On the 21st of April 1838, John Muir was born in a small town of Dunbar, Scotland, which is shown in the picture above. His parents were called Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye. Muir was the third child out of the seven other siblings he had, and was known to be a very playful boy who was full of life. He would be seen either playing at the playground, re-enacting Wars of Scottish Independence or even hunting for birds’ nests.
However, he and his family immigrated to Wisconsin in the year 1849 as Muir’s religious father felt that the Church of Scotland was not strict in their preachings or ideals. His father’s religiosity rubbed off Muir and by the age of 8, he had already memorised several books from the Old and New testament. This was one of the main reasons why that even as he matured into a successful conservationist author and publisher, his writings would include a ‘conventional image’ of the Creator.
Muir’s father was also a very strict enforcer who made his family work from sunrise to sunset. Thus, whenever Muir had a little break from the work, he and his younger brother would stroll into the fields and woods of the Wisconsin countryside. This first sparked Muir’s love for the outdoors as he slowly learned to observe and appreciate this natural world. Muir also ventured into inventing little gadgets, in which he entered the Madison State Fair in 1860, gaining people’s attention and admiration.
By the age of 22, Muir not only enrolled into the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but took up the responsibility of paying for his own tuition fees. Muir recounted that his first botany lesson had a great impact on him as another student plucked a flower from the black locust tree, explaining how the grand locust is a member of the pea family, related to the straggling pea plant. It was said that Muir was charmed and filled with enthusiasm as he raced off to the woods and meadows.