The Story of My Boyhood and Youth

by John Muir

This memoir of John Muir’s early years details his boyhood in Scotland, his awakening love of nature, his family’s immigration to America, the hardships of a nineteenth-century farm life that put him “to the plough at the age of twelve, when my head reached but a little above the handles,” and his final break to begin a life of wilderness adventure

Genres: Biography, Nature, Memoir, Nonfiction, History, Autobiography, Biography Memoir

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1913

About the author

John Muir was far more than a naturalist; he was a secular prophet who translated the rugged language of the wilderness into a spiritual calling that saved the American soul from total surrender to materialism. Born in 1838 in the coastal town of Dunbar, Scotland, Muir’s childhood was a blend of seaside wanderings and a brutal religious upbringing. His father, Daniel Muir, was a man of uncompromising faith who forced John to memorize the New Testament and most of the Old Testament by age eleven. When the family immigrated to the frontier of Wisconsin in 1849, this iron-fisted discipline continued on their farm. However, for the young Muir, the "Book of Nature" began to rival the Bible. He saw the divine not just in scripture, but in the black locust trees and the sun-drenched meadows of the midwest.
The pivotal moment of Muir’s life occurred in 1867 while working at a wagon wheel factory in Indianapolis. A tool slipped, piercing his cornea and leaving him temporarily blind in both eyes. Confined to a darkened room for six weeks, Muir faced the terrifying prospect of a life without light. When his sight miraculously returned, he emerged with a clarity of purpose that would change the course of American history. He famously wrote, "This affliction has driven me to the sweet fields. God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons." He immediately set out on a 1,000-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico, beginning a lifelong odyssey of exploration.
Muir eventually found his "true home" in California’s Sierra Nevada. To Muir, the mountains were not mere piles of rock, but "the range of light." He spent years as a shepherd and guide in Yosemite, living a life of extreme simplicity—often traveling with nothing but a tin cup, a crust of bread, and a volume of Emerson’s essays. His scientific contributions were equally profound; he defied the leading geologists of the day by proving that the Yosemite Valley was carved by ancient glaciers. While the state geologist, Josiah Whitney, dismissed him as a mere "shepherd," the world’s leading glaciologists eventually recognized Muir’s genius.
His transition from explorer to activist was born of necessity. Seeing the "hoofed locusts"—domestic sheep—devouring the high mountain meadows, Muir took up his pen. His landmark articles in The Century Magazine and his 1903 camping trip with President Theodore Roosevelt became the catalysts for the modern conservation movement. Under the stars at Glacier Point, Muir convinced the President that the wilderness required federal protection. This meeting laid the groundwork for the expansion of the National Park system and the eventual return of Yosemite Valley to federal control.
As the co-founder and first president of the Sierra Club, Muir spent his final years in a fierce philosophical battle with Gifford Pinchot. While Pinchot argued for "conservation" (the sustainable use of resources), Muir championed "preservation" (the protection of nature for its own sake). Though he lost the battle to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley from being dammed, the heartbreak of that loss galvanized the American public, ensuring that future "cathedrals of nature" would remain inviolate. John Muir died in 1914, but his voice remains ubiquitous, reminding us that "into the woods we go, to lose our minds and find our souls."

Reviews

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like it? Like it a lot? Like it? Like it a lot?
Which will it be?
Some chapters are very good(4*).
Other chapters were good but not super special(3*).
Am I glad I read it? Yes, certainly. The guy's early years are interesting, and he writes clearly and simply.
Do I think others interested in nature will enjoy reading this? Yes.
Do I think those interested in the life of a renown, early naturalist will enjoy this? Yes.
Do I recommend it? Yes.

I also think it is a great book to give to young people interested in nature. I want to get it for my son, and he is NOT so young anymore! Both he and my grandson will enjoy reading it.

John Muir (1838-1914) left Dunbar, Scotland, at the age of eleven. His fervently religious father picked up the family and moved them to the wilderness of Wisconsin. John’s early years in Dunbar, Scotland, are covered too. Flogging and fighting were the norm, in a way that is hard to comprehend today, but it did not hurt him, it made him strong.

