the john muir exhibit - biography
Biography: The Life and Contributions of John Muir
This section features articles, essays, chronologies, books, an atlas, and other
resources written by others about John Muir. See also our Bibliographic
Resources and the Writings by John Muir.
Reminder: This site provides resources and information about John Muir, past and present. Its contents do not necessarily represent the viewpoint of the Sierra Club.
Introducing John Muir
Brief Biographies:
Chronology of Important Events in the Life of John Muir
(short)
A Geography of John Muir
- Muir traveled extensively in North America, South America, Europe, Africa,
Asia, Australia, and elsewhere in the world in search of the beauties of
Nature. Also see below for a few articles about some of Muir's travels.
Off-Site links:
Annotated Chronology
- Chronology of the Life
and Legacy of John Muir - from his birth to the present day (1838-2016)
This detailed chronology offers a year-by year timeline of Muir's life, followed
by the ongoing - and increasing - interest in Muir down to the present. Many
links will lead you to various fascinating parts of the John Muir Exhibit.
Scotland - Muir's Birthplace
- Scotland section of Geography of John Muir
- John Muir's Scottish Ancestry: Muir Clan or Gordon Clan? by Harold Wood
- Discover John Muir - A comprehensive website filled with resources about John Muir from a UK perspective, sponsored by the John Muir Trust in collaboration with the John Muir Birthplace. Includes a collection of educational resources including activities, games, films, art, programs, articles, photos, books, and events held in Scotland.
(off-site link)
- "A New Muir Association Formed In Scotland"
- John Muir Trust - Taking their name and inspiration from John Muir, the John Muir Trust works to protect wild places throughout Scotland and the United Kingdom. Its mission is: To work with others to inspire people to get close to wild nature; speak up for the benefits of wildness; prevent the loss of wild places; manage wild places in a responsible and exemplary fashion; and repair and rewild what has been damaged in the past. (off-site link)
- John Muir's Birthplace - Explore the life and legacy of John Muir by visiting the house in Dunbar, Scotland, where he was born – now a unique museum and the starting point of the John Muir Way. The exterior has been restored and now looks much as it would have done in 1838 – the year John Muir was born. Inside, you will find three floors of family friendly interactive displays where staff and volunteers will help you learn more about Muir’s boyhood in Scotland. The website is filled with useful and interesting resources.  (offsite link)
- Friends of John Muir's
Birthplace -
Friends of John Muir’s Birthplace (founded in 1994 as “Dunbar’s John Muir Association” promotes the life and work of John Muir in Dunbar, Scotland and beyond. The Association successfully campaigned for the development of the Muir Birthplace site celebrating Muir’s vision and influence on world conservation. The group supports the work of the John Muir Birthplace by helping to fund its activities and in the preparation of resource material. (offsite link)
- John Muir Way - This 134 mile walking and bicycling path going from coast to coast across central Scotland encourages outdoor discovery, and promotes understanding of John Muir’s legacy and philosophy by getting closer to nature. With the John Muir Way activity guide, you can learn more about John Muir and native flora, fauna, and history in Scotland. The Guide is brimming with ideas and resources for citizen science, adventure, Curriculum for Excellence, volunteering, achievement awards and creative activities. With a John Muir Way Passport, you can have your passport stamped to mark your progress. When you’ve collected all ten stamps, you can claim your free completer certificate. (offsite link)
Wisconsin Boyhood and Inventions
Muir in Canada
Muir in Yosemite
Hetch Hetchy - Muir's Last Battle
Alaska - Exploring Glaciers
Botanical Studies
Family and Ranch Life
John Muir and Native Americans
- Across the Shaman's River: John Muir, the Tlingit Stronghold, and the Opening of the North by Daniel Lee Henry. See description and listing in our Historical and Literary Analyses, Annotated John Muir Bibliography.
- John Muir: Racist or Admirer of Native Americans? by Raymond Barnett
- Criticizing Muir and misunderstanding the foundation of American nature conservation by Bruce A. Byers (from The Ecological Citizen Vol 5 No 1 2021: 65–73, October 22, 2021) (off-site link).
