John Muir

:For the 19th century Scottish sanskritist, see John Muir (indologist).

Biography

Muir was born in the historic royal burgh of Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland to Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye. He had two brothers, Daniel and David, and, after 1850, five sisters, Margaret, Sarah, Mary, Anna, and Joanna. In his autobiography, he described his two main boyhood pursuits that would later prove important to his later life. He and his friends played relay running games that lasted for hours, covering tremendous distances, yielding physical endurance. He also sadly recalled the wanton slaughter of immense amounts of local birds by himself and his friends for nothing more than the thrill.

Related Topics:
Royal burgh - Dunbar - East Lothian - Scotland - 1850

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Muir emmigrated to the United States in 1849, when his family started a farm in Wisconsin. He attended the University of Wisconsin for several years, 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. He had planned to continue on to South America, but was stricken by malaria and went to California instead.

Related Topics:
United States - 1849 - Wisconsin - University of Wisconsin - Indiana - Florida - South America - Malaria - California

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Arriving in San Francisco in March 1868, Muir immediately left for a place he had only read about called Yosemite. After seeing Yosemite Valley for the first time he was captivated, and wrote, "No temple made with hands can compare with Yosemite," and " the grandest of all special temples of Nature."

Related Topics:
San Francisco - 1868 - Yosemite Valley - Temple

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After his initial eight-day visit, he returned to the Sierra foothills and became a ferry operator, sheepherder and bronco buster. 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 sheepherder. 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. During this time he started to develop his theories about how the area developed and how its ecosystem functioned.

Related Topics:
Sierra - Ferry - Bronco - 1869 - Mountain - Sheep - Cathedral Peak - Mount Dana - Indian - Bloody Canyon - Mono Lake

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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 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.

Related Topics:
Sawmill - Mill - Tree - Cabin - Yosemite Creek

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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. 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. As Muir's ideas spread, Whitney would try to discredit Muir by branding him as an amateur and even an ignoramus. 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."

Related Topics:
Science - Geology - Glacier - Valley - Josiah Whitney - California Geological Survey - Earthquake - Amateur - Ignoramus - Louis Agassiz

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In 1871 Muir discovered an active cirque 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. Also that year, one of Muir's heroes, Ralph Waldo Emerson, arrived in Yosemite and sought Muir out. 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.

Related Topics:
1871 - Cirque - Merced Peak - New York - Ralph Waldo Emerson - Ezra Carr - Louis Agassiz - John Tyndall - John Torrey - Clinton Hart Merriam - Joseph Leconte

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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. The quake woke Muir in the early morning and he ran out of his cabin without fear 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. This event led more people to believe in Muir's ideas about the formation of the valley.

Related Topics:
Earthquake - Lone Pine, California - Owens Valley - 1872 Lone Pine earthquake - Talus - Rockslide

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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. In fact, in 1876 the American Association for the Advancement of Science published a paper Muir wrote about the trees' ecology and distribution.

Related Topics:
Ecology - Giant Sequoia - 1873 - 1874 - 1876 - American Association for the Advancement of Science

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In 1880 Muir married Louisa Wanda Strentzel, and from 1882 spent 8 years managing a ranch and fruit farm. During this time two children were born to him.

Related Topics:
1880 - 1882

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