John Muir National Historic Site

In his later years, Muir launched a successful writing career in 1874 with the Studies in the Sierra series. He published over three hundred articles and ten major books. They recounted his travels, expounded his naturalist philosophy, and invited all to ...climb the mountains and get their good tidings...

Muir's love of the high country gave his writings a spiritual quality. His unbounded love of nature inspired presidents, congressmen, and ordinary Americans, and moved to them to action.
His articles in Century magazine drew attention to the devastation of mountain meadows and forests by sheep and cattle. With the help of Century's associate editor, Robert Underwood Johnson, Muir worked to remedy this destruction.

Muir's first book, The Mountains of California, published in 1894, conveyed the wonder and delight he found in the Sierra Nevada. The book was an immediate success. It served to rally and solidify the conservation sentiment of the entire nation. Others chronicling his travels, philosophy, and personal insights followed and were widely read.

In his private Scribble Den, Muir wrote to make the meaning stand out through the words like a fire on the hill, so that all must see it without looking for it. Writing did not come easily to him, and he equated it to a glacier, as one eternal grind!

Muir frequently traveled to Alaska, the Sierra Nevada, and the American Southwest. My First Summer in the Sierra described his first exploration of the Sierras. The text colorfully described Sierra Nevada wildlife, plant life, and geology. Muir visited Australia, South America, Africa, Europe, China, and Japan. En route, he collected botanical, geology and paleontology specimens, as well as ethnographic objects that were displayed in his Martinez home.