The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-12-25

lie showed an inventive talent that half
amused and half irritated his father. who
thought that the busy whiting OF his
son was time wasted. But the son did
not stop Il and turned out some Ingenious
contrlvances OF wood Although he had
never seen a clock. he made one that in
dictated the days OF the week and the
month and had attachments for lighting
fires and lamps and awaking sleepers.
Then he learned that for 81 week
ne could study at the state University.
and worked four years there. supporting
himself by labor in the fields ana school
teaching He worked methodlcally. as he
had at home, and fashioned a mech nical
continuance IN his desk that presented 20
him at certain hours the bork ks which
he must study.
Suddenly an accident almost deprived
him OF tho sight Of his right eye. and
the blow so stunned him that he wrote
later II felt neither pain nor faintness,
the thought was so tremendous that my
right eve was gone. that I should never
look at a flower again"
But the eye grew stronger. and with
the New Testament. Burns's poems and
Millions paradise Lost he started forth
on a long tramp, sleeping in the open and
gathering plant specimens. He walked
through Kentucky, Tennessee. Georgia and
Florida.
From there he went to cuba, intending
20 .Css'' -.f'.c..t., ~,
he changed his plans and went instead
10 California by the way OF the isthmus.
and landed almost penniless I'm san Fran
cisco in April. 1865. Then for the first time
he saw the giant crests of the Sierra Nevada
Mountains, which drew him into their great
sciitudes. where he was destined To spend
many years OF his life. He left them
often, but always went back
On foot he followed the Diahlo foothills
along the San Jose Valley. over the Dablo
Mountains to the valley of san joaquin,
and finally to the big trees and the
Yosemite, where he wrote:
Il came to life in the cool winds and
the crystal waters of the mountains, and
were it not for thought now and then
of Loneliness and isolation the pleasure
Of my existence would be complete"
lie worked tireleSsly. tramping over
the mountains, tracing the course OF sla-
ciers, and learning from the woods and
hilisldes the history OF their formations.
He took nothing for granted. and II was
this minute knowledge which enabled him
to demopstrate the theory Of glacial for-
nation OF the Yosemite region, a forina-
tion which scientists such as Whitney.
King. lie Conte and Hoffman he'd T. be
due to II great cataclysm OF nature which
had split the valley and dropped It's bed
5000 feet.
These men laughed at Muir's prosump
ton to challenge their determinations, hut
ha lived to see every scientist in the
world declare that he was right and the
others wrong
His love for the valley. which he was the
first TO describe gained him the name of
The Father Of the Yosemite ana in
| 1859 he so Interested Robert Underwood
| Johnson. then associate editor OF the Cen
| tury Magazine. In the need for national
| control of the valley, that Mr., Johnson
succeeded In having a law passed setting
aside the Yosemite as national reserve.
He Joined the United states Coast and
| Geodetlc Survey I'm 1876 that he might
! increase his knowledge OF the deserts and
mountain ranges beyond the Sierras and
| for three years h. worked in Nevada and
| Utah His glacier studies took him finally
! TO ALASKA, whore ne explored tho region
| north of Fort Wrangel and discovered
| Glacier Ray and the great Muir glacier
| ON his travels through Alaska he went
sometimes alone and sometimes with In
| dams