367 research outputs found
The John Muir Newsletter, Winter 2010/2011
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PAGE 2 John Muir Back and Newsletter Going Digital After a year, we are back! Last year we announced that we would become an occasional newsletter, projecting two issues per year. We only released one issue this past year. In an age of high cost of reproduction and mailing we have decided to follow the trail of other newsletters by going digital. Those with e mail can continue to receive at no charge the newsletter as part of a web serve list. Simply e mail us at [email protected] and we will include you in our future announcements and you will receive a PdF version of the Newsletter. Those who do not have web access, please send us a short note requesting a hard copy of the Newsletter. We suggest a donation of nln 1 869: OYamhte, to tne AMmmll al JlLount Jy^olLmxxAt, eX&Q&n tnauAana LeeX, nian, tne, hiatve&t paint in wle. 6, iawun&n nvn LeeX, natie. net taucnea. From Mount Hoffman John Muir My First Summer in the Sierra By Terry G if ford Your \u27ramble\u27 up from the Valley To spend a night on this bare mountain, A steep ascent of five thousand feet, Left me breathless before I turned the page. And even starting from Snow Flat I was pleased to pause on a real chair (My first in weeks of boulder- seats) Left outside by the tree-stump table Amongst the cabins of May Lake Camp. Breathless from the final scramble And the view, looking down on Half Dome, Cloud\u27s Rest, far glaciers and Tenaya Lake, I sit quite still and meet the marmots Smiling eerily like cats as they creep Out from their crevices, expecting to be fed. Disgusted by these half-tame summit pets I turn and scree-slide down the dusty trail To bathe my legs in the clear May Lake. From: Terry Gifford, Reconnecting with John Muir (Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 2006), p. 131. John Muir Event at Pacif April 13 On April 13, 2011, a special John Mur event will be held in the Janet Leigh Theater at University of the Pacific. From 7:00 to 7:30 p.m. photographer Scot Miller will give a presentation on his work in the illustration of the 100th anniversary edition of My First Summer in the Sierra. From 7:30 until 9:15 p.m., film maker Catherine Tatge of Global Village Media will give a brief introduction to her film John Muir in the New World . This is a biographical documentary of the extraordinary life of John Muir and his influence on American history. The 90 minute film, which is sched uled to be broadcast on the PBS American Masters series on April 18, will be shown after Ms. Tatge\u27s introduction. From 9:15 until 10:00 p.m. there will be a reception and book signing by Scot Miller.
Page 3 Mike Wurtz In the archives 2010 Online Inventory of Muir Papers is Updated By Michael Wurtz Holt-Atherton Special Collections University of the Pacific Library Recently, the staff of the Holt-Atherton Special Collections had announced the addition of thousands of John Muir correspondence to the web - library.pacific.edu/ha/muir and click on digitized material. This was added to images of Muir\u27s drawings, photographs, and journals. These digital assets have been a tremendous help to researchers around the world. However, there is still much of the collection that is not available online. Digitally scanning and loading the entirety of John Muir Papers and other collections would be a daunting task, so only the most useful and significant items are made available via the web at this time. In addition to all the new online material, we have updated the John Muir Papers finding aid. A finding aid, sometimes referred to as a finding guide, could be considered an inventory, table of contents, index, and annotated bibliography all in one. Collections that are the size and scope of the Muir Papers cannot be easily itemized. Atypical six inch box can hold over a thousand individual documents. To list and describe each of those items would take a great deal of time. Archivists have chosen to organize collections along the lines of what the creator (in this case, John Muir) intended. Once we have created the categories (such as letters, drawings, published materials, etc.) we describe them in slightly more specific terms, such as by date or location or subject. Then the researcher must request the items by folder or box. The online material represents the richest portion of the John Muir Papers. However, it is a minority of all the Muir material. The microform project that was completed in the 1980s includes much more of the collection, but still not every item. The entire collection resides at Holt- Atherton Special Collections in the University of the Pacific Library. How can the researcher find out about what is in the materials that are not accessible via the web or microform? The online finding aid is the answer. It lists the contents to every folder in the collection. For example, researchers will find that the Papers contain most of the collected bibliography of Muir as listed in Kimes\u27 John Muir: A Reading Bibliography. They will also find photographs that have been donated to the collection since the microform project was completed. In addition, the collection includes Muir biographer William F. Bade\u27s transcriptions of many of Muir\u27s Journals, as well as Bade\u27s collected reminiscences, and personal letters. One can also find Linnie Marsh Wolfe\u27s correspondence and papers as she wrote her biography of Muir, and her transcriptions of some of Muir journals. Papers from the Strenzel and Muir family including legal and business papers for the Muir ranch in Martinez are also available. There is also poetry to and about Muir; John Muir\u27s clipping files that he kept on many different topics and memorabilia that includes Muir\u27s odds and ends such as passenger lists, maps and botanical information from trips he took around the world. Researchers can also find a few real jewels within the John Muir Papers that have never made it to microform or online including photographs of construction of the Half Dome Cables Trail in 1919 and clippings on early California agriculture that were probably collected by Muir and his father-in-law, John Strentzel. To get to the finding aid for the John Muir Papers, visit library.pacific.edu/ha/muir/find and click on Finding Aid of the John Muir Papers. From the above website, researchers are invited to click on Related Collections. Here, researchers can see over a dozen finding aids to other Muir related collections that the University of the Pacific Library holds.
Page 4 Charles E. Swann\u27s Military Map of Kentucky and Tennessee www.davidrumsey.com &heJve, \A nathlna, nuyce, eXaauenl in. JLatwie, than a nvoumXain fivtteam, ana Void, id, tne, Ia/iaI s eXleA, daw.. . . (continued from page 1) Muir\u27s choices of routes, and through comparison to modern maps. Some of the maps examined were George Woolworth Colton\u27s 1869 Map of Kentucky and Tennessee, 9 A.J. Johnson\u27s 1866 Map of Kentucky and Tennessee, 10 as well as all the relevant, internet- available maps from the collections of the Library of Congress11, the David Rumsey collection of historical maps12, and the historical map archive of the University of Alabama.13 These comparisons show that the best available map from the era of Muir\u27s walk is Charles E. Swann\u27s 1863 Military Map of Kentucky and Tennessee. 14 Also valuable because it gives the names and characteristics of roads, is N. Michler\u27s 1862 Map of Middle and East Tennessee.15 The 1863 map Mountain Region of North Carolina and Tennessee by W. L. Nicholson and A. Lindenkohl16 has almost twice the scale and was useful for confirming the previous two maps. Finally, the General Topographical Map by Julius Bien & Co. was issued by the United States War Department in 1895, but it was part of an Atlas to Accompany the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1861- 1865 and seems to show features as they existed in 1865, not 1895. Sheet XV is the relevant map.17 None of these maps show features with the accuracy and scale with which we are familiar today. None of them show elevation contours; however the General Topographical Map of Julius Bien mentioned above depicts mountain- David Rumsey Map Collection r.........,n, I ous terrain through the use of hachures. The earliest maps that would today be considered topographic maps are the 30 minute quadrangles18 issued by the US Geological Survey in the 1890s. These were surveyed two or three decades after Muir\u27s walk, so they need to be used judiciously and in connection with the Civil War- era maps. Reconstructing the route In order to reconstruct Muir\u27s probable route, A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf and Muir\u27s journal for the trip were searched for geographical clues, then a reasonable route was traced out on Civil War-era maps. That information was then transferred to topographical maps from the 1890s, and then transferred to modern maps. The result of this process has been recorded on Google maps.19 To see this map, go to http:// maps.google.com/ Click on search options. On the drop-down menu, select User-created maps. Type in John Muir Cumberland. Click on search maps. Then click on John Muir\u27s Crossing of the Cumberland to see Muir\u27s route and places visited along the way. This process is for the most part easier than it sounds, and while it cannot be and does not pretend to be exact, most individuals performing the process would come up with a very similar route; however a researcher possessing detailed local historical and geographical knowledge could probably improve the end result. According to Muir\u27s journal and A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, Muir passed through Burkesville, Kentucky on September 8. He (i.nriivil inttncjf.-Tphk.-il m,sp. Sh^r-1 XV. lull us Hkn A Co.r I itfe.., \.Y. (EH\u27J] ifw:*) The author found this map of the Cumberland drawn in 1895, but represents this area from the Civil War, to have provided the most detail of that area from the time that Muir passed through. (captured from the David Rumsey Map Collection website)
page 5 Google rn a PS John Muir Cumborl and Search Maps 6M Cmrtiom UlMUX Save 1oM» Mans Jolin Muir\u27s Crossln-g of Hie Cumberland My cost estimation ti4 ihe route t aken b| John Muir when he crossad tho Cumberland Plateau on 10.11, and 12 September 1 ST. Thw was pan of Mun\u27i wilh horn Lour*rfle. Kairtiicky.to Cedar h\u3ejr. Fkwde. 0\u3es.cnfced ^ Ins boor: *A Thousand-Mae Walk To 1h* GuT Red poioLert re-piesert towns v.s*ed bj Mini. Qfue\u3e poeTtera iapres*nl ailee to w* too ** to 901 b tew* of what Muir saw in 1867 Map by Dan Si yei. 7Z eiawa - Publ ic C» *!»d on Aug 38.2QB - Updated Mat 31 By Dan Slyer PM* Ineirtip-Will* tHrtrt»nt fftjftaaili KY Mun pasted through on 8 Septeenoir 1967 tjaraeslawn. 1H Muir passed through on 10 Seplerribe r 1887. ftnonuoirion. TH Howe ghost Irjwn Hur passed through in Che fflafleee] ol 17 Senteenbei 1967 t Kingston TN Mlui tie (Bit ten the night, of 1? Senlembar 1867 / Mull\u27. Wllle tnybesl eetlnwiion of the roule liken by John Mue wSoo ha ciassed the Cnmberland Placeau on 10. 11. and 12 Seplernoor 1867. This best eelmiatBd mule mosltp follows moderrt-datr roaoH, tot or places (a tf\u27T\u27 \u27 Blurts, rocknSut*s, natoril avclves. fpapa Cmk Sale Malum fraa 5tal* Natuul Area Jkichee and watereat* In Ihe 1356 Wwibuig (uadranuje, this lit! was called simply The Wideirwss 5 John Muir Cgmbe dand The author posted this user-created map of John Muir\u27s 1867 route through the Cumberland on Google maps. The map includes clickable points with information and photographs of places that Muir had visited. Instructions for finding this map online are included in the article. crossed the state line into Tennessee towards evening 20 on September 9. The next day, after a few miles of level ground 21 Muir walked upgrade with occasional views in which Kentucky was grandly seen 22 for six or seven hours 23 to reach the top of the Cumberland Plateau. He passed through Jamestown and as previously mentioned, spent the night with a blacksmith and his wife. On September 11 he walked a long stretch of level sandstone plateau 24 and was compelled to sleep with the trees in the one great bedroom of the open night. 25 Finally, on September 12 Muir breakfasted in Montgomery and descended the east slope of the Cumberland Mountains. He forded the Clinch 26 and reached Kingston before dark. 27 The Civil War-era maps show several routes from Burkesville to Jamestown, but the most direct route, the route that would be more in Kentucky than in Tennessee,28 the only route that would give a view north to Kentucky while climbing the plateau, and the only route that is level until one long steady climb to the top of the plateau, is the route through Albany, Kentucky and Pall Mall, Tennessee. In the author\u27s opinion, the only plausible ^oute from Jamestown to Montgomery is the Pile Turnpike. Montgomery, now a ghost town but then the Morgan County Seat, was then located on the upper reaches of Emory River, just west of Wartburg. From Montgomery to Kingston, the only practicable route is east through Wartburg, then branching southeast at Crooked Fork and proceeding northeast of Bitter Creek. This road reaches Emory Iron Works on the watercourse variously known as Emory Creek, or Little Emory Creek, or Little Emory River (its modern name). This route then descends through a gap in Wal- den Ridge on the left bank of the Little Emory, and finally fords the Emory and Clinch Rivers in the lowlands east of the plateau. In the text of A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, the eloquent... mountain stream 29 crossed by Muir on September 12 is identified parenthetically as the Emory River. However the mountain stream is unnamed in his journal. The gorge of the Emory River, as it descends from the plateau, is so rugged that no road followed it in 1867 and no road follows it even today. The author asserts that the name was inserted incorrectly either by Muir or by editor William Frederic Bade long after the trip,30 and that the eloquent mountain stream is actually the Little Emory River. JLe
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PAGE 7 Cystopteris (bladder fern) One of the plants mentioned by Muir From: luirig.altervista.org seat of Jamestown. Indeed, even today the telephone book shows that there are three households named Livingston in Jamestown. And all of them live near the author\u27s estimated route south of downtown Jamestown! At this point the author reached a dead end toward a solution of the blacksmith question, as many Fentress County records were lost during a 1905 courthouse fire. However, a determined seeker armed with local records and local knowledge might be able to uncover more. A visit today In his thousand-mile walk, Muir sought out the wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find. 34 The geographical route Muir took is no longer particularly wild, leafy, or untrodden. Anyone wishing to recreate Muir\u27s journey will need to take side trips away from Muir\u27s geographical route to glimpse his spiritual route through the wild, the leafy, and the least trodden. John Muir\u27s Crossing of the Cumberland 35 suggests more than two dozen sites to visit, from waterfalls to overlooks to springs to virgin forests. It is interesting to note that the thousand- mile route taken by Muir is not the route taken by the present-day John Muir Trail, which runs for 42 miles in the Cumberland Plateau through Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area and adjoining Pickett State Forest. Nor is it the route taken by the John Muir National Recreation Trail, which runs for 21 miles along the north bank of Hiwassee River within Cherokee National Forest in eastern Tennessee. These two trails were named to acknowledge Muir as an early naturalist walker in the area, not to recreate his precise route. Acknowledgement The author is grateful for the help of Willie R. Beaty, President of the Fentress County Historical Society in Jamestown, Tennessee, who suggested some profitable avenues of investigation. Also to Wil Reding of Kalamazoo, Michigan who with his wife Sarah Reding retraced the thousand-mile walk route on 5 May to 25 June 2006, suggested improvements to a late draft of this article. ENDNOTES 1. Digitized images of Muir\u27s notebooks are available through http://librarv.pacific.edu/ha/ digital/muiriournals/muiriournals.asp See journal number 1, images 9 through 13. 2. John Muir, A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, ed. William Frederic Bade (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1916). Reprinted in John Muir, The Wilderness Journeys, ed. with introduction by Graham White (Edinburgh: Canon- gate Classics, 1996) 3. Ibid., (1916), p. 17; (1996), ed. White, p. 9. 4. Ibid., (1916), p. 22; (1996), ed. White, p. 11. 5. Ibid., (1916), p. 29; (1996), ed. White, p. 14. 6. Bonnie Johanna Gisel, ed., Kindred and Related Spirits: The Letters of John Muir and Jeanne C. Carr, (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2001), pp. 57-59. 7. Muir, op. cit., (1916), p. 15; (1996), ed. White p. 8. 8. Ibid., (1916), p. 30; (1996), ed. White, p. 15. Muir\u27s Houghton-Mifflin editor, William Frederick Bade identified the river in brackets as [Emory River]. 9. George Woolworth Colton\u27s 1869 Map of Kentucky and Tennessee (scale 1:1,584,000) is available through http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/ us states/kentuckv/index.html It shows a road running from Montgomery, Tennessee to Kingston, Tennessee, along the west bank of the Emory River. The road shown on this map supposedly crossed Obed\u27s River just before that river joins with Emery\u27s River. Modern names for these rivers are Obed River and Emory River. Modern maps show that this supposed road would have to descend a 400-foot cliff to reach the Obed and then immediately ascend a 400-foot cliff on the other side. Colton\u27s map also shows Clear Creek emptying into the Obed upstream of Daddy\u27s Creek, whereas modern maps show that the reverse is correct. No other map of that era shows this road. 10. A.J. Johnson\u27s 1866 Map of Kentucky and Tennessee (scale 1:1,521,000) is available at the same web site listed in note #9. It shows a road direct from Kingston, Tennessee to Madisonville, Tennessee. 11. http://memorv.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/ gmdhome.html 12. http://www.davidrumsey.com/ 13. http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/ historicalmaps/index.html 14. Charles E. Swann, Military Map of Kentucky and Tennessee, 1863, scale 1:350.000 Available throughhttp:// www.davidrumsey.com/maps2433.html http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3951s.cs0216800 no tonxx^A, •pa/i/tiou.- ta/ttu, -\\kia, tWtXu-, qa, unviaOG^n. Had Muirwalked this same route 143 years after he did, he would have plenty of food options. This Hardee\u27s fast food restaurant on the Knoxville Highway in Wartburg, TN is probably only a few steps off the thousand mile walk to the Gulf. (Used with permission from the Fisherman\u27s Quartet website http:// thefishermansquartet.com November 18,2010
Page 8 Schrankia, (sensitive briar) One of the plants mentioned by Muir kansasnativeplantsociety.org 15. N. Michler, Map of Middle and East Tennessee, 1862, scale 1:235,000. Available through http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/ g3962t.cws00162 16. W.L Nicholson and A. Lindenkohl, Mountain Region of North Carolina and Tennessee, 1863, scale 1:633,600. Available through http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gmd/g3900.cw0053000 17. Julius Bien & Co., General Topographical Map, sheet XV, United States War Department, 1895. Scale 1:633,600. Available through http://www.davidrumsev.com/detail?id=l-l- 26982-1100281 18. These U.S. Geological Survey 30 minute quadrangles (scale 1:125,000) are relevant: Wartburg, Tennessee, Edition of Mar. 1896. Topography by A.E. Murlin. Surveyed in 1893. Briceville, Tennessee, Edition of July 1896. Topography by J.F. Knight and E.C. Barnard. Surveyed in 1888-91. Loudon, Tennessee, Edition of Oct. 1895. Topography by F.M. Pearson 1884-5. Topography by C.E. Cooke 1891. Kingston, Tennessee, Edition of Mar. 1891. Topography by F.M. Pearson. Surveyed in 1884-5. Available through http://alabamamaps.ua.edu/historicalmaps/ us_states/tennessee/topos/30mintopos.html 19. John Muir\u27s Crossing of the Cumberland. Available through http://maps.google.com/ Search User-created maps for John Muir Cumberland. 20. Muir, op. cit, (1916), p. 15; (1996), ed. White, p. 7. 21. Ibid., (1916), 22. Ibid., (1916) 23. Ibid., (1916). 24. Ibid. 25. Ibid., p. 15. 26. Ibid., 27. Ibid.. (1916), (1916), p. 16; (1996), ed. White, p. 7. p. 16; (1996), ed. White, p. 8. p. 16; (1996), ed. White, p. 8. p. 26; (1996), ed. White, p.13. pp. 29-30; (1996), ed. White, (1916), p. 31; (1996), ed. White, p.16. (1916), p. 32; (1996), ed. White, p.16. 28. About 25 miles in Kentucky and 10 miles in Tennessee, to the base of the plateau at Pall Mall. 29. Muir, op. cit, (1916), p. 30; (1996), ed. White, p. 15. 30. Although most of A Thousand-Mile Walk to The Gulf is a journal, wr
The John Muir Newsletter, Spring 2014 Special Symposium Edition
