works are Kidnapped, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and Treasure Island. The Silverado Squatters, published in 1883, is a travel memoir by Robert Louis Stevenson. The trip was a 2 month honeymoon trip taken by him and his wife Fanny Vandegrift and her son Lloyd Osbourne. The family visited the Napa Valley in California in the summer of 1880. Stevenson was recovering from a lifelong fibronous bronchitis condition. His doctor and future wife nursed him back to health. A trip to California and the temperate climate should be beneficial to his health. Because the family could not afford to stay in a hotel they vacationed in an abandoned three-story bunkhouse at a derelict mining camp called "Silverado" on the shoulder of Mount Saint Helena. The Silverado Squatters provides some interesting views of California during the late 19th century. Stevenson uses the first telephone of his life. He meets a number of wine growers in Napa Valley, an enterprise he deemed "experimental". This area is now designated The Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.