The John Muir Story
John Muir was born in the small village of Dunbar, Scotland in 1838. Then, in 1842, he emigrated to the United States.
While there, Muir made legendary accomplishments as a naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, and glaciologist, and he was an early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States of America. His most famous undertaking, which is how he earned the nickname “Father of the National Parks”, is by far his most important.
In 1903, Muir, who was a somewhat known author at the time, reached out to the President of the United States, Teddy Roosevelt and he pitched… get this… a 3-day camping trip together in the Yosemite Valley. Imagine doing this today. You’d have the Secret Service at your door in minutes. Despite this incredibly bold Hail Mary invitation, Roosevelt accepted. That camping trip would change the fate of the outdoors as we know it forever. Muir’s entire goal: to show the President how beautiful and how special the outdoors were. And most importantly, that these areas needed to be protected.
It worked. And today, people are still reading Muir’s works, and are inspired by his message and actions, and dozens and dozens of locations are named in his honor. Muir was the perfect embodiment to inspire the direction of this project: the Scottish-US connection and culture, the love of the outdoors, epic travel, and rugged exploration.