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Page 2 (continued from page 1) was founding Director of the Edinburgh\u27s Environment Center, which pioneered environmental education in Scotland from 1979 until 2001. In the 1980s he served on the Education Committee of the John Muir Trust in Scotland and in 1986, proposed that a John Muir Award should be established by the Trust in the UK as a national scheme for people of all ages; over 150,000 people have now completed the Award in the UK. He is author/ editor of: The Scottish Environmental Handbook; The Nature of Scotland - Landscape Wildlife and People; John Muir- Journeys in the Wilderness; John Muir; From Scotland to the Sierra; Sacred Summits-John Muir\u27s Greatest Climbs. As a beekeeper and conservationist, he has devoted much of the last eight years to campaigning against the global use of neonicotinoid pesticides, widely held to be responsible for the deaths of over ten million bee colonies in the United States, and for the deaths of uncountable millions of birds, amphibians and other pollinating insects. He was very involved in the campaign to get these neurotoxic pesticides banned in the twenty- seven countries of the European Union, which came into effect in December 2013; they remain legal in the USA where they are used on over 200 million acres of corn, soybeans, canola, wheat, potatoes and fruit. 11:45 Lunch Buffet (a fee event; see registration form) 12:30 Keynote, Andrea Wulf, Cosmos, Nature and the Web of Life. Alexander von Humboldt\u27s influence on John Muir. Andrea Wulf was born India, moved to Germany as a child, and now lives in Britain. She is the author of several books. Her book The Brother Gardeners. Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession won the American Horticultural Society 2010 Book Award and was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2008, the most prestigious non-fiction award in the UK. The Founding Gardeners. The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation was published under great acclaim in spring 2011 and made it on the New York Times Best Seller List. Andrea has written for many newspapers including the Guardian, the LA Times and the New York Times. She was the Eccles British Library Writer in Residence 2013 and a three-time fellow of the International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello. She is also appears regularly NPR in the US, and on radio and TV programmes on the BBC in the UK. She currently working on a book called \u27The Invention of Nature\u27 about Alexander von Humboldt and his influence on scientists, thinkers and poets (published by Knopf in late 2015). 1:30 PM Ronald Eber, The Eternal Battle - The Wilderness Legacy of John Muir. Ronald Eber is Historian for the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club. He has held many Sierra Club positions including National Campus Coordinator in 1971 and Chair and Wilderness Coordinator of the Oregon Chapter from 1980 -1985. He has written two previous essays for this conference entitled John Muir and the Pioneer Conservationists of the Pacific Northwest and Wealth and Beauty - John Muir and Forest Conservation that were published in the conference proceedings. He currently lives near Port Gamble, Washington. 2:20 Doug Scott, John Muir: Blazing the Path Toward the 1964 Wilderness Act and 1980 Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. Doug Scott worked for forty years as a lobbyist and strategist persuading Congress to designate additional wilderness areas. He is proudest of his leadership role in the campaign for the historic Alaska National Interest lands Act of 1980. He is the author of The Enduring Wilderness: Preserving our Natural Heritage through the Wilderness Act (Fulcrum 2004) and Our Wilderness: America\u27s Common Ground (Fulcrum 2009), and of Wild Thoughts, a collection of excerpts of great writing about nature, wilderness, and the people who love them (forthcoming). 3:00 Stephen Holmes, Muir\u27s Cultural Legacy: Science and Storytelling from \u27The California Alps\u27 to Climate Change Communication Steven Pavlos Holmes, Ph.D., is an independent scholar of the environmental humanities, with a special interest in the emotional, ethical, and spiritual dimensions of our interactions with the natural world. He is the author of The Young John Muir: An Environmental Biography (winner of the Modern Language Association\u27s Prize for Independent Scholars) and of A Healing Landscape: Environmental and Social History of Mass Audubon\u27s Boston Nature Center and most recently editor of Facing the Change: Personal Encounters with Global Warming (Torrey House Press, 2013). He has taught at Harvard University and at the Cambridge (Mass.) Center for Adult Education. He lives with his partner Carlene Pavlos and their cat Millet in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. 3:45-4:30 John Muir Class University of the Pacific. Six students chosen from the twenty-six in Pacific\u27s University-level course focusing on John Muir\u27s World: the Origins of the Conservation Movement will summarize their research project connecting Muir with legacy people and places. 4:30-4:45 Wrap Up. 5:00-6:00 PM. Reception, University Library
Page 3 X Registration Form 60th California History Institute, University of the Pacific What we have seated; what we have lost: John Muir\u27s Legacy, 1914-2014 March 2122, 2014 March 21 Field Trip to Coulte nolle aid John Muir Highway with program at John MuirGeotourism Center aid lunch in Coulterville. Bus tour; 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Storer Coach leaves UOP Sirjimining Pool parking lot at 9:00 aid returns by 5 PM. Name Me al preference: Vegetarian Vegan Carnivore Cost 35.00 Student rate (high school or college) 25.00 Includes coffee/tea/seones; luncheon buffet; & reception (Cost at the door or after March IS will be 40; $30 for students) Name Affiliation Affiliation Address: Contact: (e mail please) Total Please send this form and a check in U. S. dollars to John Muir Center/WPC 99 University of the Pacific/Stockton/CA 95211
SIGN UP FOR THE ELECTRONIC VERSION BY CONTACTING: THE JOHN MUIR CENTER University of the Pacific 3601 Pacific Avenue Stockton, California 95211 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED -T~ ~r ~r -j. . i V rv \u3eV- ^ The John Mu Center The John Muir Center promotes the study of John Muir and environmental- ism at the University of the Pacific and beyond. Center Objectives As one of California\u27s most important historical figures, John Muir (1838- 1914) was a regional naturalist with global impact. His papers, housed in the library\u27s Holt-Atherton Special Collections, are among the University\u27s most important resources for scholarly research. Recognizing the need both to encourage greater utilization of the John Muir Papers by the scholarly community, and the need to promote the study of California and its impact upon the global community, the John Muir Center was established in 1989 with the following objectives: • To foster a closer academic relationship between Pacific and the larger community of scholars, students and citizens interested in regional and environmental studies. • To provide greater opportunities for research and publication by Pacific faculty and students. • To offer opportunities for out-of- classroom learning experiences. • To promote multi-disciplinary curricular development. Phone: 209.946.2527 Fax: 209.946.2318 E-mail: [email protected]://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmn/1095/thumbnail.jp
The John Muir Newsletter, Spring 2015
Get PDFSPRING 2015 jJui JMaaaa, JL^aXAXaa, V\u3eP , THE JOHN MUIR CENTER Reflections on John Muir— One-hundred years after his death Bill Swagerty, Co-Director, John Muir Center During 2014, many institutions honored John Muir\u27s legacy with an event associated with the centennial of his death on December 24, 1914. It was also the fiftieth anniversary of passage of the Wilderness Act by Congress in 1964 and the 150th anniversary of the Yosemite Act, transferring the core of what would become Yosemite National Park from the State of California to the federal government. Pacific hosted the 60th California History Institute from March 20-22 focusing on What has been saved; what has been lost: John Muir\u27s Legacy, 1914-2014. The symposium began with a field trip to Martinez on March 20 to visit John Muir National Historic Site. Twenty-four students in the John Muir Class were joined by other Pacific students, faculty, and guests of the university. As always, rangers and interpreters opened the doors to the Strentzel-Muir-Hanna house on the hill and allowed us the privilege of seeing Muir\u27s grave- site nearby. At the gravesite, Michael Wurtz, Head of Holt-Atherton Special Collections, read a 1914 obituary from a local newspaper which included mention of those who attended Muir\u27s funeral. On March 21, another field trip by bus took students and guests to Coulterville along the route that Muir walked in 1868 on his first trip to Yosemite. Ken Pulvino, founder of the John Muir Geotourism Center, joined the bus in Modesto and explained Muir\u27s stop at Horseshoe Bend, where he made an elaborate sketch of the landscape. Educator Monty Thornberg, current Director of the Center gave a presentation at lunch in the Hotel Jeffery on the activities of the Center, which promotes tourism and environmental education along the John Muir Highway. The Jeffery dates to 1851 and was a stagecoach stop for Yo- semite-bound passengers, as well as a resting place and reprovisioning opportunity for pedestrians like Muir on his long walk to the Valley. Bill Jeffery, husband to Pacific\u27s Pamela Eibeck, explained his family\u27s likely connection with the original builders. Unfortunately, after our field trip, the hotel experienced a major fire in the middle of the night on November 14, 2014, forcing closure. By 1889, it had burned three times, so this was the fourth structure-fire, but fortunately did not consume the entire building, which is currently undergoing restoration as a National Historic Landmark. We also saw the result of the Rim Fire, started by a hunter who set an illegal campfire on August 17, 2013 in Stanislaus National Forest. Named for the Rim of the World vista point on Highway 120 as it heads into Yosemite, the fire consumed 257,314 acres making it the third largest wildlife on record in the Sierra Nevada and costing around 25 or more were invited to attend the Spring Gathering. Donors in the John Muir Heritage Society (with annual gifts of 1,000 or more) were invited to attend a special dinner on Saturday night and additional activities on Sunday. For more information on Yosemite Conservancy, please call 800.469.7275. 6th Annual John Muir Festival May 16, 2015 The John Muir Geotourism Center in Coulter- ville, CA presents the 6th Annual John Muir Festival. A family friendly event! Experience All Things Muir when you visit and learn about Muir\u27s travels along the historic Muir Route along J132 to Yosemite. Meet other John Muir enthusiasts, experts and representatives from the John Muir Geotourism Center, Yosemite National Park and surrounding Yosemite region. On May 16, historic Coulterville celebrates John Muir\u27s historic walks to Yosemite before Yosemite became a National Park. There are multiple venues for family fun—all within the Main Street area of Coulterville. Entertainment, activities and food in Coulterville Park, John Muir Geotourism Center and the Coulter Cafe. Enjoy the historic Yosemite Tapestries exhibit, created by Miriam McNitt, commissioned by Yosemite National Park in 1967 and displayed in the Park for over 40 years. These tapestries depict the natural history of Yosemite as well as panoramic views of the Park\u27s wonders. Entrance is FREE. Festivities began at 10 am and go until 4 pm. John Muir Birthday-Earth Day Celebration *% Saturday, April 18th 2015 4202 Alhambra Avenue (at Highway 4) in Martinez FREE admission! 10 am - 4 pm nd the National Park St-rvice Come rain or shine! Presented by tbe John Muir Association a: r Keynote Speaker Beth Pratl-Bergstrotn, California Director of Ihe National Wildlife Federation Original east members to perform songs from the play,Mountain Days Meet John Mull and the Giant Sequoia he planted 130 years ago Exhibits and activities for everyone Live music And silent auctions John Muir\u27s 1882 Victorian home and orchards John Muir Conservation Awards presented Youth Activities with National Park Service rangers Food and beverages are available for purchase Join the National Park Service to celebrate John Muir\u27s 177th birthday during the annual Birth - day-Earthday event on Saturday, April 18, 2015 from 10 am to 4 pm at the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez, CA. Participate in fun activities for all ages to commemorate Muir\u27s legacy. Special guest speaker Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, California Director of the National Wildlife Federation, will give the keynote address. The Celebration, held rain or shine, features family-oriented activities, food for sale, live music including a bagpipe band, song performances by original cast members of the play Mountain Days, and displays by national parks and local environmental organizations. Parking and admission are free. National Park Service Ranger Frank Helling will portray John Muir and recount some of Muir\u27s many wilderness adventures. Visitors can enjoy self-guided tours of Muir\u27s historic Italianate Victorian home where he wrote about protecting nature, as well as bid in two silent auctions. Proceeds benefit the John Muir Association, the nonprofit organization hosting the event in partnership with the National Park Service. The Association will also present the 37th annual John Muir Conservation Awards. For more information, please visit www.nps.gov/ jomu/planvourvisit/ directions.htm
PAGE 5 Shanna Eller Muir Center Staff Reorganization Since August, 2011, the Office of the President of University of the Pacific has supported an Office of Sustainability, housed within John Muir Center in the College. This past fall Shanna Eller, Director of Sustainability, was named Co-director of Muir Center by Dean Rena Fraden. In addition, Kendra Bruno, M.A., was hired as Sustainability Coordinator. A native of Kansas, Eller has lived in Portland most recently and holds a bachelor\u27s degrees in the History of Art and Architecture, as well as Journalism from the University of Kansas. She earned her master\u27s degree in Urban Planning at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a doctorate in Urban Studies from Portland State University, where she was Director of Community Environmental Services before joining Pacific. Bruno is a graduate of the University of the Pacific with a joint major in International Studies and Spanish. She earned a master\u27s degree in Natural Resources and Peace from the University for Peace, Ciudad Colon, Costa Rica as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar. Both Eller and Bruno work closely with administration, faculty, staff, a cadre of students on campus, making Muir Center a lively hub for anything green on the Stockton campus. They co-taught a Pacific Seminar for freshmen in 2014 on the topic of Fair Trade. The Office of Sustainability coordinates, advances and manages sustainability efforts on all three campuses of the University. Activities of the office are described separately in this newsletter. Muir Center continues to sponsor interns and has work-study assistance from undergraduates. David Sriboonreuang, a sophomore English major Kendra Bruno who is also minoring in Religious Studies and Ethnic Studies, has worked in the Center for the past three semesters and is digitizing the slide collection. He has also completed an inventory of the library and the video collection and is one of the chef-demonstrators at the University\u27s new Kitchen Co-op. Recently he showed participants how to make macarons. David Sriboonreuang WkZ •& sa WILDS SCENIC - ^//^^;- A WILI jENIG festival A WILD LIFE Wednesday April 8, 2015 University of the Pacific 3401 Kensington Way, Stockton, CA Biological Sciences Building, Room 101 Free and open to the public * 7:00 pm - 7:30 pm reception with filmmaker Matt Black • •7:30 pm - 8:45 pm films • •Q&A with Matt Black and intermission* •9:15 pm -10:00 pm films • j patagonla Orion ?^-^ Jjjgg 0EARTHJUSTICE U&H
Page 6 Things Cooking in the Co-op by Kendra Bruno New at Pacific this year, the Pacific Kitchen Co-op has created quite a stir! Beginning this Spring term, Pacific students, faculty and staff have been able to join as Co-op members allowing them to access a fully equipped kitchen, furnished dining area and delicious classes! The Pacific Kitchen Co-op is a place where members can go to cook their own meals, have a club meeting, have dinner with friends, bake some cookies and simply just enjoy themselves over some delicious home cooked meals. Want to make a cake, but do not have any of the kitchen gadgets needed to do so? The Pacific Kitchen Co-op does - all you have to do is bring your ingredients! Easy to join, the Kitchen Co-op is 35.00 (or iffijJM mu.V; \u27 .; k ■•.\u27- .\u27■. » H»\u27\u27|FkftjfeB i.uiiWK TAP i HOI st 1 \u3e- jl£X a LifililAaaia Patch BDH ■ ■ -A Clarksburg f\u27.li 4 Mues |\u3e.r\u3c| i \u27\u27*B^BI 1 giMU »\u3e»K , \u27 -■ \u27J kj, IM:W \u27 jJ&T %is««ii^fHB^ 3 Signs near Freeport
Page 8 John Muir Journal Transcription Project Picking Up Steam In the wake of the 100th anniversary of John Muir\u27s death on December 24, 2014, The Record (Stockton) ran an article - front page above the fold - about the Special Collections effort to crowdsource the transcription of the John Muir journals. The story was picked up by other newspapers and a couple of television stations, and it was tweeted copiously over the next few weeks. The publicity brought in over 30 new transcribers who dove into Muir journals with the same drive that Muir sojourned in the Sierra. Nearly 100 images have been transcribed, which means that well over half the 3000 images in the journals are now keyword searchable. The transcribers are devoted Muir enthusiasts digging for new inspirational quotes, long time hikers curious about Muir\u27s wanderings on their favorite paths around the world, and grade school students who giggle when Muir discusses the naked rocks, but were awestruck when he pondered the value of scientific inquiry. The long term value to harvesting Muir\u27s words in the journals will boost the discovery of the famous naturalist\u27s ideas and thoughts in their initial observational form. The project continues. If you would like to take a crack at connecting with Muir, there are still plenty of pages to go. Visit go.pacific.edu/ muirwords and get started.
has served the Special Collections for 10 years and has worked at Pacific since 1999. Nicole Grady is our newly minted Special Collections Librarian after serving three years as a temporary librarian. Nicole will continue to process collections, create exhibits, and
The John Muir Newsletter, Spring 2013
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PAGE 2 F o Andrea Wulf unding Garden Speaks e r s AT o N P A C I F I C On February 27, prize-winning author Andrea Wulf spoke on the subject of Founding Gardeners: How the Revolutionary Generation Created an American Eden. The talk was sponsored by Phi Beta Kappa, the University Library, and John Muir Center and attracted more than eighty faculty, staff, students, and community members, many of the latter members of Master Gardeners. Born in India of German parents on assignment to the equivalent of our own Peace Corps, Wulf grew up in Germany and earned her first degree in Cultural Studies and Philosophy at the University of Luneburg in 1996. Since then, she has made Britain her home, earning a second advanced degree in the History of Design at the Royal College of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. In 2005, she published This Other Eden, Seven Great Gardens and Three Hundred Years of English History, co- authored with Emma Biegen-Gamal, released by Little Brown and adapted into a six-part mini-series on BBC radio. In 2008, Brothers Gardeners: Botany, Empire and the Birth of an Obsession was released by William Heinemann in the UK and by Alfred Knopf here in the United States in 2009. It won the American Horticultural Society 2010 Book Award and was long-listed for the Samuel Johnson Price, the most prestigious non-fiction award in theU. K. In 2011 she published Founding Gardeners: How the Revolutionary Generation Created an American Eden, again through Heinemann in the U. K. and Knopf here in the U.S. It not only made the New York Times Best Seller List, but was described by a reviewer in the Times as an illuminating and engrossing new book by the Washington Post as lively and deeply researched history. Last year, Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens appeared in seven languages. Described by the Boston Globe as a book both astrophysicists and poets can understand, Wulf retells the story of scientists and philosophers following the infrequent transit of Venus in modern times. She has received a number of prestigious fellowships in the past decade, including three years at the Robert H. Smith International Center for Jefferson Studies at Monticello; a White House History Fellowship through the Organization of American Historians and the White House Historical Association. Currently she is the Eccles British Library Writer-in- Residence and lives in London. Her most recent project and the reason she came to Pacific is her interest in John Muir. She is Andrea Wulf at Pacific on February 27,2013 currently working on The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt\u27s New World, to be published by Knopf in 2015. Von Humboldt\u27s influence on John Muir will be a chapter in this book. The talk on Founding Gardeners focused on the impact of John (1699-1777) and son William Bartram (1737-1823) as seed and plant collectors on better known political figures from the Revolutionary generation; notably Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, George Washington, and James Madison. Described by famed Swedish botanist Carolus Linnaeus as the greatest natural botanist in the world, John Bar- tram\u27s garden within the city of Philadelphia provided Europeans and Americans with seeds from North American species. Wulf argues that gardening was much more than just a hobby for the four political giants in her study. Planting American species, the design of landscapes, and attitudes about green space generally reflect an Americanized approach quite different from the formal gardens of England and the continent. Connecting the Revolution with ideas of the founding fathers on the ideal farm and garden, Wulf concludes that democracy and an appreciation of American forests and wilderness are part of the formula that evolved through the process and practice of planting colonial and early National gardens. Wulf will return in 2014 to present on Alexander von Humboldt\u27s influence on John Muir.
