John Muir's Writings About People

Muir is well-known for his writings about nature's grandeur. But he wrote many eulogies, tributes, and stories about the interesting people he met during his life. He wrote about the rich and poor alike with sympathy, but often with a bit of Scots humor thrown in. Here are some of the best and most notable of these biographical vignettes. (Some of these links lead off-site.)

Billy the Shepherd - How a pair of trousers reminded Muir of geological stratification
"Mono Joe" Boler - Muir's tribute to a hard-working homesteader
Francis Fisher Browne - "Browne the Beloved" - Muir tells of his long and intimate friendship with the founder and editor of Chicago's The Dial literary magazine.
Robert Burns - Muir's tribute to his fellow Scot and favorite poet
Professor J.D. Butler - a strange telepathic experience involving Muir's professor
The Blacksmith - a theological debate with a practical man about flowers
Mr. Cameron - Wealthy Georgia Planter - who predicted the spread of electricity
Galen Clark - Muir's tribute to the "best mountaineer" he ever knew
Ralph Waldo Emerson - Muir's meeting with the great essayist in Yosemite in 1871
Edward Henry Harriman - Book-length tribute to railroad magnate who supported Muir's conservation efforts
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker - Exerpt from Muir's letter to his wife of September 1, 1893, telling about his visit to Hooker at his residence near London.
Joseph LeConte - "Reminiscences of Joseph LeConte" - Memories of Muir's 30 year friendship with the geologist.
Carolus Linnaeus - Muir's tribute of the famed Swedish botanist, renown for his system of plant classification. Also tells the story of Muir's travels around Mount Shasta with famed botanists Asa Gray and Sir Joseph Hooker.
Catharine Merrill - one of the first woman professors in America
Daniel Muir - John Muir's obituary of his father
John A. Nelder - the Hermit of the Fresno Grove of Giant Sequoias
Edward Taylor Parsons - (Colby Library link) Muir's tribute to his fellow Sierra Club leader and mountaineer Edward Taylor Parsons .
Passengers on the George W. Elder on the Harriman Expedition to Alaska, 1899.
John Muir and Native Americans (off-site link)
Hale Tharp - the man who lived in a house of one log.
Two Would-be Robbers - Two worrisome encounters on Muir's 1,000 mile walk to the gulf

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