Description
The
Muir Papers are arranged in seven series. Series I consists of John
Muir's correspondence and related papers (1856-1914). Series 2 contains
Muir's
journals and sketchbooks (1867-1913). Series 3 consists of
Muir's notebooks
(1856-1912) and working notes (1864-1914). Series 4 contains
Muir's sketches
and photograph collection, while Series 5 consists of
Muir Family papers as
well as materials relating to
Muir collected and generated by his biographers
William Badé and Linnie Marsh Wolf. Series 6 contains John
Muir's clippings
files. Series 7 consists of
Muir memorabilia, including maps, calling cards,
brochures, pamphlets and other like materials collected by
Muir during his
travels.
Background
A Scottish-born journalist and naturalist, John
Muir (1838-1914) studied
botany and geology at the University of Wisconsin (1861-1863). He worked for
awhile as a mill hand at the Trout Broom Factory in Meaford, Canada
(1864-1866), then at an Indianapolis carriage factory (1866-1867), until an
accident temporarily blinded him and directed his thoughts toward full-time
nature study. Striking out on foot for South America,
Muir walked to the Gulf
of Mexico (September 1867-January 1868), but a long illness in Florida led him
to change his plans and turn his interests westward.
Muir arrived by ship at
San Francisco (March 1868), walked to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and began a
five year wilderness sojourn (1868-1873) during which he made his year-round
home in the Yosemite Valley. Working as a sheepherder and lumberman when he
needed money for supplies,
Muir investigated the length and breadth of the
Sierra range, focusing most of his attention on glaciation and its impact on
mountain topography. He began to publish newspaper articles about what he saw
in the California mountains and these articles brought him to the attention of
such intellectuals as Asa Gray and Ralph Waldo Emerson, both of whom sought him
out during their visits to California. Encouraged by Jeanne Carr, wife of his
one-time botany professor, Ezra S. Carr,
Muir took up nature writing as a
profession (1872). He set up winter headquarters in Oakland and began a pattern
of spring and summer mountaineering followed by winter writing based upon his
travel journals that he held to until 1880. His treks took him to Mount Shasta
(1874, 1875 & 1877), the Great Basin (1876, 1877, 1878), southern
California and the Coast Range (1877), and southern Alaska (1879).
Muir found
that he could finance his modest batchelor lifestyle with revenue from
contributions published in various San Francisco newspapers and magazines.
During this period he launched the first lobbying effort to to protect Sierra
forests from wasteful lumbering practices (1876).