Page 3 Archivist Sea R C H I N RIGHT Muir J T R A N S C Pro s Corner G FOR THE word: O U R N A L R I P T I O N J E C T By Michael Wurtz , Archivist Holt-Atherton Special Collections University of the Pacific Library Have you ever wanted to probe deep into the mind of John Muir? Read his own thoughts immediately after he conjured them? How about search his thoughts to see if he ever wrote about bears or avalanches? The staff of Holt- Atherton Special Collections, the home of The John Muir Papers, has started a project to transcribe the Muir journals so we can get in his mind. For years we have been able to read his thoughts in his books which have been edited and polished for public consumption. The Sierra Club transcribed those books into their website so researchers can read the books online or search for words in the text. Researchers can find this sort of search functionality in Google Books as well. In 2008, the staff of Holt-Atherton Special Collections had John Muir\u27s correspondence transcribed and scanned for the world to read. The letters are closer to Muir thoughts than the books. The transcriptions not only help with legibility issues of reading Muir\u27s ideas, but also make them searchable for keywords. A year earlier in 2007, the staff scanned Muir\u27s 78 known journals and put them online too. They were not transcribed, since they consisted primarily of faded pencil and cursive writing, and were occasionally written out in many directions on a single page. Only the most devoted Muir fans and researchers were ready to decipher his writing. Stephanie LeMenager, Associate Professor of English at UC Santa Barbara, recently took an interest in Muir\u27s journal documenting his trip Tunf»* Mj-ch l*H. QMwqiM Prnom*UOmM The glofr i( ^| la everywhere How could Moses uks the cetelast Shoh ii8 t^y Glory ~D1sm1 Swamp\u27 no suet, place in net Sweeps a» peopled with plants CE the purest beajty s glow in their darkest heei ;he across the Isthmus of Panama in 1868. She meticulously transcribed the 8 pages of Muir\u27s almost illegible writing (the transcription can be found in these pages two years ago). Then we took her transcription and added it to the online journal scans. Now researchers wondering about Muir\u27s mention of God in his journals can find, The glory of God is everywhere. How could Moses make the request, \u27show me the glory.\u27 Earlier, the director of the John Muir Center, Bill Swagerty, worked with students to transcribe for publication the World Tour journals. Although these were only 5 journals of 78, we took it as a beginning. Fortunately, between Muir\u27s early biographers, William Bade and Linnie Marsh Wolfe, many of Muir\u27s journals were transcribed- obviously not with a computer, but with a typewriter. Bade took some editorial liberties, and Wolfe would sometimes only transcribe bits and pieces of journals, but their intentions were good, and those journal transcriptions were much more legible and accessible for reading and eventual publication. The Bade and Wolf transcriptions have formed the core of a long-term transcription project that the staff of Holt-Atherton Special Collections has started. With the aid of student workers, we are entering the transcriptions into the online journals. Over the last couple of years, we have added legible and word- searchable text to almost 20 Muir journals. What can you do to help transcribe the rest of the journals? Visit go.pacific.edu/ specialcollections, navigate to Muir\u27s journals, choose a page - any page - of untranscribed journal, and take a crack at it. There is a comments link at the bottom of each page to which you can add your new found text. If you feel more comfortable with email, send us what you have along with the journal and page number, and we will add your transcription to our online journals. The value of this kind of project is the expanded access to Muir\u27s thoughts as he first experienced them, and to make them word searchable. Join us! ex stepping an ants [5«ol i.a n-rt cruet tn s-i ill if} over Che great \u3e i Little of its Burfarre t : - \u27 i qoinq in the forests ■ Side-by-side, the legible and word searchable text and a scan of a page from Muir\u27s 1868 journal describing his trip across the Isthmus of Panama. John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. © 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust.
Page 4 transcription missing
page 5 younger years.18 As Muir grew older, however, his dream now became a resolve: a long botanical ramble through...to South America. 19 Journals of his travels to Chile and Zimbabwe are emotionally engaged in a way that makes clear how rewarding he found these travels. 20 After his last journey through those mysterious and exciting countries, Muir himself considered it among the most important [trips] of his life and the fulfillment of a dream of decades. 21 It was not until the last years of his life that Muir could make his dreams come true and travel to his long sought-after destinations. In Chile, Muir\u27s main goal was to find the rare monkey puzzle tree. In Santiago, he went to the botanical gardens to search for information concerning Araucaria imbricata.22 In the middle of November, Muir was taken to the forests [he had] so long wished to see by a kind American sawmill owner.23 Once he was among the forests of the A. imbricata that he had so long dreamed of, it seemed familiar. 24 . th Muir had dreamed of the monkey puzzle tree for so long that once he saw this forest of them in Chile, they seemed familiar. November 1911-March 1912, Trip to South America, Part III, and Trip to Africa, John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. © 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust. There were various reasons Muir wanted to travel to Africa some of which were to tour one of the only parts of the world he had not yet visited; to observe native African flora; to see the wildlife of the central African plains; and, to reach the headwaters of the Nile. 25 Although there were many reasons to visit the huge continent, Muir\u27s main mission was to find the enormous Adansonia digitata, better known as the African baobab, which he longed to see.26 Zimbabwe gave Muir the opportunity to see this magnificent tree in person. The day he found the tree was a wonderful day, wonderful in many ways; one of the greatest of the great tree days of my lucky life. 27 For Muir, the chance to see such rare and glorious trees was reason enough to travel across the world. Another tree that Muir had longed to see was the Baobab. One of the greatest of the great tree days of my lucky life. November 1911- March 1912, Trip to South America, Part III, and Trip to Africa. John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. ©1984 Muir-Hanna Trust. Muir wanted to observe the creations and landscapes made by God and he traveled and grew stronger and richer in the knowledge of God\u27s earth in each journey he made.28 His main goal in life was to see, learn, and appreciate all of Nature\u27s creations until his dying day. Since God allowed him to regain his vision after the accident in 1867, he spent the rest of his time seeing the truth and beauty inherent in the world. 29 Although his travels had scientific, political, and literary purposes, his journeys were all spent seeking the pleasures one finds in the cathedrals of God. Ariadna Hernandez was born in Guanajuato, Mexico as the eldest of three daughters. At the age of three her family migrated to the United States. Her father was a field worker and was greatly interested in nature. He transferred his passion of all living creatures to her as a young girl, as well as a love for reading. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Stockton, CA and is now a 3rd year Environmental Science major here at the University of the Pacific.
Page 6 ENDNOTES 1. Donald Worster, A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir (NY: Oxford University Press, 2008) p. 377. A map of Muir\u27s global travels is found in Gretel Ehrlich, John Muir: Nation\u27s Visionary (Washington, DC: National Geographic Society, 2000), pp. 18-19. 2. Michael Branch, John Muir\u27s Last Journey (Washington DC: Island Press, 2001) p. xxviii. 3. ibid., p. xxix. 4. Letter from John Muir to Jeanne Carr, 1867 May 2. John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Special Collections © 1984 Muir Hanna Trust. 5. John Muir, Travels in Alaska (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1915; 1998 edition) p. 3. 6. Worster, Passion for Nature, p. 247. 7. Muir, Travels in Alaska, p. 110. 8. ibid., p. 246. 9. Worster, Passion for Nature, p. 377. 10. John Muir, World Tour, unpublished journals transcribed by Linnie Marsh Wolfe, edited by W. R. Swagerty, John Muir Papers, Holt- Atherton Special Collections © 1984 Muir Hanna Trust, Published in the John Muir Newsletter, 6 parts, 2005-2008. See Part I. 11. World Tour, Part I. 12. ibid. 13. Worster, Passion for Nature, p. 380. 14. Muir, World Tour, Part V. 15. Worster, Passion for Nature, p. 383. 16. Muir, World Tour, Part V. 17. Muir references these two explorers in Story of My Boyhood and Youth (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, c. 1912, 1916 ed.), p. 207. Park (1771-1806) was a Scottish surgeon who in 1795 was supported by the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior of Africa to discover the course of the River Niger. His book, Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa was published in 1799 and was widely read. On Humboldt\u27s influence on Muir and others, see Aaron Sachs, The Humboldt Current: Nineteenth Century Exploration and the Roots of American Environmentalism (New York: Viking Penguin, 2006), especially chapters 8-9. Also see Michael Branch, John Muir\u27s Travels to South America and Africa, in John Muir: Family, Friends, and Adventures, ed. Sally M. Miller and Daryl Morrison (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2005), pp. 249-65. 18. This story is repeated by Muir and his editor, William Frederic Bade in Story of My Boyhood and Youth, pp. 360ff; and in Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin, 1916), pp. 143-68. 19. Branch, John Muir\u27s Last Journey, p. xxix. ibid., p. 102. ibid., p. xxiii. p. 110. p. 114. p. 115. p. 129. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid., ibid. ibid., p. 147. Muir, World Tour, Part III. Worster, Passion for Nature, p. 112. SAVE THE DATE John Muir Symposium, March 21-22, 2014 Join us on the 150\u27\u27 anniversary or the Yosemite Grant, tne 100* anniversary or Muir\u27s death, ana the 50\u27\u27 anniversary or the passage or the Wilderness Act to revisit John Muir\u27s lire and legacy. University oi the Paciiic -will host the 60** Caliiornia History Institute on the Stockton campus irom Friday, March 21, through Saturday, March 22. Expect to hear papers by new Muir scholars currently working Muir\u27s legacy, as well as several ramiliar names \u27who have become regulars at Muir symposia. Plenary sessions and keynotes will be given by three scholars now living in the U. K.: Terry Girrord, Graham White and Andrea Wulr. A special exhibit on the history or the Muir Papers and their present locations is planned, as well as coordinated rield trips berore and alter the symposium. Ir interested in presenting or attending the conrerence, please contact : wswagertv (Sparine. edu
Page 7 Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Fest at Pacific Hosted by Sustaining Pacific & John Muir Center Thursday, April 11th, 2013 6-8:30PM rsily ol ihe Pacific, 3601 Pacific Avenue, Wendell Phillips Cenltr \u3et _ 6:00-6:30 PM Reception ■ 6:30-7:30 PM Films - Intermission 7:45-8:30PM Films Free and Open to the Public SfemCkib • Group patattoni Cevth Omy FutVeJ Baggi Tract Community nvm Dr. Shanna Eller, Director of Sustainability at Pacific and Lucy Kramer, an Environmental Studies major at Pacific, together with W. Swa- gerty of Muir Center, recently applied for a grant to host an environmental film festival through the South Yuba Citizens\u27 League (SYRCL) of Ne vada City, CA. Supported by Patagonia, CLIF Bar, Mother Jones, and Sierra Nevada Brewing, partners with Pacific include Friends of the Lower Calaveras, The Delta-Sierra Group within the Sierra Club, Stockton Earth Day Festival, and the Boggs Tract Community Farm. Exhibits will be mounted by partners in WPC\u27s courtyard and films selected by students from an available list of over sixty documentaries will be shown in WPC 140 on campus on Thursday, April 11 from 6 PM to 8:30 PM. The films are all short and range from following The Man Who Lived on His Bike across an entire year to a biography of Georgena Terry, founder of Terry Bicycles, who revolutionized that industry by creating a frame specific to a woman\u27s body; to an Afghan-produced film, Skateistan, highlighting co-educational opportunities for learning to skateboard in that part of the world; to Timber, a film by Adam Fisher on responsible versus irresponsible use of natural resources; to The Way Home, a journey in Yosemite National Park with the Amazing Grace 50+ Club of Los Angeles; to Chasing Water, a film based on photographer Pete McBride\u27s attempt to follow irrigation water from his family\u27s Colorado ranch down to the sea along the Colorado River. The event is free and open to the public with refreshments provided. ENVIRONMENTAL FILM FESTIVAL 9
SIGN UP FOR THE ELECTRONIC VERSION BY CONTACTING: THE JOHN MUIR CENTER University of the Pacific 3601 Pacific Avenue Stockton, California 95211 ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED ~T~ ~r ~r -j. . i V rv \u3eV- v\u3e The John Mu Center The John Muir Center promotes the study of John Muir and environmental- ism at the University of the Pacific and beyond. Center Objectives As one of California\u27s most important historical figures, John Muir (1838- 1914) was a regional naturalist with global impact. His papers, housed in the library\u27s Holt-Atherton Special Collections, are among the University\u27s most important resources for scholarly research. Recognizing the need both to encourage greater utilization of the John Muir Papers by the scholarly community, and the need to promote the study of California and its impact upon the global community, the John Muir Center was established in 1989 with the following objectives: • To foster a closer academic relationship between Pacific and the larger community of scholars, students and citizens interested in regional and environmental studies. • To provide greater opportunities for research and publication by Pacific faculty and students. • To offer opportunities for out-of- classroom learning experiences. • To promote multi-disciplinary curricular development. Phone: 209.946.2527 Fax: 209.946.2318 E-mail: [email protected]://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmn/1094/thumbnail.jp
The John Muir Newsletter, Fall/Winter 2011/2012
Get PDFFall/Winter 2011/2012 ; LA--/*. ; oJW J\\AAAA, uLwtiAjU)OlGA, THE JOHN MUIR CENTER SPECIAL POINTS OF INTEREST: The present is the key to the past. Muir would apply geological formation and specifically the action of glacial ice to the handiwork of God. Muir chose to live to entice people to look at Nature\u27s loveliness. In the beginning and to the end botany was the foundation upon which Muir\u27s work as a preservationist grew and glacial studies were seamlessly connected to his study of plants. An Essay P h e n o m on John E N A L S C I Muir E N C E IN THIS ISSUE An Essay on John Muir\u27s Phenomenal Science by 1 Bonnie J. Gisel 59th California History Institute to focus on . Women as History- Makers in California John Muir Class Visits A Walk in the Wild and the Muir House By Bonnie Johanna Gisel Curator, LeConte Memorial Lodge, Yosemite National Park Author, Nature\u27s Beloved Son: Rediscovering John Muir\u27s Botanical Legacy I. Origins of Muir\u27s Scientific Self The world John Muir sauntered through was one in which the distribution of erratics was attributed to a diluvial theory, a wave of sea ice due to catastrophic sudden and violent floods released from the interior of the Earth or caused by the upheaval of -^F * \u3e mountains. This diluvial theory gave way to a theory that provided a more rational explanation to account for the appearance of erratic boulders, and that theory was that erratics had been moved by vast sheets of moving glaciers. A debate—sea ice vs. land ice-remained a feature of geological discussion until about 1902. As well Muir found himself inquiring into the inner workings of science when fossil remnants—relicts of a world of unusual and exceptional creatures and plants, and the study of strata, continued to expand upon what James Hutton of Edinburgh regarded as an Earth im- James Hutton From http://etc.usf.edu/ clipart/60973/60973James hutton.htm mensely older than the thousands of years allowed by the chronology of the Old Testa- ment.1 Then, too, up from the sod of science, a Scotsman, uniformitarian, and friend of Charles Darwin, Charles Lyell, who parented modern geology, examined an inorganic Earth in perpetual change, eroding, and reforming. He explained the former changes of the Earth\u27s surface by reference to causes now in operation. The present, he would say, is the key to the past. While a student at the University of Wisconsin, Muir was introduced to Lyell\u27s Principles, perhaps the 1853 ninth edition which created quite a sensation. Lyell banished any doubts about a glacial epoch, fully supporting the work of Louis Agassiz, an expert on fossil fish and the preeminent glaciologist, who happened to be an unabashed catastrophist. Disagreement would erupt over the rate of environmental change between those who supported change gradual and uniform, uniformitarians, of which Muir was one, and those who supported intermittent cataclysm, catastrophists. There was also Lyell\u27s Elements of Geology, published in 1838- the first modern textbook of geology, a systematic treatment based on the assumption that all the phenomena of geology can be explained naturally and discussed scientifically. In Yosemite, in 1872, Muir would request that Jeanne Carr send a copy of Lyell\u27s work. He would have opened the familiar volume to the frontispiece-a diagram of a vertical section through a volcanic island surrounded by sea and showing dia- grammatically how the four great classes of rocks were produced.2 Muir would apply geological formation and specifically the action of glacial ice to the handiwork of God. An exaggerated theory of a single polar cap, an Ice Age traveling from the North Pole over the northern hemisphere, was the brain-child (continued on page 3)
PAGE 2 59th California H To focus on Women in Calif I S T O R Y I N S T I T U T E A S H I S T O R Y ■ M A K E O R N A ?» R S On March 23, 24, students, faculty and guests of the University will gather for the 59th California History Institute. This year\u27s theme focuses on women who continue to be history- makers. Highlights include a field trip to the California State Museum by coach from Stockton on March 23 to two exhibits: Women and the Vote, and Notable Women in California History, the latter featuring 120 individuals. Papers and panels on March 24 will focus on the historiography of women\u27s history in the Golden State; the role of Latina, Filipina, Asian, and Native American women; women of note in Stockton\u27s own history; women\u27s organizations at Pacific; and a panel on women and environmental justice and activism. The luncheon keynote will be delivered by Judy Yung, Professor Emerita, U. C. Santa Cruz, whose publications include : Unbound Feet: A Social History of Chinese Women in San Francisco (1995); Chinese American Voices; From the Gold Rush to the Present (2006); and (with Erika Lee) Angel Island: Immigrant Gateway to America (2010). For more information and to register for the symposium please contact Juliann Hilton i [email protected] or call Muir Center and leave a message at 209 946-2527. JOHN MUIR C WILD lass Visits A Walk and the Muir House IN THE On January 19, twenty- one students in Pacific\u27s John Muir and the Rise of the Conservation Movement class visited the Oakland Museum of California and John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez. In Oakland the class toured the exhibit, A Walk in the Wild: Continuing John Muir\u27s Journey. Cu- rated by Dorris Welch, the exhibit focused on John Muir and science, using original materials from the John Muir Papers as well as furniture and artifacts from various institutions and family members. While there the class met John Muir Reid, the great-grandson of Margaret Muir-Reid, one of Muir\u27s older sisters. Reid is a professional artist who reports he has painted with the great- grandson of Muir\u27s close friend and fellow Scotsman, William Keith. His watercolors focus on landscapes of the Delta, Sierra, and Bay, as well as Yosemite, scenes that would be familiar to John Muir. In Martinez, Park Guide Daniel Prial gave the group an inspired talk and a memorable tour of the Muir House. Prial focused on Muir\u27s interest in bringing Nature into his residence, rather than keeping Nature out. The interpretation helped all to understand the rationale for planting trees exotic to the Alhambra Valley (including the famous redwood in front of the house), the large number of William Keith landscapes in the house, as well as architectural features incorporated by Muir into the house after it was remodeled, post-1906 San Francisco earthquake. These include the large modified central fireplace where he could burn logs instead of coal. Each student is researching one aspect of Muir\u27s life from the Muir Papers and all are following one major contemporary environmental issue keeping the class up-to-date on current events that relate to Muir\u27s legacy. This trip was made possible through a generous grant from Holt-Atherton Special Collections. John Muir Class, 2012, in front of the Muir House, Martinez, CA Photo by Bob Dash
PAGE 3 (continued from page 1) ;■;;,\u27.: -•• c, i; o i. o c; v. CatlU.Ee LYt.I.l. IWJ LDKbON ILIeJUT, Al.aHUAHl.C STULCr. kea.uiH^ Elements of Geo/ogy From: library.sc.edu/spcoll/nathist/ darwin/darwin5.html J\Luvid, IXoAidXic iawcneAt heaian an JtLiah (DViaet in UunhaA,, &cottand in a aaAden ad, much lihe, &acn an, of Louis Agassiz; and, in 1840, he published his definitive work on glaciers, Etude sur les Glaciers. Agassiz believed that not books but experience was wherein the answers to scientific inquiry resided. To this end and to his credit, he undertook the empirical study of glaciers, establishing a camp on a glacier of the Aar. God\u27s great plough, he called them. The glacial period was for Agassiz, a magnificent demonstration of the power of God in causing catastrophic Louis Agassiz From: www.eoearth.org/article/Agassiz_Louis events that wiped out life and replaced it with new flora and fauna—in this he disagreed with Darwin\u27s theory of natural selection. At the University of Wisconsin Muir studied Agassiz\u27s work with Ezra Carr. Carr ventured with students out into what he called Nature\u27s basement rooms, out over the glaciated landscape around Madison, equating the love of nature with the love of God. He reminded students to touch with something of reverence, the hem of that marvelous robe of living green, the Forests. Muir spoke of Carr as having been the first to place before him the Book of Nature. Later, Agassiz would speak of Muir as the first to have an adequate concept of glacial action. A world not for the faint of heart, Muir was resilient. Struggle and change were everywhere. A Civil War (that Muir referred to as unchristian), was followed by tense, ambitious, and controversial mending of a nation that drove Joseph and John LeConte, respectively, geologist and physicist, from Georgia and South Carolina to California and the burgeoning University of California. There was a quickening professionalization of science and competition between scientists on the east and west coasts of America. Muir was drawn into the fray over the fair apostles-Flora.3 Muir\u27s floristic journey began on High Street in Dunbar, Scotland in a garden as much like Eden as possible, and blossomed into an enthusiasm for botany during the nineteenth century\u27s flurry of amateur plant collecting and as botany took on the mantle of a professional science. With the aid of Alphonso Wood\u27s Class- Book of Botany, in which Wood suggested that the study of plants held higher purpose expanding the soul through beauty, purity, and wisdom, Muir became skilled at identifying plants and their habitats. He would agree with Wood, to study plants was to see God\u27s plans unfold. Through plants Muir gained an inordinate sense of the complexity of life and found that when he picked out anything by itself, it was hitched to everything else in the universe. Were not, he thought, all plants beautiful? Or in some way useful? Would not the world suffer by the banishment of a single weed? We encounter a faithful Muir drafted like so many others—among them his colleague and friend Joseph LeConte-into the Age of Darwin\u27s Origin of Species by Natural Selection, published in 1859. Darwin had not intended to argue either for or against God; nonetheless, he concluded there was no need for divine creation, and there was no divine goal-natural selection took care of everything-was responsible for the gradual but steady emergence of organisms. His theory destroyed for some, dampened or attempted to awash the sea of Christian faith for others, and crippled natural theology, provoking a major philosophical and theological debate that outlived the century. Muir read Darwin while in Yosemite.
