John Muir s Value as a Preservationist and Influence on the National Parks Movement

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1 Nathan Nelson Price/McDowell AP English/AP U.S. History (not enrolled) 10/31/16 John Muir s Value as a Preservationist and Influence on the National Parks Movement John Muir was one of the earliest and the most influential voices in the National Parks Movement, and because of his letters, journaling, books, and passion for preservation and conservation he aided in the founding of multiple parks. He actively pursued government legislation for conservation of American wilderness and had a heavy influence on American President Teddy Roosevelt during the early twentieth century. Parks like Yosemite and the Sequoia Redwoods can be accredited to his work, along with the still popular Sierra Club, an American wilderness preservation group. John Muir s work in the National Parks Movement was imperative to the country s successful protection of nature and wildlife in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Muir would not only improve American policy on preservation but would inspire people from around the world to take action in their environment for generations to come. Born in Scotland, Muir and his family moved to a Wisconsin farm in 1849, where John would grow up on, and tend to, the land. Though not his most pleasant, it is agreed that immigrant farm life was his first continuous encounter with natural America. He went on to study chemistry, mathematics, geology and botany at the University of Wisconsin and worked odd jobs to pay his way. Shortly after four years at the university in Madison and not being selected in the Civil War drafts of 1864, Muir left to join his brother in the southern Ontario region of Canada where

2 he would work the land for the Trout Family on what was known as Trout Hollow, on the lower Bighead River. (John PBS)On his leaving university he was quoted saying, But I left one University for another, the Wisconsin University for the University of the Wilderness. (Van Hise) This began his initial transformation into a man of Nature, and he followed through with his motive by continuing to explore the Trout family land, its dips and bogs, as well as collecting plants for study and botanizing. After his Canadian hiatus, Muir returned to the United States and took work at a wagon wheel factory in Indianapolis, eventually earning about $25 a week. (John PBS) However, after a year or so at the factory Muir sustained an injury that would change his life forever. "While at work in a mill my right eye was pierced by a file, and then came the darkest time of my life." (Muir, Herbert) Muir would turn this darkness into spiritual light, and embarked on his journey from Indiana to Florida by foot. Documented in his book, A Thousand Mile Walk To The Gulf, the newfound adventurer discussed his journey through caves in Kentucky, the Cumberland wilderness of Tennessee, the Georgia River Country, and swamps of Florida. (Wood) He explained the importance his upbringing in the outdoors had on allowing him to blossom in the eastern American wilderness. From Florida, Muir sailed to Cuba, then to Panama, eventually crossing the Isthmus and sailing to California along the Pacific west coast. He then journeyed on foot from San Francisco to the Sierra Nevada, where he would fall in love with the northern region of California for the rest of his life. Though his work and passion would take him around the world and back, California would remain as home in his heart forever. The Sierra Nevada Mountains and valleys and the redwood forests would become the basis of John Muir s fiery passion for nature preservation and the inspiration fueling America s National Parks movement.

3 Upon deciding to stay in the Sierra Nevada, Muir initially worked a season as a sheep herder in the high country, soaking in the beauty of the region he many times referred to as the Range of Light. (John PBS) Upon finishing the season, he took a job constructing a mill for a man he knew in the Yosemite Valley, while exploring in his free time. During this four year period ( ) of exploring and wandering in the area, Muir first developed his ideas that the region had been excavated and shaped by glaciers. (Muir Herbert) He would also develop a spiritual belief that God is found in Nature, thus feeding his desire to protect the land. During Muir s early time in California, he fell in love with the wilderness. He was unemployed for stretches of time, though, and sought purpose for his life and a pathway for his future. Channeling his passion with his education, Muir moved to Oakland, California, where he began to write and publish articles for prominent newspapers and magazines. Some included Overland Monthly, Scribner's, and Harper's Magazine. He published his ideas about the physical formation of the Yosemite Valley as well as the territory of Alaska, where he would travel multiple times. His theories and ideas were groundbreaking for late nineteenth century science, and he quickly gained popularity. But with popularity and success, especially for someone pushing the boundaries of common views on conservation, came controversy. The first came from farmers in the Yosemite region who raised sheep in the foothills below the Valley. Having already worked a season herding, Muir understood the damage that a flock of sheep could do to the grasslands of the area through which they stomped and grazed, and he argued they should be kept out of Yosemite. Farmers and herders were not happy, arguing that their removal from such an unpopulated region would be unjust. Though some would resist, the greater Sequoyah region stretched about ten thousand square miles compared to Yosemite National Parks thousand square miles, making relocation extremely feasible. Not only would the deciduous climate remain the

