John Muir by Natham

‘When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.’ John Muir said this to show everything is connected, even the city and the forest. When he was not at his house, he was exploring in the forests. He always loved nature and everything in it.

Childhood and Education

John Muir was born on April 21, 1838 in Dunbar, Scotland. He was the third kid in a family of eight. He was also the oldest son. His family emigrated to Wisconsin in February of 1849. They settled near Portage on Hickory Hill Farm. Muir worked hard on the farm and his dad, Daniel Muir, was not exactly the kindest father. Sometimes, he would use a switch to punish his sons. His mother, Ann Gilrye, was loving, but let her husband run the household. As Muir grew up, he invented lots of things. A few of these inventions are clocks, a sawmill, different tools, a lamplighter, and an automatic horse feeder. A special invention was a mechanical desk that opened a new book after every 15 minutes. His favorite, of his many inventions, was his “early rising machine,” which slid the sleeper out of the bed when it was time to wake up. He brought some of his inventions to the 1860 county fair at Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. His inventions won a few prizes. He attended the University of Wisconsin in 1861. Eventually, he left school after 3 years of studying botany in June of 1863. He never graduated college.

Journeys Galore!

Muir had lot of journeys throughout his lifetime. When he got out of college, he saw that the college’s field had become a Civil War camp. After seeing lots of injured and hurt people, he traveled to Canada. While there, he saw lots of nature and wanted to explore more. To respond to his wanderlust, Muir finally left the family farm in 1867 to travel around. First, he went to Indiana because it was the easiest thing to go to. While there, he worked at a carriage shop. Then, the sharp point of a file blinded him for about a month, Muir realized that he had to see more of god’s beauty. He started to walk from Indiana to Florida in hopes of going to South America. While he was somewhere in Kentucky, he wrote his address as Earth-Planet; Universe. While in Florida, he got malaria, so he boarded a ship going to Cuba in January of 1868. While in Cuba, his malaria went away, after less than 5 months. He gave up hopes on going to South America and went to New York to get a ship to California. He had heard of the natural wonders there, so he wanted to try to go explore California. He loved nature and all things in it. He usually spent tons of time exploring in woods. That was one of the reasons that he went to California. From New York, he went to Panama, and from there to California. He landed in San Francisco in March 1868 when he was 29 years old. California became his home from then on.

Family

John Muir visited Martinez, California and met the Strentzels. They were huge fans of Muir and were delighted to meet him. Then on April 14, 1880 Muir married Louie Strentzel and moved to Martinez. On March 25, 1881, Muir’s first daughter was born. Her name was Anna Wanda, but was called Wanda. After, the Muir’s second daughter was born in January 1886. Her name was Helen and she was the Muir’s last child. Muir cared about his daughters a lot. In 1890, Muir moved to Louie’s parents’ house where he devoted himself to conservation in the room he called his “scribble den.”

Work on Nature

Muir worked on preserving lots of natural things throughout his lifetime. When Muir was exploring in California, he found a valley called Yosemite. The naturalists of the time thought that Yosemite was created by earthquakes or sudden shocks, but Muir made a groundbreaking theory that it was created by glaciers. After he saw Yosemite, he saw lots of cows grazing on the land and destroying it. Around 1889, he started to try to get the government to create it as a National Park, eventually succeeding in 1890. After, while Muir was in Alaska, he found that a dog named Stickeen was following him. The dog was in his traveling party. He thought the dog was annoying, but then after Stickeen faced his fears, he thought the dog was admirable. While they were walking, the sharp ice cut the dog’s paws, but he kept right on walking with Muir. Also, when they came upon a bridge of ice, Muir cut holds in and walked across, but Stickeen didn’t. After coaxing, the little dog scampered across and Muir was so happy he cried.Then, Muir realized that lots of valleys needed saving, so he created the Sierra Club in 1892. This club helped preserve natural places all over the United States. In March 1903, Muir spent three days with President Teddy Roosevelt hiking and camping. This helped him gain a relationship with the president, so he could convince him to make the National Parks.

After that, he went traveling around the world at age 65! He went to Europe, Russia, India, Egypt, China, Japan, and the South Seas. When he got back, he decided to go to the Amazon. He had wanted to go there to study its topography and its animals, but had not gotten there yet. Now he actually got there at age 73 and was amazed at its beauty. The same year, he left for Africa on August 11, 1911. He came back in the spring of 1912. After in 1914, Muir got worried about one of his daughters being sick. He visited her in Los Angeles, but then got very sick himself. He died of pneumonia on December 24, 1914.

All throughout his life, Muir always had a strong connection with nature. He helped save thousands of acres throughout the United States and his club is continuing to help. John Muir helped keep the United States wild.