Existing comment:
"Spring winds are sweet with the scented buds and flowers they have passed over."
-- John Muir
The windmill seems to have originated in Persia (modern day Iran) in the tenth century AD. It began as a grinding mill with sails mounted on a vertical axis, and was introduced into Europe during the time of the crusades. The so-called Dutch windmill was nearly as common in England, France and other countries where strong winds prevailed and water power was not available. The windmills in use when John Muir was a fruit rancher (as seen in this photo, circa 1885) converted the wind to mechanical energy to pump, grind, compress or agitate. Today's modern windmills use mechanical energy to generate electricity for our rapidly increasing needs that compete with out rapidly diminishing fossil fuel resources.
The bridge and fishpond in the photograph had been removed before the beginning of John Muir's residency in 1890. |