Yosemite National Park was established in 1890, during the prominent Gilded Age that impacted America politically, socially, and economically. The story of this iconic park begins with John Muir: one of the most influential conservationists and naturalists in the modern age. While many referred to him as the "Wilderness Prophet" and "Citizen of the Universe", Muir referred to himself as a "poetico-trampo-geologist-botanist-ornithologist-naturalist". Muir was born in Scotland in 1838, and came to Wisconsin when he was 11 years old. Born in a very strict family- where learning the Bible and having high education standards were mandatory, Muir went to the University of Wisconsin. However, after realizing that this lifestyle was not for him, Muir eventually migrated from these rigid expectations and took up botany. He "explored the natural world via foot" (biography.com), and supported himself through odd jobs. But after an accident caused him to become temporarily blinded, regaining his sight made him realize that he would devote his life to discovering and immersing himself in nature. He walked from Indiana to Florida (drawing and collecting details on its terrain and geography), sailed to Cuba, New York, and even Panama- eventually coming to San Francisco.
Muir first came to Yosemite in the year 1868- working as a simple shepherd. He started publishing "ecology-oriented articles" in the early 1870s, and his most famous works include his hypothesis on how Yosemite Valley was created. He attributed the creation of cliffs like El Capitan, Tuolumne Meadows to glacial movement- as his treks into Alaska and deep into the Sierras helped him to gain a greater understanding of geology at its very root. Muir's articles highlighting the natural beauty of Yosemite prompted Congress, on October 1st 1890, to create Yosemite National Park! But, to be clear- before Yosemite was created into a legitimate park, President Abraham Lincoln had actually "declared Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias a public trust of California" (History.com). But, when Muir came to the park, he was astonished to discover that the areas around the protected valley were being ruined by over- sheep grazing. Thus, congress set aside around 1500 square miles of land, around the size of Rhode Island, to be Yosemite National Park. Two years later, in 1892, Muir founded the Sierra club, which sought to fight against the proposed reduction of Yosemite's boundaries, eventually becoming one of the largest grassroots environmental clubs in the nation.
Muir was deeply impacted by Yosemite's natural beauty, many others were as well- including the Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, Teddy Roosevelt (later though, 1903), and Joseph LeConte, a prominent University of California geologist (who agreed with Muir on his idea of glacial movement through Yosemite). Emerson, who spent time with Muir among the giant sequoias, called Muir "'a new kind of Thoreau' who gazed at the sequoias of the Sierra instead of scrub oaks of Concord". Being in Yosemite and acknowledging the beauty of nature showed parallels between Muir and Emerson. Muir believed that the true way to seek a higher being and away from the physical realities would be through "direct and physical immersion in what he felt were nature’s most grand objects". Later, when Muir was with Teddy Roosevelt in 1903, Muir talked to him about the negative impacts development could have on the natural beauty of Yosemite. Thanks to this, the Mariposa Grove and surrounding lands were added with the National Park lands from 1890.
While the Gilded Age had a boom in excessive wealth, prominent lifestyles, and an increasing wealth gap- more simple changes were occurring in the Sierra Nevada's of California. A new park was being created through the hard work of conservationists and key actors in Congress who wanted to see the natural beauty of America preserved. As years went by, Yosemite became an iconic location in California. Photographers like Ansel Adams spent years dedicating their lives to capturing the beauty of Yosemite- but even until this day, you cannot understand the scope of Yosemite's wonders unless you go there yourself. Thanks to John Muir, a key advocate for environmental conservation, Yosemite National Park may not be what it is today.
All Photos below by Ansel Adams
Bibliography:
http://www.yosemite.ca.us/library/early_history_of_yosemite_valley/
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/yosemite-national-park-established
https://www.biography.com/people/john-muir-9417625
https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/muir-influences.htm
http://vault.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/john_muir_newsletter/radical_transcendentalism.aspx
Anya, I really enjoyed your article on John Muir! I though it you did a great job of describing an aspect of American life that was not covered by the textbook or in class. Also, the contrast between the wealth and power of the Gilded Age industrialists and the simple beauty of the national parks was well done! John Muir certainly was a great man, someone that I look up to myself for his environmental activism. However, there was one place that John Muir couldn't save, and one that he loved above all others: Hetch-Hetchy Valley. The valley had long been considered by the state of California as a potential reservoir, and in 1906, after the terrible earthquake and fire in San Francisco, the decision was made to convert he Valley into the reservoir that it is today. It was said that Muir loved Hetch-Hetchy more than Yosemite, and yet he was forced to watch as it was dammed and flooded. This just goes to show that even during this time, with national parks being created and environmental activism on the rise, the government still sidelined others' interests to advance their own. Whether or not it was justified, that is up to debate.
ReplyDeleteAnya, I really liked your post because it was very detailed and I liked how you wrote about something you are very passionate about. I agree that John Muir was a very aspiring man and was very influential in the conservation movement. He got congress to make it illegal to ruin the land by settling on it, but to enforce this he needed the help of the Buffalo Soldiers. Using the source https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/historyculture/buffalo-soldiers.htm, I found that the Buffalo Soldiers were African-American soldiers that were stationed in Yosemite to enforce the conservation laws. They stopped poachers and other threats to the park as well as building trails. They got the name "buffalo soldiers" because the native-Americans thought that their hair resembled the hair on a buffalo. Despite the racist attitudes of many that made their job a lot harder, they were successful in enforcing laws that preserved the park so we can enjoy it today. John Muir was not the only conservationist; he needed the help of the Buffalo Soldiers.
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