John Muir
Love for Sierra
Role:
Location:
was a naturalist,
explorer, and writer
California
Journey to California
Purpose:
He was basically looking for
any place that was wild
Life changing job
Employer:
His life changed as soon as he
was offered a job as a sheep
herder
Job:
Contributions:
Muir
made
important
contributions
to
botany,
geology, ecology, philosophy,
and literature. As co-founder
and first president of the
Sierra Club, he is widely
remembered as "the father of
National Parks."
Connection:
Once John got to know the
mountains and traveled, he
found a purpose in conserving
and protecting those areas
Exploration or
Duties as a
Route:
Responsibilities:
They headed for the
high summer pastures
above Yosemite Valley.
He camped by the
Merced River.
Experiences:
His theory differed from the
claim that earthquakes had
shaped the valley.
Muir had faced bears, starvation,
and worse. And I had enjoyed
every minute of it! The last entry
in his diary spoke of his hope to
experience the Sierra Alta again.
His responsibilities were to
see that all the sheep
keepers did their job and to
support as much as he could
Supplies:
He had blanket, tea
and bread, a plant
press notebook
Naturalist Activities
he was in charge of cleaning
dishes, making bread and
finding lost sheep
Freedom to
Explore:
He managed to see great places, as
well as travel with the help of
sheep and native keepers
Interactions with
Encounters with
Various Groups:
Muir studied wildlife,
collected plants, and
took notes in his journal
He met local indigenous people, cattle
ranchers, loggers, miners and some
tourists. Yosemite was beautiful, and
Muir wanted it to stay that way.