John Muir was born at Dunbar, Scotland, April 21, 1838, and
died at Los Angeles, California, December 24, 1914. He
attended school before he had completed his third year of
age, but even before this time his grandfather had taught him
the letters of the alphabet upon the signs in the vicinity.
He remained in the Scotch schools until he was eleven and
made most valuable use of his time, as may be judged by his
progress, especially in Latin. At the age of eleven he had to
leave school to accompany his father to the new home in the
forests of Wisconsin.
Upon their arrival in America after a voyage which was to
John and his brother one constant round of happy experiences,
there was no further opportunity for elementary schooling.
His education became that of the toiler and he stored his
mind with knowledge acquired from the observation of the
plants and animals of the woods and lakes and from the
association and study of the animals of the farm. He found
opportunity to read the few books which came into his
possession, but the strict regulation of the home made him
read largely by snatches. His fertile brain was employed
almost constantly in the matter of inventions. His duties on
the farm comprised all activities from that of cultivating
the fields to the building of houses and barns and the
digging of wells. In his recent book "The Story of My Boyhood
and Youth," he has graphically described his work of digging
a well by chiselling for nearly eighty feet through the solid
granite.
Muir remained on the farm until he had attained his majority.
He then went to the capitol of the state to exhibit some of
his wonderful inventions at the State Fair. This experience
led to his employment in a shop in Prairie du Chien, where he
worked part of the year. He then went to the University,
where he earned his way during the four years of his course.
He completed his course of study there with the class of
1864, and then, according to his own statement, he plunged
immediately into the work of geologist, explorer, and
naturalist. His work was quite largely in the Yosemite region
of California and among the glaciers of the Sierras and
Alaska. In the latter region during the year of 1881 he
explored the glacier named after him. It was, however, his
description of the Yosemite Valley that first brought him
into prominence. He made an extended search for the De Long
Arctic exploring party, which was lost in its effort to reach
the far North. Later he travelled, part of the time in
company with John Burroughs, through Hawaii, Russia,
Siberia, Manchuria, India, Australasia, and South America.
No place, however, furnished him with such rich material
about which to tell his thoughts as did his adopted home,
California, and the newer Alaska. In the later years of his
life his residence was at Martinez, California. He was
married to Louise Strenzel in 1880. To them was born a
daughter, Helen, who still lives in California and who was
with her father at the time of his death.
While John Muir's experience as a pioneer in the forests of
Wisconsin, reveals the severe hardships of that life, it
reveals many of the joys as well, and shows that his active
brain was open to all the avenues of self education. Field,
forest, and lake were full of opportunities for him to
observe and study, and as a result John and his brother,
David, were fine naturalists, irrespective of books upon the
subject. John's home life was rich in the companionship of
brothers and sisters, and his mother was most sympathetic and
helpful to him in his aspirations to know and to become the
scholar.
The Scotch schools had given him such training as enabled him
to use books as tools throughout his life. The necessities of
the farm and home drove him to inventing means for getting
things done. The result was that he soon became known as a
genius, and this inventive work finally opened the way for
his entrance into the University. So keen was John's desire
to know and to invent that it became necessary for his father
to drive him to bed too frequently, so he told the boy that
if he wished to study, he should get up in the morning. John
took his father at his word and managed to rise at two
o'clock morning after morning to work upon his inventions. As
a result of such efforts there was made a model of
self-setting saw mill, a thermometer, clocks, an apparatus to
get him up at the time desired, and later at the University a
machine to make visible the growth of plants and the action
of sunlight, a barometer, and a desk which automatically
threw up, from a rack underneath, each book in the order of
his studies during the day and withdrew it again when the
time allotted for this study had expired. To accompany this
wonderful invention, he furnished his bed with an adjustment
that set him on his feet at the morning rising hour and at
the same instant lighted his lamp. These seemingly incredible
inventions are fully explained in "The Story of My Boyhood
and Youth," Houghton Mifflin Company, 1913. So eagerly did he
pursue knowledge for its own sake while he was in the
University that the old janitor was proud to point out Muir's
room to visitors many years after his departure.
So valuable has been the work of this investigating mind that
Wisconsin, Harvard, and Yale Universities have deemed it a
pleasure to confer upon John Muir honorary degrees. With his
entire life devoted to research, he may truthfully be said
to have been one of America's best educated men.
He contributed extensively to the organization of scientific
clubs and to scientific magazines. He was much interested in
forest reservation and did much towards the plans which the
government now employs. His work in connection with
government regulated parks has been invaluable.
As a writer Muir is one of the most interestingly instructive
we have had. His language is clear and lucid and he has a
message which he carries directly to the heart and mind of
his reader. Besides his many magazine articles he has written
the "Mountains of California," 1894; "Our National Parks,"
1901; "Stickeen, the Story of a Dog," 1909; "My First Summer
in the Sierra," 1911; "The Yosemite," 1912, and the "Story of
My Boyhood and Youth," 1913. This last is one of the most
interesting and inspiring books for young people that we have
today.
The Muir homestead is twelve miles from Portage, Wisconsin.
There were two farms, the Spring Fountain farm and the
Hickory Hill farm. It is upon the latter that is found the
well 90 feet deep, eighty feet of which John chiselled
through solid granite.
To illustrate Muir's interesting manner of presenting his
observations we are adding the following selections from "The
Mountains of California," published by the Century Co.