the john muir exhibit - tributes

Tributes to John Muir

"I really feel that John Muir did more for the human race during the century that just passed in good that will be reaped in the century in which we are now living than any other individual." - Enos Mills (1917).

"John Muir has been a role model to generations of Californians and to http://www.extremeadventurenews.com/2008/07/17/adventure-hall-of-fame-the-second-inductee-is/conservationists around the world. He taught us to be active and to enjoy -- but at the same time protect -- our parks, our beaches, and our mountains." - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, as he announced selection of the John Muir-Yosemite Design for the California State Quarter (March 29, 2004)

"If I were to choose a single Californian to occupy the Hall of Fame, it would be this tenacious Scot who became a Californian during the final forty-six years of his life." - Lawrence Clark Powell (1906-2001).

 

Muir has been honored in too many categories to list them all or organize them into neat categories! Here are some - everything from astronomy to zoology - including music, buildings, lakes, mountains, postage stamps, coins, institutions, trails, highways, flowers, animals, fine wine, and even fabric!

John Muir in the Arts

• John Muir in the Arts
• Songs About John Muir
• John Muir Tribute CD - (offsite link)
• Mountain Days: The John Muir Musical
• Live Performances of John Muir
• Museums and Exhibits About John Muir

Halls of Fame

• Inductee in National Rivers Hall of Fame - 2016, sponsored by the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, located on the banks of the Mississippi River in Dubuque, Iowa. This site recognizes that Muir had a deep appreciation for rivers, writing "The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell." 
• Inductee in Scotland Hall of Fame - sponsored by the National Records of Scotland (includes interesting birth, baptismal, and census records of John Muir from Dunbar, Scotland.)
• Inductee in Immigrant Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (updated August, 2016), sponsored by The Immigrant Learning Center.
• Inductee in Conservation Hall of Fame - 1965, National Wildlife Federation (offsite-link)
• Inductee (1985) in the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame (off-site link)
  • Inductee in the California Outdoors Hall of Fame - 2002.
• Inductee in California Hall of Fame - 2006, California Museum of History, Women, and the Arts
• Inductee on Hall of Great Westerners (2006), National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum (off-site links)
• Inductee in the Adventure Hall of Fame (July 17, 2007), sponsored by Extreme Adventure News.
• Inductee in Ecology Hall of Fame - (Offsite link)
• Inductee in the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Environmental Hall of Fame, 1983.

Important Tributes

• Places Named for John Muir
• John Muir Memorial Shelter - (aka "Muir Hut") Located on Muir Pass, John Muir Trail, Kings Canyon National Park, California. The Muir Memorial Shelter is significant as the sole commemorative structure in the United States erected to pay tribute to the pioneering role played by Muir and the Sierra Club in the American conservation movement and the stewardship of natural resources.
• Minor Planet Named for John Muir 2006 - This 1-mile diameter celestial body, now named "Johnmuir" is Solar System object number 2004PX42. It was named by its discoverer, amateur astronomer R.E. Jones, in honor of our pioneer conservationist. Seems appropriate for someone who gave his address as "Earth-Planet, Universe."
• Honoree on the Extra Mile Volunteer Pathway in Washington, D.C. (April 22, 2009)
  • For more info: Honoree on The Extra Mile Volunteer Pathway in Washington, D.C. (off-site link)
• The John Muir-Yosemite design of the California State Quarter was selected out of 8,000 submissions.
• John Muir Collectibles
  • Stamps and First Day Covers
    • 1964 Stamp and First Day Covers
    • 1998 Stamp and First Day Covers
  • See also: John Muir Postage Stamps and First Day Covers on the Planet Patriot website.
• John Muir Award- From 1961 until 2020, the Sierra Club's highest honor was the "John Muir Award." Description: "The highest award conferred by the Sierra Club. Honors a distinguished record of achievement in national or international conservation causes. Recipients receive life membership in the Sierra Club." In 2020, it was dropped, and in 2021 replaced with the "Sierra Club Changemaker of the Year Award." The first recipient, in 1961, was William E. Colby. Other notable recipients included Olaus Murie, Ansel Adams, Sigurd F. Olson, Edgar Wayburn, William O. Douglas, Jacques Cousteau, David R. Brower, J. Michael McCloskey, Paul Ehrlich, Wallace Stegner, Denis A. Hayes, Horace Albright, Joseph Fontaine, Carla Cloer, Gaylord Nelson, Vicky Hoover, Al Gore, James Hansen, Richard Fiddler, Bill McKibben, Dr. Robert Bullard, Terry Tempest Williams, and Jane Goodall. The final recipient in 2019 were 5 students active in the climate change movement: Kelsey Juliana, Nadia Nazar, Varshini Prakash, Harnalil Vazquez Torres, and Joseph White Eyes. See: Complete List of John Muir Award Recipients in PDF Format.
• John Muir Day - Celebration and History
• John Muir Chosen as Greatest of All Californians - Results of a poll by the California Historical Society in 1976.
• Honors Given John Muir in his Lifetime
• Places and Schools Named After John Muir - (including Muir Woods National Monument, John Muir Wilderness, and many more!)
• Scientific Names in Honor of John Muir
• Muir-Hanna Vineyards - Family Wine label from John Muir's descendants ; no longer in operation.
• Muir Glen brand Organic Tomatoes - Founded 1991, and named after John Muir.
• Official California Tartan, John Muir Tartan, and John Muir Way Tartan Honor John Muir
• Engraved John Muir Quote at Scottish Parliament Building
• Retracing John Muir's Famous Walks - Stories of people who have retraced Muir's famous walks, including his 1,000 mile walk to the Gulf, and various rambles in California.
• John Muir - A Great Scot - Nomination of John Muir for Scotland TV contest for "Greatest Scot" (beat out by Muir's favorite poet Robert Burns)
• Saint John Muir by Harold Wood - 2014, 2019.

