WHEN WAS JOHN MUIR BORN?

 

He was born April 21, 1838.

 

Not surprisingly, this is the date chosen to celebrate Earth Day.

 

 

WHERE WAS JOHN MUIR BORN?

 

Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland.

WHO WAS JOHN MUIR?

He was a famous preservationist -- perhaps this country’s most famous and influential naturalist.  If it weren't for John Muir we probably would not have Yosemite National Park. He was also personally involved in the creation of Grand Canyon, Sequoia and Kings Canyon, and Mt. Rainier National Parks.  Therefore, he is often called “The Father of Our National Park System”.

 

John Muir also co-founded the Sierra Club with William Colby in 1892 and was its first president until his death in 1914.

 

In addition, John Muir was a writer, a lecturer, a geologist, a botanist, a glaciologist, an explorer, a school teacher, an inventor, a fruit rancher, a husband and father. 

 

 Wanda Muir Hanna, elder daughter of John Muir, explained her father to one of his biographers (Linnie Marsh Wolfe), "If you had known him, you would have seen only one side of him, and he had many sides.  No two people -- even his closest friends ever had quite the same idea of him." (Son of the Wilderness, Preface, pg. vii)

 

 

WHAT DID JOHN MUIR WRITE?

 

He wrote and had published over 300 magazine articles and 12 books. These books and articles bubble over with his love of adventure, nature, wildness and the interconnectivity of it all.

 

At the time of his death he was working on a book about his travels in Alaska. He had plans and enough material in his notebooks for ten more books.

 

WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THESE BOOKS AND WHEN

WERE THEY PUBLISHED?

   

    PICTURESQUE CALIFORNIA                       – 1888

 

    MOUNTAINS OF CALIFORNIA                     – 1894

 

    OUR NATIONAL PARKS                                 - 1901

 

    STICKEEN                                                            - 1909

 

    E.H. HARRIMAN                                                 - 1911

 

    MY FIRST SUMMER IN THE SIERRA       – 1911

 

    THE YOSEMITE                                                 - 1912

 

    THE STORY OF MY BOYHOOD AND YOUTH      – 1913

 

    TRAVELS IN ALASKA                                       - 1915

 

    A 1000-MILE WALK TO THE GULF               - 1916

 

    CRUISE OF THE CORWIN                              - 1917

 

    STEEP TRAILS                                                    - 1918

 

 

WHY DID JOHN MUIR CHOOSE TO LIVE IN MARTINEZ?

 

He married Louie Strentzel in 1880.  Her family owned and operated a large 2600-acre ranch here in the Alhambra Valley.  John Muir went into partnership with his father-in-law, Dr. John Strentzel, and for ten years directed most of his energy into managing this large fruit ranch.

 

 

WHAT WAS THE POPULATION OF MARTINEZ, CA. IN JOHN MUIR'S TIME?

 

Martinez in 1888 - 875 people

1890 - About 1000 (statistics destroyed in fire)

1900 - 1,380

1910 - 2,115 (Martinez City Hall and Martinez City Museum)

 

 

WAS JOHN MUIR A WEALTHY MAN?

 

When he was young he was not wealthy. He took odd jobs to support himself as he rambled about the United States and Canada.  He worked in sawmills, on farms, in a broom factory, in a carriage factory, and as a sheepherder. 

 

After his marriage and 10 year partnership in the fruit ranch, he felt he had made enough to take care of his family.  He then retired from active ranching and turned to writing and working for the preservation cause.  Eventually, his writings and lectures brought in additional money.

 

 

DID JOHN MUIR HAVE ANY CHILDREN?

 

Yes, John and Louie had two daughters.

 

Wanda, born March 25, 1881, died July 29, 1942 (61 years of age)

Helen, born January 23, 1886, died June 7, 1964 (78 years of age)

 

 

ARE THERE ANY DESCENDANTS OF JOHN MUIR?