Page 4 Joseph LeConte From: www.sierraclub.org/history/ leconte II. California: Perfect Pitch Arriving in California, in 1868, Muir was not more than a footstep behind the California Geological Survey under the direction of Josiah Whitney. The Survey was under funded, under appreciated, and under terrible constraints given the size and terrain of California. Support would wane for a variety of reasons. In part Whitney was opinionated, arrogant, and stubborn, and legislators believed too much emphasis had been placed on fossils and flowers. Legislative action was taken to shift focus to mineral resources, though Whitney never envisioned the survey as a prospecting party.4 Muir continued to study botany and took up the study of mountains. Influenced by Agassiz he would stress the role of glaciers in the formation of the Sierra and Yosemite Valley. Muir found deposits of glacial silt and striations etched into the granite walls and outlined the routes that carried the glaciers that shaped and scoured the Valley. It was not long before he professed to anyone who would listen that the Valley had been formed by glaciers and that there were living glaciers in the High Sierra.5 Whitney, a graduate of Yale, spoke of Muir as uneducated, called him that shepherd, an ignoramus, and of Muir\u27s findings, considered them a personal affront—given that his conventional geological wisdom held that the floor of Yosemite Valley had subsided during a series of cataclysmic events—a view he would never change. Muir\u27s disclosure of living glaciers, as well, struck scorn with both Whitney and Clarence King, who regarded the fields Muir saw as nothing more than snow. Upon graduation from Yale\u27s Sheffield Scientific School, King joined the Whitney Survey as a volunteer geologist in 1863. He soon found evidence in 1864, like Muir\u27s, (differing only in degree), that Yosemite Valley had been formed by glaciers. While Whitney initially published King\u27s findings in the first volume of the Geological Survey in 1865, he retracted when he published The Yosemite Guide-Book in 1869— noting there was insufficient evidence that the Valley had been formed by glacial action. King publicly supported Whitney. Acatastrophist, like Whitney, King, like Agassiz, disagreed with natural selection. King, essentially, towed the party- line.6 Picturing himself the quintessential field- geologist and mountaineer, King dismissed Muir as an ambitious amateur suggesting that he divert his enthusiastic love of nature into a channel, if there is one, in which his attainments would save him from hopeless floundering. Impatient with Muir\u27s poetic sensibilities and rhapsodizing without restraint, King thought Muir lacked seriousness—writing about dreaming and sleeping with glaciers with adjectives obstructing science. A writer himself, King suffered from long periods of self-doubt and leaned to exaggerate his mountain exploits. Perhaps there was proprietary jealousy and while Muir may have been poetic, King relied on hyperbole. King first serialized his adventures as a survey scientist for The Atlantic Monthly.7 Muir disagreed with King\u27s ambition to conquer the Sierra or any mountain. Mountains could and should, he thought and knew from experience, be climbed by acting in harmony with them. The harmony King lacked, had, Muir believed, contributed to his inability to reach the summit of Mount Ritter; and it was well known that King had a particular genius for climbing the wrong mountain. Muir succeeded where GEllLrWIiAl. Si till Df CAl.iritatMA. J. 1\u3e. fj —L.«iur. YOSEMITE GUIDE-BOOK: DFKOKiiTmx riv tins VtfcXRKfTE vau.v.v ASIr flit; .\u27.!\u3e\u27A8 HIS 9 v V;;. .vim. ANlr OK THE IttG TKEBS W \u3c\UmHlM.I. ILLUSTRATED 8Y MfcP9 AMD WOOOCU T?i. ^Kx\u3eUTi/tcM4iA could and dhauld...he, climhed hu aeXina, in hoAnvanu vliXh them.... Whitney\u27s Yosemite Guide-Book From: openlibrary.org/works/0L7026039W/ The-Yosemite Guide-book IThUSIlKli r.i .\i ii-M\u27irr.- iit Tin: LMUioomiltr: lSil\u27.r.
PAGE 5 The California Geological Survey, December 1863. From left: Chester Averill, assistant; William M. Gabb, paleontologist; William Ashburner, field assistant; Josiah D. Whitney, State Geologist; Charles F. Hoffmann, topographer, Clarence King, geologist, and William H. Brewer, botanist. (Bancroft Library) From www.yosemite.ca.us/library/the_yo semite-book/ Clarence King From: www.yosemite.ca. us/library/up _and_down_ california/5.1.html King failed, and he was not above reprisal, publicly lashing out with his pen at King in an attempt to embarrass. I am sure, scoffed Muir, in an article for The Overland Monthly, that the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne may be entered at more than fifty different points along the walls by mountaineers of ordinary nerve and skill. On reading King\u27s account of his Mount Tyndall climb, Muir wrote: He must have given himself a lot of trouble. When I climbed Tyndall, I ran up and back before breakfast. 8 In a climate brimming with scientific elitism and academic arrogance, Muir went about beholding to his stories of beloved glacial ice. He may not have kept to the conventions of scientific writing, but he observed geological processes at work, and interpreted a complex pattern of phenomena with insight that emerged as characteristically his own. His method of study, patient observation and constant brooding above the rocks, lying upon them as the ice did, remaining winter and summer to arrive at the truths which were graven upon them, aware there was virtually no documentation to substantiate his theories.9 Whitney and King found Muir and his ideas unkempt, and it is true that he lacked advanced academic scientific training, however, these were not barriers to scientific truth. Muir\u27s theories—the glacial formation of Yosemite Valley and the living glaciers in the High Sierra were more nearly correct than any geologist of his time.10 III. Does Ice A Scientist Make? Punctuating a Leap of Faith Whitney, who had been in Yosemite Valley and Tuolumne in 1863, knew that glaciers had played a significant role in the formation of the High Sierra. There was no disagreement with Muir on this. Whitney wrote to a colleague, G. J. Brush, July 10,1863: We are in the midst of what was once a great glacier region, the valleys all about being most superbly polished and grooved by glaciers, which once existed here in a stupendous scale having a thickness, in the Tuolumne Valley, of a thousand feet.11 Members of the Whitney Survey, however, were seemingly unaware that the snow bank upon which they climbed on Mount Lyell was actually a modern glacier. It was noted that there were no living glaciers in the Sierra Nevada. In 1872, Joseph LeConte observed the Lyell Glacier with Muir, but from a distance. He reported that such a glacier was neither true nor typical—but in some sense a glacier. Muir
Page 6 thought LeConte had made no effort to acquire adequate data—he had not seen glacial ice because he had not gone into the depths of the glacier.12 Muir poured his soul into the writing of a series of articles entitled Studies in the Sierra for The Overland Monthly that appeared in 1874—abridged for the national scientific community. Illustrated with his own drawings, the articles were intended to win converts to his theory on the glacial action at work in the formation of the Sierra and Yosemite Valley. For all the scientific truth borne of Muir\u27s empirical studies, the thread that held his glacial canon together was his faith. He found in the glacial tome answers to a deep theological need. Drawn to glaciers as the plows of God, Muir stood upon them and then within a glacial Shrund, a stranger in a stranger land, as near to the heart of the world as he could—a chamber hung with clustered icicles, subdued light, and solemn murmurs.13 God\u27s handiwork, Muir believed. Surely he had found Him in the act of creating, wielding tools, slowly shaping the Earth. There was the glory. For skeptics, here was the proof. Illuminating the indwelling of God in Creation yet being made, Muir offered up mountain bread to his readers. He hath builded the mountains... .The Master Builder chose for a tool the tender snow-flowers, noiselessly falling through unnumbered seasons, the offspring of the sun and sea. 14 IV. Where Science Ends & Faith Was Always There. Who created that tangled bank? That natural selection resulting from competition between organisms for survival, could produce human beings along with the higher flora and fauna but toward no goal, was the most disturbing of Darwin\u27s theory of evolution. Evidence pointing to evolution, including the evolution of Homo sapiens, had been accumulating for decades but had taken evolution to be a plan present from the beginning and a goal directed process.15 In 1909 during three day\u27s spent with French Strother at the Strentzel-Muir ranch in Alhambra, Muir reflected upon the meaning and purpose of evolution. Evolution, they say brought the earth through its glacial periods, caused the snow blanket to recede, and the flower carpet to follow it, raised the forests of the world, developed animal life from the jelly-fish to the thinking man. 16 But what caused evolution? To my mind, Muir noted, it is inconceivable that a plan that has worked out, through unthinkable millions of years, without one hitch or one mistake, the development of beauty that has made every microscopic particle of matter perform its function in harmony with every other in the universe—that such a plan is the blind product of an unthinking abstraction. No; somewhere, before evolution was, was an Intelligence that laid out the plan, and evolution is the process, not the origin of the harmony. You may call that Intelligence what you please. I cannot see why so many people object to call it God. For Muir Darwin\u27s evolutionary theory reduced mystery, yet, did not destroy the idea of God\u27s designing presence in Nature. What remained was one infinite mystery of existence, of every phenomena of Nature, and that Muir left to God. In the world view Muir endowed, scientific inquiry was ignited by faith, culture, and imagination from which it was birthed as well as by the truth that it sought. For him the journey was always about wildness and would endure to find the means to save parts and parcels of it. Turning always to plash in the divine light of the natural world in nature\u27s own reserve, he chose to live to entice people to look at Nature\u27s loveliness. Seeking the curious magical qualities of each present being, Muir was impelled to the life of lonely wandering solely by the love of God\u27s Earth and eternal, immortal Beauty. Eyes were important to Muir. With them he pursued the phenomena of science to solve puzzles that deepened his faith as he turned to share with others a world they could only half see. With eyes open to God\u27s
The John Muir Newsletter, Winter 1996/97
Get PDFVolume 7, Number 1 NEW °3\u3e f\ND VARWIN God and Evolution in Nature by Shayne Zurilgen (Editor\u27s note: The author, a senior in geology at the University of the Pacific, prepared this paper in the fall of 1996for an undergraduate history class, JohnMuir and the Environment. ) Ifred Lord Tennyson was looking into his microscope one day when he was moved to comment, Strange that these wonders should draw some men to God and repel others. 1 Tennyson was addressing the fervor surrounding Charles Darwin\u27s theory of evolution by natural selection. While he didn\u27t really identify anyone in particular, Tennyson conceivably could have been illustrating the difference between Darwin and John Muir. Muir and Darwin were two men with similar backgrounds and a common love of nature and science. Both were painstaking observers. Darwin\u27s theory of evolution had a tremendous influence on John Muir and is apparent in Muir\u27s writings. However, Muir, like a great many other scientists and naturalists, used general Darwinian notions to support his own ideas of man and nature and their relationship to a divine creator. Both men started out as believers in the one true god of the Christian faith as described in the Bible. When Muir spent the summer of 1869 in the Sierra Nevada mountains he saw God in everything he observed and attributed divinity to all the natural laws at work there. Darwin, on the other hand, was overtaken by a slow growing realization that Christianity and possibly the presence of a divine creator had no place in nature or the science that defined its intricate workings.2 As is well known, John Muir was raised a Calvinist by his strict and often cruel father who did not see purpose in Charles Darwin from Century magazine. developing intellectual pursuits but rather seemed to feel that anything but hard physical work was a distraction from God\u27s plan. Muir believed strongly in God but felt more tribute was paid to Him amidst His works in nature than in the confines of a church constructed by humans. After nearly losing an eye in a machine shop accident that temporarily blinded him, he left home to wander the country in search of answers about the meaning of life and to be as close to his beloved wilderness as a human could possibly be.3 Similarly Darwin had been raised in the church but his early family influences were more balanced. His grandfather Erasmus Darwin was a product of the Enlightenment, a very open-minded individual who believed in the ability of science to explain natural phenomenon and who despised the human convention of attributing to God that which was yet unknown. His maternal grandfather, Josiah Wedgewood, was a Unitarian who had thrown out many of the traditional teachings of Christianity and who held only its most basic religious ideals as truth. This was Darwin\u27s inherited influence, a mixture of free thought and radical Christianity. 4 Both Muir and Darwin shaped their individual views of the natural world and God through intense scientific observation. Both men were the beneficiaries of fortunate circumstances that would allow them to devote their full attention to this task. Darwin was given a job as a naturalist aboard the Beagle, a ship embarking on a journey circumventing the globe with the main purpose of detailing maps. It was a job he appeared sorely unqualified for, having (continued on page 3) UNIVERSITY OF R* A C I F I C
NEWS NOTES: THE BOYHOOD OF JOHN MUIR SOON ON PBS Public televison will soon air The Boyhood of John Muir, a new PBS feature for children by Florentine Films. According to a press release, the film incorporates the key elements in story-telling by developing the essential tension that runs through the plot, articulated in John\u27s relationship with his father. For more information, contact co-producer Diane Garey at 20 Kingsley Avenue, Haydenville, MA 01039, phone 413-268-7934, fax 413-268-8300. L-R. Muir\u27s boyhood home in Wisconsin; and his birthplace and early home in Dunbar, Scotland. WEST COAST LITERATURE THE THEME FOR CHI \u2797 John Muir, Robinson Jeffers, and other celebrated figures in the literary heritage of California and the Pacific Northwest will be discussed at the 50th annual California History Institute, held on the campus of the University of the Pacific, April 18-20. This three-day event features presentations by more than two dozen participants from across the country. The multimedia format will include lectures, exhibits, panel discussions, and a variety of video presentations. The program begins Friday afternoon, April 18, with a session on California Places: Mapping the Terrain. Following a reception and banquet, a keynote panel of prominent California writers concludes the first day\u27s event with a roundtable discussion on Writing California. Saturday, April 19, starts with a breakfast and program sponsored by the Jedediah S. Smith Society, followed by morning sessions on Natural California and California in the Sixties, and afternoon sessions on Representations of California in Popular Culture, and The Western in Cartoon and Cinema. The Institute concludes Sunday, April 20, with sessions on Pacific Northwest Places and Social Utopias in the Far West. According to program co-chairs, Professors Reinhart Lutz and Heather Mayne of the UOP English Department, this conference will focus on literary approaches which reflect the rich ethnic and multicultural diversity of the people, living, dreaming, writing, and reading in California and the Pacific Northwest. Almost from the beginning of its settlement by non-native peoples, said Lutz, California and the Pacific Northwest have inspired literary and fictional responses to this unique part of America. With a wealth of literary texts surviving, and no end in sight to the production of contemporary fiction set in the Golden State of California, or further North on America\u27s Pacific Coast, this conference invites scholarly responses to this wealth of literature. With literary criticism having seen dramatic changes in the 1990s, conference participants will discuss new approaches to classic texts and authors long considered canonical, as well as papers which focus on writers or issues that have shifted to the foreground of contemporary critical awareness. For program details, contact Professor Lutz at the English Department, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211, phone (209) 946-2616; fax (209) 946-2318. For general conference information and registration details, send your name and address to The John Muir Center For Regional Studies, University of the Pacific, Stockton, 95211. RECENT MUIR BOOK John Muir: His Life and Letters and Other Writings. Ed. and introduced by Terry Gifford. London: Baton Wicks; Seattle: The Mountaineers, 1996.912 p. illus., maps. A densly-packed but highly readable collection of more than 20 books and articles by and about Muir, some previously unpublished. A reprint of Bade s two- volume Life and Letters is included, along with S. Hall Young\u27s effusive Alaska Davs with John Muir. and Muir\u27s essays in Picturesque California. With a spendid eye for visuals, Terry Gifford has added a stunning color photo section as well as line cuts from Muir\u27s journals and manuscripts, and contemporary photos and drawings that ease the eye from the smaller typeface that was required to incorporate so many discrete works into this edition. Along with its earlier companion, John Muir: The Eight Wilderness-Discovery Books, this handsome set makes available the essential Muir, the basic collection of his published works, in a convenient and economical package for the modern reader. r~- N EWSLETTER Volume 7, Number 1 Winter 1996-97 Published quarterly by The John Muir Center for Regional Studies University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211 «* Staff •«• Editor Sally M. Miller Center Director R.H. Limbaugh Graphic Designer Beverly Duffy All photographic reproductions are courtesy of the John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections University of the Pacific Libraries. Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust. This Newsletter is printer! on rmyrlftH paper
R AN ARW God and Evolution in Nature (continued. proved to be only a mediocre student and scientist up to that point. However, he made a good impression on the owner of the ship and got along very well with the captain in spite of their very different and seemingly conflicting backgrounds.5 Muir had been a promising and mostly self-taught student and an inventor. He abandoned a conventional life and in June, 1869 secured a job helping to move sheep from California\u27s Central Valley to the Tuolomne headwaters in the high Sierra above Yosemite Valley. The owner of the flock was very impressed with Muir\u27s talent and enthusiasm for scientific observation. He hired Muir simply to make sure the herders were kept to task and otherwise he would be free to study nature.0 By the time Muir came to California he was very familiar with Darwin\u27s works and theories. Muir often madeiiseofDamimannonffltsinhisbookAf^ ■ First Summer ill the\u27Siena which sprung (42. years later) from the journal detaiiinghis thoughts and observations those months working with the m shepherds When discussing a ■\u27 , particularly aggressive species Of ant that has a painful bite but is the favorite snack of bears he writes, Thus are . the poor biters bitten, like ■\u27, ;^ every other biter, big or httle, in the world\u27i\u27great family.\u27 This reflects his understanding of the survival of the fittest in the Darwinian sense of possessing characteristics, physical or behavioral, that ■increase its chancesof teaching the breeding age. Muir makes sure to note when he refers to big or little that physical ■ strength and size, have little Some of Muir\u27s pencil annotations from the back of Darwin\u27s published journal (courtesy, of the Halt- Atherton Department of Special. Collections. UOP Libraries).\u27\u27 Jm\u27\u27\u27\u27 --\u27 \u27\u27^ \u27\u27 to do with continued existence. Those with traits unfavored in their environment will not survive to pass on these traits, Thus are the poor biters bitten. Further, Muir referred to the differences in captive and wild sheep. He saw that in captivity sheep became dependent on man. They had lost their ability to act on their own and were helpless without man.8 Darwin had made similar observations of domesticated animals in Origin of the Species. He noted, for instance, that most domesticated animals have drooping ears as a result of a loss of alertness brought on by the protection of life in captivity.9 But Muir injected morality into the mix. He despised the sheep and felt that they were corrupted by man. Darwin\u27s theory of natural selection saw no lines of morality, only the struggle between species for a place in the system. Indeed, it was this lack of morality in nature that slowly eroded Darwin\u27s faith and led him to rule out the participation of God in evolution. How could a loving and compassionate God create, for instance, the Venus\u27 Fly Trap that deliberately misleads an insect by playing towards its attraction and what is presumed to be a survival instinct to bring it to its death? It also follows that if the great - \u27: ; successes and beautiful phenomena of nature were the \u27. \u27.\u27 result of divine creation then so were all the failures and imperfect designs. In a book entirely devoted to orchids, Darwin argued that evolved structures that guarantee insect-aided fertilization are thrown together from parts originally used for other purposes. In short, Darwin believed that if there was a God that was omniscient and omnipotent, He would not be the author of cruelties and waste seen in nature or stoop to trifling works of natural engineering, and He would not be bound to creation through natural laws.10 Where Darwin experienced a loss of faith upon investigating nature, Muir\u27s faith was not only confirmed by the same process but magnified tenfold. Muir appeared to side somewhat with the supporters of special creation, Special creation held that god had created each of the lineages of species individually and then let natural page
