John Muir

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

From studying to protecting

Muir's attention soon started to switch from studying the Yosemite area and Sierra to protecting it. A precipitating event for him was the discovery of a sign illegally claiming private ownership in Kings Canyon, and loggers cutting down ancient Giant Sequoia groves south of present day Sequoia National Park.

Related Topics:
Kings Canyon - Sequoia National Park

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Muir threw himself into his new role with great vigor. He saw the greatest threat to the Yosemite area and the Sierras to be livestock, especially domestic sheep (calling them "hooved locusts"). In June 1889, the influential associate editor of Century magazine, Robert Underwood Johnson, camped with Muir in Tuolumne Meadows and saw first hand the damage a large flock of sheep had done to the grassland. 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 that would make the Yosemite area into a national park, modeled after Yellowstone National Park.

Related Topics:
Livestock - Sheep - 1889 - Century - Robert Underwood Johnson - Tuolumne Meadows - National park - Yellowstone National Park

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A bill essentially following 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), was passed by Congress on September 30, 1890. To the dismay of Muir, however, the bill left Yosemite Valley in state control. Also in 1890, Muir settled in Martinez, California. His home is now the John Muir National Historic Site.

Related Topics:
September 30 - 1890 - Martinez, California - John Muir National Historic Site

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With this partial victory under his belt, Muir helped form an environmental organization called the Sierra Club on May 28, 1892 and was elected as its first president (a position he held until his death 22 years later).

Related Topics:
Sierra Club - May 28 - 1892

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Muir later befriended another leader in the conservation movement named Gifford Pinchot. That friendship was ended in the summer of 1897 when Pinchot expressed his opinion that forests should be managed for the betterment of mankind, while Muir wanted to preserve nature in its natural state. This philosophical divide soon expanded and split the conservationist movement into two camps: the preservationists, led by Muir, and Pinchot's camp, who co-opted the term "conservationist."

Related Topics:
Gifford Pinchot - 1897

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In 1899, Muir accompanied E. H. Harriman on his famous exploratory voyage along the Alaska coast. He would later rely on his friendship with Harriman to apply political pressure on Congress to pass conservation legislation.

Related Topics:
E. H. Harriman - Alaska

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In 1903 President Theodore Roosevelt accompanied Muir on a visit to the park. Muir joined Roosevelt in Oakland, California for the train trip to Raymond. The presidential entourage then traveled by stagecoach into the park. 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.

Related Topics:
1903 - Theodore Roosevelt - Oakland, California - Raymond - Stagecoach

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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 a few ranges into the backcountry. While circling around a fire, the duo talked late into the night, slept in the brisk open air and were dusted by a fresh snowfall in the morning - a night Roosevelt never would forget.

Related Topics:
Camped - Snow

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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.

Related Topics:
Sierra Club - 1905 - Mariposa Grove

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Pressure then started to mount to dam the Tuolumne River for use as a water reservoir for San Francisco. The damming of Hetch Hetchy Valley was passionately opposed by Muir who called Hetch Hetchy a "second Yosemite." 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. Muir died soon afterward in despair. Some (such as Steve Roper) say he died of a "broken heart" http://gorp.away.com/gorp/location/ca/yosemite_new2.htm.

Related Topics:
Tuolumne River - Reservoir - San Francisco - Hetch Hetchy Valley - Woodrow Wilson - December 19 - 1913 - Steve Roper

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The John Muir Trail, the John Muir Wilderness, the Muir Woods National Monument, John Muir College (a residential college of the University of California, San Diego), and John Muir Country Park in Dunbar are named in his honour. An image of John Muir, with the California Condor and Half Dome, appears on the California state quarter which was released in 2005.

Related Topics:
John Muir Trail - John Muir Wilderness - Muir Woods National Monument - John Muir College - University of California, San Diego - California Condor - Half Dome - State quarter - 2005

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