In the woods and fields of Wisconsin, the nearest town being Portage, John, the oldest son, his father, his two-year older sister and his two-year younger brother set up house and farm. Then John’s mother, his oldest sister and his three youngest siblings followed. All had to be done from scratch, and John tells what this was like--what he enjoyed and what was downright hard, toiling work. He was not allowed to read books; as far as his father was concerned the Bible was the only book man needed! John reasoned with his father--to read the Bible some people need glasses, so learning about other sciences was equally important! Grudgingly, his father agreed that he could get up early if he wanted to read. This John did. Getting up at one in the morning gave him five hours of reading time, which led to the idea of inventing a machine that would wake a person up at a given time. John was a born inventor, making clocks, a thermometer, a barometer and eventually a mechanical device that rolled him out of bed at a given hour, automatically turned on the light and rolled a book out on to his desk! This, when he went to university in Madison. How he got himself there is told too. John Muir was not lazy; he was determined to achieve his goals. The book follows him until 1860 when he graduated from university.

Appreciation of and curiosity about mature drew John from the start. We see with his eyes what he sees, be it the beauty of fireflies or fall’s colorful leaves. We learn with him what he discovers about birds and flora and bugs. And the farm’s hogs and oxen and ponies and honey bees. He learns about them from observing, and he relates what he observes to us. There is a great story about a loon and the family tomcat. He had a pony that brought home the cows in the evening if he was himself delayed. Another pony is stolen by Indians. Discovery of nature, in all its aspects, flora and fauna, filled John’s life from his earliest years. John was way ahead of his time in understanding that animals are capable of thinking.

I was recommended to read this book before My First Summer in the Sierra. John Muir’s upbringing had to have been an important element in shaping who he came to be. To understand the adult, it is helpful to know of his youth and his early years are interesting!

I downloaded this from Librivox. It does not cost you a thing to listen to. For nothing you get a lot! It is narrated by Sue Anderson. She does a decent job for an untrained narrator. It sounds at times a little unprofessional, but I heard and understood every word clearly

Both the personal details of Muir’s childhood and what he tells us about domestic and wild animals and fauna I found fascinating. Don’t miss this.

[Bam cooks the books · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading Alaska Days with John Muir, written by his friend and traveling companion Samuel Young, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Muir's own account of his early life: beginning in East Lothian, Scotland, where he was born in 1838; immigrated with his father and brother to America in 1849; settled in Wisconsin, near Portage, where they broke ground for their new home and farm; and there worked long, hard hours to make a go of things so his mother and siblings could join them. Being a born and raised Midwesterner myself, it was particularly interesting to read about the area, the flora and the fauna, in its early, unspoiled state.

I learned many new things about Muir as well. Did you know he was an inventor, for instance? Can't wait to read more of his first-hand accounts as he becomes the great environmentalist and explorer. What an amazing man!

[Dougie · Rating 5 out of 5]

So as well as being the father of the national parks, a fearless wanderer, a raconteur, a force for all that is good in the world, John Muir was also Caractacus Potts. This book recounts his childhood from his earliest days in Dunbar, Scotland, the family's move to Wisconsin where they set up their first farm and tells of his developing love for nature, animals, the wild and for doing absolutely insane things, on a whim, just because he can.

This was perhaps the most enjoyable of his books I've read yet, Muir, for me, is at his best when describing his personal experiences, then his writing takes on an immediacy that's less present in his more academic writing about biology, botany and geology. This book is packed full of them, his tales of learning to swim by being told to go to the pond and watch frogs, his heartbreaking tale of the family's first pony, his time as a young teen when he realised he could read as much as he wanted if he just got up early enough, prompting a routine of rising at one am, and then later inventing an alarm clock to facilitate this.

