Short Chronology of Important Events in the Life of John Muir

See also : Comprehensive Year-by-Year Chronology of the Life and Legacy of John Muir

1838 -- April 21, birthday of John Muir, born in Dunbar, Scotland.

1841 -- Began school at the age of three.

1849 -- Immigration to Wisconsin at the age of 11.

1860 -- Left home (22 years of age) to exhibit his inventions at State Agriculture Fair in Madison , Wisconsin; brief jobs; enrolls at the University of Wisconsin.

1861-62 -- Attends University of Wisconsin for 2-1/2 years (5 tri-semesters), teaches school during the winter, forms friendship with the Carr's.

1863 -- Left the University; foot tour of Wisconsin, Iowa , Illinois, and Canada.

1866 -- Indianapolis, Indiana : worked for manufacturer of carriage parts.

1867 -- Eye injury. Begins 1000 mile walk to Florida and then to Cuba.

1868 -- Voyage to California: landed in San Francisco, March 28, and walked across the valley; worked at ranch of Pat Delaney.

1869 -- Summer sheep herder in high Sierra; returned to live in Yosemite, to work for Hutchings, to operate saw mill; began exploration for signs of glaciers.

1871 -- Met Emerson in Yosemite.

1872 -- Began to publish articles in leading magazines.

1873 -- Continuous residence in Yosemite ended.

1874 -- Met the Strentzels in Alhambra Valley.

1875 -- Lived in Bay Area writing magazine articles; trips to mountains; Utah .

1879 -- Proposed to Louie Strentzel; First Alaska trip with S. Hall Young; discovery of Glacier Bay and Muir Glacier.

1880 -- April 14: marriage of John Muir (42) and Louie Strentzel (33); Second trip to Alaska, adventure with Stickeen .

1881 -- John Swett bought ranch adjoining Muir holdings. Birth of Wanda Muir; railroad built; third trip to Alaska aboard the Corwin.

1882-83 -- Construction of mansion.

1882 -- Beginning of extensive ranching period.

1886 -- Birth of Helen Muir.

1888 -- Trip to Mt. Rainier ; editor and contributor of Picturesque California, two volumes.

1890 -- Alaska trip to Muir Glacier; death of Dr. Strentzel; Muir family move to mansion.

1890 -- Yosemite becomes a National Park.

1892 -- Founding of the Sierra Club , end of ranching career for John Muir.

1893 -- Trip to Europe with William Keith.

1894 -- Mountains of California published.

1898 -- Death of Mrs. Strentzel.

1899 -- Mt. Rainier National Park established; member of Harriman Alaska Expedition.

1901 -- Our National Parks published.

1903 -- Theodore Roosevelt visited Yosemite.

1904 -- World tour.

1905 -- Helen ill, Adamana, Arizona for recovery.

1906 -- Petrified Forest becomes a national monument; death of Louie Strentzel Muir, August 6.

1906 -- San Francisco earthquake, repair of house, marriage of Wanda to Thomas Hanna.

1908 -- Grand Canyon National Park established.

1907-1913 -- Fight to save Hetch Hetchy Valley; Stickeen (1909), My First Summer in the Sierra (1911), The Yosemite (1912), and The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (1913) published.

1910 -- Helen married Buel Funk.

1911-12 -- Trip to South America and Africa (73 years old.)

1914 -- December 24: death of John Muir of pneumonia in a Los Angeles Hospital.

1915 -- A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, Steep Trails, Travels in Alaska, and Cruise of The Corwin published.

1916 -- Congress creates National Park Service .

1942 -- Death of Wanda Muir Hanna, 60 years.

1964 -- Death of Helen Muir Funk, 78 years.

1964 -- John Muir House declared a National Historic Site , land acquisition completed in 1966.

1982 -- John Muir House is 100 years old.

1988 -- John Muir 150th Birthday Year Celebration.

1989 -- April 21st annually proclaimed John Muir Day by California Governor, bill 476.

1992 -- John Muir House is 110 years old.

Source: John Muir National Historic Site
Received: July 21, 1994

Home | Alphabetical Index | What's New & About this Site