FYI FOR SUNDAY READING: John MOYER (MUIR) 1903 & President Theodore ROOSEVELT SOURCE: THE WEST: An Illustrated History Written by Geoffrey C.WARD Co-Author of The Civil War Photo of John MUIR and Pres. ROOSEVELT can be viewed at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chrystiem/photos/johnmuir.html / johnmuir.jpeg This is in regards to President Theodore ROOSEVELT and his efforts to begin preservation of the west and one of his ³Preservationists² that he worked so closely with in the very early 1900¹s. One namely, John MOYER (MUIR). They were sure ³conservationlist² and ³preservationist² beyond their time and it also shows just how driven Pres. ROOSEVELT could be, but also points out how an average citizen, driven by his strong desire to make this land of ours better ³for us² became a promient citizen and carried our surname to it¹s highest level. *NOTE: MOYER is how John¹s name is seen spelled at the Nat¹l Archives; in this book it is spelled MUIR. Still, it should be remembered that without the accomplishments of utilitarian conservation, particularly with regard to the forests, there might have been precious little left to preserve. One of the preservationists who would have been willing to concede that point ­ indeed, his lobbying of President Theodore ROOSEVELT had gone a long way toward helping to establish the U.S. Forest Service and put PINCHOT at it¹s head ­ and that was John MOYER/MUIR, born in Scotland, raised in Wisconsin and educated at an early age by the mysteries of nature, found himself drawn more and more to an almost visceral love of all Creation for it¹s own pure sake and of wilderness as Creation¹s most joyful trove of fascination and knowledge. ³In God¹s wildness,² John MOYER would write in 1890, in a deliberate reprise of THOREAU, ³lies the hope of the world ­ the great fresh un-blighted, unredeemed wilderness.² With that as yet unstated and inchoate love circulating throughout his wiry Scottish being, John MOYER turned his back on a career in Manufacturing in the Midwest in 1867, walking a 1000 miles to Florida, and after a season suffering from illness, still took a ship bound for California in 1868. There he hired on a a herder of sheep (²hooved locusts,² MOYER would come to call them) in the Sierra Nevada and soon encountered the Yosemite Valley. John MOYER/MUIR was dumbstruck with awe. Here was nature at it¹s most sublime, wilderness given it¹s greatest celebration. And except for a 10 year stint running his family¹s farm in the San Joaquin Valley, MOYER would spend most of the rest of his life delving into and writing about the secrets of the valley and of it¹s mountains in which it lay, the Sierra Nevada, the ³Range of Light¹, as he called it. Along the way, MUIR became the best known and most articulate spokesman for the necessity of the wilderness, the unofficial leader of a tiny preservation movement whose philosophy combined romantic literary notions of a lost Eden and the ostensibly noble savages who had inhabited it; elaborate aesthetic traditions of natural beauty; a conviction that American history and character had been largely shaped by the wilderness should be honored a as kind of artifact of our own past; and among a few like John MOYER himself, the almost mystical belief that the essence of the world was in them, that humans were inextricably bound up in its mysteries and enlarged by it¹s power. MOYER¹S growing fame and mystical certainties were turned to a practical end when it became clear that the State of California, into whose care the valley had been placed in 1864, was allowing it to be degraded by sundry entrepreneurs. Encouraged by eastern nature enthusiast Robert Underwood JOHNSON who offered the pages of his influential Century magazine (I have a few of these dating back to 1882), MOYER bent his writing talents and his passions to a campaign to have the valley returned to the federal government and declared a national park. John was meant with some resistance but stood his ground til his dying day. Conflicts arose and split the Sierra Club after all, many progressive San Fransicians wanted the monopoly of all the financial gains, whereas MOYER wanted nature to be left as it was. What became to be known as the Hetch Hetchy conflict would put MOYER and the nascent movement straight into the path and up against those that felt landscapes should be exploited. John MUIR/MOYER was against the killing of wolves for monetary gain. He wanted to preserve the territories for the Native Indians. He might have died feeling that he failed, but we have him to thank for things such as the ³Grand Canyons² and the dignity that¹s been bestowed upon the land and the tribals that once owned it. -- -- -- -- -- -- Chrystie - Lists Administrator for Rootsweb BROOKOVER, COWGER, KRABAL, MAYORS, MAJOR, MOYERS, MYRES Home of MYERS GENEALOGY.COM