A N1) A OW J r\ : God and Evolution in Nature (continued. ■ ) laws control them. Darwin was quite outspoken against this theory for theological as much as scientific reasons. Muir took the theory one step further and contended that nature was not only God\u27s creation but that there was a bit of divinity in everything there because of its source. Creation was ongoing rather than limited to a particular moment. Natural selection and geologic processes were the result of a little hold nudge. Nature was the divine manuscript with which, when a close communication is held, one can learn to know God. While many Darwinists used the theory of evolution to continue to place man in a superior position above the lower animals (and even to argue incorrectly for the superiority of individual races of human beings), Muir felt Darwin had brought humans closer to animals. Muir often took to referring to animals as fellow mortals and little people and personified their day- to-day activities. It could be argued that Muir only made these connections through analogy to persuade the reader to value all life and develop an understanding of animal life through familiar terms. However, it becomes increasingly obvious throughout My First Summer in the Sierra that Muir not only feels kinship with the animals but also with the plants and rocks and rivers and other forces of nature. He even goes so far to suggest that there could be a heart like our own beating in every crystal and cell. Muir believed that everything is involved in one great plan with a great system of interdependency and at the helm is God himself. This idea is evident in Muir\u27s support of the Great Chain of Being theory. According to this theory a sequence of organisms from the more lowly and simple at the bottom to God at the pinnacle exists and is predesigned by God himself. Scientific thought began to condemn this theory before 1800 but Muir continued to find it credible.12 This suggests the need for a general statement about John Muir\u27s approach to scientific interpretation. Muir essentially interpreted his observations through a great deal of Romantic preconception. He did not approach science with the objectivity that brings it credibility. While Muir shaped his observations, to some degree, to fit into his view of nature, Darwin followed the scientific method, allowing his observations to shape his ideals, beliefs, and theories. It must be noted, however, that Muir\u27s purpose was different from Darwin\u27s. In order to convince the general public and government officials, both with limited understanding of science, of the worth of animal species and wilderness, Muir found a romantic appeal much more persuasive than direct science. Indeed, it is rarely science that influences government to act on scientific issues. Muir took it upon himself the task of winning their hearts and minds. In Stickeen, John Muir tells the story of a little dog in the effort to make an argument for intelligence and the presence of a soul in animals. The story tells of a pathetic looking little dog Muir encountered on a trip in Southeast Alaska; on a glacier the animal confronts its fear, revealing to Muir his soul. He argues that too much of what he would call intelligence in animals is attributed by scientists to instinct. Muir claims that Stickeen thought, reasoned and reached the same conclusions as he did and this was due to the dog\u27s intelligence rather than instinct or psychological conditioning. What is especially interesting is that Muir often refers to Stickeen\u27s bravery and courage as what appears at first to be a lack of reason or dullness of perception in the dog. Some would immediately perceive that a lack of reason is exactly what drove the little dog. Pure instinct and conditioning has directed the dog to follow its companion. Muir, however, had already credited the dog with an intellect near that of any man. For this reason Stickeen\u27s actions reflected bravery; it confronted and conquered its fear and this elevated Stickeen to a higher plane in Muir\u27s eyes.13 Darwinian theories hold that intelligence is really a product of thought and experience. Since humans have reached a higher level with regard to the evolution of the brain, they have the capacity to retain more memory of experience. For Darwin, this is the real source of intelligence. Darwin believed that in the absence of a personal God and without the promise of an afterlife, humans can only live life according to the influence of their strongest instincts or those that appear best to the individual. Darwin contended that dogs acted this way but did so blindly or without the benefit of significant memory. Humans have the ability to look back on past experience and weigh these experiences in regard to emotion and desire. Acting on social instincts and working for the good of the species to gain their favor is in the individual\u27s best interest. Sometimes, however, the individual\u27s experience and feelings contrast with those of the masses and that person will look to his innermost judge or conscience to lead him. The ability to reason is a direct product of brain capacity and therefore animals with a lesser brain capacity have a lesser ability to reason. Muir\u27s conclusion was that Stickeen had a soul to guide him.\u27 While Muir and Darwin were in agreement on the observed operations of natural selection and evolution, their views diverged on the issue of God. Darwin could find no place for God in such a random process bound only by a few basic rules. Muir on the other hand, went into the wilderness looking to nature for affirmation of God and his own connection in the world and it was there that he found it. NOTES 1.Gertrude Himmelfarb, Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution, (New York, W.W. Norton and Company Inc., 1962), 390. 2. John Muir, My First Slimmer in the Sierra. (New York, Penguin Books, 1987), 1-32. Himmelfarb, Darwinian Revolution. 38(1-411. 3. Muir, My First Summer, vii-xvi. 4. Adrian Desmond & lames Moore, Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist. (New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 1991), 5-21. 5. Alan Moorhead, Darwin and the Beagle. (New York, Harper and Row, 1970), 19-36. 6. Muir, My First Summer. 1-32. 7. Muir, My First Summer, 45-46. 8. Muir, Mv First Summer. 56-57 & 96-97. 9. Charles Darwin, Origin of the Species. (New York, Penguin Books, 1958), 31-58. 10. Neal C. Gillespie, Charles Darwin and the Problem of Creation. (Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1979), 124-133. 11. Muir, Mv First Summer. 132. 12. Ronald Limbaugh, John Muir\u27s Stickeen and the Lessons of Nature. (Fairbanks, Alaska, University of Alaska Press, 1996), 71-76. 13. John Muir, Stickeen, (The Final Draft of 1887), as taken from Limbaugh, Stickeen and the Lessons of Nature, 115. 14. John Muir, Stickeen (From Limbaugh), 122-125. page 4
Muir and Topography: he Natural Surveyor By Howard R. Cooley unacquainted with the topography of the upper mountains.... 2 Yet, by the third day out he was writing in his journal, The sculpture of the landscape is as striking in its main lines as in its lavish richness of detail; a grand congregation of massive heights with the river shining between, each carved into smooth, graceful folds without leaving a single rocky angle exposed. ..The whole landscape showed design.... 3 And this was only the chaparral covered slopes of Horeshoe Bend in the Sierra foothills! mm n his first rambles only botany was on John Muir\u27s mind. He seemed not yet to have any awareness of topography-wading into the middle of Canadian swamps, rowing against the current of the Wisconsin River, and bushwhacking up steep slippery bluffs. But this is understandable, for a real sense of topography is never learned from books or maps, but is attained from exploring landscapes-following ridges, seeing low passes between cols, the way spur ridges lead upwards and join the rocky spines of main dividing ridges, the meandering ravines forming whole watershed systems with tributaries, headwaters, and opposing slopes. From this a keen observer develops a perception of natural landforms as orderly, and as much a key part of the evolution and ecology of the natural environment as plants and animals and climate. Muir\u27s awareness of topography emerged gradually at first, then matured rapidly, almost as a newly realized revelation. After arriving in California in 1868, Muir and an Englishman, Joseph Chilwell, headed for Yosemite. Hiking up the side of the dividing ridge parallel to the Merced and Tuolumne [Rivers] to Crane Flat...,\u27 they followed a snow-covered trail from which Muir could examine the topography and plan our course. 1 Scouting between headwaters (on ridges) to avoid crossing creeks, he continued; we found our way without the slightest trouble, steering by the topography in a general way along the brow of the canon. From there they pushed eagerly on up the Wawona Ridge to the Mariposa Grove. Like Joseph Walker and John Fremont, Muir scouted his way over the snowy Sierra, but what is important here is that Muir wrote about the topography as well as the trail. Paralleling his studies of plants, animals, and geology was the keystone of all natural environments, topography. Yet this element has not been developed to any degree in the Muir biographies. In the summer of 1869, Muir realized the opportunity before him when Pat Delaney hired him to help drive a band of sheep to the headwaters of the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers
The John Muir Newsletter, Winter 2007/2008
Get PDFMuir SLETTEB YfeRSnY OF THE PACIFIC, STOCKTON, CA Volume 18, Number 1 Winter 2007/20081 John Muir\u27s World Tour (part VI) Introduction by W.R. Swagerty Director, John Muir Center In this, the sixth and final segment of John Muir\u27s World Tour, 1903-1904, we complete his journey from March 2 to May 27, 1904 from open waters in the Tasman Sea to San Francisco. Muir continues writing in his Collin\u27s Paragon Diary, 1904, purchased in Australia and reflecting the calendar for the Southern Hemisphere. This form of journal allowed the author to enter one page per day. If he needed more space, he had to poach empty lines from the previous day or the one that followed. With such tight restrictions and weary from his near- year long travels, Muir\u27s final leg is best described as one of economy of entries, often merely listing the temperature at daybreak and the condition of the skies, with very brief reflection on what has transpired that day. On occasion, there is no entry for a day or so, indicating little of consequence transpired. March 2, 1904: Muir is in rough seas between New Zealand and Australia, having engaged passage on the Zealandia on February 29; most of the passengers suffering from seasickness, ship both pitching and rocking, he notes the following day. Landing in Sydney on March 4, Muir secured a ticket for home via Hong Kong and the Philippines. He then eagerly returned to his favorite haunt, the Sydney Botanical Gardens, where he spent several days botanizing and collecting many specimens to take home to California, some of which he planted on the grounds of his Martinez home; others dried for study and for science. By March 11, Muir was on the road again by stage and by rail in the forests around Sydney, taking in all of the trees, some up to 100 feet high, which caught his attention. Araucaria and Eucalyptus forests, as well as Bunya, some 200 feet tall made for exciting walks in forest, home to enormous spiders and webs and stinging ants, he tells us. Back in Sydney on March 18, Muir labored to dry his plant specimens for the next ten days, nearly all exotic to him prior to this trip. At sea again aboard the Empire, Muir wrote on March 31, Glad to go homeward at last. Passing Brisbane and now in the tropics, Muir observed passing the first of many low coral islands on April 6, observing the atolls and reefs between the outer Great Barrier Reef and the inner fringing reefs as the Empire slowly made her way through these picturesque but dangerous shoals. Once in the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea, Muir\u27s power of observation turned skyward once again, taking in the constellations of the southern skies, and especially the Southern Cross, which shone with beautiful green and blue light on April 9. Rounding the tip of Australia, the Empire docked at Port Darwin on April 11. Always the opportunist, Muir stepped ashore and quickly gathered plants in park and roadside as well as in the Darwin Botanic Garden for the next two days, bringing aboard a large collection of additional specimens. On to Indonesia and the port of Dili in East Timor, a very old Portuguese town dating back to 1520, and noted for its fine groves of Cocoa. Figs, bread fruit, and banian were added to his herbarium prior to (Continued on page 5) r page 1
NeWs & Mot The Old Tramp in New Show John Muir is Back - and Man! Is he Ticked Off! He enters the stage grumbling - mumbling incoherent strings between huffs and puffs - something about incorrigible politicians and unforgivable misdeeds. John Muir is back - and he\u27s more than simply disappointed. Renowned actor Lee Stetson performs this show in Yosemite Valley in his 2601 professional year with a spell-binding, one-man performance as California\u27s best known conservationist, John Muir. In a unique medley of his famous scripts, Stetson blends stories of Muir\u27s adventures in wild America- from Alaska to his beloved Sierra Nevada. Weaving hilarious tales from bear encounters to icy glacier-treks, Stetson spins a yarn like no other. He portrays Muir\u27s deep compassion for the tree- people and his tireless efforts to conserve wild places in America and throughout the world. His normal, animated and happy story-telling is intermittently interrupted by the expressive realization that Lord Man has failed to heed his precautionary words. In this new script, Stetson portrays a sometimes angry and frustrated Muir. His patience is tried and his nerves are tender. He has spent his life battling dams and deforestation. He laments the ruthless extinction of nature\u27s perfect assemblage of glorious species. He puzzles about tourism and hiking as gross distortions of his ideas on how to most purely experience nature\u27s most grand wonders. He rails against the politicians and those who would be swayed by money and power - those who would slay forests and passenger pigeons for the almighty dollar. The conservation movement lives on in this often hilarious and sometimes passionate plea to keep the spirit of John Muir alive. Nature\u27s Beloved Son: Rediscovering John Muir\u27s Botanical Legacy by Bonnie J. Gisel with images by Stephen J. Joseph Foreword by David Rains Wallace Heyday Books, November, 2008 Hardbound, ISBN: 978-1-59714-106-2, 45.00 286 pages (9 x 12), with over 150 images John Muir\u27s inordinate fondness for plants... As a young boy growing up in Wisconsin, John Muir faithfully recorded in his journal that the pasque-flower was a hopeful multitude of large, hairy, silky buds about as thick as one\u27s thumb, and that the lady\u27s slipper orchid in nearby meadows caught the eye of all the European settlers and made them gaze and wonder like children. Muir was blessed early on with a love and aptitude for botany, a field of study that helped him become one of the most influential environmentalists in the world. One realizes, in reading Nature\u27s Beloved Son, how much Muir\u27s successes as an adventurer, writer, and environmental advocate were driven by his belief in nature\u27s irresistible, divine beauty. Surprisingly, little has been written about John Muir the botanist. Environmental historian Bonnie J. Gisel takes us through Muir\u27s evolving relationship with the natural world, touching on his childhood in Scotland and Wisconsin, his sojourn in Canada, his thousand-mile walk from Louisville, Kentucky, to the Gulf of Natures -Belovei 1 Son■ . •■ :»j a -IV ■ 1 1 Mexico, his ecstatic travels in California\u27s Sierra Nevada, and his thrilling exploration of Alaska. Photographer Stephen J. Joseph\u27s breathtaking prints of Muir\u27s botanical specimens related correspondence are artfully presented in this book and provide the backdrop for the story of Muir\u27s great passion for the natural world. About the Author and Photographer: Bonnie J. Gisel is an environmental historian and the curator at the Sierra Club\u27s Le Conte Memorial Lodge in Yosemite National Park. She is the editor of Kindred and Related Spirits: The Letters of John Muir and Jeanne C. Carr (University of Utah Press, 2001) and Nature Journaling with John Muir (Poetic Matrix Press, 2006) and she has lectured extensively and published articles on John Muir as well as issues of environmental literacy. Stephen J. Joseph has been a photographer for more than forty years. His work has been exhibited at the Oakland Museum, the San Francisco Legion of Honor, the Ansel Adams Gallery, and elsewhere, and he has been the Centennial Photographer for the Muir Woods National Monument and an artist in residence for Yosemite\u27s LeConte Memorial Lodge. Source: Heyday Books Fall & Winter 2008 Catalog. (Continued on page 4) The John Muir Newsletter Volume 18, Number 1 Winter 2007/2008 Published Quarterly by The John Muir Center for Environmental Studies University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211 ♦ STAFF ♦ Director W.R. Swagerty Editor W.R. Swagerty Production Assistant Marilyn Norton Unless otherwise noted, all photographic reproductions are courtesy of the John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections University of the Pacific Libraries. Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust This Newsletter is printed on recycled paper page 2
The Unfinished Story of Annie L. Muir By Michael Wurtz Holt-Atherton Special Collections University of the Pacific Library John Muir\u27s sister Annie L. Muir was born on October 5, 1846. Annie and her twin sister Mary were the last of the Muir children to be born in Scotland, and were followed only by Joanna who was bom in 1851 in Wisconsin. Although one of the youngest, Annie was the first of the Muir siblings to die when she passed away in 1903 at the age of 56 in Portage, Wisconsin. She was also the only Muir child never to have married. From reading the correspondence in the John Muir Papers either to or from Annie it becomes evident that she was a prolific letter writer. It is clear, however, that some of her letters were never saved and added to the Papers. For example, she writes to John in the spring of 1862 or 1863, I hardly know how to answer your question, but I suppose our heads were made so that they would not ache when we are in the under side of the globe. If that is not the reason please tell me when you write next. The collection does not include the letter that contained John\u27s original question or the follow-up reason letter either. Annie would almost harangue her friends and family into writing her letters. After she had spent almost four years in Martinez with John, Louie, and the children in the mid-1880s, she writes from the train on her way back to Portage, Please let me find a letter awaiting me there for I long for news of you all and especially of the little girls of whom I find myself.. .thinking of very often. Less than two months after she left the Alhambra Valley, she writes punitively to Wanda and Baby Helen that she did not really think that two-year-old Helen would be writing to her, but expected that seven-year-old Wanda would have made an effort - spelling errors and all. Their mother sheepishly writes back that she is utterly ashamed that she had not written and that Wanda must have forgotten all her letters - about literally. Annie\u27s life is elusive at best. She was probably named for her mother, Ann Gilrye Muir, and may have been part of the motivation for John to name his first daughter Annie Wanda Muir. There is no indication of what the L of her middle name stood for and she is addressed as Annie, Ann, and Anna throughout the letters. In the biographies and writings of John Muir, there are specks of her life. In Linnie Marsh\u27s Son of the Wilderness: The Life of John Muir, Annie and her sister Mary are referred to mostly as the twins. The twins celebrated their third birthday while crossing the Atlantic Ocean on their way to America. The twins were launching forth as teachers. Marsh also reveals that Annie suffered from consumption, and that it had been the reason for her extended trip to Martinez from 1884 to 1888. Other writings about Muir bring up perhaps John\u27s most pointed letter to his twin sisters. In November of 1860 he wrote to them about when he was forced to meet them as newborns, I am sure I would have rather gone to school and got whipt on both hands, but I had to go and kiss them. O my! Kiss such soft, red looking things! But the sun rose sometimes and set sometimes, and things are changed. The relationship between John and Annie is hardly explored more than in that 1860 letter. Also in that letter he specifically addresses Annie and writes, you scolded [me] too, but you did not exhort so much, and I used to scold you more and exhort you more, but I don\u27t think I\u27ll scold you any more. John confides in Annie and her sisters in his letters home while he was living in Canada. He relates a story of when he returned from meeting one Sunday morning and witnessed a cat catch a bird in the house. He chased the cat all over until he caught it with the bird still in its mouth. He tried to save the bird by choking the cat, but I choked her and choked her to make her let it go until I choked her to death, though I did not mean to. He waited and hoped for the next of her nine lives, but to my grief I found that I had taken them all. And the bird did not survive either. When the others returned to the house that afternoon they said, Now John is always scolding us about killing spiders and flies but when we are away he chokes the cats. Annie never left home and lived principally with her mother until she died in 1896. Her father had left the family to pursue a religious group in the early 1870s and died in Kansas City in 1885. Annie was frequently not well. The first documentary evidence of her illness in her letters appeared in the early 1880s when she was preparing to visit the Muirs of the Alhambra Valley, but could not muster the strength to do so. When she did go, it appears that it was mostly for health reasons. In a February 1884, she describes a lung examination that she had. Lower lobe of the right was entirely consolidated, or hepatized [a sign of \u27 pneumonia] ... have coughed more, and the cough hurt me more than before, and I have been raising a little blood. After her visit to California, see stopped by to visit her physician brother Daniel. Wben I was in Lincoln [Nebraska], Dan examined my lungs and throat. He agrees with the San Francisco Physician in saying that my lungs are entirely well. But he seemed to be surprised at the condition of my throat -which he says is very bad indeed. He looked into the upper part of my throat and found the mucus membrane much thick and swollen from chronic inflammation. And the condition farther down is no better. In 1901, Annie shared the house for a while with Dr. West and his family. West, an osteopath ( Osteopathy is not well known here now as it will be in a few years - or perhaps - months. ) gave her free treatment that she thought helped. In October of 1902 she writes, My health is better this year than last. In fact, I scarcely consider myself an invalid now (although I still cough some every day). John Muir wrote to one of his cousins in January 1903, Our sister Anne, one of the twins, died at her home in Portage on the 15th of this month, of Apoplexy, after a week\u27s illness. Only Daniel was there. John continued, I think poor Anne often overtasked herself in church work, in which she was very zealous. These clues of Annie\u27s life hint at much more. There are mentions of her teaching and running a store with her mother. After her return from California in 1888, she was studying phonography (a type of shorthand) so she could be a reporter. It appears that Annie\u27s exploits in California are mostly undocumented. A researcher could attempt to fill in Annie\u27s story and her influence on John Muir by reading what others wrote about her - especially a deeper look into letters between John and his brother Daniel, presumably Annie\u27s doctor, would shed some light on those times. page 3
