• 1838 - Born Dunbar, Scotland
  • 1849 - Family emigrated to Wisconsin
  • 1861 - Studied the natural sciences at the University of Wisconsin, but did not take a degree
  • 1868 - Went to California and began 40 years of intermittent wandering in the wilderness of North America, which produced some of the best nature writing in the English language.
  • 1880 - Moves back to California following his marriage after working in Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, and visiting Alaska for the first time
  • 1890 - Petitioned congress for establishing Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park.
  • 1892 - Established the Sierra Club
  • 1903 - President Theodore Roosevelt spends 3 days and nights camping alone with Muir in Yosemite.
  • 1907 - Muir start fight to save Hetch Hetchy Valley from a planned dam to supply San Francisco with water
  • 1908 - Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Muir Woods National Monument , named after Muir by request of the donor of the land, William Kent.
  • 1913 - Battle for Hetch Hetchy Valley is lost
  • 2005 - The California quarter released featuring an image of John Muir admiring Half Dome

"If you think about all the gains our society has made, from independence to now, it wasn't government. It was activism. People think, 'Oh, Teddy Roosevelt established Yosemite National Park, what a great president.' BS. It was John Muir who invited Roosevelt out and then convinced him to ditch his security and go camping. It was Muir, an activist, a single person."
-- Patagonia founder and outdoor enthusiast Yvon Chouinard

President Bill Clinton said "One of the Americans who inspired Theodore Roosevelt to conserve our nation's forests was the naturalist John Muir, who once said, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread - places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul." In today's fast-paced, high-tech world, Muir's words are even more compelling."


Books:
The Mountains of California, Our National Parks, My First Summer in the Sierra, Steep Trails, Stickeen
A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf
Steep Trails
The Life and Letters of John Muir , edited by William F. Bad

Links:
Sierra Club:
  - Exhibit
  - Chronology (Timeline) of the Life and Legacy of John Muir
  - Quotations from John Muir
Wikipedia
ecotopia.org
ElectricScotland.com


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last updated 21 July 2009