the john muir exhibit - people - william kent
William Kent
1864-1928
- Businessman,
Rancher, Philanthropist and U.S. Congressman.
- Donor of Muir
Woods National Monument.
- William Kent
and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, bought 295 acres along Redwood
Creek in Marin County for $45,000 in 1905. To protect the beautiful
stands of redwoods located there, the Kents donated the land to
the United States Federal Government. In 1908, President Theodore
Roosevelt declared the donated land Muir Woods National Monument.
Roosevelt had suggested naming the area after Kent, but the Kents
requested that it be named for conservationist John Muir.
- John Muir's
comment on the establishment of Muir
Woods National Monument: "This is the best tree-lovers monument
that could possibly be found in all the forests of the world."
- When serving
as a U.S. Congressman (1911-1917), Kent disagreed with Muir on
the fate of Hetch Hetchy Valley, but later co-introduced legislation
establishing the National Park Service, which passed Congress in
1916.
Photo of John Muir (left) and William Kent at
Muir Woods Inn, circa 1909, courtesy Muir Woods National Park Service
Collections.
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