 

Yes, there were ten grandchildren – two are still living

 

Wanda married Thomas Hanna; they had six children:

John Hanna – lives in the Napa Valley

Ross Hanna – lives in the Sacramento Valley

Richard Hanna – deceased

Strentzel Hanna – deceased

Robert Hanna – deceased

Jean Hanna de Lipkau Clark (only granddaughter) – deceased

 

Helen married Buel Funk; they had four sons:

Walter Muir – deceased

Stanley Muir – deceased

John Muir – deceased

Muir Funk – deceased

 

Helen and three of her sons changed their name from Funk to Muir in 1940.  Muir Funk did not because his first name was Muir and also because he was involved in competition for a job at the time.

(Information in a letter from Walter Muir)

 

 

   WHAT IS THE SQUARE FOOTAGE OF THE MUIR

   HOUSE?

 

    10,010 square feet according to the architect’s drawing. 

 

    This includes all the porches, attic, and the basement.

 

 

 

   IS ALL THE FURNITURE IN THE HOUSE ORIGINAL?

 

   No it is not. We are lucky to have two pieces of original

   furniture.

   One is Muir's desk in his upstairs "scribble den". It faces

   the north window and is a large and plain expanse of oak.

   Easy for him to spread out his writers stack of papers. 

 

   The other is the black marble cutting table in the kitchen

   used by the Chinese cook, Ah Fong. The rest of the

   furnishings are as close as we could get to those of the

   Muir family.

 

 

   DID THEODORE ROOSEVELT EVER VISIT HERE?

 

    Absolutely not, according to Helen Muir in a letter she

    wrote to friend Hattie in 1958.

 

 

   WHAT FAMOUS PEOPLE VISITED JOHN MUIR IN

   THE HOUSE?

 

     William Keith – premier California artist

John Swett – Superintendent of California Schools, Father of California Public Schools

Charles Keeler – Berkeley poet and noted ornithologist

Robert Underwood Johnson – editor of Century magazine

William Colby – Sierra Club co-founder

John Burroughs – famous American naturalist

 

 

   WAS JOHN MUIR A DRAFT DODGER DURING THE

   CIVIL WAR?

 

   No, we do feel that he was because he often wrote home

   to see if he had been drafted. However, he would not

   volunteer.  “War is the farthest reaching and most infernal

   of all civilized calamities.”

 

 

WAS JOHN MUIR REALLY A LOUSY FATHER AND HUSBAND?

 

These are fragments of old gossip that pop up in conversation from time to time.  John Muir did cause controversy because he did not lead the same sort of life as most people in the area.  However, from diaries and letters it appears the family had a very loving and understanding relationship.  Louie Muir often urged her husband to go to the mountains for his health and was very supportive of his fight for preservation. When his girls were young he took them on nature walks around the ranch, and as they grew older they accompanied him on Sierra Club outings and trips to the southwest.

 

 

HOW OLD WAS JOHN MUIR WHEN HE DIED AND WHERE IS HE BURIED?

 

John Muir was 76 years old when he died in a Los Angeles hospital on Christmas Eve day in 1914.  He had been visiting his daughter Helen and her family in Daggett when his cold developed into pneumonia.

       

His funeral was held in the Muir House.  He is buried beside Mrs. Muir in a small family cemetery about one mile south of the home. Louie Muir died Aug. 9, 1905.

 

 

TO WHICH CLAN DID JOHN MUIR BELONG?

 

The Muir family belonged to the Gordon Clan.

 

 

HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN A NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE?

 

Since Aug. 31, 1964

 

 

WHAT WAS THE HETCH HETCHY?

 

Hetch Hetchy was a valley along the Tuolumne River located northeast of Yosemite Valley.  Although smaller, its beauty was ruggedly spectacular and similar to Yosemite.  Many of those lucky enough to have seen it felt it to be more intimate, gracious and charming.

 

John Muir tried to save the Hetch Hetchy Valley.  However, after three wild political battles the Northern California (especially San Francisco) politicians won and the valley was dammed up to provide a water supply and hydroelectric power for growing San Francisco.