John Muir and the National Parks

A Brief Biography of America's First Conservationist.

Mar 27, 2007 Jennifer W. Miner

John Muir turned his love for nature and wild places into his life's calling. After meeting with Muir, Theodore Roosevelt named several areas as National Parks.

John Muir (1838-1914), a writer and conservationist, founded The Sierra Club in 1892, after a young adulthood spent ranching and traveling North and South America. After founding The Sierra Club, John Muir continued his travels, and met important figures of his time. Ralph Waldo Emerson said of Muir, "He is more wonderful than Thoreau." President Theodore Roosevelt, who camped with John Muir in Yosemite in 1903, later named Yosemite a National Park. Roosevelt later wrote An Appreciation of John Muir, which includes "It was my good fortune to know John Muir." (Outlook, vol. 109, pp. 27-28, 1915.) He was, and continues to be, the most influential and important naturalist in America's history.

Important dates and events in the life of John Muir:

1838 - John Muir was born on April 21 in Dunbar, Scotland.

1849 - the Muir family immigrated to the United States of America.

1867 - John Muir embarks on a 1,000 mile walk from Indiana to Florida.

1868 - A move to San Francisco introduces the man to California.

1871 - John Muir meets Ralph Waldo Emerson in Yosemite.

1879 - Travels to Alaska, discovery of Glacier Bay and the Muir Glacier.

1880 - Already in in early 40's, John Muir married Louisiana Strentzel.

1890 - Yosemite becomes a National Park.

1892 - John Muir founds the Sierra Club

1894 - He publishes Mountains of California.

1899 - Mt. Rainer becomes a National Park.

1901 - He publishes Our National Parks.

1903 - Theodore Roosevelt camps in Yosemite with John Muir.

1906 - The Petrified Forest becomes a national monument.

1908 - The Grand Canyon becomes a National Park.

1911-1912 - At 73 years of age, John Muir travels to Africa and South America.

1914 - John Muir dies of pneumonia on December 24.

John Muir's influence continues to this day. He was the most influential person in the environmental movement, before there even was an environmental movement. The respect and admiration for his passion and ideas, led Theodore Roosevelt to name several important wild places as National Parks. His involvement led to the National Parks system, and the great forest reserves North America had in his time. John Muir is considered the "Father of our National Parks." Our country is all the better for his lasting effects.

"None of Nature's landscapes are ugly so long as they are wild." (John Muir. Our National Parks, p.4, 1901)

Related, on Suite 101:

The Sierra Club

The copyright of the article John Muir and the National Parks in Historical Biographies is owned by Jennifer W. Miner. Permission to republish John Muir and the National Parks in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.