John Muir ~ Naturalist, Inventor, Writer, Hiker and Father of Our National Parks

John Muir was an amazing person, a naturalist, among the first most notable environmentalists, an inventor, an adventurer, and an accomplished writer.  He loved the poetry of Robert Burns, a fellow Scot.  On Muir’s rambles through the forests, mountains, and valleys of the Northwest, he often carried a volume of Burn’s poetry and one of Emerson’s books.  Needless to say, “rambling” in the mountains and woods was Muir’s favorite activity.

John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland, April 21, 1838.  He was the 8th child of 13.  His father was a harsh and strict religious man who made sure everyone in the family worked hard.  Apparently, John preferred to wander off into the fields and meadows whenever he could.  As a result, John was often whipped by his father and forced to learn chapters in the Bible.  By the time John was 11, he could recite all of the New Testament and a good bit of the Old Testament from memory!  Even though growing up under the severity of his father was difficult, John said later in life that learning all those verses served to make him a better writer.  During his life, he published 6 volumes, all describing in lyrical detail the beauty and wonder of Nature.

Muir wrote constantly, publishing books and writing articles on ecology, his studies of glaciers, and botany.  He was consistently writing about the need for Yosemite to become a National Park like Yellowstone.  Yellowstone was the first national park in the United States and also in the world!  Partly in response to the need for Yosemite to become a national park, the Sierra Club was formed.  On May 28, 1892, the first meeting of the Sierra Club was held.  John Muir was immediately elected president.  They also elected a vice-president and chose a board of directors.  The Sierra Club led the way to establish “national forests” and to protect and preserve the natural beauty and heritage of the American landscape!  Muir was president of the Sierra Club for 22 years until his death in 1914.

Thanks to John Muir, Emerson, Ansel Adams, and many other far-sighted women and men, many of our natural treasures were saved from development by being set aside as National Parks.  John Muir’s books, articles, and conversations with leaders like President Teddy Roosevelt, influenced their thinking and decisions about the preservation of our national treasures.