fautrever.com

We left El Cerrito, CA around noon and chose a lesser traveled road toward Sacramento, California’s capital. Our path closely followed the Sacramento River. Along the way we were hoping to find a nice place to picnic. Luckily, we saw a small brown sign that said “John Muir National Historic Site” so we decided to have lunch and explore.

What a pleasant side trip! The park occupies a couple hundred acres on the outskirts of the city of Martinez where John Muir lived with his wife and two daughters. Yes, “Mountain Man Muir” had a domestic side. The site is part of what was once a vast fruit orchard (over 2600 acres), a joint venture by Muir and his father-in-law, Dr. John Strentzel. The park includes the large, three story home built by Strentzel where Muir lived out his years.

Interestingly, Muir, known as “the father of the National Parks”, was no stranger to industry and progress. He was in fact, a product of it. Born in Scotland in 1838, Muir emigrated with his family to Wisconsin when he was 11. Starting a farm in the cold, rocky north wasn’t easy and Muir’s father set his children to the task. Neighbors are known to have said that “Old man Muir works his children like cattle.” After a short college stint Muir went to work in a factory in Indiana. His quick mind had an engineering slant and his inventions were soon winning awards. He was so successful that if it hadn’t been for an accident we wouldn’t have Yosemite National Park (or many others for that matter)!

Muir injured his eye in the factory and he was warned he might lose all sight from that eye. The only possible cure was to sit still in a darkened room for months. As his eye slowly (and amazingly) healed Muir realized that life was too precious to waste in a factory. As soon as he was able Muir set off on foot bound for Florida. He yearned to experience nature, learn from nature and to see all of “God’s handiwork”. His published journal, A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf, recounts his experiences and is a great read! For almost 15 years Muir wandered: through the South, Cuba, CA, AK, and other locations around the globe.

In 1880, at the ripe old age of 42, Muir married Louisa “Louie” Strentzel, the daughter of a well-known horticulturist. (Dr. Strentzel’s pioneering work proved that table grapes should be grown on flatlands and that wine grapes produce better quality wine when planted on hillsides.) For ten years Muir devoted himself to running the orchards and spending time with his family. Muir’s ethic of hard work and savvy business skills provided enough income that he was able to retire early. It was Louie’s concern for her husband’s health that finally returned Muir to his beloved mountains (the Sierra Nevadas) and his writing. Thank you, Louie!

Muir’s eloquent writing and tireless activism helped establish Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, Mt. Rainier NP, Petrified Forest NM, and Grand Canyon NM (read more about the National Park system). In 1892 Muir co-founded the Sierra Club, the oldest conservation group in the US. Muir so inspired his friend President Theodore Roosevelt that he established five National Parks (Crater Lake in Oregon, Wind Cave in South Dakota, Sullys Hill (now a National Game Preserve) in North Dakota, Platt in Oklahoma and Mesa Verde in Colorado) and over 20 National Monuments.

Why should man value himself as more than a small part of the one great unit of creation? The universe would be incomplete without man; but it would also be incomplete without the smallest transmicroscopic creature that dwells beyond our conceitful eyes and knowledge.

Truly an impressive list of accomplishments, all from a man who intimately knew progress and industry and yet chose nature.

View photos from our stop in John Muir Historic Park.

Dates: We visited the John Muir Historic Park on Friday, 08/11/06.