- Ancoutahan: John Muir among Native Peoples by Chris Highland
- John Muir's Evolving Attitudes Toward Native American Cultures by Richard F. Fleck
- On John Muir's Trail by Donald Worster
- John Muir biographer: He was no white supremacist by Donald Worster - July 29, 2020 (off-site link to California Sun)
- John Muir and race: Biographer argues for nuanced view of the environmentalist by Finn Cohen - Interview with Donald Worster - July 29, 2020 (off-site link to California Sun)
- Who Was John Muir, Really? by Chad Hanson (July, 2020) (Also available on the Chaparral Institute blog giving background information on the author, though not mentioning that he is currently a member of the Sierra Club Board of Directors.) (off-site link)
- Who Was John Muir, Really? by Aaron Mair, Chad Hanson, and Mary Ann Nelson - Earth island Journal (August 11, 2021). (off-site link).
- Muir's Early Indian Views: Another Look At My First Summer In The Sierra by Ross Wakefield
- The Relevance of John Muir's Steep Trails by Richard F. Fleck
- Thoreau And Muir Among The Indians, 1985. This book was re-issued and re-titled in 2015 as Henry Thoreau and John Muir Among the Native Americans (West Winds Press, 2015).
- John Muir and Native American Activist Charles Lummis by Robert Hanna - In his later years, Muir joined and donated funds to an Indian welfare organization, the Sequoyah League, founded by his friend Charles Lummis, who was a great advocate of Native Americans in the entire Southwest.
- John Muir and Native Americans - from the John Muir Global Network (off-site link)
Global Travels
- Global Muir - from John Muir Global Network
- The Muir Family in Arizona by Lilian Whiting
-
"John Muir in Oregon"
, by Ronald Eber
-
"John Muir in Russia, 1903"
, by William H. Brennan
-
"John Muir on Alaska Gold"
-
"John Muir on California Agriculture"
-
John Muir and William Bartram
- "John Muir's Photograph Collection"
by Janene Ford
-
"John Muir in the Amazon Basin"
, by Laurel Bemis
- Muir, Michaux, And Gray On The Roan By Bob Fulcher - reprint from The Tennessee Conservationist, September-October, 1998, about Muir's 1898 botanical excursion to Roan Mountain
- Jeanne Carr on Shasta, by Jeanne C. Carr
-
"John Muir and the Desert Connection"
, by Peter Wild
- Tracking John Muir to the Monkey Puzzle Forests of Chile by Bruce Byers (off-site link)
- fascinating article and photos tracking Muir's visit to Chile in 2012.
John Muir Reminiscences
by those who knew him
- John Muir by John Wright Buckham - Nature Magazine, November, 1927 (off-site link to John Muir Global Network)
-
A
visit to John Muir in his dorm room, ca. 1862, by Grace Sterling Linseley.
ecollections of John Muir, 1935. .Original manuscript in the Wisconsin
Historical Society Archives (SC1912). (Off-site link)
- Camping with Burroughs and Muir by Clara
Barrus (1914)
- With John o' the Birds
and John o' the Mountains by Clara Barrus (1910)
- "AN AFTERNOON WITH JOHN MUIR" and other references to John Muir, by W.P. Bartlett in Happenings: A Series of Sketches of the Great California Out-of-Doors by W.P. Bartlett Second Edition, Times-Mirror Printing and Binding House, Los Angeles, 1927. (off-site link to HathiTtrust Digital Library.)
- A Visit with John Muir (1896) by John Burroughs
(See also PDF version)
- John Muir by Bailey Millard
- Personal Recollections of John Muir by Samuel Merrill (1928)
- John Muir: An Appreciation by
President Theodore Roosevelt
- Academic Honors Given John Muir in his Lifetime
- John Muir by John Swett
- John
Muir- Address Delivered by Charles R. Van Hise upon the Occasion of the
Unveiling of a Bronze Bust of John Muir by the Sculptor C. S. Pietro at
the University of Wisconsin, - December 6, 1916 (offsite link).
- A Conversation with John Muir from World's
Work [London, England] Nov. 1906 - a humorous Interview with John Muir
covers his travels around the world and adventures on California's Mount
Shasta, Arizona's Petrified Forest, and trips to see trees in Siberia,
India, Ceylon, and Australia.