With Xmas Greetings to Mary, fromTwinnie A-, writes Annie Muir on the back of this photograph from Portage, Wisconsin sometime in the 1890s. Annie suffered from chronic illness, never married, and died at 56, Her letters in the John Muir Papers offer a fleeting glimpse into her life and relationship with her brother. (Fiche 27-1483 John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library. Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust) *1* *£* vl* v\u27- ■».!* *i* *£* *1* *_* %I\u3e *_^ *|\u3e *i* *_* *_* *A* *I* *1* *1* *1* *L* *1* *i* *!• *£* *&* \u3e1* vL* »I* vL* «J\u3e \1* *-!\u27 *!* *i* ^f* JS *J\u3e ^j* rtS *f* *|s ^J\u3c *r* ^J^*J% *j* *j* *^ #^ *y* *J» *J* *J* «^ *y* *j^ #J^ (continued from page 2) NEWS & NOTES A Passion for Nature The Life of John Muir by Donald Worster Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-516682-8 512 pages, 30 halftones, 5 maps Available October 2008 34.95 I am hopelessly and forever a mountaineer, John Muir wrote. Civilization and fever and all the morbidness that has been hooted at me has not dimmed my glacial eye, and I care to live only to entice people to look at Nature\u27s loveliness. My own special self In Donald magisterial Muir\u27s special explored, as is ability, then and see the sacred world. A is the most the great founder of the written. It is the is nothing. Worster\u27s biography, John self is fully his extraordinary now, to get others to beauty of the natural Passion for Nature complete account of conservationist and Sierra Club ever first to be based on Muir\u27s full private correspondence and to meet modem scholarly standards. Yet it is also full of rich detail and personal anecdote, uncovering the complex inner life behind the legend of the solitary mountain man. It traces Muir from his boyhood in Scotland and frontier Wisconsin to his adult life in California right after the Civil War up to his death on the eve of World War One. It explores his marriage and family life, his relationship with his abusive father, his many friendships with the humble and famous (including Theodore Roosevelt and Ralph Waldo Emerson), and his role in founding the modern American conservation movement. Inspired by Muir\u27s passion for the wilderness, Americans created a long and stunning list of national parks and wilderness areas, Yosemite most prominent among them. Yet the book also describes a Muir who was a successful fruit-grower, a talented scientist and world-traveler, a doting father and husband, a self-made man of wealth and political influence. A man for whom mountaineering was a pathway to revelation and worship. For anyone wishing to more fully understand America\u27s first great environmentalist, and the enormous influence he still exerts today, Donald Worster\u27s biography offers a wealth of insight into the passionate nature of a man whose passion for nature remains unsurpassed. About the author: Donald Worster is Hall Distinguished Professor of American History at the University of Kansas. His books include The Wealth of Nature, Under Western Skies, and the Bancroft Prize-winning Dust Bowl. He lives in Lawrence, Kansas. What Would John Muir Say? Edited by Bernice Basser Turoff with photographs by David Best John Muir was truly a Renaissance man. Scientist, poet, ardent conservationist, inventor, political activist, and tramp— he casts an enormous shadow over the environmental movement he helped to form in his adopted California. His many achievements include founding the Sierra Club, and influencing the formation of our National Park System. His last big battle, to preserve Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, was sadly lost with the construction of O\u27Shaughnessy Dam in 1923. What Would John Muir Say? takes you on a visual journey through John Muir\u27s beloved natural landscapes. It examines the possibility of restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley, and explores some of Muir\u27s insightful thoughts and observations about the glorious world he loved and celebrated. With 82 oversized pages of stunning photographs, this book offers a wonderful introduction to the humorous, poetic musing of this great American hero. For further information: David Best 5909 E. Armstrong Road Lodi, CA 95240 209 368 2378 panoramaman@earthlink. net www.panoramaman.net page 4
John Muir\u27s World Tour (Continued from page I) setting out through the Sulu Strait for Manila, which was reached on April 20. Three more days of visiting government forest operations and botanizing added yet more specimens to Muir\u27s baggage as the Empire steamed on to Hong Kong, arriving on the 25*. One last chance to visit a formal botanical garden and then a change of ships, Muir sailed upriver, bound for Canton, through numerable islands which he compared with the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska. Now aboard the coal-fired mail packet, S. S. Siberia, courtesy of railroad tycoon and philanthropist Edward Harriman, the journey took Muir to Shanghai then on to Nagasaki, arriving on May 5. Cultural excursions to a Shinto Temple and walks through Japanese gardens introduced Muir to yet another main tree, the Camphor, which he described as noble, with its impressive girth of 3 to 8 feet in diameter, 4 feet above ground. On to Kobe, via the Inland Sea, every feature glacial, Muir notes. Impressed with the cleanliness of towns having no squalor, unlike much of Asia that he had seen, as well as the beauty of water features, tea gardens, and hillsides, Japan made a favorable and lasting impression on Muir. Once, in Yokohama, he reacquainted himself with the crew of the Bayern, my first home after escaping from the hardships and privations of Russian travel on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, months earlier. Leaving Yokohama on May 12, wet weather and rough seas left everybody with colds, writes Muir. Ten days later, the Hawaiian Islands came into view. A stop in Honolulu allowed Muir a brief visit to Pali, the Bishop Museum and Oahu College, where Muir had acquaintances from years prior. Sorry to leave this charming island, Muir reluctantly reboarded ship on Sunday, May 23, spending the next few days drying yet more plant specimens from Hawaii, a place where he keenly noted, many introduced plants were in process of replacing native vegetation. A week later, Muir was home, docking in San Francisco on May 27, exhausted but energized by his many new botanical discoveries and the cargo of seeds, dried specimens, and publications he had acquired during his World Tour, near-a-year in the field. Once home, we assume Muir had intentions to write up his year-long tour, but he never carved out time to do so. On June 4, Muir wrote C. Hart Merria
The John Muir Newsletter, Spring 2002
Get PDF\f Volume 12, Number 2 NEWSLETTER Nature\u27s Temple: John Muir\u27s Spiritual Home by The Rev. Chris Highland, Marin County (Edited from an original paper delivered at the California History Institute/University of the Pacific John Muir Conference; May, 2001.) In our best times everything turns into religion, f;lj all the world seems a church and the mountains altars. ~ My First Summer in the Sierra homeless person told me recently that he wasn\u27t homeless. He was tired after a long walk; his clothes were a little dirty; his hair and bushy beard were messed up and he reacted against a city dweller complaining about all these street people like him. This bush dweller looked at me with piercing blue eyes, shook his head and almost shouted, I\u27m not homeless. I\u27m houseless! My home is with God in Nature. I wondered if this guy was John Muir reincarnated! I smile to think what John Muir would say if he heard this young man. He might admire his honest attitude, and begin peppering him with salty questions about savoring life beyond the confines of the city. Man, Where is the Wild?! In his journals, Muir urged us out of our comfortable but dissatisfying urban existence. He said, if most of humanity must go through this town state of development, then we surely and sorely need to head into Nature as a diver coming to the surface of the water to breathe. 1 So let us figuratively take a deep draught of forest mountain air, and seek out Muir\u27s true home. John Muir\u27s coming home is the universal metaphor for the spiritual journey, the ultimate high. It is the pinnacle of our soul\u27s climb to the stars with the scars of painful and joyful adventure. I would argue, if I really had to, that his message is a deep draw of fresh air, a prophetic announcement, the torah, gospel, dharma and The Word for today - especially for today\u27s rat-racing, tail-chasing, cell-phoning addicted world. What is it we need so much that John Muir had? What makes John Muir\u27s home our home, and how do we really get there? The easy answer is given by Muir himself. Just go. Don\u27t hesitate, levitate! Lighten up! Get you up and out and into the wild house with the sky-blue or star-strewn roof. Again in his journals Muir lamented our sloppiness and sleepiness: It is interesting to note the thinking of those who, brought up in the shadows of city business, have been sleeping all their lives. People need awakening, so he goes on to slap us awake: So much need is there for change of scene, new points of view.2 So MUCH need. Wouldn\u27t all readers agree? It would be too easy to slip into a sermon here; Muir might, but I am not a sermon-loving minister. I am a nature- loving pathfinder who tries to track Muir. Not to follow too literally in his footsteps - though in Scotland and the Sierras I think I\u27ve sauntered in his soles a few steps - but to trace the track of his soul along the contours and landscapes of this wide-open, ecumenical house we call Planet Earth.3 Much has been written about Muir\u27s religious sense and sensibilities. Some even reflect and analyze the parallels to other traditions that interweave, with a touch of imagination, throughout his mental meanderings. I, like others, recognize and celebrate his contribution to the history of interreligious understanding. But what I want to focus on transcends the Scottish Scootcher\u27s significance as a blow-the-doors-off kind of unnatural naturalist as far as religion is concerned. I want to say a few words that urge us toward creating a home-base, a base-camp, a community that practices what Muir calls a new point of view - an awakening of the heart and the mind to a new, daily experience of the sacred Temple of Nature. In 2000, while tracking Muir\u27s spirit through Scotland, I attended a church whose doors had welcomed the Muir (continued on page 8) UNIVERSITY O F T M R JK G I page 1
News & Notes JOHN MUIR MUSICAL SCHEDULED FOR AN EXTENDED RUN!! Mountain Days, the John Muir Musical, was so popular with audiences last year, that it has been scheduled for this year again from August 1-25 at the John Muir Amphitheater on the Martinez waterfront. Grounds open at 6:00 p.m. for picnicking and pre-show activities, and the performance is at 8:00 p.m. Tickets may be ordered at (925) 798-1300, or via the website: www.willowstheatre.org From the Beginning Mountain Days is a Broadway-style musical based on the life, vision and legacy of John Muir. Originally conceived by Richard Elliott, Artistic Director of the Willows Theatre Company, Mountain Days was commissioned by the Willows Theatre in conjunction with the Concord Pavilion Associates as the showcase event of the 2000 Arts Millennium Festival, a celebration of the arts in Contra Costa County. Tony Award nominee Mary Bracken Phillips provided the book and lyrics and internationally renowned composer Craig Bohmler wrote the sweeping score. Mountain Days premiered in October, 2000, at the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord for four performances with an attendance of nearly 10,000 and earned high critical praise. The concept of presenting the show as an annual event was received with tremendous support from the City of Martinez (home of John Muir and the Muir National Historic Site), and the 1,100 seat John Muir Amphitheater was constructed in the Martinez Waterfront Park for the 2001 presentation. Eight performances, most of which were sold out, garnered additional critical acclaim with the critics agreeing that the intimacy of the venue and the waterfront location were indeed welcome additions to the project. What\u27s new in 2002? Mountain Days, returns to the John Muir Amphitheater in August 2002 with 16 performances. Between 6:00 and curtain at 8:00 guests may engage in a variety of activities. Exhibitors and vendors, all in keeping with the Muir vision, will be on site pre-show and during intermission. From 6:30 to 7:30 most evenings, pre-show presentations by individuals such as Garth Gilcrest, Cherry Good, Ross Hanna and Harold Wood will appear. Seating for pre-show presentations will be limited to several hundred. Children\u27s pre-show activities will include readings with Donnel Rubay, Benicia\u27s author of the award winning book, Stickeen, and artistic adventures with Susan Barry, famous for her mountain paintings as well as her creative work involving children and nature. Each night a different activity will take place for children as well as adults. George E. Gruell, a retired federal wildlife photographer, has just published a book in which he matches his own photographs of the Sierra with images he consulted that were produced in the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century. He photographed the same peaks and boulders from the angles taken in the earlier photographs, sometimes hiking into the areas of interest and sometimes using a helicopter. His project has documented the fact that the forest has filled in so that it is often much denser, and lush growth is much more pronounced now than a century ago. Some wildlife cannot thrive in such dense forests, although in other cases the dense growth is a decided advantage. Factors that caused these changes include heavy livestock grazing that opened up the soil so that seed-lings took root; also logging cleared the way for new growth; a wet climatic cycle; and the decades of anti-fire policies which reduced wildfires. This work, partially subsidized by the logging industry, recommends prescribed burns, and less restrictive limits on logging. Gruell\u27s book is entitled Fire in Sierra Nevada Forest: A Photographic Interpretation of Ecological Change Since 1849. Whether or not a reader finds the arguments convincing, the photographs are of great interest. NEWSLETTER Volume 12, Number 2 Spring 2002 Published quarterly by The John Muir Center for Environmental Studies University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211 ♦ Staff ♦ Editor Sally M. Miller Production Assistants ... Marilyn Norton, Pearl Piper All photographic reproductions are courtesy of the John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Libraries. Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust. This Newsletter is printed on recycled paper. page 2
The Evolution of John Muir: Scientist and Mystic by Mikel Vause, Ph.D., Weber State University Even though A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf was printed in 1916, two years after Muir\u27s death, it still represents his break with conventional society which took place, as Muir himself put it, after leaving the Wisconsin University of the Wilderness. 1 It was during the trek recounted in A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf that Muir came to a realization of his love of nature and his hope to live in it forever. In the notebook he carried with him, Muir listed his address as John Muir, Earth-Planet, Universe. 2 This walk started in late August of 1867, only seven months after an eye injury when, after a short visit home to the University of Wisconsin, he left Indianapolis, Indiana, for Florida. He then hoped to set off from Florida to South America, but illness in Cuba curtailed that part of this adventure. Muir returned to New York by boat, ill with fever, where he laid over and made a change in his plans. Instead of South America he decided to go to California. ft; By leaving the University of Wisconsin after two years of study of readings in the classics and natural sciences as well as an introduction to Transcendentalism, especially the writings of Emerson and Thoreau, for the University of Wilderness, Muir not only left behind friends and family but also his Calvinistic religious tradition of predestination and hard work for the mystic religion found in the wilderness. Muir\u27s love of freedom, combined with what Fredric Ives Carpenter called Pragmatic Mysticism, are found in Muir\u27s descriptions of landscape which can be referred to as Islands of Ideality. These early illustrations depict a young man, more scientist than transcendentalist, yet one can detect the transcendental seed starting to grow. | An example of this transition illustrates Muir as both scientist and poet, and is used here in the same order and variants as they appear in Muir\u27s own writing: , This cave had an opening about ten feet in diameter, and twenty-five feet perpendicular depth. A ,; strong cold wind issued from it and I could hear the sounds of running water. A long pole was set against its walls as if intended for a ladder, but in some places it was slippery and smooth as a mast and would test the climbing powers of a monkey. The walls and rim of this natural reservoir were finely carved and flowered. Bushes leaned over it ft with shading leaves, and beautiful ferns and mosses were in rows and sheets on its slopes and shelves. Lingered here a long happy while, pressing specimens and printing this beauty into memory.3 Muir leads the reader into this special place first by providing some physical facts regarding the landscape and location of this variant: This cave opening [was] ten feet in diameter and twenty-five feet perpendicular depth and also by furnishing a description of the pole. By using examples of what he felt and saw, and also the description of his physical activity, Muir allows the reader to participate with him in nature. Then comes the Island, beginning with a scientific description containing the basic geological element with one life component, plants and his effective plant-pressing comparison. Pressing this beauty into memory, provides a record of a short transcendence from the actual world of the cave entrance into the ideal world of beauty and harmony. Another interesting illustration of Muir\u27s movement from scientist to poet is found in the following description of Bonaventure graveyard. Muir guides the reader down a desolate, hot, dusty road, and with graphic description causes the reader to participate with him in the harmonious natural beauty he found in the grand old forest graveyard: October 9. After going again to the express office and post office, and wandering about the streets, I found a road which led me to the Bonaventure graveyard. If that burying-ground across the sea of Galilee, mentioned in Scripture, was half as beautiful as Bonaventure, I do not wonder that a man should dwell among the tombs. It is only three or four miles from Savannah, and is reached by a smooth white shell road. There is but little to be seen on the way in land, water, or sky, that would lead one to hope for the glories of Bonaventure. The ragged desolate fields, on both sides of the road, are overrun with coarse rank weeds, and show scarce a trace of cultivation. But soon all is changed. Rickety log huts, broken fences, and the last patch of weedy rice-stubble are left behind, you come to beds of purple liatris and living wild- wood trees. You hear the song of birds, cross a small stream, and are with Nature in the grand old forest graveyard, so beautiful that almost any sensible person would choose to dwell here with the dead rather than with the lazy, disorderly living. Part of the grounds was cultivated and planted with live-oak, about a hundred years ago, But much the greater part is undisturbed. Even those spots which are disordered by art, Nature is ever at work to reclaim, and to make them look as if the foot of man had never known them. The most conspicuous glory of Bonaventure is its noble avenue of live-oaks. They are the most magnificent planted trees I have ever seen, about fifty feet high and perhaps three or four feet in diameter, with broad spreading leafy heads. The main branches reach out horizontally until they come together over the driveway, embowering it throughout its entire length, while each branch is adorned like a garden with ferns, flowers, grasses and dwarf palmettos.4 Muir gives, here, an unusual example of unity and harmony in nature in his description of the graveyard. Muir alludes to the harmonious and powerful effects of nature and the desire it has to maintain harmony. He says, Even those spots which are disordered by art, Nature is ever at work to reclaim, and to make them look as if the foot of man had never touched them. The contrast between the Actual World of man and the Ideal World of Nature is especially interesting in its insistence on the self-restorative energy of page 3