Muir's inventions are some of the most comic things he's ever recounted in any of his books. There was a bed that stood up and ejected the sleeper at the desired time of rising, a reading device to swap books in and out, giving each an allotted time in front of the reader and so many different clocks. The thing is, they all worked, to the extent Muir was famous around the local area as a genius inventor, long before he was famous for his writing or preservation work.

There really is no end to the wonders of the man and the modesty and humility with which he relates it all is utterly endearing. Read this, read everything he's written.

[Christopher Coyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Muir’s memoir is a reflective archive of a life lived both as a boy in 19th century Scotland and as a teenage immigrant to the wilderness of Wisconsin. Much of his account, whilst fascinating to the modern reader in how starkly different life as a child in Scotland and indeed America is today as compared to the 1840’s, is very matter of fact and lacking in any analytical or critical depth - his reflections on his memories of work and play and the many joys he found in the wildlife of his youth, while rich in descriptive detail, often read more like a bestiary or catalogue of admiration than a memoir of any great reflection. That said, Muir clearly uses anecdotes to dig into meaningful moments of his early life in a philosophical sense when it comes to the theme of the interconnectedness of life on Earth, as he sees it.

Frequent anecdotes about the shared sanctity - and indeed unifying fears and terrors - of all life is evident when Muir discusses witnessing the brutalities of the natural world as a boy:

"The solemn awe and fear in the eyes of that old mother and those little pigs I never can forget; it was as unmistakable and deadly a fear as I ever saw expressed by any human eye, and corroborates in no uncertain way the oneness of us all."

Pained and shocked by such a closeness to the sometimes callous reality of primal fear and violence, Muir identifies with the fears and pains of the animals he has witnessed butchered and wasted. This “oneness” becomes a defining theme in both Muir’s writing and reflections but also in his character as a young man exploring and making sense of the moral dilemmas of his environment.

He develops this idea throughout this chapter, even suggesting his advocacy for abstaining from animal consumption, but at the very least questioning the established hierarchical separation of man from the rest of our otherwise interconnected animal kingdom:

"Think of the passenger pigeons that fifty or sixty years ago filled the woods and sky over half the continent, now exterminated by beating down the young from their nests together with the brooding parents, before they could try their wonderful wings (…) None of our fellow mortals is safe who eats what we eat, who in any way interferes with our pleasures, or who may be used for work or food, clothing or ornament, or mere cruel, sportish amusement."

If not questioning the ethical right to any of these activities, Muir at the very least is exploring his rejection of the privileged separation of man from the animals as a species to roam and pillage with impunity the abundance of shared lives and stories on the planet, perhaps comforted and certainly vindicated in this thought by the idea that “vast multitudes” of such precious life as he sees them, our fellow denizens of the wilderness, “had a good time in God’s love before man was created”, phraseology that bares careful consideration in a more modern context: would Muir have the same use of the word created in an America and a world that is ever more secular, given his general apathy of his Father’s conversely highly religious lifestyle and views? Muir’s Darwinian reflections would suggest otherwise.

This emotive reflection is tempered with lengthy discussion about the microscopic specifics of a vast range of fauna and creatures that populated the Wisconsin woodlands he immigrated too, darwinian only in their very detailed descriptive style - Muir budgets a cool fifteen pages for describing birds. This was quite relentless and becomes dry in the absence of any meaningful analysis; more catalogue than critical.

That said, Muir’s moments of poignant consideration for the abundance of life he found himself surrounded by and how it appears to shine through all of the toil and darkness of 19th century poverty, illness, backbreaking manual labour and sheer absence of fostering his creative and technical genius, is inspiring. Despite exhausting circumstances, even as a boy, Muir discusses flowers, and how his “eyes were opened to their inner beauty, all alike revealing glorious traces of the thoughts of God, and leading on and on into the infinite cosmos”, an idea of evolution and universal continuity and connectedness that many reject even today.

