John Muir

Michael P. Branch (University of Nevada, Reno)
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Naturalist, explorer, writer, and environmental preservationist John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland, in 1838, and was eleven years old when his family emigrated to the Wisconsin prairie in 1849. After more than a decade of hard labor on the family farm, he attended the University of Wisconsin for three years before taking his first major botanical excursion, to Canada in 1864. Muir rambled and worked odd jobs until 1867, when he was blinded in an industrial accident in the Indianapolis carriage-wheel factory where he was then working. This blinding proved a turning point in his life, for as Muir lay in darkness he pledged that, should God restore his sight, he would devote the rest of his life to the study and protection of the natural world.

Muir did regain his vision, and he solemnly

990 words

Citation: Branch, Michael P.. "John Muir". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 January 2001 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=3244, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3244 John Muir 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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