nature and the contrast to the negative, disorderly world of man. Later, in A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf, Muir discourses on the true harmony of life and earth, concluding that a just appreciation will provide solace and peace: But let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparatable unity, as taught in the woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life, and that the grave has no victory for it never fights. All is divine harmony.5 For Muir, Bonaventure represents, in all its Natural beauty, a perfect union of the Actual and Ideal Worlds. Muir next directs the reader into another ideal example of harmonious nature\u27s physical components, i.e. the geological aspect united with the three life components of plant, insect and animal life. The framework is set with an introductory paragraph of lists of plants and measurements; the example itself follows in the language of the poet which is succeeded by a taxonomic listing of factual detail: But of all the parts of these curious tree-gardens the most striking and characteristic is the so-called long Moss (Tillandsia usneoides). It drapes all the branches from top to bottom, hanging in long silvery-gray skeins, reaching a length of not less than eight or ten feet, and when slowly waving in the wind they produce a solemn funeral effect singularly impressive. There is [sic] also thousands of smaller trees and clustered bushes, covered almost from sight in the glorious brightness of their own light. The place is half surrounded by the salt marshes and islands of the river, their reeds and sledges making delightful fringe. Many bald eagles roost among the trees, their screams are heard every morning, joined with the noise of the crows and the songs of the countless warblers, hidden deep in their dwellings of leafy bowers. Large flocks of butterflies, all kinds of happy insects, seem to be in a perfect fever of joy and sportive gladness. The whole place seems like the center of life. The dead do not reign there alone. Bonaventure to me is one of the most impressive assemblages of animal and plant creatures I ever met. I was fresh from the Western prairies, the gardenlike openings of Wisconsin, the beech and maple and oak woods of Indiana and Kentucky, the dark mysterious Savannah cypress forests; but never since I was allowed to walk the woods have I found so impressive a company of trees as the Tillandsia-draped oaks of Bonaventure.6 Muir concludes this illustration with a Whitmanesque listing of trees, states, and other details just as he opens in a lesser sense listing all his surroundings. Both sets of lists bring the reader closer to the actual experiences so important to Muir. Muir made some interesting observations during his thousand-mile walk in regard to the harmony in nature and the status of all living things. After his visit to Bonaventure graveyard, Muir attacks man\u27s lofty conceptions of himself and, by so doing, supports the philosophy represented by the transcendentalists that all is in harmony in the Ideal World and it is necessary that all earthly (actual) things work together in order to bring about the uniting of the Ideal and the Actual. In order to present Muir\u27s attack on the human animal, Muir\u27s own words provide the clearest and most powerful illustration, and are quoted in their entirety: The world, we are told, was made especially for man - a presumption not supported by all the facts. A numerous class of men are [sic] painfully astonished whenever they find anything, living or dead, in all God\u27s universe, which they cannot eat or render in some way what they call useful to themselves. They have precise dogmatic insight of the intentions of the Creator, and it is hardly possible to be guilty of irreverence in speaking of their God any or than of heathen idols. He is regarded as a civilized law-abiding gentleman in favor either of a republican form of government or of a limited monarchy; believes in the literature and language of England; is a warm supporter of the English constitution and Sunday schools and missionary societies; and is as purely a manufactured article as any puppet of a half-penny theater. With such views of the Creator it is, of course, not surprising that erroneous views should be entertained of the creation. To such properly trimmed people, the sheep, for example, is an easy problem - food and clothing for us, eating grass and daisies while by divine appointment for this predestined purpose, on perceiving the demand for wool that would be occasioned by the eating of the apple in the Garden of Eden. In the same pleasant plan, whales are storehouses of oil for us, to help out the star in lighting our dark way until the discovery of the Pennsylvania oil wells. Among plants, hemp, to say nothing of the cereals, is a case of evident destination for ships\u27 rigging, wrapping packages, and hanging the wicked. Cotton is another plain case of clothing. Iron was made for hammers and ploughs, and lead for bullets; all intended for us. And so of other small handfuls of insignificant things. But if we should ask these profound expositors of God\u27s intentions, How about those man-eating animals - lions, tigers, alligators - which smack their lips over raw man? Or about those myriads of noxious insects that destroy labor and drink his blood? Doubtless man was intended for food and drink for all these: Oh, no Not at all These are unresolvable difficulties connected with Eden\u27s apple and the Devil. Why does water drown its lord? Why do so many minerals poison him? Why are so many plants and fishes deadly enemies? Why is the lord of creation subjected to the same laws of life as his subjects? Oh, all these things are satanic, or in some way connected with the first garden. Now, it never seems to occur to these farseeing page 4
teachers that Nature\u27s object in making animals and plants might possibly be first of all the happiness of each one of them, not the creation of all for the happiness of one. Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? And what creature of all that the Lord has taken the pains to make is not essential to the completeness of that unit - the cosmos? The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge. From the dust of the earth, from the common elementary fund, the Creator has made Homo sapiens. From the same material he has made every other creature, however noxious and insig- : nificant to us. They are earth-born companions and our fellow mortals. The fear-fully good, the orthodox, of this laborious patchwork of modem civilization cry Heresy on every one whose sympathies reach a single hair\u27s breadth beyond the boundary epidermis of our own species. Not content with taking all of earth, they also claim the celestial country as the only ones who possess the kind of souls for which that imponderable empire was planned. This star, our own good earth, made many a successful journey around the heavens ere man was made, and whole kingdoms of creatures enjoyed existence and returned to dust ere man appeared to claim them. After huma
The John Muir Newsletter, Fall 2000
Get PDFI J \u27 Ov Volume 10, Number 4 NEWSLETTER I Fall 2000 A Sense of the Natural by Richard F. Fleck w rom the time of my first published essay about a Maine sea coast tidal pool in June, 1954 (when I was not quite seventeen), until now, some forty-six fpars later, my major source of inspiration has been the Batural world, be it the Irish Mountains of Mourne rolling flown to the sea or the rocky coast of Maine, or the windy Himmits of Longs Peak, Colorado or Mount Fuji, Japan, ■have always delighted in the smell of turf fire smoke ■sing from a cottage on a rainy Irish day or the briny ■bell of crashing surf along the coast of Maine or the sound of pipits piping their notes high above treeline in (jocky Mountain National Park or the sound of a Shinto :|bng reverberating high above the countryside from the snows of Mount Fuji. Perhaps my initial serious encounter with literature ;Was in grade school where I was first exposed to Henry David Thoreau\u27s Walden. I much admired his ability to tftpture in words the essence of a New England summer lr autumn day, and particularly delighted in his fascination with North American tribal cultures to the extent that he lived Indian style at Walden Pond. In high school fpd college I reached out to other writers such as John fjpuir, Aldo Leopold, Loren Eisely, Edwin Way Teale and Sally Carrighar. Muir brought me, through his vivid imagery, to the lush alpine meadows of the high Sierra. ||e created in my mind a reality more forceful sometimes ||an the actual place itself. In later years I turned to Native American writers including N. Scott Momaday\u27s Way to Rainy Mountain Bid Leslie Silko\u27s Ceremony. They helped me to behold |ihd remember the earth in ways I had never done before. Silko\u27s essay Landscapes and the Pueblo Imagination says it all. The Native American beholder of southwestern landscapes becomes the very landscapes themselves. I remember reading a poem by a Blackfeet Indian about a violent lightning storm in the Montana Rockies. The poet became the mountain and felt the sting of the lightning bolts on his chest. I had two great international experiences, one being a sabbatical leave (from the University of Wyoming) for the better part of a year in Ireland and the other being an exchange professor of English at Osaka University, Japan. My Irish project was to assess the influence of Thoreau, Ghandi and King on the Northern Ireland civil disobedience movement which led me to the writings of William Butler Yeats, AE, George Moore and John Stewart Purnell. Their writings enriched my appreciation for the rich green fields of Ireland to such a degree that Ireland has become my second home. As a result of five long stays in Ireland, I have written a novel, Clearing of the Mist, first published by Dustbooks in 1979 and to be reissued as an expanded second edition by Domhan Books later this year. The novel concerns the struggles of a young Irish Protestant lad by the name of Brian McBride who suffers through the potato famine, comes to America as a railway worker on the Fitchburg line along the shores of Walden Pond and is stationed as a recruit at Fort Laramie in the Dakota Territory. He quickly realizes the forceful parallel of the conditions of the Irish and the American Indians and quits the military to join forces with the Shoshone tribe. But after a series of misfortunes including his Indian bride being killed by advancing troopers, he returns to his native land to fight for home rule. Long after his death, two IRA rebels stumble across (continued page 7) UN I V E R S I T Y OR page 1 F» A C I R I C
News & Notes BONNIE GISEL It is with great pleasure that the John Muir Center announces the appointment of Dr. Bonnie J. Gisel as Interim Director of the John Muir Center. She holds a Ph.D. from Drew University where she wrote her dissertation on Jeanne Carr, John Muir\u27s lifelong friend and mentor. Dr. Gisel earlier earned several other degrees, including a M.Div. from Harvard University. She also has published several articles, has taught college, and worked as a Park Ranger at the Woman\u27s Rights National Park in Seneca Falls, New York. While at UOP, she is also Visiting Professor of Environmental Studies, and in Spring, 2001, will offer a Special Topic course on Frederick Law Olmsted and John Muir: From Central Park to Yosemite Valley, Developing the American Landscape. Dr. Gisel is Program Coordinator for the May 4-6, 2001, 53rd California History Institute. The topic is John Muir: Family and Friends. Our next issue will describe the program in detail. For now, all Muir fans will want to save these dates! THE SIERRA INSTITUTE The Sierra Institute, UC Santa Cruz, has announced several courses of interest: Re wilding of California: Ecology and Conservation, April 4-May 29 - Traveling from Big Sur to the Sierra Nevada to the wild North Coast, this program will provide skills to understand ecology and management issues, and act upon them. Three courses: Natural Ecosystems, Ecosystem Management, and Wilderness Education. Nature and Cultural Ecology and Environmental Issues, April 4-May 29 - Interdisciplinary exploration of the boundaries between wilderness and civilization. Hikes in Death Valley, Big Sur, the Sierra Nevada, and Mount Shasta while studying cultural ecology and environmental issues from forests and fisheries to sacred lands and sus- tainability. Three courses: Introduction to Cultural Ecology, Perspectives on Nature, and Introduction to Wilderness Education. Desert Field Studies: The Canyons of Time, April 4- May 29 - Study natural history and nature writing in the redrock canyons of the Colorado Plateau. Explore the desert in the wildlands of the ancient Anasazi. Three courses: Natural History of the Colorado Plateau, Introduction to Nature Writing, and Practicum: Introduction to Wilderness Education. California Wilderness: Nature, Philosophy and Religion, April 4-May 29 - Backpacking in four of California\u27s premier wild areas; Death Valley, Big Sur, the Yolla Bolly Mountains, and the Sierra Nevada are the setting for investigations of nature\u27s influential role in literature, philosophy and religion. Three courses: American Nature Philosophers, Perspectives on Nature, and Practicum: In-troduction to Wilderness Education. For Program Information: Indicate the program title(s) and academic quarter(s) you are interested in. Phone (831) 427-6618 for more information. Sierra Institute, UCSC Extension, 1101 Pacific Avenue, Suite 200, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. E-mail: [email protected] - Web site: http//:www.ucsc-extension.edu/sierra MOUNTAIN DAYS: THE JOHN MUIR MUSICAL Mountain Days: The John Muir Musical was performed at the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord, California in October, 2000. This full-scale Broadway-style musical focuses on the story of John Muir and Louie Strenzel, and offers a different view of Muir than what is usually emphasized. Theirs is portrayed as a lifelong love story that was strong enough to withstand Muir\u27s long absences as he traveled the Sierra, Alaska, and other places. The play starts with Muir in his Scotland boyhood, and includes his greatest success in winning for Yosemite the status of a national park, and his greatest disappointment, the loss of the Hetch Hetchy. The play, which was very well received, is the work of Richard Elliott of Concord, with music by Craig Bohmler. It featured a cast of 83 (including Teddy Roosevelt and William Keith!) as well as two horses and a sheep. It is hoped that the play will be performed on a regular basis, perhaps at the John Muir National Historical Site in Martinez, California. JOHN MUIR POPS UP IN THE MOST UNEXPECTED PLACES An article in the June 2000 issue of the Smithsonian magazine on bighorn sheep quotes Muir a few times. For example, it quotes from his chapter on bighorns in The Mountains of California. Watching bighorns climb an icy slope, Muir wrote that this was the most startling feat of mountaineering I had ever witnessed, and considering only the mechanics of the thing, my astonishment could hardly have been greater had they displayed wings and taken to flight. So be on the lookout for Muir in whatever you read! NEWSLETTER Volume 10, Number 4 Fall 2000 Published quarterly by The John Muir Center for Regional Studies University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211 ♦ Staff ♦ Editor Sally M. Miller Production Assistants ... Marilyn Norton, Pearl Piper All photographic reproductions are courtesy of the John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific Libraries. Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust. This Newsletter is printed on recycled paper. page 2
MuirAs Ecologist: A Note by Howard R. Cooley, San Jose, CA John Muir is viewed as an ecologist. Many IStters have used such terms as ecological con- •jts in that context, but none as yet seems to have \u27 en willing to emphasize fully that Muir was an ecologist. In a few scattered instances Muir himself used a term such as the balance of nature, so he ::clearly knew the concept. One of his Sunnyside servations from 1873 is a detailed description of the different microclimates of the north and south tils, ledges, and recesses of Yosemite Valley as \u27 (ermined by sunshine and shade. Muir was familiar with the writings of earlier naturalists such as •limboldt, Darwin, Linnaeus, and Thoreau, and was close friends with Asa Gray and C. Hart Merriam who both influenced and advanced scientific ecol- ;\u27V and who in return were influenced to some ree by the works of Muir. Muir\u27s observations of life zones in relation to (he diverse variety of topography, geology, elevation, and climates were among the earliest recorded. For example, in his journal for August, 1873, he noted conifers on canyon floors, wild cherry and alder at 7,000 feet, Anemone occidentalis Growing among rough slate avalanche blocks. . .at an ele- tion of eighty-four hundred feet, Willows and whitebark pine at treeline, wildflowers and ferns I ong the poor, rocky wilderness, and atop alpine peaks along with marmots, bees, butterflies, and ;;fiies, and more flowering plants on one place where a high wall-faced rock reflects the sun heat. . .at an altitude of eleven thousand five hundred feet. How fully, wrote Muir, are all the forms and languages of waters, winds, trees, flowers, birds, rocks, subor- ated to the primary structure of the mountains. .. The word Oecologie was first used by the rman biologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866. The term .-ological thought includes the broad scientific, nomic, philosophical, and literary connections of interactive fabric of life. Although the science of logy as we know it today was not well developed lohn Muir\u27s time, he certainly can be called an logical thinker. Through his literary career Muir : dressed geological history and forest evolution, lit rhythms of change and the cycles of days and ■ sons, and the underlying wholeness and harmony lature. He anticipated and presaged the ecological ethic, helped to develop the social and political mechanisms necessary to establish and protect national parks, forests, and wilderness preserves, and contributed some of the most enduring nature writing. It has been said that Muir was a whole man or generalist. He was not a specialist in any one field: he was a skilled botanist, geologist, zoologist, and mountaineer, as well as a philosopher. When Muir roamed the wilderness, he observed and studied everything around him - plants, rocks, landforms, insects, birds, mammals, even clouds - all the while taking immense pleasure in the whole scene. Many professionals of the time considered Muir a scientist. A few even implored him to accept a professorship at one or another prestigious eastern university, some of which eventually bestowed upon him several honorary degrees. When Muir met the geographer Henry Fielding Reid in Alaska in 1880, Reid invited Muir to work with his expedition and introduced him to the team of eight students as Professor Muir. Even though the words ecology or ecological do not appear in Muir\u27s writings, the concept is evident, as in his essays on Sequoias or in his geological studies or his wilderness philosophy. Especially noteworthy in this vein was his walk toward Mount Ritter in \u27A Near View of the High Sierra,\u27 in The Mountains of California. Furthermore, it is significant how frequently modern environmentalists give weight to Muir\u27s accomplishments, and they generally vindicate his findings. In John Muir\u27s writings, and in the biographical narratives, the scholar may trace the development of Muir\u27s ecological thinking from his arrival in California to his studies as an explorer and scientist in the Central Valley, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the Coast Ranges, and to his roles as an activist for preservation and a messenger of the wilderness. ENDNOTES 1. Numerous such passages are found throughout Muir\u27s published works, most of which were first in his magazine articles. But the journal entries cited above are important because they are primary sources. 2. See Michael P. Cohen, The Pathless Way: John Muir and American Wilderness (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1984), pp. 151-153, and 190-193. Cohen is one of the most distinguished of modern environmental scholars. page 3
Restore Hetch Hetchy t By Ron Good Chair, Board of Directors of RESTORE HETCH HETCHY, a California non-profit corporation Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people\u27s cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the heart of man. John Muir Mention Hetch Hetchy Valley to visitors to Yosemite National Park and the response of many is immediate: a heartfelt feeling of deep sadness for what has been lost, and a fervent hope that what has been lost can somehow be regained for park visitors, for the people of the United States, for the people of the world, for the plants and animals, and for the glorious granite walls and booming waterfalls of Hetch Hetchy Valley. Probably no issue symbolizes the environmental movement\u27s historical role in protecting the earth\u27s natural wonders as does its effort to preserve and restore Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite Park. Following a fierce nationwide debate led by John Muir, the City of San Francisco was authorized by the U.S. Congress, in the Raker Act of 1913, to construct a dam and reservoir on the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. The O\u27Shaugh- nessy Dam was completed in 1923 and, after the necessary pipelines and power houses were completed, San Francisco began using water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for its water supply and electrical power generation. John Muir, known as the Father of our National Parks, called Hetch Hetchy Valley a wonderfully exact counterpart of Yosemite Valley. . . a grand landscape garden, one of Nature\u27s rarest and most precious mountain temples. Hetch Hetchy Valley, in the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River, should be restored to its natural condition in order to allow one of nature\u27s rarest and most precious mountain temples to be available for public enjoyment, to be reintegrated into its natural ecological and biological systems, and to provide for scientific exploration. Another reason to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley is to preserve the integrity and inviolate status of our national parks. As a 1988 report prepared by the Bureau of Reclamation for the National Park Service states: Such restoration would renew the national commitment to maintaining the integrity of the national park system and keep in perpetual conservation an irreplaceable and unique natural area. The goal of RESTORE HETCH HETCHY is to accomplish a win-win outcome for Hetch Hetchy Valley, and for the cities of the Bay Area and the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation Districts that rely on Hetch Hetchy water and power drop for drop, kilowatt for kilowatt, and dollar for dollar to the extent that is technically feasible. A wonderfully talented group of people has been assembled to accomplish the goals of RESTORE HETCH HETCHY, which includes naturalists, restoration ecolo- gists, investment bankers, attorneys, engineers, economists, public policy and public finance experts, teachers, university professors, river enthusiasts, musicians, actors, artists, and photographers. RESTORE HETCH HETCHY IS: ** raising funds to conduct a feasibility study by competent experts to outline in detail how Hetch Hetchy Valley can be restored in a way that presents a win- win outcome for the City of San Francisco and other Bay Area water and power users; ** implementing an aggressive public education and outreach campaign that includes coalition building with like-minded organizations, and a petition drive targeted at the Secretary of the Interior; ** preparing a new educational video; ** conducting educational outings to Hetch Hetchy, and through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River; ** making plans for a new book: Hetch Hetchy Valley A Grand Landscape Garden with John Muir\u27s exuberant writing, beautiful paintings by Albert Bierstadt, and photography by award-winning photographers; and, ** assembling materials for sample lesson plans for outdoor educators and classroom teachers. WHAT YOU CAN DO: RESTORE HETCH HETCHY is spearheading the effort to restore Hetch Hetchy Valley. Your involvement is welcomed! We invite you to: 1. Visit the RESTORE HETCH HETCHY website, which includes early and modern-day photographs and paintings of Hetch Hetchy Valley, at www.hetchhetchy.org 2. Encourage organizations to which you belong to pass a resolution of support for restoring Hetch Hetchy Valley. 3. Circulate a petition encouraging the Secretary of the Interior to support restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley. 4. Visit Hetch Hetchy, take photographs, and write articles about your experiences for newspapers and for newsletters of organizations to which you belong. 5. Contact Ron Good, Chair of the Board of Directors of RESTORE HETCH HETCHY, P.O. Box 289, Yosemite, CA 95389; e-mail: [email protected] 6. Volunteer your expertise (volunteer organizing and outreach, outings enthusiast, engineering, economics, geology, law, photography, painting). Thanks for your help! Together, we can, as John Muir said, do something to make the mountains glad. page 4