A detailed catalogue of observations from a boy with some reflection on their inherent meaning, but equally a powerful message to the future for the need for conservation and preserving a sanctity not of arbitrary human values but of the lives often sacrificed to maintain them.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I re-read, this time for a book group, where each student read a different book by a naturalist. They’ve been studying nature writing and the teacher wanted to take them deeper into how the writers were changed by their own environment, thus the group and talk about how we also might be changed by both our reading and our personal experiences. For example, in Muir’s book, I loved the deeply detailed descriptions of all the birds observed in his new home in Wisconsin (he was born in Scotland), but the importance of this book to me came from Muir’s marvelous descriptions of the Passenger Pigeons, and then their extinction because of ignorance where people thought there was a limitless supply, and the killing and killing of thousands, sending them on the road to extinction. Even in this re-visiting of the book, I continue to be startled and sad and outraged that I can no longer see these birds, nor can I have the thrill of seeing so many flocks of birds that they darken the sun for a while. It is hard to imagine such a thing. If you want a good story of Muir’s roots, and how he began his journey toward being so influential in saving nature, this is a good beginning.

[Quo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even a legendary naturalist has to start somewhere and for John Muir it all began in Dunbar, Scotland. The Story of My Boyhood and Youth traces Muir's pathway to becoming the "Father of America's National Parks" back to his early days in Scotland, under the stern watch of a religiously dogmatic father.


One day, his father declared: "Bairns, we're gan to America the morn". With his mother & sister left behind, John Muir & a brother sailed off with their father on a 6 week voyage to America.

Always an avid reader with a keen interest in both language and nature, John Muir's formal classroom in Scotland was exchanged for life on a small hardscrabble farm in rural Wisconsin.

Every lesson in the wild was a love lesson. Without knowing it, we were still at school, with everything new & pure, in the very heart of spring when nature's pulses were beating high & mysterious, keeping time with our own.

We were glorious & we were free, school cares & scolding were forgotten in the fullness of Nature's glad wellness. Everything was so novel & wonderful that we could hardly believe our senses, except when we were hungry or father was thrashing us.

In their hand-built, rustic cabin, their father still insisted on nightly Bible lessons but for John Muir, the primary lessons & sermons came through the flowers, ducks & fishes. Even after their mother's eventual arrival from Scotland, the boys seemed attuned to the rhythms of the land, learning to swim, avoiding venomous snakes and generally enjoying nature's beauty & bounty.


This book represents the only part of John Muir's autobiography that he actually completed and it portrays his seemingly innate love of flora & fauna, his fascination with the birdsong of red-winged blackbirds, chickadees, nut-hatches & bobolinks, with wild grasses & ferns, as well as with animals never experienced back in Scotland.

It seems that from his earliest days, Muir was amazingly observant of everything in his midst and this now included the presence an the natural ability of the nearby Winnebago & Menominee people to interact meaningfully with their environment.

Beyond that, early on, John Muir had an acute sensitivity for the natural world, bristling at the rampant slaughter of animals and birds, including the passenger pigeon, seemingly like a competition by some local folks to obliterate everything in the wild. Thus began his eventual lifetime focus on conservation.


What this book also brings to light is Muir's particularly wondrous ability to invent, taking bits & pieces of farm implements, wire, bolts & cast off materials to construct a thermometer, a "self-setting sawmill", a barometer and a "time machine", the last because he could not afford to purchase a watch. It may seem a stretch but in this, Muir was not unlike Galileo, largely self-taught & driven by curiosity and instinct to solve problems.

In time, it was his concocted inventions that caused him to leave his Wisconsin home, journeying to Madison for a county fair to exhibit his creations and then moving on to the recently created University of Wisconsin. Muir took courses in Botany & Geology but also studied Latin, Greek & Mathematics.

John Muir was driven by a natural love of books, science & nature and after some years at the university, he left without a diploma, in part because, he saw himself as an avid learner, not a degree seeker, intent on discovering the wider world beyond Wisconsin.

The Story of My Boyhood & Youth is a surprisingly deft & quite enjoyable account of the period before the future bearded naturist became an American icon and an internationally-revered naturalist.


