I recently finished the first of John Muir’s wilderness books, The Story of My Boyhood and Youth. John chronicles his life from his early days in Scotland to his move to Wisconsin to his college days at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Most of you know John Muir as the father of our national parks, the force behind the preservation of the Yosemite Valley in California, and founder of the Sierra Club. It is largely due to his wilderness activism that led me to begin reading his works.
John was a typical boy raised on a farm… lots of hard work and little time to play. But when he did have time to play, he really took advantage of it. Much of the book is about his time of the farm and the various animals, domestic and wild, he comes into contact with. He also reveals the difficulties of living with an extremely strict father.
Late one night, as John was tinkering with building machines from wood (he built alarm clocks and thermometers, among other things, from wood), he father shouted at him to go to bed. He added that if he must tinker, get up early before everyone else and do it. So, John did it… at 1:00am. This went on for several weeks before his father mentioned it, and being a man of integrity, allowed him to continue. It was his machines that took him to Madison to the state fair. He managed to teach school to raise enough money to attend the university.
The book requires a certain level of concentration to follow, but it well worth the read. I’m looking forward to reading another by this man so important in the heritage of wilderness preservation and care.