Transportation

• Liberty Ship SS John Muir - from John Muir Global Network - Expanded, updated, and illustrated version of article originally on this website (January, 2023).
• Excursion Boat Paddle Wheeler "John Muir" in Devil's Lake, Sauk County, Wisconsin, circa 1940's-1960's. - Postcard Image
  
• Airplane - Global Supertanker Spirit of John Muir - now out of service (2021)
  
  • Press Release - 28 April 2016 (PDF)
  • Global SuperTanker, based in Colorado Springs, is ceasing operations (The Gazette, 23 April 2021)
  • Global Supertanker to be converted to a cargo airplane - In 2021, Global SuperTanker Services began facing financial difficulties, and in April 2021, the company shut down. They sold the Supertanker to National Freight to be converted into a cargo aircraft."(ifiberone - (8 June 2021)
• Train - "Muir" from Disney's "Planes: Fire and Rescue." (fictional) In the movie, a steam locomotive, called a "train transporter," that helps to fight fires in the fictional "Piston Peak National Park," is named "Muir." It also available as a toy or collectible, with the name "Muir" clearly placed on its side.
• Train Car - At one time, there was a private rail car named for "John Muir" available for rental, but current status cannot be verified at this time. (June, 2016).
• Starship (spaceship) (fictional) - In the 1991 motion picture "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country," a film that marked the final appearance together of the original series' cast, a spaceship named the USS John Muir (NCC-1732) was identified as a potential participant in Operation Retrieve to rescue Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy from RuraPenthe in 2293. The USS John Muir was a 23rd century Federation starship operated by Starfleet. According to the film, in 2293, the John Muir was undergoing a refit at Starbase 24 during the time Operation Retrieve was proposed. The ship itself was not mentioned in dialogue, but was listed on a starship status display that was seen on the Enterprise-A. According to a ship listing included in the plans, and not seen in the extended cut of the movie, the ship's commanding officer was S.C. Jaffe. The ship's captain was named after the sixth movie's second unit director Steven-Charles Jaffe. Source: The Star Trek Concordance by Bjo Trimble (Citadel Press, 1995); Wikia. Notably, Yosemite featured in this film's predecessor, Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.
• Spaceship (fictional) - in the young adult science fiction/horror novel Pitch Dark by Courtney Alameda (2019), the action centers around a spaceship named U.S.S. John Muir which carries a "terrarium" containing Yosemite National Park along with human colonists in deep stasis.
• There are numerous roads, streets, and highways named for John Muir, including "John Muir Drive" in San Francisco County, the "John Muir Parkway" (State Route 4) in Contra Costa County, and the John Muir Highway between California's coastal cities and Yosemite. Several California cities have a street named for Muir, and even Kentucky has a John Muir Highway - Highway 90, which starts in Cave City, KY, and goes 35 miles to Burksville, KY.

 

Written Tributes

• Reminiscences of John Muir From Those Who Knew Him
• Pillars of the Earth - University of Wisconsin honors four of its environmental luminaries: John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Wallace Stegner, and Gaylord Nelson. (offsite link).
• John Muir by Lawrence Clark Powell - "If I were to choose a single Californian to occupy the Hall of Fame, it would be this tenacious Scot who became a Californian during the final forty-six years of his life."
• The Light at the End - and Beginning - of John Muir's Journey by Barbara Mossberg (December 20, 2015). Superb essay about Muir's importance today.
• John Muir: Timeless champion of nature By William R. Swagerty, University of the Pacific, Apr 12, 2019 (PDF).
• In celebration of John Muir's descendants' donation of his papers to the University of the Pacific by Loren Blackford President, Sierra Club

 

 

---

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

Contact the Webmaster of the John Muir Exhibit.