| John Muir | |
 John Muir worked to preserve wilderness in America.
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| Born | April 21, 1838 Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland |
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| Died | December 24, 1914 (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. |
| Occupation | engineer, naturalist, writer |
| Spouse | Louisa Wanda Strentzel (1847 - 1905) |
| Children | Wanda Muir Hanna (March 25, 1881–July 29, 1942) and Helen Muir Funk (January 23, 1886–June 7, 1964) |
| Parents | Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye |
John Muir (April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914) was one of the first modern preservationists. Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1838 ( MDCCCXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 30 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border East Lothian ( Lodainn an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 Unitary council areas in Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Los Angeles (lɑˈsændʒələs los ˈaŋxeles in Spanish) is the largest City in the state of California and the American West The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 753 BC - Romulus and Remus found Rome ( traditional date) Year 1838 ( MDCCCXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Common Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year A preservationist generally refers to one who wishes to preserve a historic Structure from demolition or degradation His letters, essays, and books telling of his adventures in nature, and wildlife, especially in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, were read by millions and are still popular today. An essay is usually a short piece of writing It is often written from an author's personal point of view. Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms The Sierra Nevada ( Spanish for "Snowy Range" is a Mountain range located in the U His direct activism helped to save the Yosemite Valley and other wilderness areas. Yosemite Valley (joʊˈsɛməti yoh-SEM-it-ee) is a world-famous scenic location in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. Wilderness is generally defined as a Natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by Human activity The Sierra Club, which he founded, is now one of the most important conservation organizations in the United States. Mission statement To explore enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources To educate and His writings and philosophy strongly influenced the formation of the modern environmental movement. The environmental movement, a term that includes the conservation and green movements is a diverse scientific social and Political movement for
Contents |
Biography
John Muir was born in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland to Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye. Dunbar is a town in East Lothian on the southeast coast of Scotland, approximately 30 miles east of Edinburgh and 28 miles from the English Border East Lothian ( Lodainn an Ear in Gaelic) is one of 32 Unitary council areas in Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. He was one of eight children: Margaret, Sarah, David, Daniel, Ann and Mary (twins), and the American-born Joanna. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In his autobiography, he described his boyhood pursuits, fighting (either by re-enacting romantic battles of Scottish history or just scrapping on the playground) and hunting for birds nests (ostensibly to one-up his fellows as they compared notes on who knew where the most were located). The history of Scotland begins around 10000 years ago when Humans first began to inhabit Scotland after the end of the Devensian glaciation, the last Such pursuits would later prove formative to Muir's adult character.
In 1849 Muir's family emigrated to the United States, starting a farm near Portage, Wisconsin called Fountain Lake Farm, which is still owned by his descendants. Portage is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Portage is a city in Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. Stephen Fox (author/educator) recounts that Muir's father found the Church of Scotland insufficiently strict in faith and practice, leading to their emigration and joining a congregation of the Campbellite Restoration Movement. Stephen Fox (1938-) is author and emeritus history professor at Humboldt State University in Arcata California. This article is about the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement and churches that have a historical and/or theological connection to it (e At the age of 22 he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, paying his own way for several years. There, under a towering black locust tree beside North Hall, Muir took his first botany lesson. A fellow student plucked a flower from the tree and used it to explain how the grand locust is a member of the pea family, related to the straggling pea plant. Fifty years later, the naturalist Muir described the day in his autobiography. "This fine lesson charmed me and sent me flying to the woods and meadows in wild enthusiasm," Muir wrote. But instead of graduating from a school built by the hand of man, Muir opted to enroll in the "university of the wilderness" and thus walked a thousand miles from Indiana to Florida after spending most of the years 1866 and 1867 working as an industrial engineer in Indianapolis, where a factory accident almost cost him his eyesight. The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union Florida ( is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States, bordering Alabama to the northwest and Georgia to the An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering. He had planned to continue on to South America, but was stricken by malaria and went to California instead. South America is a Continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a Malaria is a vector -borne Infectious disease caused by Protozoan Parasites It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions including California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean.
