"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul alike."
-John Muir, The Yosemite (1912)
-John Muir, The Yosemite (1912)
John Muir and the Sierra Club
"John Muir... was born on April 21, 1838 in Dunbar, Scotland... In 1849, the Muir family emigrated to the United States, settling first at Fountain Lake and then moving to Hickory Hill Farm near Portage, Wisconsin.
In 1867, while working at a carriage parts shop in Indianapolis, Muir suffered a blinding eye injury that would change his life. When he regained his sight one month later, Muir resolved to turn his eyes to the fields and woods. There began his years of wanderlust.... It was California's Sierra Nevada and Yosemite that truly claimed him. In 1868, he walked across the San Joaquin Valley through waist-high wildflowers and into the high country for the first time." -Sierra Club |
"Then it seemed to me the Sierra should be called not the Nevada, or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light...the most divinely beautiful of all the mountain chains I have ever seen."
-John Muir, The Mountains of California, 1894
-John Muir, The Mountains of California, 1894
"...In 1890, due in large part to the efforts of Muir and Johnson, an act of Congress created Yosemite National Park. Muir was also personally involved in the creation of Sequoia , Mount Rainier , Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon national parks. Muir deservedly is often called the 'Father of Our National Park System '."
-Sierra Club |
Sierra Club
Already a prominent advocate for environment preservation, John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892 with Professor Henry Senger of Berkeley. The purpose of the Sierra Club was to preserve the natural beauty of the environment and stressing the government's responsibility to protect the environment.
-Bruce Hamilton, in a personal interview
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The Sierra Club saw that the State of California was neglecting Yosemite. John Muir and the Club convinced Theodore Roosevelt to turn Yosemite into a national park in 1906 and thus under federal control. The club also protested the construction of a dam in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite.
"The club took the position that... the destruction of such an outstanding asset of the park as Hetch Hetchy Valley... was not justified... But political affairs in Washington took a sudden turn and, over the vigorous opposition of the club and its friends, the destructive grant was authorized. While this particular battle was lost, the vigorous opposition of the club aroused the entire country to the real dangers menacing our parks and it has deterred others from attempting similar inroads. The prestige of the club was enhanced immeasurably." -The Story of the Sierra Club Handbook, 1967 |
Impact
-Jon Jarvis, in a personal interview
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John Muir and the Sierra Club have left an influential impact on the National Park Service. They not only assisted in the creation of more, they advocated a philosophy of preserving lands for future generations.
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