- "Reminiscences
of John Muir" by Myra Honegger
- Glaciers in Alaska: An Enthusiastic
Report of John Muir's Lecture at Vancouver by O.O. Howard (January
24, 1880)
- John Muir by Ernest Ingersoll
(The Mentor, June 5, 1919)
- Recollections of John Muir, by Grace S. Lindsley (off-site link to Wisconsin Historical Society) recalling visiting John Muir in his room on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison in the early 1860s. She describes how he had invented a combination bed/alarm clock that tipped him onto the floor each morning, and how he dumped her and her young brother out of it. She also briefly recalls a visit he made to Madison in 1896, and his opinion of receiving an honorary degree from an East Coast university.
- To the Memory of John Muir by
C. Hart Merriam
- A Tribute to John Muir: Naturalist,
Writer, and Man by George Hamlin Fitch
- A Parable of Sauntering by Albert
W. Palmer - Including a conversation with John Muir showing how Muir hated
"hiking" - both the word and the thing. (excerpted from The
Mountain Trail and Its Message (1911) .
- Complete book: Alaska
Days with John Muir by S. Hall Young (1915) - available in various
digital formats from archive.org (offsite link) .
- Tributes from Those Who Knew Him -
excerpts from essays below
- Sierra Club Bulletin John Muir Memorial
Number - Volume 10, Number 1, January 1916 (includes the following
essays)
Modern Essays About John Muir
- See our page on Tributes to John Muir for
other kinds of honors and tributes to Muir. This section features only written tributes.
- The
First Environmentalist, John Muir by Dr. Jim Butler, University of Alberta (offsite link -
currently unavailable )
- John Muir and the United States
National Park System - a speech by former Sierra Club President Lawrence
Downing
- John Muir, the Sierra, Yosemite National Park & the Sierra Club by Bonnie J. Gisel, Ph.D., Curator, LeConte Memorial Lodge, A speech presented on the Occasion of the Sierra Club Resilient Habitats Campaign Retreat March 26 – 29, 2012, Clair Tappaan Lodge
- 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."
- A Visit
to John Muir's Wisconsin Farm by Bill Tweed
- Triumph For Man and Nature: The American Wilderness and John Muir: Part 1 | Part 2 by Shane Mahoney, in Bugle: The Journal of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
(Vol. 22:3 May/June 2005 & Vol. 22:6 Nov/Dec. 2005
- "In
the (Low Carbon) Footsteps of John Muir by Greg Haegele, Sierra Club
on Treehugger.com (April
18, 2008) - "Muir was a visionary who worked hard to protect land
even when there was plenty of open space around. Sometimes he was a lonely
voice, because not everyone around him understood or supported the need
to conserve magnificent places for future generations to explore and enjoy.
Kind of like being a global-warming activist in places that still deny
it's happening. Muir persevered, and we're all better off for it." (off-site link - currently unavailable
- 9 Things You Don't Know About John Muir By Mary Jo DiLonardo in Treehugger.com (updated April 21, 2020)
- John Muir Inducted on the Extra Mile Volunteeer Pathway in Washington, D.C. (April 22, 2009)
- Honoree on The Extra Mile Volunteer Pathway in Washington, D.C.
- John Muir - A Great Scot - Nomination of John Muir for Scotland TV contest for "Greatest Scot."
- Thank You John Muir -
poem by M.P. Khan
- Saint John Muir by Harold Wood (June 29, 2014)
- All the Colors of Nature by Michael Brune (November 12, 2015)
- The Light at the End - and Beginning - of John Muir's Journey by Barbara Mossberg (December 20, 2015)
- Who Was John Muir, Really? by Chad Hanson (July, 2020) (Also available on the Chaparral Institute blog giving background information on the author, though not mentioning that he is currently a member of the Sierra Club Board of Directors.) (off-site link)
- On John Muir’s Trail by Donald Worster (Presentation at University of California, San Diego) 2018.
- When Writing About John Muir, I Had to See What He Saw By Donald Worster (Off-site
link)
- In Celebration of John Muir by John de Graaf - Earth Island Journal (December 23, 2014) (off-site link)
- John Muir’s Legacy is Alive and Well in a World that is “One Great Dewdrop” by Harold Wood (2016)
- John Muir: Timeless Champion of Nature by William R.Swagerty, University of the Pacific (12 April. 2019).
