Chronology of Important Events in the Life of John Muir
1838 April 21, birthday of John Muir in Dunbar, Scotland.
1841 Began school at the age of three.
1849 Immigration to Wisconsin at the age of 11.
1860 Left home to exhibit his inventions at State Agriculture Fair in Madison, Wisconsin; brief jobs; enrolls at the University of Wisconsin.
1861–2 Attends University of Wisconsin for two and a half years, teaches school during the winter, forms a friendship with the Carr's.
1863 Left the University; foot tour of Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Canada.
1866 Indianapolis: worked for manufacturer of carriage parts.
1867 Eye injury. Begins 1000 mile walk to Florida and then to Cuba.
1868 Voyage to California: landed in San Francisco, March 28, and walked across the valley; worked at ranch of Pat Delaney.
1869 Summer sheepherder in high Sierra; returned to live in Yosemite to work for Hutchings, to operate sawmill; began exploration for signs of glaciers.
1871 Met Emerson in Yosemite.
1872 Began to publish articles in leading magazines.
1873 Continuous residence in Yosemite ended.
1874 Met the Strentzels in Alhambra Valley.
1875 Lived in Bay Area writing magazine articles; trips to mountains; Utah.
1879 Proposed to Louie Strentzel; First Alaska trip with S. Hall Young; discovery of Glacier Bay, Muir Glacier.
1880 April 14: marriage of John Muir (42) and Louie (33); Second trip to Alaska, adventure with Stickeen.
1881 John Swett bought ranch adjoining Muir holdings.Birth of Wanda Muir; third trip to Alaska aboard the Corwin.
1880–82 Construction of the mansion.
1882 Beginning of extensive ranching period.
1886 Birth of Helen Muir.
1888 Trip to Mt.Rainier; editor and contributor of Picturesque California, two volumes.
1890 Alaska trip to Muir Glacier; death of Dr. Strentzel; Muir family move to mansion.
1890 Yosemite becomes a National Park.
1892 Founding of the Sierra Club, end of ranching career for John Muir.
1893 Trip to Europe with William Keith.
1894 Mountains of California published.
1899 Mt. Rainier National Park established; member of Harriman Alaska Expedition.
1901 Our National Parks published.
1903 Theodore Roosevelt visited Yosemite.
1904 World tour.
1905 Helen ill, Adamana, Arizona for recovery; death of Louie Strentzel Muir, August 6.
1906 San Francisco earthquake, repair of house, marriage of Wanda to Thomas Hanna.
Petrified Forest becomes a national monument.
1908 Grand Canyon National Park established. Muir Woods National Monument established.
1907 Continuing fight to save Hetch-Hetchy Valley.
1909 Stickeen published (John’s only children story).
1910 Helen married Buel Funk.
1911 My First Summer in the Sierra published.
1911-12 Trip to South America and Africa (73 years old.)
1912 The Yosemite published.
1913 The Story of My Boyhood and Youth published.
1913 Raker Act passes, approving construction of a dam in Yosemite’s Hetch Hetchy Valley.
1914 Muir dies on Christmas Eve in Los Angeles.