Selected Writings

by John Muir, Terry Tempest Williams (Introduction)

This volume of John Muir's selected writings chronicles the key turning points in his life and study of the American wilderness. The Story of My Boyhood and Youth is Muir's account of his childhood on a Wisconsin farm, where his interest in nature was first piqued; in The Mountains of California, The Yosemite, and Travels in Alaska we follow him on long journeys into stunning mountain ranges and valleys, where he records native flora and fauna and finds proof of his theories of the effect of glaciers on landscape formation. These four full-length works--along with a selection of important essays also included here--helped galvanize American naturalists, leading to the founding of the Sierra Club and several national parks. In these pages, written with meticulous thoroughness and an impassioned lyricism, we witness Muir's awakening to the incredible beauty of our planet, and the honing of an eye turned as acutely toward the scientific as the spiritual.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature

696 pages, Hardcover

Published April 6, 2017

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

[Samantha Snavely · Rating 1 out of 5]

The last John Muir collection I read was not for me but I wanted to give his writing another try. It just isn't for me because I couldn't finish this one.

[Jim Gallen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is a collection of writings by naturalist John Muir. The first “The Story of My Boyhood and Youth” is an autobiographical account of his childhood in Scotland, his life on the family farm in Wisconsin, through his early inventions and ending with his studies at the University of Wisconsin.

The themes then turn to writings of the author’s travels beginning with “The Mountains of California”, “Yosemite”, two trips to Alaska and four essays concluding with a plea for protection of forests in national parks.

I found the sections on life in Wisconsin (where I often vacation) to be interesting and entertaining. Muir truly sees and observes. The gems in this book are the rich descriptions of mountains and valleys, their fauna and flora, waters and glaciers. “(I)t is a handsome fern about four or five inches high, has pale-green pinnate fronds and shining bronze-colored stalks about as brittle as glass” are among the picture words Muir employs to paint on the pallet of the reader’s mind. His explanations of totem poles sparked memories of west coast museums. He relates wonderous scenes and near miss accidents, comments on the characteristics and practices of Indians and the explorers and missionaries who accompanied him.

From a scientific standpoint I found his description of the actions of glaciers and their effects on the landscape to be fascinating. His ready acceptance that the melting of glaciers was a continuum of thousands of years duration from the Ice Age is in contrast to the current alarm at the continuation of this process.

This tome is long, 784 pages. I noticed my mind drifting while reading so I read this in sections to help maintain my interest. If I ever travel to the areas which he chronicled I will want to reread the travelogue segments of these selections.

I did receive a free copy of the book through the Amazon Vine Program.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read some of this book. I found Muir's description of his life as a boy fascinating.

[Niall Lovatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would recommend the Chapter: Knowledge and Inventions to anyone. I wouldn’t touch the rest unless I was short of toilet paper on one of the trails his Sierra Nevada chapter sent me on.