- Criticizing Muir and misunderstanding the foundation of American nature conservation by Bruce A. Byers (from The Ecological Citizen Vol 5 No 1 2021: 65–73, October 22, 2021) (off-site link).
- John Muir's Stance against Anthropocentrism by Bron Taylor (2010).
About Muir's Books and Articles
Conservation Legacy
- The
Importance of John Muir by National Park Service
- "John Muir's Public Service" by
William O. Douglas (excerpted from Muir of the Mountains)
- John Muir Chosen as Greatest of all Californians (1976)
- John Muir: The Living Spirit
and Founder of the World Conservation Movement by Graham White (1996)
- John Muir: The Wilderness
Journeys - the Introduction by Graham White (1996)
- "Victorians
and Meadowlarks: Two Muir Letters Rediscovered"
- Muir
Mania: A Legacy with Legs by Kit Stolz, Sierra Magazine,
November-December, 2001) (off-site link)
- Muir Set the Pattern for Those
Who Followed by Robert Michael Pyle
- John
Muir and the 1906 Antiquities Act by David Blackburn (off-site link)
- John Muir and the Pioneer Conservationists of the Pacific Northwest by Ron Eber (off-site link to johnmuir.org) (full-text)
- Seventeen Years to Success: John
Muir, William Gladstone Steel, and the Creation of Yosemite and Crater
Lake National Parks By Stephen R. Mark, Historian, Crater Lake National
Park, U.S. National Park Service
- John Muir's Defense of Wildlife by
Richard Fleck
- John Muir on Caves by Jennifer Ong
- A Note on John Muir and the Appalachian
Mountain Club by Richard Fleck (Muir's advocacy of preserving the White
Mountains of New Hampshire).
- Letter to John Muir - To the Glory of
Nature, John Muir, Eternity by Rex Burress
- Prizing the
Power of the Sea by Michael Russell, Scotland's Cabinet secretary for
education and lifelong learning, and former minister for the environment.
Russell argues that "John Muir would have been excited by the prospect
that the natural resources around us may actually be the key to solving
the climate crisis
- John
Muir's Legacy Lives On - by The Scottish Government, News Release,
April 9, 2010. Michael Russell is quoted about Muir's inspiration to combat
climate hange today, and the Sierra Club stated: "The Sierra Club
is honored to share John Muir's legacy with the John Muir Trust and the
Scottish Government. Together, we can face the greatest global challenge
of our generation. Together, we can bend the arc of history and beat climate
change." - Carl Pope (April 9, 2010).
- John Muir's Legacy is Alive and Well in a World that is "One Great Dewdrop" by Harold Wood (November 22, 2014)
- In Celebration of John Muir by John de Graaf - Earth Island Journal (December 23, 2014). (off-site link)
- Remarks by Spencer Black to the Natural Herigage Land Trust at the Celebration of the Purchase of Fountain Lake Farm (October 15, 2014).
(PDF)
- Remembering John Muir on the centennial of the National Park Service by Mark Stoll ( August 27, 2016) (off-site link)
- John Muir's Legacy: Preface for an Evolving Curriculum on John Muir and Environmental History by Barbara Mossberg (July 2020) (off-site PDF)
Muir's Philosophy
- John Muir: The Celebration of
Wilderness by Richard F. Fleck
- “John Muir: We Thank You," (PDF) Sermon by Rev. Kate Kinney, Olympic Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. April 23, 2023.
A summation of Muir's life, and an analysis of his spiritual persuasions.
- Sermon: Easter People: John Muir by
Rev. Virginia Pearson and Bill Hanna, John Muir's Great-Grandson
- "The Nature Mysticism of John Muir" by Larry Gates
- "John Muir's Menu" by
J. Parker Huber, Sierra (Vol. 79, Issue 6, p. 66, Nov/Dec 1994.)
- God and John Muir: A Psychological
Interpretation by Mark R.