John Muir: Family & Friends A Conference sponsored by the John Muir Center for Regional Studies, University of the Pacific 53rd Annual California History Institute May 4 - 6, 2001 On May 4, 5, and 6, 2001, the University of the Pacific will host a John Muir Conference, John Muir: Family & Friends. This three-day conference, the 53rd California History Institute and the fifth on John Muir, will be held at UOP\u27s Feather River Inn ated near Quincy, California, in the Plumas National Forest. Participants and guests will be .■shuttled to the Inn from the Reno Airport and from ihe UOP campus in Stockton. The CHI 2001 con-ference, John Muir: Family & Friends, will define broadly related themes and create a web of inquiry and discussion from which will emerge new interpretations of Muir\u27s place in history and in environmental studies. Topics include, but are not limited to, Muir and family in • lartinez and Southern California; Muir\u27s wilderness family and friends; Muir and the fellowship of all believers; Muir and women; Muir and the community of nature and science; and Muir\u27s friends and acquaintances. Proposals may include formal papers, a panel discussion, an audio-visual presentation or a special exhibit. John Muir: Family & Friends will provide an opportunity for Muir scholars, enthusiasts, family, and friends to gather together during the sesquicen- tennial celebration of the University of the Pacific, heather River Inn is an ideal site for this conference as it symbolizes UOP\u27s commitment to Muir\u27s range of light, the ecological connection between the Sierra and the Great Valley. Optional field trips will be offered. Students and the general public are also welcome to participate, as presenters or as i - dstrants. Dear Friends, The winter issue of this newsletter will list the various sessions of the conference. We hope that you will join us for the 5th John Muir Conference during University of the Pacific\u27s Sesquicentennial. Registration and program material will be forthcoming in January. If you have any questions please contact me at (209) 946-2527. Always in Nature, Bonnie J. Gisel Interim Director, John Muir Center for Regional Studies page 5
Book Reviews Thoreau\u27s Country: Journey Through a Transformed Landscape By David R. Foster Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1999 Reviewed by J. Parker Huber Battleboro, Vermont As more of John Muir\u27s library is revealed, we discover how great a bibliophile he was. Despite his professed low opinion of books, reading for him was living, not a substitute. Reading is being, to paraphrase Rilke, is an apt characterization of Muir. This endeavor for him, as Professor Patricia Hampl reminds us, is an acute form of listening. Here in his quiet hours a relationship formed with writers and ideas. Here he totally absorbed Thoreau\u27s journal as well as his other works. Muir, then, would greet David Foster\u27s Thoreau\u27s Country with much excitement. Curiously, though, he would find that he was familiar with most of it, for Foster quotes liberally from the naturalist\u27s journal; just over half of his 229 pages are by Thoreau himself. The rest is the author\u27s explanation of the importance of Thoreau\u27s ecological wisdom, which he helpfully arranges into five categories: The Cultural Landscape of New England, A Natural History of Woodlands, The Coming of the New Forest,
The John Muir Newsletter, Spring 2005
Get PDFOHN NEWi r^\u27 T/W ______ TEE UNIVERSITY OF THE ET JO\u3eA «^ KTON, fc* Volume 15, Number 2 SPRING 2005: A Wealth of Muir on Wealth by Michael Wurtz Archivist, Holt-Atherton Special Collections University of the Pacific Library (/ gf\u3e9 a life km mm o^i-iL., Perhaps one of John Muir\u27s earliest understandings about the measurement of wealth may have come as he heard his father calling down the well to him, get in the bucket! This fateful moment had come about because his father would not spend the money for a professional well digger and blaster. Why hire someone when you had a sturdy son to dig through the Wisconsin sandstone from early morning until dark, day after day, for weeks and months? On this particular morning the well had filled with carbonic acid gas. Moments after being lowered into the well for more chiseling, John had begun to lose consciousness. When he heard his father call to him, ■/(r,\u27i//;//i.p (a/:: IfMdul. oMfk.J/r Ml /s- 4/c \u27&2 Sitofap This canceled check from 1913 was from John Muir to the elite University Club in San Francisco. Muir may have joined the organization to spend more time with those who had money and power and could help him advance his cause. It would be interesting to understand how John of the Mountains fit in to such an urban group. Courtesy of The John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Libraries. Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust John looked up, caught a glimpse of a branch of a bur-oak tree which leaned out over the mouth of the shaft, crawled into the bucket and was lifted to the surface and to life. As a young —.. man, Muir worked in factories and invented many money-saving devices or methods. That was until he was temporarily blinded in an accident while tightening a piece of machinery. These brushes with tragedy inspired him to think more of the riches of God\u27s inventions, than those of industry. In February of this year John Muir\u27s (Continued on page 3) 4\u3c£ page 1
tetfs & Notes, Conference Announcement John Muir in Global Perspective March 31-April 1, 2006 College of the Pacific\u27s John Muir Center will host a conference at the Stockton campus of University of the Pacific on March 31-April 1, 2006. The focus of the 2006 California History Institute will be John Muir in Global Perspective. Conference organizers are seeking paper proposals on aspects of John Muir\u27s Scottish roots; Muir\u27s world travels; Muir\u27s historical impact across the globe in such areas as botany, geology, mountaineering, and conservation; correspondence and friendships abroad; and Muir\u27s contemporary legacy worldwide. Highlights of the conference will include a preview of the exhibition on naturalist John Muir, artist William Keith, and University of California geology professor Joseph LeConte, curated by Steve Pauly of Grass Valley, California. The three Bay area residents began meetings in 1889 that led to formation of the Sierra Club in 1892. The exhibition which originated at Saint Marys College this spring will be mounted at The Haggin Museum of Stockton during April. In addition, an exhibition in the University Library of original John Muir manuscripts from the John Muir Papers will be available for viewing during the conference. Conference attendees are encouraged to visit Yosemite National Park during the annual meeting of The Yosemite Association on March 25. Contact information on Muir-related sites in northern California will be provided for those who want to tour Yosemite, Muir\u27s home in Martinez, and/or Muir Woods before or after the conference. We expect to host a number of Scots who are active in promotion of John Muir\u27s legacy abroad and will have Harold Wood, Chair of the Sierra Club Education Committee, and Garrett Burke, designer of the John Muir California State Quarter with us throughout the weekend. Send abstract and brief vitae by November 1 to W. R. Swagerty/John Muir Center/University of the Pacific/Stockton/CA 95211; (209) 946- 2578 (FAX); or e mail johnmuir@pacific, edu Sketch of John Muir from: www. saintgregory s. org/ Med ia/JohnMuir-sket2. j p g (News & Notes continued on page 7) Volume 15, Number 2 Spring 2005 Published Quarterly by The John Muir Center for Environmental Studies University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211 ♦ STAFF ♦ Director W.R. Swagerty Editor W.R. Swagerty Production Assistant Marilyn Norton Unless otherwise noted, all photographic reproductions are courtesy of the John Muir Papers, Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections University of the Pacific Libraries. Copyright 1984 Muir-Hanna Trust This Newsletter is printed on recycled paper « 3^^^^KT jmrnma page 2
(Continued from page 1) image was minted on to the California state quarter. I wondered if he would have been humbled or dismayed at this use of his likeness. How did John Muir feel about wealth and money? He did not die a poor man, mostly because of his hard work managing his family\u27s fruit ranch in Martinez. But well before managing the ranch his resourcefulness ensured that he would always be comfortable - albeit by his own definition. Let us take a look at a few passages from Muir\u27s writing that bolster his view on wealth. A little money we all need nowadays, but there is nothing about the getting of it that should rob us of our wits. Gold digging is only a dull chore, and no sane man will allow it to blind him and draw him away from the real blessing of existence. Life is too short to allow much time for money-making. ( John Muir on the Sea ..., San Francisco Examiner, August 23, 1897) I know that I could under ordinary circumstances accumulate wealth and obtain a fair position in society, and I am arrived at an age that requires that I should chose some definite course for life. But I am sure that the mind of no truant schoolboy is more free and disengaged from all the grave plans and purposes and pursuits of ordinary orthodox life than mine. (Letter to his sister Sarah, August 1, 1869) This quickly acquired wealth [of the California sheep owners] usually creates desire for more. Then indeed the wool is drawn close down over the poor fellows\u27 eyes, dimming or shutting out almost everything worth seeing. {My First Summer in the Sierra, p.30) Who wouldn\u27t be a mountaineer! Up here all the world\u27s prizes seem nothing {My First Summer In the Sierra, p.206) Few in these hot, dim, frictiony times are quite sane or free; choked with care like clocks full of dust, laboriously doing so much good and making money,- or so little, - they are no longer good from themselves. ( Wild Parks and Forests Reservations of the West, Atlantic Monthly, January 1898, p.16) Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever. {My first Summer in the Sierra, p. 82) Pure science is a most unmarketable commodity in California. Conspicuous energetic, unmixed materialism rules supreme in all classes. (Letter to Mrs. (Jeanne) Carr, February 24, 1869) Beauty and science have led me to many wild places and countries. Many times I could have become money-rich, yet time-poor. But I have chosen Wild Beauty. When I was in Argentina looking at trees, a reporter asked me what my occupation was. I told him, \u27Tramp—I\u27m seventy- four, and still good at it!\u27 In all my wandering days, I have never met anyone as free as myself. The world\u27s prizes mean nothing to me. Whoever gains the blessings of one mountain day is rich forever. (This is a paraphrase of Muir thoughts for John Muir: My Life with Nature, by Joseph Cornell, p.59) Years ago a friend of mine and I were discussing riches and he said that wealth could be determined by having lots of money or having few material needs. Even in his old age and monetary wealth, John Muir fell into the latter category. As to the quarter, Muir would have probably been more concerned about the attention drawn to him than his likeness being used as currency. However, he would have been overjoyed to see his glorious Yosemite there too - educating all Americans to the immeasurable wealth obtained by visiting, respecting, and preserving nature. (Most of the quotations were found in Peter Browning\u27s John Muir In His Own Words: A Book Of Quotations, Great West Books, 1988. I have come across many wonderful quotations in various sources on the internet and in books. However, most were frustratingly paraphrased and unattributed.) page 3
Book Review The Battle over Hetch Hetchy America\u27s Most Controversial Dam and the Birth of Modern Environmentalism by Dr. Robert W. Righter submitted by Ron Good Executive Director, Restore Hetch Hetchy In March, Dr. Robert Righter\u27s new historical book on Hetch Hetchy was released by Oxford Univesrsity Press. Dr. Righter grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently a Research Professor of History at Southern Methodist University, ••mmmmmm^^^ The book has already been reviewed in the New Yorker, the Washington Post, and the San Francisco Chronicle. The book is available on our website, for 28, which includes postage and shipping. See www. hetchhetchy. org The following description and reviews were released by Oxford University Press: In the wake of the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, the city of San Francisco desperately needed reliable supplies of water and electricity. Its mayor, James Phelan, pressed for the Photo taken from Restore Hetch Hetchy website damming of the Tuolumne River in the newly created Yosemite National Park, setting off a firestorai of protest. For the first time in American history, a significant national opposition arose to defend and preserve nature, led by John Muir and the Sierra Club, who sought to protect what they believed was the right of all Americans to experience natural beauty, particularly the magnificent mountains of the Yosemite region. Yet the defenders of the valley, while opposing the creation of a dam and reservoir, did not intend for it to be maintained as wilderness ;1 . Instead they advocated a different kind of developm ent—the building of roads, hotels, and an infrastruct ure to support recreational tourism. Using articles, pamphlets, and broadsides, they successfully whipped up public opinion against the dam. Letters from individuals began to pour into Congress by the thousands, and major newspapers published editorials condemning the dam. The fight went to the floor of Congress, where politicians debated the value of scenery and the costs of western page 4
development. Ultimately, passage of the passage of the Raker Act in 1913 by Congress granted San Francisco the right to flood the Hetch Hetchy Valley. A decade later the O\u27Shaughnessy Dam, the second largest civil engineering project of its day after the Panama Canal, was completed. Yet conflict continued over the ownership of thaB watershed and the profits derived from hydroelectrocity. To this day the reservoir provides San Francisc with a pure and reliable source of drinking water and an important source of power. Although the Siena Club lost this battle, the controversy stined the public into action on behalf of national parks. Future debates over dams and restoration clearly demonstrated the burgeoning strength of grassroots environmentalism. In a narrative peopled by politicians and business leaders, engineers and laborers, preservationists and ordinary citizens, Robert W. Righter tells the epic story of the first major environmental battle of the twentieth century, which reverberates to this day. Reviews The Battle over Hetch Hetchy is something beyond merely the best book anyone has ever written on confluence of canyon, dam, and city that so shaped the story of the modern American West. It is both a well-argued history and a beautifully-written testimony of hubris and loss, even possible redemption. If our places and times really do shape us, Photo taken from Restore Hetch Hetchy website Califomian Bob Righter was born to write this book. He now joins Pinchot, Muir, Brower as part of its story.-Dan Flores, author of The Natural West * * * This book is a masterful study of the major symbolic controversy of American page 5
environmental history, the clash between resource exploitation and preservation of wild nature. In his gracefully written, skillfully researched work, Robert Righter, one of our leading!BI_gw_ii^BB»,..,, environmental historians, jt \u27;\u27? -\u3c untangles the surprisingly «, ■% complicated and contradictory \„ debate over Yosemite\u27s Hetch j|b Hetchy, which y£ has continued intogg the 21st century and remains as relevant today as it was a century ago when John Muir tried and failed to stop the city of San Francison from damming the pristine Sierra valley for public water and electrical power. In the current climate, when the nation and world face the same vital larger issues, and when forces are mounting to tear out what may have been an unnecessary human defilement of nature, this wise and sensitive book could not have come at a better time.—Richard J. Orsi, California State University, Hayward * # * Tragedy, the philosopher Hegel tells us, can come from the clash of competing Photo taken from Restore Hetch Hetchy website goods. In this thoroughly researched, elegantly written, and even-handed history, Robert Righter chronicles how alternative views of Americas future - urbanism versus the preservation of the enviromnent — collided at Hetch Hetchy Valley. The founding of cities inevitably involves a sacrifice of environment. In losing the Hetch Hetchy Valley, America more than paid its price to bring into being metropolitan San Francisco.- -Kevin Starr, author of the Americans and the California Dream series * * * Righter tells for the first time ever the full story of this famous wild valley in California and the battle that once raged, and is still raging today, over its fate. This is exemplary environmental history-well-researched, balanced and fair-minded, yet told with passion for the natural world.—Donald Worster, author of A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley Powell page 6
NEWS & NOTES (continued from page 2) Mountain Days Mountain Days, the outdoor musical epic about the lives and loves of the great naturalist, John Muir, is going to play again this summer: Aug 3-7, 2005 at the Muir Amphitheatre in Martinez. There are new windscreens, fencing, box office, concessions building, picnic tables and a great show. At the amphitheatre, the Willow Theatre is also presenting an Independence Day weekend celebration featuring the companion piece to Muir, Sacagawea - symphonic suite and a production of The Sound of Music. It all starts July 1st and runs thru Aug 7. For more information, call (925) 798-1300 or visit www.willowstheatre.org Unpublished Letters of John Muir Go Online More than 100 pages of original letters by John Muir, America\u27s most celebrated environmentalist, went online in April on the Wisconsin Historical Society\u27s Web site. The 30 letters — believed to be the first important collection of original Muir manuscripts to be made available on the Web — were written between 1861 and 1914 to several friends from his childhood and youth in Wisconsin. Because they\u27re intimate personal letters spanning his entire adult life, says Society librarian Michael Edmonds, they document all the major turning points in his career. Although typed transcripts of some of the letters have been quoted by scholars, all but six are published in their entirety for the first time on the Society\u27s Turning Points in Wisconsin Histoiy Web site. They can be found in the online collection along with other letters and manuscripts relating to Muir, including his brother David\u27s description of their childhood. This collection be found at: www.wisconsinhistory.org/highlights/archives/2005/04/muir.asp Manuscripts on any aspect of John Muir\u27s life or legacy are welcomed for consideration in the John Muir Newsletter. Please send submissions in hard copy or in Word or Wordperfect electronic files to W. R. Swagerty, Editor, at the address on this newsletter, or send to [email protected] Costs are a problem everywhere, especially in academia today. We can only continue publishing and distributing this modest newsletter through support from our readers. By becoming a member of the John Muir Center, you will be assured of receiving the Newsletter for a full year. You will also be kept on our mailing list to receive information on the biennial California History Institute and other events and opportunities sponsored by the John Muir Center. Please join us by completing the following form and returning it, along with a S15 check made payable to The John Muir Center for Environmental Studies, University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA 95211. ~w~ yes, I want to join the John Muir Center and Y continue to receive the John Muir Newsletter. J. Enclosed is 15 for a one-year-membership. Use this form to renew your current membership. Outside U.S.A. add $4.00 for postage. Name Institution/Affiliation Mailing address & zip code page 7
The John Muir Newsletter ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED Stockton, CA 95211 The mm -M NEWSLETTER Volume 15, Number 2 Spring 2005 «sr Contents This Issue ^ ♦A Wealth of Muir on Wealth by Michael Wurtz ♦ ♦ News & Notes ♦ ♦Book Review by Ron Goodhttps://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/jmn/1078/thumbnail.jp
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