Voice of the Wilderness

John Muir was something of an eccentric. The bearded naturalist wandered the West’s mountains with a blanket, some tea and crusts of bread--and that was about all. He battled civilization’s encroachment against the great natural areas of the West in an era when the nation’s manifest destiny still was to conquer the frontier.

He helped achieve significant conservation victories such as the creation of Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Mt. Rainier national parks. He was the founding president of the Sierra Club.

Muir, born 150 years ago today, wielded influence through his eloquent ability to transfer the glory of always-changing mountain images onto the printed page in about 300 periodical articles and 10 books. Above all, he revered the Sierra Nevada, his “range of light.” It is because of Muir that much of the Sierra wilderness remains today virtually as it was when he roamed the mountains, read their glacial history, gloried in the brilliance of the waterfalls and the power of the storms, and marveled at the wildflowers, birds and animals.

As did Henry David Thoreau before him, Muir knew the ability of wild lands to renew and refresh the human spirit beleaguered by the pressures of civilization:

“Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.”