John Muir: Father of Our National Parks

Yosemite National Park. John Muir was influential in establishing the first national park. (Stephen Moehle/Shutterstock)

Living life in the outdoors as a boy, John Muir (1838–1914) dedicated his adult life to exploring the natural world. His writings about his adventures eventually changed how people viewed nature. In his later years, Muir’s popular magazine articles stressed the importance of conserving nature. It sparked a movement that led to the formation of several U.S. national parks.

Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland in 1838, and his family moved to Wisconsin when he was 11 years old. Muir’s father, a strict Christian,  required his children to work long hours and memorize much of the New and Old Testament. Muir found solace and company with his grandfather. They went on nature walks where Muir learned to connect spiritually with the outdoors.

American naturalist, explorer, and writer John Muir, circa 1900. He took particular interest in preserving California's wilderness. (MPI/Getty Images)

Mechanics fascinated Muir when he was a young man. This led to his inventions of a horse feeder, a wooden thermometer, and a device that pushed children out of bed before dawn. Muir studied at the University of Wisconsin and worked as a wagon wheel maker, among taking on other odd jobs.

Then in 1867, Muir’s life suddenly changed. He suffered an accident while working in a factory that left him temporarily blind. This event led him to contemplate his life. “I’m losing the precious days. I am degenerating into a machine for making money,” said Muir, according to “Alaska Days with John Muir,” (1915) by Samuel Young. “I am learning nothing in this trivial world of men. I must break away and get out into the mountains to learn the news.”

Inspired by Nature

Muir embarked on his first major adventure. He walked about 1,000 miles from Kentucky to Florida and made many other journeys around the world. These adventures led him to California, specifically the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range.

Muir worked as a sheep herder in Yosemite Valley, where the beauty of the area inspired him to write. His first published essay, “Yosemite Glaciers” (1871), discussed his theory that Yosemite was created by glaciers.

As Muir continued to write, Century Magazine editor Robert Underwood Johnson inspired him to work harder on the preservation side of nature. Over the years, Muir’s articles helped shape people’s mindset about nature.

John Muir in 1907. (Francis M. Fritz)

“Before Muir, usually we looked at nature in two different ways: We either looked at it as a resource or a place that was scary,” Mike Wurtz, head of Holt-Atherton Special Collections and Archives at the University of the Pacific Libraries in Stockton, California, told The Epoch Times.

“Muir made us see nature for what it is. He really wanted us to look at nature and say, ‘We need nature. This is part of who we are.’ His writings helped us to do this. He made us look at nature differently. And he helped preserve all of the land that we have today.”

National Parks

Muir was a strong proponent of the idea that America needed to preserve certain places in the country. In his “Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park” (September 1890), Muir painted a picture in readers’ minds of what a future national park could look like. He persuaded Congress so well that the government even expanded the boundaries of the proposed public land. President Benjamin Harrison signed the act into law on Oct. 1, 1890, officially establishing Yosemite National Park.

Visitors at Sequoia National Park. (National Park Service)

In 1892, Muir played a major role in starting the Sierra Club. It’s now a large environmental organization with chapters operating in every U.S. state. After its formation, Muir was asked to become the club president, a position he held for the rest of his life.

Connor McIntosh is the curator and manager of the Yosemite Conservation Heritage Center, the home of the Sierra Club in Yosemite Valley. “He has definitely inspired me and many people who we see come through the doors here where I work [to] care for the land in ways they may not have cared for before, and want to protect this land for future generations,” he told The Epoch Times.

in 1903, Muir famously hosted President Theodore Roosevelt on a camping trip in the backcountry of Yosemite. There, he stressed the need for federal preservation of public lands. Muir’s talk with the president laid the foundation for several conservation efforts nationwide. Muir’s later writings further motivated the government to establish the Grand Canyon and Sequoia national parks.

President Theodore Roosevelt (L) poses with naturalist and botanist John Muir on Glacier Point in Yosemite, California. (MPI/Getty Images)

Toward the end of his life, Muir fought hard against the O’Shaughnessy Dam in the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. His efforts proved unsuccessful. President Woodrow Wilson signed the bill into law that allowed the construction of the dam in 1913.

After suffering from poor health, Muir passed away from pneumonia on Christmas Eve the next year.

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