*Included with my University of Wisconsin Press edition of the book are numerous drawings and a foreword by Vernon Carstensen.
**Within my review are images of John Muir's boyhood home, above a hotel in Dunbar, Scotland; Muir as a young man; one of Muir's inventions; lastly, as the figure of the esteemed naturalist in his adopted California home.

[Dinah Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Muir’s personal accounts of moving from Scotland to Wisconsin interested me as I spent at least 15 years of my youth in Wisconsin. I could relate to his description of Winter and some of the birds and other wildlife. The more I learn of Muir— my interest grows as I have a fondness for nature and people who respect it. Muir’s energy and motivation is noteworthy as he describes the events and surroundings he encountered.

[Tanvika · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a soul stirring and uplifting, even spiritual experiences I had while going through the wondrous and magical moments of young Muir.
His strict, Christian upbringing, thrashing at home and school couldn't kill the wildness and spirit of living, the young lad had. The thrill of running around, playing 'schooters' with his brother David, climbing lessons at the castle, the fright of the 'dandy doctors' haunting the school are reminiscent of how little kids create their own fantasy worlds, taking risks to explore breaking the rules set by adults.
The coming of his family to America, further nurtures his love for Nature. One finds moving accounts of birds of various kinds, snakes, pets ( a pony and dog called watch), deers, squirrels, Badgers etc.The fear of the mother pig, the courage of a geese to help his kind, the bravery of the kingbird to protect his nest show us that essentially we have a unity with other beings. If we try to understand them, will we live harmoniously. Otherwise, human will keep on killing others seeing them as dollar bills, which Muir laments repeatedly, telling us about the shameful hunting sport pursued by young boys.He clearly disagrees with the human supremacy story propogated by the church in those days.
He was also a young inventor who made clocks and barometers. His tireless spirit and love for the wild made me wake up quite early to feel the gift given to us.

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Growing up in Northern California and an often as possible visitor to Yosemite National Park I became acquainted with the legend of naturalist John Muir and his life’s dedication and accomplishments in protecting the environment and its animal occupants. This autobiography of his youthful years does a couple of very positive (and interesting) things: First, it highlights his developing interests in, affection for and protective instincts of nature and its animal creatures. Second, it details the youthful years he spent in dawn to dusk physical labor on his Scottish immigrant family farm in Wisconsin. This of course left little time for education. But Muir persevered in his desire for knowledge, and this coupled with a genius level intellect and knack for invention carried him forward. That’s the up side of the book. The down side, which negatively influenced my star rating, is Muir’s seemingly over abundance of ego in relating how he outperformed everyone else in virtually every task he was given or undertook, from plowing furrows for planting to intellectual pursuits. Thus two stars for the presentation rather than three or four for his accomplishments.

[CindySR · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more like it. Actual stories and memories of youth.

updated after second read:

I'm upping this to 4 stars. What a hard, hard life. He almost died at least 4 times. The stories he tells are sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes uplifting, always interesting.

[CHRISTOPHER FOLEY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Work hard, and notice everything.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read - the best part is his wonder toward the natural world in the general area that contributed much to my own interest in the natural world.

Muir had an instinct that faith need not be divorced from science but an upbringing that did not really permit him to fully and truly explore that good instinct.

[Hunter Oda · Rating 4 out of 5]

John's story was so fascinating and enjoyable to read. A historical figure I never knew anything about and just happened to stumble upon his name and books in a gift shop in the Smoky Mountains. His adventurous spirit and curiosity for nature were inspiring. Pleasantly surprised by this book and may go on to read more writings from John Muir.

[Lauren Dandridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some parts were really interesting, and I am glad to have read it to better understand John Muir’s background. However, some parts were dreadfully boring and in some ways I pushed through in a “I just can’t wait to be done with this one” kind of way. The last two chapters were my favorites.

[Lizzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, often nostalgic view of his youth, with some beautiful details and passages, some generic farming details, some insights into the nature of his boyhood home, and some usual boyhood shenanigans. Felt in some places a bit rushed, and some parts dragged, but overall a worthwhile, succinct account. The descriptions of wildflowers and birds were my favorites.