- Baptized
into Wilderness: A Christian Perspective on John Muir ,
a book review
- "Why climb mountains? John
Muir and Clarence King at a historical crossroads of American mountain
climbing" by Erica Goldman
- "John
Muir and the Feminist Movement" , by Ronald H. Limbaugh
- Zen Buddhism
in John Muir by Michelle L. Dwyer
- "John
Muir and the Modern Passion for Nature" by Dr. Donald Worster,
featured as the Lynn W. Day Distinguished Lectureship in Forest and Conservation
History for 2004 for the Forest History Society, later published as an article, John Muir and the Modern Passion for Nature. Environmental History Vol. 10, No. 1 (January 2005): 8-19 pp. (off-site link).
- Radical
Transcendentalism: Emerson, Muir and the Experience of Nature by James
Brannon
- Anywhere
that's wild: It's spring in Yosemite and I can hear John Muir calling me
-- time to head for the mountains by Gary Kamiya - Salon.com May
15, 2007 (off-site link)
- "John Muir and the Poetics of Natural Conversion" (PDF) by John Tallmadge, North Dakota Quarterly 59::2 (Spring 1991), pp. 62-79. Discussion of My First Summer in the Sierra as a conversion story. Includes an insightful analysis of why Muir's regard for plants and animals as "people" and our 'horizontal brothers" is not an application of the so-called "pathetic fallacy." This article provided for the John Muir Exhibit by the author, John Tallmadge.
Articles from other Sources
- John Muir Newsletter -
University of the Pacific.
- The
View from John Muir's Window - Newsletter of the John
Muir Memorial Association (off-site link)
- Muir Laid to Rest Across the
Bay - [Report of John Muir's Funeral] - San Francisco Chronicle - December
28, 1914
- New
York Times Obituary of John Muir - December 25, 1914 (reprint 2000)
(PDF)
- John
Muir and the Sierra Nevada – Creating an Icon of Conservation By
Carl Zichella, Regional Director, Sierra Club, in Journal of the Sierra College Natural History Museum, Vol. 1, no. 2, Winter 2008.
In this essay, Carl Zichella reflects on how the commanding words of John
Muir and the monumental imagery of the Sierra Nevada changed his perspective
and his life. Zichella also examines the ongoing significance of these dual
icons—Muir and the Sierra Nevada—on our national and international
perception of environmental protection and respect for wilderness.
- Tracking John Muir to the Monkey Puzzle Forests of Chile by Bruce Byers (off-site link)
- fascinating article and photos tracking Muir's visit to Chile in 2012.
Digital Books or Book Chapters about John Muir
Other Resources
- Bibliographic Resources -
Despite a robust presence on the Internet, a good physical local or university library is still the best resource for learning more about John Muir. Use our annotated bibliography,
book reviews, book jacket summaries, and press releases to find the best
books!
- John Muir National Historic Site Bookstore is an excellent source for Muir books!
- Crossword Puzzles - Printable Puzzles
involving Muir's life
- Pictures - Historical
Photographs, paintings, sketches of Muir
- Related Resources -
Off-site links
- Writings by John Muir - Nearly all
of Muir's books and many of his other writings are available online.
- New California Hall of Fame - In 2006, John Muir ws included as an Inaugural Inductee in the new California Hall of
Fame at the California Museum of History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento, California.
- 1980 - The University of the Pacific John Muir Programs hosted its first John Muir Conference, which are now held about every five years. A monograph series based on the conferences began in 1981 with the publication of The World of John Muir.
- 1985 - The papers from this conference were published the same year in John Muir: Life and Legacy, in The Pacific Historian, Vol. 29, Numbers 2 & 3 (Summer/Fall 1985).
- 1990 - The publication of conference proceedings continued with the 1993 publication of John Muir: Life and Work, by the University of New Mexico Press.
- 1996 John Muir Conference Abstracts
of Papers - by University of the Pacific
- 2001
John Muir Conference Abstracts of Papers - by University of the Pacific
(Off-site link to John Muir Global Network)
- 2006 John Muir Conference - Abstracts
of Papers- by University of the Pacific
- 2010 John Muir Conference - Conference Summary
- 2014 John Muir Symposium - Announcement
- 2018 John Muir Symposium: The Practical John Muir
- 2019 John Muir Legacy Fair - Celebration of Muir-Hanna family's gift of John Muir Papers
- 2022 John Muir Symposium - New Perspectives on Peoples and Parks