Arriving in San Francisco in March 1868, Muir immediately left for a place he had only read about called Yosemite. The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city After seeing Yosemite Valley for the first time he was captivated, and wrote, "No temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite," and "[Yosemite is] the grandest of all special temples of Nature. Yosemite Valley (joʊˈsɛməti yoh-SEM-it-ee) is a world-famous scenic location in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California. A temple (from the Latin word Templum) is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities such as prayer and sacrifice or analogous rites "
After his initial eight-day visit, he returned to the Sierra foothills and became a ferry operator, sheepherder and bronco buster. The Sierra Nevada ( Spanish for "Snowy Range" is a Mountain range located in the U See also Merchant ship A ferry is a form of transport usually a Boat or Ship, used to carry (or ferry) passengers and The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. In May 1869 a rancher named Pat Delaney offered Muir a summer job in the mountains to accompany and watch over Delaney's sheep and shepherd. A mountain is a Landform that extends above the surrounding Terrain in a limited area with a peak Muir enthusiastically accepted the offer and spent that summer with the sheep in the Yosemite area. That summer Muir climbed Cathedral Peak, Mount Dana and hiked the old Indian trail down Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake. Cathedral Peak is the crowning summit of the Cathedral Range, a mountain range in the south-central portion of Yosemite National Park in Tuolumne County Mount Dana is a Mountain on the eastern edge of Yosemite National Park in the U For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. Mono Lake is an Alkaline and hypersaline lake in California, United States that is a critical nesting habitat for several bird species and is During this time, he started to create theories about how the area was developed and how its ecosystem functioned.
Now more enthusiastic about the area than before, Muir secured a job operating a sawmill in the Yosemite Valley under the supervision of innkeeper James Hutchings. A sawmill is a facility where logs are cut into boards Sawmill process A sawmill's basic operation is much like those of 100 years ago a log enters A natural born inventor, Muir designed a water-powered mill to cut wind-felled trees and he built a small cabin for himself along Yosemite Creek. This article is about a type of structure For other locational uses see Milldam. A tree is a perennial Woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or A log cabin is a small house built from logs It is a fairly simple type of Log house. Yosemite Creek is a Creek in Yosemite National Park, California, USA.
Pursuit of his love of science, especially geology, often occupied his free time and he soon became convinced that glaciers had sculpted many of the features of the valley and surrounding area. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Geology (from Greek γη gê, "earth" and λόγος Logos, "speech" lit "Glacial" and "Glaciation" redirect here For the geological periods see Glacial period. In Geology, a valley (also called a vale, dale, glen or strath and near or in Appalachia, a draw) is This notion was in stark contradiction to the accepted theory of the day, promulgated by Josiah Whitney (head of the California Geological Survey), which attributed the formation of the valley to a catastrophic earthquake. Josiah Dwight Whitney ( November 23, 1819 &ndash August 15, 1896) was an American geologist professor of Geology at Harvard Although it was not until 1880 that the California State Mining Bureau predecessor to the California Geological Survey, was An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth 's crust that creates Seismic waves Earthquakes are recorded with a Seismometer As Muir's ideas spread, Whitney would try to discredit Muir by branding him as an amateur and even an ignoramus. An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit study or science without formal training or pay The premier geologist of the day, Louis Agassiz, however, saw merit in Muir's ideas, and lauded him as "the first man who has any adequate conception of glacial action. Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( May 28 1807 — December 14 1873) was a Swiss - American Zoologist, Glaciologist "
In 1871 Muir discovered an active alpine glacier below Merced Peak, which further helped his theories to gain acceptance. He was also a highly productive writer and had many of his accounts and papers published as far away as New York. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Also that year, one of Muir's heroes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, arrived in Yosemite and sought Muir out. Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25 1803 &ndash April 27 1882 was an American essayist philosopher poet and leader of the Transcendentalist movement in the early 19th century Muir's former professor at the University of Wisconsin, Ezra Carr, and Carr's wife Jeanne encouraged Muir to publish his ideas. They also introduced Muir to notables such as Emerson, as well as many leading scientists such as Louis Agassiz, John Tyndall, John Torrey, Clinton Hart Merriam, and Joseph LeConte. Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( May 28 1807 — December 14 1873) was a Swiss - American Zoologist, Glaciologist John Tyndall FRS ( August 2, 1820 &ndash December 4, 1893) was a prominent 19th century Irish Physicist. John Torrey ( August 15, 1796 &ndash March 10, 1873) was an American botanist. Clinton Hart Merriam ( December 5 1855 - March 19 1942) was an American zoologist ornithologist entomologist and ethnographer Joseph Le Conte ( February 26 1823 - July 6 1901) was an American Geologist and professor at the University of
According to Philip Yancey John Muir was fond of the Bible, and an admirer of wilderness prophets like John the Baptist, which drove him to be more of a lone Christian than a churchgoer. Philip Yancey (born 1949 is an American Christian Author. Fourteen million of his books have been sold worldwide making him one of the best-selling evangelical Stephen Fox (author/educator) relates that, by the age of eleven, young Muir had learned to recite “by heart and by sore flesh” all of the New Testament and most of the Old. Stephen Fox (1938-) is author and emeritus history professor at Humboldt State University in Arcata California.
A large earthquake centered near Lone Pine, California in Owens Valley (see 1872 Lone Pine earthquake) was felt very strongly in Yosemite Valley in March 1872. Lone Pine is a Census-designated place (CDP in Inyo County, California, United States. Owens Valley is the arid valley of the Owens River in southeastern California in the United States. The Great Lone Pine earthquake was one of the largest Earthquakes to hit California in recorded history The quake woke Muir in the early morning and he ran out of his cabin "both glad and frightened," exclaiming, "A noble earthquake!" Other valley settlers, who still adhered to Whitney's ideas, feared that the quake was a prelude to a cataclysmic deepening of the valley. Muir had no such fear and promptly made a moonlit survey of new talus piles created by earthquake-triggered rockslides. Scree, also called talus and detritic cone, is a term given to broken rock that appears at the bottom of Crags mountain Cliffs or This event led more people to believe in Muir's ideas about the formation of the valley.
In addition to his geologic studies, Muir also investigated the living Yosemite area. He made two field studies along the western flank of the Sierra of the distribution and ecology of isolated groves of Giant Sequoia in 1873 and 1874. Ecology (from Greek grc οἶκος oikos, "house(hold" and grc -λογία -logia) is the scientific study of Sequoiadendron giganteum ( Giant Sequoia, Sierra Redwood, or Wellingtonia) is the sole species in the genus Sequoiadendron In fact, in 1876 the American Association for the Advancement of Science published a paper Muir wrote about the trees' ecology and distribution. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (or AAAS) is an organization that promotes cooperation between Scientists defends scientific freedom encourages
In 1880 Muir married Louisa Wanda Strentzel, whose parents owned a large ranch and fruit orchards in Martinez, California, a small town northeast of San Francisco. Martinez ( "mar-TEE-niss" or "mar-TEE-nezz") is the County seat of Contra Costa County California, United States For the next ten years he devoted himself to managing the family ranch, consisting of 2,600 acres (11 km²) of orchards and vineyards which became very successful. (When he died he left an estate of $250,000, worth more than $4 million dollars in 2005 terms (Worster). Their house and part of the ranch are now a National Historical Site. The John Muir National Historic Site, located in Martinez California, preserves the 14-room mansion where the naturalist and writer John Muir lived as well ) During this time two daughters were born, Wanda and Helen.
Muir's travels in the Northwest
In 1888 after seven years of managing the ranch his health began to suffer. With his wife's prompting he returned to the hills to recover his old self, climbing Mt Rainier and writing "Ascent of Mount Rainier".
Muir travelled with the party that landed on Wrangell Island on the USS Corwin and claimed that island for the United States in 1881. Wrangell Island is in the Alexander Archipelago in the Alaska Panhandle of southeastern Alaska. He documented this experience in his book The Cruise of the Corwin.
From studying to protecting
Preservation Efforts
Muir threw himself into the preservationist role with great vigor. He envisioned the Yosemite area and the Sierras as pristine lands. [1] He saw the greatest threat to the Yosemite area and the Sierras to be livestock, especially domestic sheep (calling them "hoofed locusts"). In June 1889, the influential associate editor of Century magazine, Robert Underwood Johnson, camped with Muir in Tuolumne Meadows and saw firsthand the damage a large flock of sheep had done to the grassland. Robert Underwood Johnson ( January 12, 1853 &ndash October 14, 1937) was a U Tuolumne Meadows is a gentle dome -studded meadowy section of the Tuolumne River, in the eastern section of Yosemite National Park. Johnson agreed to publish any article Muir wrote on the subject of excluding livestock from the Sierra high country. He also agreed to use his influence to introduce a bill to Congress to make the Yosemite area into a national park, modeled after Yellowstone National Park. A national park is a reserve of land usually declared and owned by a national Government, protected from most Human development and pollution
On September 30, 1890, Congress passed a bill that essentially followed recommendations that Muir put forward in two Century articles ("The Treasure of the Yosemite" and "Features of the Proposed National Park", both published in 1890). Events 1399 - Henry IV is proclaimed King of England. 1744 - France and Spain defeat the Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common To Muir's dismay, however, the bill left Yosemite Valley in state control. With this partial victory under his belt, Muir helped form an environmental organization called the Sierra Club on May 28, 1892; he was elected its first president (a position he held until his death 22 years later). Mission statement To explore enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources To educate and Events 585 BC - A Solar eclipse occurs as predicted by Greek philosopher and scientist Thales, while Alyattes is battling Year 1892 ( MDCCCXCII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year In 1894, his first book, The Mountains of California, was published.
Preservation vs Conservation
In July of 1896 Muir became good friends with another leader in the conservation movement, Gifford Pinchot. Gifford Pinchot ( August 11 1865 October 4 1946) was the first Chief of the United States Forest Service (1905–1910 and the That friendship ended late in the summer of 1897 when Pinchot released a statement to a Seattle newspaper supporting sheep grazing in forest reserves. Muir confronted Pinchot and demanded an explanation. When Pinchot reiterated his position Muir told him "I don't want any thing more to do with you. " This philosophical divide soon expanded and split the conservation movement into two camps: the preservationists, led by Muir, and Pinchot's camp, who co-opted the term "conservation. " Muir was deeply opposed to commercializing nature. The two men debated their positions in popular magazines as Outlook, Harper's Weekly, Atlantic Monthly, World's Work, and Century. Muir argued for the preservation of the land's spiritual and uplifting values; Pinchot saw conservation as a means of managing for the sustainable commercial use of what he prized: the nation's natural resources. Both men opposed reckless exploitation of natural resources, including clear-cutting of forests.
In 1899, Muir accompanied railroad executive E. H. Harriman and other esteemed scientists on Harriman's famous exploratory voyage along the Alaska coast aboard the luxuriously refitted 250-foot (76 m) steamer called the George W. Edward Henry Harriman ( February 20 1848 &ndash September 9 1909) better known as E The Harriman Alaska Expedition was an expedition organized by E Alaska ( Аляска Alyaska) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent Elder. He would later rely on his friendship with Harriman to apply political pressure on Congress to pass conservation legislation.
In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt accompanied Muir on a visit to Yosemite. Theodore Roosevelt (ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 27 1858 January 6 1919 also known as T Muir joined Roosevelt in Oakland, California for the train trip to Raymond. Oakland (ˈoʊklənd founded in 1852 is the eighth-largest city in the U Raymond is an Unincorporated area of fewer than 1000 residents in Madera County California. The presidential entourage then traveled by stagecoach into the park. For other meanings see Stagecoach (disambiguation. A stagecoach (also called diligence) is a type of four-wheeled enclosed While traveling to the park, Muir told the president about state mismanagement of the valley and rampant exploitation of the valley's resources. Even before they entered the park, he was able to convince Roosevelt that the best way to protect the valley was through federal control and management.
