John Muir
(and his remarkable legacy)
If you hike in the United States then you'll probably have heard of
John Muir. And if you know his name or even his photo - long white
beard and suit - but be less familiar with his story. Here we will
give you a short introduction to the life and accomplishments of
John Muir, author, naturalist, and woodsman extraordinaire.
John Muir certainly lived a fascinating and full life, but then he
was born in a time when extraordinary lives seemed to be so much
more frequent. There were no cars to make things easier, no games of
PartyPoker or movies to keep him inside on a rainy day and, while
we're at it, not even any breathable water proof fabric to keep him
comfortable as he covered those huge distances he walked.
Muir was born in Dunbar in East Lothian in Scotland, where his
father was an extremely religious shop owner. Muir Senior, Daniel,
became disillusioned with the moral turpitude of his fellow Scots
and the lax attitude of the Church of Scotland in particular and
took his family off to Wisconsin to start a farm and join the
Disciples of Christ, a Presbyterian church that stayed truer to the
Restoration Movement.
After studying at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and spending
some time in Canada during the Civil War to avoid the draft, he
worked in a saw mill in Indianapolis where his life took the
direction it was to follow for the rest of his life. An accident
with a saw wheel almost blinded him and confined him to a darkened
room for six weeks, when he recovered he realised he must study
botany and explore the country.
Muir's first journey was 1000 mile walk from Indiana to the Gulf of
Florida, recorded in A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. After heading
to New York City he then took a boat to San Francisco, and it was in
the West that he would really make his name. Muir set off to
Yosemite where he would live for the next three years, writing and
reading the works of Emerson.
It was not merely the (somewhat mystical) appreciation of nature
that spurred Muir on, he was also a committed scientist and studied
the geology, fauna and ecology of Yosemite, the Sierra Nevada and
the Pacific North West.
As well as his studies, Muir worked to have Yosemite turned into a
national park, founded the Sierra Club along with Professor Henry
Senger and Warren Olney, and generally working for conservation of
US wildernesses. Alongside these practical achievements, we should
also remember that Muir insisted that nature is our home, a notion
that is still revolutionary today. |