[Aurora Dimitre]

|Read for Advanced Creative Writing: Memoir|

[Christine H · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great read for a naturalist.

[Dimitri · Rating 3 out of 5]

ბაღი უნდა გავაშენო და ჩემს მეგობრებს—ინგას, ლიზის და ანანოს—ყვავილები ვაჩუქო!

[Evy Hasse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reminded me a lot of little house on the prairie

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

An insightful and engaging glimpse into the formative years of a renowned naturalist.

[Michael Paxton · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly fascinating and wonderful story!

[Kurtbg · Rating 4 out of 5]

An autobiography of a scottish Immigrant from a farming family relates his impressions of his early life.

John Muir is known for his contributions to the oudoors and conservation. I was highly surprised to learn that he was highly mechanical and invented a number of quirky machines in the mid to late 1860’s up through his univrristy days (the cost: an exorbitant amount of $32 a year.)

Even though born to a strict and harsh life, he experienced and shared wonder of the natural world with family and his friends. That sense of wonder, not available to his hard-worked father, seeped over into education. The world was a marvel and with so much to learn and be excited about.

Having this sense of wonder of the world, especially as a child, is one of the most precious gifts we can pass on. That has become increasingly challenging with the novelty of the internet, the complexities of life, and the continued diaconnect from nature - or perhaps that’s the replacement of nature by man-made distractions.

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough work to settle Wisconsin.

[Jay French · Rating 3 out of 5]

Muir looks back on his childhood in Scotland and in Wisconsin. From Scotland, where he was until 7, we get the stories of schoolkids fighting and exploring, and of the discipline learned. From Wisconsin, Muir writes an ode to the animals and plants he encountered, as well as his story about growing up. He really focuses on the plants and animals, though -- his mother and sisters immigrate a year after Muir and his father and brothers do, and Muir doesn't bother to tell you much about them. It's all about the natural. Near the end of this short book, you also learn that Muir is an inventor, and some of the inventions he described (especially the combination Murphy bed/alarm clock/timed study desk) sounded quite elaborate (I was thinking like Pee Wee Herman's breakfast machine in "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"). The book was obviously written many decades after the fact, and you wonder how much Muir embellished, because he comes across as a "natural" natural scientist - noticing everything from flower and bug to pigeon and sky) at a young age and untrained -- and as a genius inventor. His writing does show his passion for the topic and his Midwestern sensibility -- seems like an interesting man.

[Sherry Elmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful story of a curious, creative, inventive boy's youth in the Wisconsin wilderness. John Muir had such an affinity for wildlife, especially birds, and a great memory for the significant detail, making this memoir a treasure. It was also a good reminder to be good stewards of this beautiful planet, as John Muir wrote about the extreme abundance of passenger pigeons in his time. "Extinct" is such a sad word! Most of the book was entertaining and enjoyable, though. My husband and ten year old son enjoyed this book as much as I did. I look forward to reading more of Muir's writing.

[Jill Robbertze · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a delightful little book about John Muir's early life first in Scotland and later in the US. This man truly delights in nature and his descriptions of his discoveries are beautiful and very engaging. He became one of America's early conservationists and while at University he also created some very interesting inventions. I really enjoyed this book and give it 4.5 stars !!!

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a wonderful! I truly admire how well John Muir respected nature, and what a thinker he was! He really was an amazing person! I can't believe he invented so many things as a child/teenager.

[Sylvester (Taking a break in 2023) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting man. A self-taught inventor, and man curious about everything. This book is obviously just the beginning of the story, and made me want to read more. I recommend this one to nature lovers.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. A wonderful insight into the growing years of an amazing man who was a key player in the creation of our National Parks. One also gets a first person perspective of the early settler's life in the mid west.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd heard in passing the name of John Muir but knew nothing of him until now. A look into the beginnings of a remarkable life. He writes conversationally, so that the book feels like him sitting next to you and telling you a story.