After entering the park and seeing the magnificent splendor of the valley, the president asked Muir to show him the real Yosemite. Muir and Roosevelt set off largely by themselves and camped in the backcountry. While circling around a fire, the duo talked late into the night, slept in the brisk open air of Glacier Point and were dusted by a fresh snowfall in the morning - a night Roosevelt never would forget. "Snowfall" redirects here For other uses see Snow (disambiguation or Snowfall (disambiguation.
Muir then increased efforts by the Sierra Club to consolidate park management and was rewarded in 1905 when Congress transferred the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley into the park. Mission statement To explore enjoy and protect the wild places of the earth To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources To educate and Mariposa Grove is a sequoia grove located near Wawona California in the southernmost part of Yosemite National Park, at. His wife Louisa died on 6 August 1905.
Hetch Hetchy and the Legacy of John Muir
Pressure started to mount to dam the Tuolumne River for use as a water reservoir for San Francisco. The Tuolumne River is one of the major rivers draining the western slope Sierra Nevada mountains of California. A reservoir is most broadly a place or hollow vessel where Fluid is kept in Reserve, for later use The City and County of San Francisco is the fourth most populous city The damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley was passionately opposed by Muir who thought Hetch Hetchy more stunning even than Yosemite Valley. History The name "Hetch Hetchy" comes from a grass with edible seeds that grows in the valley in the Native American Sierra Miwok language. Muir, the Sierra Club and Robert Underwood Johnson fought against inundating the valley and Muir even wrote Roosevelt pleading for him to scuttle the project. After years of national debate that polarized the nation, Roosevelt's successor, Woodrow Wilson signed the dam bill into law on December 19, 1913. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28 1856—February 3 1924 was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. Events 324 - Licinius abdicates his position as Roman Emperor. Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Muir felt a great loss from the destruction of the valley, his last major battle.
John Muir died at a hospital in Los Angeles on December 24, 1914 of pneumonia[2] after a brief visit to his daughter Helen. Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Some, such as Steve Roper, a California climber, say he thinks he died mostly "of a broken heart". Steve Roper is a noted climber and Historian of the Sierra Nevada in the United States. [3]
John Muir's legacy is carried on by his great-grandson, Michael Muir, who founded a group called Access Adventure, to help people with disabilities experience the outdoors in their wheelchairs. [4]
Honors
Two John Muir Trails (in California and Tennessee), the John Muir Wilderness, Mount Muir just off the John Muir Trail, the Muir Woods National Monument, John Muir High School, John Muir Elementary School John Muir College (a residential college of the University of California, San Diego), John Muir Country Park, in Dunbar and the John Muir Way in East Lothian are named in his honor, as is the asteroid 128523 John muir. The 50 State Quarters program ( is the release of a series of commemorative coins by the United States Mint. The John Muir Trail ( JMT) is a Long-distance trail in the Sierra Nevada mountain range of California, running from the Happy Isles trailhead The John Muir National Recreation Trail (#152 is a 207 mile (33 The John Muir Wilderness is a Wilderness area that extends along the crest of the Sierra Nevada of California, USA for approximately 100 miles Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service in Marin County John Muir High School is a four year comprehensive Secondary school in Pasadena, California, United States and is a part of the Pasadena John Muir College is one of the six Undergraduate colleges at the University of California San Diego (UCSD The University of California San Diego (popularly known as UC San Diego or UCSD) is a public Research university in San Diego, California The John Muir Country Park is an area of woodland grassland and coastline near Dunbar in East Lothian, Scotland. The John Muir Way is a 73 km long continuous coastal path in East Lothian, Scotland, UK. Asteroids, sometimes called Minor planets or planetoids', are bodies—primarily of the inner Solar System —that are smaller than planets but An image of John Muir, with the California Condor and Half Dome, appears on the California state quarter which was released in 2005. The California Condor ( Gymnogyps californianus) is a North American Species of Bird in the New World vulture family Cathartidae Half Dome is a Granite dome in Yosemite National Park, located at the eastern end of Yosemite Valley — possibly Yosemite's most familiar sight The 50 State Quarters program ( is the release of a series of commemorative coins by the United States Mint. A quotation of his appears on the reverse side of the Indianapolis Prize Lilly Medal for conservation. The Indianapolis Prize is an award given every other year to an individual who has made significant strides in conservation efforts involving an animal species or multiple animal species Also named for him is Muir's Peak in Mount Shasta, California (also known as Black Butte), and Muir Woods just north of San Francisco