4 same, Muir and the government also understood that most people in the region lived a practically nomadic lifestyle operating out of small, makeshift homes in the foothills. The government would help compensate for removing people from the land, thus settling most controversy pushed on John Muir by the farmers. The larger battle was fought with the general consensus of the Nation s common people. Though it held less importance than in colonial days, British culture still had an influence in the United States. Many American adults were still only second generation descendants of British immigrants, many of whom came from an impoverished background in the Old World. Many adults of Muir s time had the injustices of the English aristocracy instilled in their minds. To these people, National Parks in the far west resembled the private game parks of Britain, which were reserved for the pleasure of the wealthy. Surely they felt that the common man could not go and recreate in a remote wilderness park on the Pacific coast. Though the National Parks were open to the public, Muir and his supporters faced criticism that they were not something the everyday American could enjoy, especially because of transportation. People felt that valuable land and resources were being wasted simply for the rich to vacation. This disagreement held true in favor for a brief time period, but what Muir and others understood was that these parks were planned for the future of the United States and for centuries to come. (Wolfe) Free to enter at anytime, this was no country club setting that only the select few could enter. Any man trekking the wilderness could walk right into the heart of any park, whether it be the geysers of Yellowstone or the heart of the Redwood Forest. When Muir s most prized park, Yosemite National Park, was founded in 1890, the revolutionary Ford Model T would not be invented for another twenty-two years. (Wolfe) Because of the transportation revolution and the decrease in cost of travel over time, millions of Americans are now able to enjoy America s National Parks every year.

5 Shortly after the founding of Yosemite and the start of the National Parks movement in the United states, Muir would help to create multiple parks. In Arizona he helped champion the protection of the Petrified Forest and the famous Grand Canyon, both of which welcome over a million visitors a year currently. (NPS.org) He is quoted after visiting the Grand Canyon for the first time saying, No matter how far you have wandered hitherto, or how many famous gorges and valleys you have seen, this one, the Grand Canyon of the Colorado's, will seem as novel to you, as unearthly in the color and grandeur and quantity of its architecture, as if you had found it after death, on some other star (Wolfe) Other parks promoted by Muir included General Grant Cove in Kings Canyon National Park, home to Muir s beloved Redwood trees, as well as Sequoia National Park in the Southern Sierra Nevada, adjacent to Kings Canyon. During this period of preservation expansion and founding of parks, John Muir would take a camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt in Yosemite in The two spent three days trekking in the wilderness, and the trip proved to be extremely influential on the both of them. The President endured challenging conditions the first two nights at Mariposa Grove and Sentinel Dome, and it is said he was wrapped up in what must ve been forty wool blankets, waking up the next morning to an additional five inches of snow on top of the existing five feet. (Wadsworth) The third and final day of the trip, Muir made the almost pleading but passionate appeal to Roosevelt s audience for the Yosemite Wilderness to be returned to the Federal Government s control and for the creation of a new National Park. (Yosemite had been under divided control between the California State Grant of Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove and the Federal Government.) Shortly after the visit, the President was quoted saying, "There can be nothing in the world more beautiful than the Yosemite, the groves of the giant sequoias...our people should see to it that they are preserved for their children and their children's children forever, with their

6 majestic beauty all unmarred. (Wadsworth) Boosting President Roosevelt s passion for nature, and through friendly persuasion from Muir, his policy for preserving America s Wilderness grew much more in favor of the natural United States. In 1906 Roosevelt would sign the Yosemite Recession Bill, and over the course of his presidency signed legislation establishing five national parks, and used executive power to create 18 national monuments, 55 national bird sanctuaries and wildlife refuges, and 150 national forests. (Sierra Club) Now a well established and well respected environmentalist, Muir would face his most daunting and controversial task at the end of his life. The City of San Francisco was in need of a more clean and efficient water source in the early 1900 s due to a growing population and poor private water service. (Hetch Hetchy) The city s proposed idea was to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley, which would in turn run clean water into the city s system. Hetch Hetchy, however, was a region within the boundaries of Yosemite National Park. This meant that the decision to allow the city of San Francisco to dam the Valley was left up to Congress since Yosemite was controlled by the federal government. Exploding into the nation s first major environmental debate, activists, environmental clubs, and the general population took sides over whether it should be allowed or not. Muir would lead the millions who were against the damming and in favor of preservation of the land in the fight. Like thousands of others, one New Hampshire group, the Graffort Club, sent Muir a telegram supporting his position and making the argument that, We are earnestly opposed to such a needless local use of a priceless natural possession in which the entire citizenship is interested, and we petition the President and the Secretary of the Interior to revoke the revocable permit now existing and urge all Senators and Representatives, especially those composing the Public Lands Committees, to defeat any bill which proposes to confirm any such invasion; and that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Secretary of the

