John Muir: Apostle of Nature.

• Author: Kreyche, Gerald F.

"I could have become a millionaire, but instead became a tramp," said John Muir, the naturalist and "father of Yosemite," in reflecting on his life, and an influential and interesting one it was. He was born in Dunbar, Scotland, in 1838. His father moved the family to Canada in 1849, and thence to Wisconsin.

Today, we would say that Muir was a victim of child abuse. Physical thrashings were his lot, administered by his strict, God-fearing Presbyterian father and his teachers. He reacted to both, seeking women who would "mother" him, and replacing the wrathful God of Christian orthodoxy with a benign pantheistic god of nature.

A pacifist, he evaded the Civil War draft by fleeing back to Canada. In his youth, he earned his living by doing the heavy labor of a farmer. but then put his many talents to work. Among other things, he was an inventor with a number of patents. One innovation was a giant thermometer: another,. an early rising machine (that would practically kick one out of bed). He improved the working of lathes and circular saws. became an efficiency expert, and even managed a factory. However, he felt his life was wasted in serving a "gobble-gobble" economy, and walked all the way to Florida, studying nature along the way. Eventually, he traveled to California, finding religious serenity amidst the redwoods and beauty of the Yosemite country.

A gifted writer, his descriptions of plants, trees, animals, and nature in general revealed near-religious ecstasy. Climb the mountains and get their good tidings," he wrote. "Nature's peace will flow into you as the sunshine...