On December 6, 2006, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted John Muir into the California Hall of Fame located at The California Museum for History, Women, and the Arts. Muir Woods National Monument is a unit of the National Park Service in Marin County Events 1060 - Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary 1240 - Mongol invasion of Rus: Kiev Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger ( German ˌaɐnɔlt aloʏs ˈʃvaɐtsənɛɡɐ born July 30 1947 is an Austrian American Bodybuilder, Actor Maria Owings Shriver ( born November 6 1955 is an award-winning American journalist a prolific author and First Lady of California. Conceived by First Lady Maria Shriver, the California Hall of Fame was established with The California Museum for History Women and the Arts to honor legendary individuals The California Museum for History Women and the Arts – home of the California Hall of Fame – is housed in the State Archives Building in Sacramento, one block
Criticism
Muir has been criticized for his views of wilderness as pure, according to Carolyn Merchant -- "John Muir envisioned national parks as pristine wilderness, without domesticated animals or Indians. In My First Summer in the Sierra (1911), a saga of his Sierra Nevada travels in 1868, Muir wrote disparagingly of the Indians he encountered there, equating Indians with unclean animals that did not belong in the wilderness. "[5] Muir's attitudes towards Native Americans did change drastically over time, especially after he lived with them while traveling in the California and Pacific Northwest wilderness. The Native peoples of California and Alaska helped change Muir's previous feelings which were largely based on ignorance of their lifestyle, and began for Muir the remainder of his life helping to honor and respect their lives and traditions.
His travels in Canada, after President Lincoln ordered a draft of half a million men in 1861, have been seen by historians like Roderick Nash, as not simply journeys into wilderness but trips to avoid military service. Roderick Nash is a history and environmental studies professor at the University of California Santa Barbara. Nash wrote: "Muir's first encounter with the idea that nature had rights came as a consequence of draft-dodging. . . . Muir, who was twenty-six and single, felt certain he would be called, and he apparently had no interest in the fight to save the Union or free the slaves. "[5] In Muir's defense, he was a native Scotsman, not American, and wanted no part of a Civil War. A civil war is a War between a State and domestic political actors that are in control of some part of the territory claimed by the state Perhaps more importantly, Henry David Thoreau was a major influence on Muir's thought and writing, where one can see how Civil Disobedience and other Thoreau writings could have and probably did affect his reaction to warfare and a military draft. Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain Laws demands and commands of a Government, or of an occupying power, without resorting to physical Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority
References
- ^ John Muir (September, 1890). "Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park". The Century Magazine (No. 5).
- ^ On this Day. Obituary: John Muir. Retrieved on 2007-04-23. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at
- ^ Steve Roper. John Muir's Yosemite. Retrieved on 2007-04-23. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at
- ^ Muir Heritage Land Trust. Retrieved on 2007-04-23. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 215 BC - A temple is built on the Capitoline Hill dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at
- ^ a b Carolyn Merchant. Carolyn Merchant (born 1936 in Rochester, New York) is an American ecofeminist philosopher and historian of science most famous Shades of Darkness: Race and Environmental History. Retrieved on 2007-06-09. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 53 - Roman Emperor Nero marries Claudia Octavia 62 - Claudia Octavia commits
Primary sources
- Works by John Muir at Internet Archive. The Internet Archive ( IA) is a Nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining an on-line Library and archive of Web and Scanned, illustrated original editions.
- Photographs, journals, and drawings from the John Muir Papers are available at the University of the Pacific Library's Digital Collections.
Secondary sources
- Austin, Richard C. (1991). Baptized into wilderness: A Christian perspective on John Muir. Creekside Press.