7 Interior and our Representatives in Congress. (Howard) Transmissions and petitions like these helped express the general consensus of the preservationists who believed nature in general should be used to enjoy its beauty and not only to suck out its resources. The opposition, however, argued that the city was becoming dysfunctional with the current water situation and that long-term improvement was necessary. This was true to an extent, but the city s problem could have been fixed by reducing industrial and domestic waste as well as running out a corrupt private water company and building a better sewage system. This likely would have required around the same budget as the damming. In the end, Congress would pass a bill on December 19, 1913, allowing for the city of San Francisco to dam the Hetch Hetchy Valley. (Hetch Hetchy) After fighting the good fight, John Muir would pass away the next year on Christmas Eve of 1914 at age 76 due to pneumonia. John Muir s work for the preservation of the American wilderness and creation of our beloved National Parks would not go to waste, and he would leave a lasting legacy for generations to come. Though his battle at Hetch Hetchy did not end in victory, it started a widespread movement of environmental activism across the country, and would lead to the foundation of the National Park Service in Since then, the total number of National Parks has risen to 58 across the United States. Earlier in 1892, Muir had also founded the Sierra Club, an environmentalist group still based in California which is one of America s most popular, active, and influential groups. Since it began, the Sierra Club has been involved in the creation of Earth Day and establishment of the International Conservation Committee and now boasts 2.4 million present-day members and supporters. (Cohen, 454) During his time shortly after founding the Sierra Club, Muir settled down for a brief period, married, and accomplished most of his writing that is still studied today. Through a compilation of books, letters, sketches, and field notes,

8 John Muir left a literary legacy as well. Some of his most popular books include: A Thousand- Mile Walk to the Gulf, My First Summer in the Sierra, The Mountains of California, The Yosemite, and Our National Parks. Along with his books, Muir composed an assortment of letters from around to his mentor and fellow botanist from back in Madison, Wisconsin, Mrs. Jeanne Carr. Commonly known as Letters to a Friend, they are studied for a more personal and in depth look at Muir s time in the Yosemite and beyond, and his theories of nature. (Muir, Letters) One of his letters to longtime friend Milton Griswold perfectly displays that the passion for the beauty of the planet that so many remember still burned in his old age. Muir is quoted saying, I spent over a year ( ) in South America and South Africa, possibly another year I spent in Russia going from Petersburg to Moscow, thence down to the Crimea and the Black Sea into the Caucasus to Tiflin, and then across the Caucasus to Moscow, thence across the Urals to Siberia and Lake Baikel down the Amur River and then through Manchuria down to Japan and China, down to Singapore, up into India and the Himalaya into the Deodar Forest, etc. (Muir, Manuscript) Though at times he faced scrutiny and criticism from the American people, John Muir is recognized today by many as the most influential person in American environmental history. His work and influence on the National Parks movement and the preservation of the American wilderness is unmatched. Without him, environmental awareness in the United States would have never reached what it became, and present-day Americans could not enjoy the pure beauty of natural America like we now can.

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10 Nathan Nelson Price/McDowell AP English/AP U.S. History (not enrolled) 10/31/16 Works Cited Cohen, Michael P. The History of the Sierra Club: San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club, Print. "Hetch Hetchy Environmental Debates." National Archives. National Archives and Records Administration, 15 Aug Web. 31 Oct Howard, Anne. Letter to Hon. Jacob H. Gallinger. 4 Feb MS. Gaffort Club, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "John Muir ( )." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 31 Oct Muir, John, and Herbert Wendell Gleason. My First Summer in the Sierra. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, Print.

11 Muir, John, Mr. "Letters To A Friend: Yosemite." Letter to Mrs. Jeanne Carr. 17 May Sierra Club. Houghton Mifflin Company Boston and New York 1915, Web. 30 Oct Muir, John, Mr. "Manuscript Letter." Letter to Milton S. Griswold. 27 Mar MS. Sierra Club 409 Mills Building, San Francisco, California. Special Collections: Archives at Middle Tennessee State University Van Hise, Charles R. "John Muir." Wisconsin Electronic Reader. UW-Madison General Library System Digital Production Facility, n.d. Web. 31 Oct Wadsworth, Ginger. "Theodore Roosevelt." Sierra Club Sierra Club, n.d. Web. 31 Oct Wolfe, Linnie Marsh. Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir. New York: A.A. Knopf, Print. Wood, Harold. "Marker Annotation - John Muir In Indianapolis." Sierra Club. Indiana Historical Bureau, n.d. Web. 31 Oct

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