Zanita: A Tale of the Yo-Semite (1872)

Therese Yelverton (c. 1832-1881) was a British Author. She married Major William Charles Yelverton, Viscount Avonmore in 1857, and became Therese Yelverton, Viscountess Avonmore. Her family’s small fortune was robbed by her husband, so she supported herself by writing about her travels. She spent the summer of 1870 in Yosemite, where she attached herself to the Hutchings family and John Muir. He escaped to the woods, but not before she had noted enough of his conversation and his ways of life to make him over into Kenmuir, the hero of her novel. After Yosemite, she continued to tour the world and write about her adventures. Her works include Zanita: A Tale of the Yo-semite (1872).