- Cronon, William, ed. (1997). John Muir: Nature Writings: The Story of My Boyhood and Youth; My First Summer in the Sierra; The Mountains of California; Stickeen; Essays. Library of America. The Library of America (LoA is a Nonprofit Publisher of classic American literature. ISBN 978-1-88301124-6.
- Ehrlich, Gretel (2000). John Muir: Nature's Visionary. National Geographic. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural ISBN 0-7922-7954-9.
- Fox, Stephen (1981). John Muir and His Legacy: The American Conservation Movement. Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 0-316-29110-2.
- Meyer, John M. (1997). "Gifford Pinchot, John Muir, and the Boundaries of Politics in American Thought". Polity 30 (2): 267-284. ISSN 0032-3497. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.
- Miller, Char (2001). Gifford Pinchot and the Making of Modern Environmentalism. Island Press. ISBN 1-55963-822-2.
- O'Casey, Terrence (24 Sept. 2006). "John Muir: God's Preacher of Creation". Christian Standard.
- Smith, Michael B. (June 1998). "The Value of a Tree: Public Debates of John Muir and Gifford Pinchot". The Historian 60 (4): 757-778. doi:. A digital object identifier ( DOI) is a permanent identifier given to an Electronic document. ISSN 0018-2370. An International Standard Serial Number ( ISSN) is a unique eight-digit number used to identify a print or electronic Periodical publication.
- Turner, Fredrick (1985). Rediscovering America, John Muir in His Time and Ours. Viking Press. Viking Press is an American Publishing company currently owned by Penguin Books. ISBN 0-87156-704-0.
- Williams, Dennis (2002). God's Wilds: John Muir's Vision of Nature. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 1-58544-143-0.
- Wolfe, Linnie Marsh (1945). Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir. University of Wisconsin Press. The University of Wisconsin Press (sometimes abbreviated as UW Press) is a University press and as such is a nonprofit publisher of peer-reviewed books and journals ISBN 0-299-18634-2. (awarded Pulitzer Prize for biography in 1946)
- Worster, Donald (January 2005). The Pulitzer Prize, ˈpʊlɨtsɚ PULL-it-sər is an American award regarded as the highest national honor in Newspaper journalism, "John Muir and the Modern Passion for Nature". Environmental History 10(1): 8-19.
- Wuerthner, George (1994). Yosemite: A Visitor's Companion. Stackpole Books, 25-37. ISBN 0-8117-2598-7.
- Yancey, Philip (2004). Rumours of Another World: What on Earth Are We Missing?. Zondervan Publishing Company.
See also
Other books
- Sachs, Aaron (2006). John Muir's Birthplace at 126 High Street Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland. The List of places in East Lothian is a list for any Town, Village, Hamlet, Castle, Golf course, Historic house, Hillfort John Muir Trust (JMT is a Scottish charity, established in 1983 to conserve and protect wild places with their indigenous animals plants and The Humboldt Current: Nineteenth-Century Exploration and the Roots of American Environmentalism. Viking Press. ISBN 0-670-03775-3. Muir is one of four people the author focuses on who were influenced by Alexander von Humboldt. (September 14 1769 &ndash May 6 1859 was a German naturalist and explorer, and the younger brother of the Prussian minister philosopher and linguist
External links
- Works by John Muir at Project Gutenberg
- John Muir Writings. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works Complete text online of Muir's books
- Manuscript letters, 1861-1914 put online by the Wisconsin Historical Society
- John Muir Papers. Provides an overview of the John Muir Papers and related collections held at the University of the Pacific. The University of the Pacific is a private university in Stockton California, originally affiliated with the United Methodist Church.
- John Muir Exhibit by the Sierra Club
- John Muir Global Network
- John Muir National Historic Site from National Park Service
- Friends of John Muir's Birthplace (formerly Dunbar's John Muir Association) Scotland
- John Muir's Birthplace, John Muir Birthplace Trust Scotland
- John Muir Trust Scotland
- John Muir In Indianapolis Historical Marker
- John Muir Project Protecting Federal Public Forest Lands
- John Muir eco money
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