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This article is about the Scottish-American naturalist. For other people with the same name, see John Muir (disambiguation).

John Muir
Muir c. 1902
Born	(1838-04-21)April 21, 1838 Dunbar, Scotland
Died	December 24, 1914(1914-12-24) (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison
Occupations	\n Farmer \n inventor \n naturalist \n philosopher \n writer \n botanist \n zoologist \n geologist \n environmentalist \n
Spouse	\n Louisa Strentzel \n (m. 1880⁠–⁠1905)
Children	2
Signature

John Muir (/mj\u028a\u0259r/ MURE; April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914),^[1] also known as \"John of the Mountains\" and \"Father of the National Parks\",^[2] was a Scottish-born American^[3]^[4]^: 42 naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist, and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States.\n

His books, letters and essays describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada, have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve the Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park, and his example has served as an inspiration for the preservation of many other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he co-founded, is a prominent American conservation organization. In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to his wife and the preservation of the Western forests. As part of the campaign to make Yosemite a national park, Muir published two landmark articles on wilderness preservation in The Century Magazine, \"The Treasures of the Yosemite\" and \"Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park\"; this helped support the push for US Congress to pass a bill in 1890 establishing Yosemite National Park.^[5] The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings has inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas.^[6]\n

John Muir has been considered \"an inspiration to both Scots and Americans\".^[7] Muir's biographer, Steven J. Holmes, believes that Muir has become \"one of the patron saints of twentieth-century American environmental activity\", both political and recreational. As a result, his writings are commonly discussed in books and journals, and he has often been quoted by nature photographers such as Ansel Adams.^[8] \"Muir has profoundly shaped the very categories through which Americans understand and envision their relationships with the natural world\", writes Holmes.^[9]\n

Muir was noted for being an ecological thinker, political spokesman, and environmental advocate, whose writings became a personal guide into nature for many people, making his name \"almost ubiquitous\" in the modern environmental consciousness. According to author William Anderson, Muir exemplified \"the archetype of our oneness with the earth\",^[10] while biographer Donald Worster says he believed his mission was \"saving the American soul from total surrender to materialism\".^[11]^: 403 On April 21, 2013, the first John Muir Day was celebrated in Scotland, which marked the 175th anniversary of his birth, paying homage to the conservationist.\n

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v t e Sequoia National Park
Giant sequoias	\n Atwell Mill Grove \n Franklin Tree \n Garfield Grove \n General Sherman Tree \n Giant Forest \n Hazelwood Tree \n King Arthur \n Lincoln Tree \n Mark Twain Tree \n Muir Grove \n President \n Tharp's Log \n Washington Tree \n	$\"Hamilton$
Mountains	\n Alta Peak \n Mount Barnard \n Black Kaweah \n Florence Peak \n Junction Peak \n Kaweah Peaks Ridge \n Kaweah Queen \n Mount Kaweah \n Mount Langley \n Mount Le Conte \n Mount Mallory \n Mount McAdie \n Milestone Mountain \n Mount Muir \n Red Kaweah \n Mount Russell \n Sawtooth Peak \n Mount Stewart \n Table Mountain \n Triple Divide Peak \n Mount Tyndall \n Thunder Mountain \n Mount Whitney \n
Historic places	\n Ash Mountain Entrance Sign \n Cabin Creek Ranger Residence \n Cattle Cabin \n Giant Forest Lodge Historic District \n Giant Forest Village\u2013Camp Kaweah Historic District \n Hockett Meadow Ranger Station \n Hospital Rock \n Pear Lake Ski Hut \n Quinn Ranger Station \n Redwood Meadow Ranger Station \n Smithsonian Institution Shelter \n Squatter's Cabin \n
Other attractions	\n Crystal Cave \n Eagle Lake \n Forester Pass \n Generals' Highway \n Generals' Highway Stone Bridges \n Great Western Divide \n High Sierra Trail \n John Muir Trail \n Kaweah Gap \n Kern Plateau salamander \n Lilliput Glacier \n Mineral King \n Moro Rock \n Ursa Minor Cave \n Wuksachi Village and Lodge \n
People	\n C.C. Curtis \n John Muir \n Stephen T. Mather \n Hale D. Tharp \n John Tyndall \n Josiah Whitney \n George W. Stewart \n Yokuts \n
Nearby municipalities	\n Three Rivers \n Lemon Cove \n Kaweah \n Visalia \n Tulare \n Lone Pine \n
\n $\"\"$ Category \n $\"\"$ California Portal \n

v t e Kings Canyon National Park
Mountains	\n Acrodectes \n Agassiz \n Baxter \n Brewer \n Charlotte Dome \n Clarence King \n Cotter \n Darwin \n Farquhar \n Goddard \n Gould \n Junction \n Keith \n Middle Palisade \n Milestone \n Norman Clyde \n North Palisade \n Palisade Crest \n Palisades \n Sill \n Split \n Stanford \n Table \n Thunderbolt \n Triple Divide \n Thunder \n University \n Winchell \n	$\"Paradise$
Giant sequoias	\n Boole Tree \n Cedar Grove \n Converse Basin Grove \n General Grant Tree \n General Grant Grove \n Ishi Giant \n Redwood Mountain Grove \n Robert E. Lee Tree \n
Historic places	\n Barton\u2013Lackey Cabin \n Gamlin Cabin \n Shorty Lovelace Historic District \n Wilsonia Historic District \n
Other attractions	\n Charlotte Lake \n Darwin Glacier \n Deadman Canyon \n Forester Pass \n Generals Highway \n Great Western Divide \n John Muir Trail \n Kern Plateau salamander \n Kings River slender salamander \n Martha Lake \n Muir Pass \n Rae Lakes \n
People	\n John Muir \n Stephen T. Mather \n
Nearby places	\n Hume \n Yokuts Valley \n Independence \n Auberry \n Fresno \n
\n $\"\"$ Category \n $\"\"$ California Portal \n

Authority control databases $\"Edit$
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National	Germany United States France BnF data Japan Italy Australia Czech Republic Spain Netherlands Croatia Korea Sweden Poland Israel Belgium
Academics	CiNii International Plant Names Index
Artists	ULAN MusicBrainz
People	Trove Deutsche Biographie DDB
Other	IdRef NARA SNAC 2

Early life

Boyhood in Scotland

Immigration to America

Explorer of nature

California

Experiencing Yosemite

Friendships

Geological studies and theories

Botanical studies

Pacific Northwest

Activism

Preservation efforts

Establishing Yosemite National Park

Co-founding the Sierra Club

Preservation vs conservation

Nature writer

Jeanne Carr: friend and mentor

John Charles Van Dyke and Dix Strong Van Dyke

Writing becomes his work

Philosophical beliefs

Nature and theology

Sensory perceptions and light

Seeing nature as home

Native Americans

African Americans

Hetch Hetchy Dam controversy

Personal life

Death

Legacy

Tributes and honors

See also

Works

Books

Essays online

Notes

Further reading

External links

John Muir

Media collections