John Muir
John Muir was born on April 21, 1838 in Dunbar, Scotland, to Daniel & Ann Gilrye Muir, John was the third oldest of seven children. John's father believed in corporal punishment, John and his siblings were punished for any disobedience no matter how minor. His father was also very religious. Muir did not have a good relationship with his father. He received more understanding from his mother. His grandfather David Gilrye introduced John to the outdoors of Scotland. He and his grandfather would take long walks though the woods, farms and gardens of Dunbar. From a very young age, he showed an interest in nature. John was very close to his brother David. They would explore and get into trouble together; John would usually accept the punishment for any trouble they go into. He was very protective of David and of his other siblings. Muir started primary school when he was only three. He showed a great aptitude for reading, although overall he was very intelligent. He enjoyed reading about nature and animals. After 11 years old he received no formal education, he taught himself mathematics, geometry and philosophy. He greatly enjoyed reading literature and poetry.
Muir accepted a job as a summer shepherd in Tuolumne Meadows. While wandering the foothills Muir would make notes about the various floras, vegetation, animals and rock formations. He traveled all of Yosemite Valley and beyond. He began to give guided tours of Yosemite. In early 1914 Muir became sick with a respiratory infection. With the loss of his wife, his inability to save Hetch Hetchy and World War I breaking out, Muir seemed to give up. He went to visit his daughter Helen in the Mojave Desert. With the drastic temperature change in the desert his infection turned to pneumonia. His family took him by train to the California Hospital in Los Angeles. On December 24, 1914, John Muir passed away. He was buried next to his wife in the Strentzel family cemetery in Martinez, California. Muir after his recovery, he decides to embark on an adventure and he decides to walk to Florida and Cuba. While on his travels through Florida he contracted malaria. After recovering from his bout of malaria Muir decided to sail from Cuba to California. This would be Muir's first trip to California and his first visit to Yosemite. This trip would change in life. In 1871 the New York Tribune publishes his first article about Yosemite called "Yosemite Glaciers". In 1872 he has three more articles published, "Yosemite Valley in Flood", "Twenty Hill Hollow", and "Living Glaciers of California" they are all published in The Overland Monthly. Along with being published, Muir makes his first ascent of the north face of Mount Ritter and solo-climbs Mount Whitney. He also, on his 36th birthday solo ascents Mount Shasta. Muir was an amateur inventor; he constructed clocks, barometers, table-saws and hydrometers. He left home at 22 to exhibit his inventions at the State Fair in Madison. He received some recognition for his inventions. After the State Fair he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin. He received no financial help from his father, who did not feel education was important. While at the University he became interested in botany. He attended the University of Wisconsin for almost 2 1/2 years. He left the
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Approximate Word count = 1440
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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