Wrong URL - it's http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chrystiem/johnmuir.html -- Chrystie - Lists Administrator for Rootsweb BROOKOVER, COWGER, KRABAL, MAYORS, MAJOR, MOYERS, MYRES Home of MYERS GENEALOGY.COM > From: Chris <chrystie.adm@verizon.net> > Reply-To: MOYERS-L@rootsweb.com > Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 16:22:14 -0500 > To: MOYERS-L@rootsweb.com > Subject: [MOYERS] RE: John MOYER (MUIR) 1867 - 1903 & President Theodore > ROOSEVELT > Resent-From: MOYERS-L@rootsweb.com > Resent-Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 14:22:10 -0700 > > FYI FOR SUNDAY READING: > > John MOYER (MUIR) 1903 & President Theodore ROOSEVELT > SOURCE: THE WEST: An Illustrated History Written by Geoffrey C.WARD > Co-Author of The Civil War > Photo of John MUIR and Pres. ROOSEVELT can be viewed at > http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~chrystiem/photos/johnmuir.html / > johnmuir.jpeg > > This is in regards to President Theodore ROOSEVELT and his efforts to begin > preservation of the west and one of his ³Preservationists² that he worked so > closely with in the very early 1900¹s. One namely, John MOYER (MUIR). They > were sure ³conservationlist² and ³preservationist² beyond their time and it > also shows just how driven Pres. ROOSEVELT could be, but also points out how > an average citizen, driven by his strong desire to make this land of ours > better ³for us² became a promient citizen and carried our surname to it¹s > highest level. > > *NOTE: MOYER is how John¹s name is seen spelled at the Nat¹l Archives; in > this book it is spelled MUIR. > > Still, it should be remembered that without the accomplishments of > utilitarian conservation, particularly with regard to the forests, there > might have been precious little left to preserve. One of the > preservationists who would have been willing to concede that point ­ indeed, > his lobbying of President Theodore ROOSEVELT had gone a long way toward > helping to establish the U.S. Forest Service and put PINCHOT at it¹s head ­ > and that was John MOYER/MUIR, born in Scotland, raised in Wisconsin and > educated at an early age by the mysteries of nature, found himself drawn > more and more to an almost visceral love of all Creation for it¹s own pure > sake and of wilderness as Creation¹s most joyful trove of fascination and > knowledge. > > ³In God¹s wildness,² John MOYER would write in 1890, in a deliberate reprise > of THOREAU, ³lies the hope of the world ­ the great fresh un-blighted, > unredeemed wilderness.² With that as yet unstated and inchoate love > circulating throughout his wiry Scottish being, John MOYER turned his back > on a career in Manufacturing in the Midwest in 1867, walking a 1000 miles to > Florida, and after a season suffering from illness, still took a ship bound > for California in 1868. > > There he hired on a a herder of sheep (²hooved locusts,² MOYER would come to > call them) in the Sierra Nevada and soon encountered the Yosemite Valley. > John MOYER/MUIR was dumbstruck with awe. Here was nature at it¹s most > sublime, wilderness given it¹s greatest celebration. And except for a 10 > year stint running his family¹s farm in the San Joaquin Valley, MOYER would > spend most of the rest of his life delving into and writing about the > secrets of the valley and of it¹s mountains in which it lay, the Sierra > Nevada, the ³Range of Light¹, as he called it. Along the way, MUIR became > the best known and most articulate spokesman for the necessity of the > wilderness, the unofficial leader of a tiny preservation movement whose > philosophy combined romantic literary notions of a lost Eden and the > ostensibly noble savages who had inhabited it; elaborate aesthetic > traditions of natural beauty; a conviction that American history and > character had been largely shaped by the wilderness should be honored a as > kind of artifact of our own past; and among a few like John MOYER himself, > the almost mystical belief that the essence of the world was in them, that > humans were inextricably bound up in its mysteries and enlarged by it¹s > power. > > MOYER¹S growing fame and mystical certainties were turned to a practical end > when it became clear that the State of California, into whose care the > valley had been placed in 1864, was allowing it to be degraded by sundry > entrepreneurs. Encouraged by eastern nature enthusiast Robert Underwood > JOHNSON who offered the pages of his influential Century magazine (I have a > few of these dating back to 1882), MOYER bent his writing talents and his > passions to a campaign to have the valley returned to the federal government > and declared a national park. > > John was meant with some resistance but stood his ground til his dying day. > Conflicts arose and split the Sierra Club after all, many progressive San > Fransicians wanted the monopoly of all the financial gains, whereas MOYER > wanted nature to be left as it was. What became to be known as the Hetch > Hetchy conflict would put MOYER and the nascent movement straight into the > path and up against those that felt landscapes should be exploited. > > John MUIR/MOYER was against the killing of wolves for monetary gain. He > wanted to preserve the territories for the Native Indians. > > He might have died feeling that he failed, but we have him to thank for > things such as the ³Grand Canyons² and the dignity that¹s been bestowed upon > the land and the tribals that once owned it. > > > -- -- -- -- -- -- > Chrystie - Lists Administrator for Rootsweb > BROOKOVER, COWGER, KRABAL, MAYORS, MAJOR, MOYERS, MYRES > Home of MYERS GENEALOGY.COM > > > ==== MOYERS Mailing List ==== > MOYERS Rootsweb List Newsgroup > Chrystie MYERS; MOYERS-admin@rootsweb.com > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go > to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >