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133-555: The glacier is named after Scottish-born naturalist John Muir , who traveled around the area and wrote about it, generating interest in the local environment and in its preservation. His first two visits were in 1879 (at age 41) and 1880. During the visits, he sent an account of his visits in installments to the San Francisco Bulletin . Later, he collected and edited these installments in a book, Travels in Alaska , published in 1915,

266-598: A tidewater glacier , prominently up to 700m thick, with its terminus visible on the lower right corner of the photo, well connected to its tributary, the Riggs Glacier , visible in the upper right part of the photo. By 1950, the Muir Glacier had retreated by more than 3 km and had thinned by more than 100m but remained connected to the Riggs Glacier. By 2004, the Muir Glacier had retreated further inland, and its terminus

399-519: A San Francisco insurance magnate and arts patron. Bender helped Adams produce his first portfolio in his new style, Parmelian Prints of the High Sierras , which included his famous image Monolith, the Face of Half Dome , which was taken with his Korona view camera , using glass plates and a dark red filter (to heighten the tonal contrasts). On that excursion, he had only one plate left, and he "visualized"

532-449: A San Francisco photograph finisher. Adams contracted the Spanish flu during the 1918 flu pandemic , from which he needed several weeks to recuperate. He read a book about lepers and became obsessed with cleanliness; he was afraid to touch anything without immediately washing his hands afterwards. Over the objections of his doctor, he prevailed on his parents to take him back to Yosemite, and

665-716: A better vantage point over the immediate foreground and a better angle for expansive backgrounds. Most of his landscapes from that time forward were made from the roof of his car rather than from summits reached by rugged hiking, as in his earlier days. Adams was the recipient of three Guggenheim Fellowships during his career, the first being awarded in 1946 to photograph every national park. At that time, there were 28 national parks, and Adams photographed 27 of them, missing only Everglades National Park in Florida. This series of photographs produced memorable images of Old Faithful Geyser, Grand Teton , and Mount McKinley . In 1945, Adams

798-444: A candid portrait of O'Keeffe with Cox on the rim of Canyon de Chelly . Adams once remarked, "Some of my best photographs have been made in and on the rim of [that] canyon." Their works set in the desert Southwest are often published and exhibited together. During the rest of the 1930s, Adams took on many commercial assignments to supplement the income from the struggling Best's Studio. He depended on such assignments financially until

931-574: A close friendship for 38 years with William Keith , a California landscape painter. They were both born the same year in Scotland and shared a love for the mountains of California. In 1871, after Muir had lived in Yosemite for three years, Emerson, with several friends and family, arrived in Yosemite during a tour of the Western United States . The two men met, and according to Tallmadge, "Emerson

1064-764: A congregation of the Campbellite Restoration Movement , called the Disciples of Christ . By the age of 11, the young Muir had learned to recite "by heart and by sore flesh" all of the New Testament and most of the Old Testament . In maturity, while remaining a deeply spiritual man, Muir may have changed his orthodox beliefs. He wrote, "I never tried to abandon creeds or code of civilization; they went away of their own accord ... without leaving any consciousness of loss." Elsewhere in his writings, he described

1197-704: A core principle in his photography. Adams's first portfolio was a success, earning nearly $ 3,900 with the sponsorship and promotion of Bender. Soon he received commercial assignments to photograph the wealthy patrons who bought his portfolio. He also began to understand how important it was that his carefully crafted photos were reproduced to best effect. At Bender's invitation, he joined the Roxburghe Club , an association devoted to fine printing and high standards in book arts. He learned much about printing techniques, inks, design, and layout, which he later applied to other projects. Adams married Virginia Best in 1928, after

1330-449: A desired final print through a technical understanding of how the tonal range of an image is the result of choices made in exposure , negative development, and printing . Adams was a life-long advocate for environmental conservation , and his photographic practice was deeply entwined with this advocacy. At age 14, he was given his first camera during his first visit to Yosemite National Park . He developed his early photographic work as

1463-590: A fire burned it down in February 1866. In March 1866, Muir returned to the United States, settling in Indianapolis to work in a wagon wheel factory. He proved valuable to his employers because of his inventiveness in improving the machines and processes; he was promoted to supervisor, being paid $ 25 per week. In early-March 1867, an accident changed the course of his life: a tool he was using slipped and struck him in

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1596-604: A gifted pianist. However, when he formed the Milanvi Trio with a violinist and a dancer, he proved a poor accompanist. It took seven more years for him to conclude that, at best, he might become only a concert pianist of limited range, an accompanist, or a piano teacher. Adams's first photographs were published in 1921, and Best's Studio began selling his Yosemite prints the next year. His early photos already showed careful composition and sensitivity to tonal balance. In letters and cards to family, he wrote of having dared to climb to

1729-517: A group of Native American Guides first traveled to Alaska in 1879 and were the first Euro-Americans to explore Glacier Bay . Muir Glacier was later named after him. He traveled into British Columbia a third of the way up the Stikine River , likening its Grand Canyon to "a Yosemite that was a hundred miles long". Muir recorded over 300 glaciers along the river's course. He returned for further explorations in southeast Alaska in 1880 and in 1881

1862-442: A group show at the M. H. de Young Museum with Imogen Cunningham and Edward Weston , and they soon formed Group f/64 which espoused "pure or straight photography " over pictorialism ( f /64 being a very small aperture setting that gives great depth of field ). The group's manifesto stated: "Pure photography is defined as possessing no qualities of technique, composition or idea, derivative of any other art form." Imitating

1995-422: A life of hiking, camping, and photographing; and the rest of the year he worked to improve his piano playing, perfecting his piano technique and musical expression. He also gave piano lessons for extra income that allowed him to purchase a grand piano suitable to his musical ambitions. Adams was still planning a career in music. He felt that his small hands limited his repertoire, but qualified judges considered him

2128-515: A lifelong influence on his career as a naturalist and writer. They first met in the fall of 1860, when, at age 22, he entered a number of his homemade inventions in the Wisconsin State Agricultural Society Fair. Carr, a fair assistant, was asked by fair officials to review Muir's exhibits to see if they had merit. She thought they did and "saw in his entries evidence of genius worthy of special recognition", notes Miller. As

2261-502: A malarial sickness. After spending three months in an oft delirious state, Muir's condition improved to such that he was able to move about the Hodgson's house and look outside. Due to their unending kindness in caring for his life, Muir stated that he "doubtless owe my life" to the Hodgsons. One evening in early January 1868, Muir climbed onto the Hodgson house roof to watch the sunset. He saw

2394-965: A member of the Sierra Club . He was later contracted with the United States Department of the Interior to make photographs of national parks. For his work and his persistent advocacy, which helped expand the National Park system, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1980. Adams was a key advisor in the founding and establishment of the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, an important landmark in securing photography's institutional legitimacy. He helped to stage that department's first photography exhibition, helped found

2527-486: A member, to build and direct a state-of-the-art darkroom and laboratory in Washington, D.C. Around February 1942, Steichen asked Adams to join him in the navy. Adams agreed, but with two conditions: He wanted to be commissioned as an officer, and he would not be available until July 1. Steichen, who wanted the team assembled as quickly as possible, passed on Adams and had his other photographers ready by early April. Adams

2660-524: A national park, modeled after Yellowstone National Park . On September 30, 1890, the US Congress passed a bill that essentially followed recommendations that Muir had suggested in two Century articles, "The Treasures of the Yosemite" and "Features of the Proposed National Park", both published in 1890. But to Muir's dismay, the bill left Yosemite Valley under state control, as it had been since

2793-410: A pause from 1925 to 1926 during which he had brief relationships with various women. The newlyweds moved in with his parents to save expenses. The following year, they had a home built next door and connected it to the older house by a hallway. Between 1929 and 1942, Adams's work matured, and he became more established. The 1930s were a particularly experimental and productive time for him. He expanded

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2926-458: A piano to practice on. A ranger introduced him to landscape painter Harry Best, who kept a studio home in Yosemite and lived there during the summers. Best allowed Adams to practice on his old square piano . Adams grew interested in Best's daughter Virginia and later married her. On her father's death in 1936, Virginia inherited the studio and continued to operate it until 1971. The studio is now known as

3059-579: A point of meeting with Muir. During his time at the University of Wisconsin, Muir took classes under Charles H. Allen , with whom he became lifelong friends, sharing a love of natural sciences. Allen would move to California in 1872 and become the principal of the California State Normal School (now San Jose State University ), Muir gave several lectures at the normal school, and Allen joined Muir in several mountain hikes. Muir maintained

3192-465: A rare flower he had encountered. The piece was published anonymously, identified as having been written by an "inspired pilgrim". Throughout his many years as a nature writer, Muir frequently rewrote and expanded on earlier writings from his journals, as well as articles published in magazines. He often compiled and organized such earlier writings as collections of essays or included them as part of narrative books. Muir's friendship with Jeanne Carr had

3325-653: A result, Muir received a diploma and a monetary award for his handmade clocks and thermometer . During the next three years while a student at the University of Wisconsin, he was befriended by Carr and her husband, Ezra , a professor at the same university. According to Muir biographer Bonnie Johanna Gisel, the Carrs recognized his "pure mind, unsophisticated nature, inherent curiosity, scholarly acumen, and independent thought". Jeanne Carr, 35 years of age, especially appreciated his youthful individuality, along with his acceptance of "religious truths" that were much like her own. Muir

3458-438: A shepherd for a season. He climbed a number of mountains, including Cathedral Peak and Mount Dana , and hiked an old trail down Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake . Muir built a small cabin along Yosemite Creek , designing it so that a section of the stream flowed through a corner of the room so he could enjoy the sound of running water. He lived in the cabin for two years and wrote about this period in his book First Summer in

3591-571: A ship, the Island Belle, and learned it would soon be sailing for Cuba . Muir boarded the ship, and while in Havana , he spent his hours studying shells and flowers and visiting the botanical garden in the city. Afterwards, he sailed to New York City and booked passage to California . In 1878, Muir served as a guide and artist for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey on the survey of

3724-436: A soft-focus lens, "capturing a glowing luminosity that captured the mood of a magical summer afternoon". For a short time Adams used hand-coloring, but declared in 1923 that he would do this no longer. By 1925 he had rejected pictorialism altogether for a more realistic approach that relied on sharp focus, heightened contrast, precise exposure, and darkroom craftsmanship. In 1927, Adams began working with Albert M. Bender ,

3857-425: A tin cup, a handful of tea, a loaf of bread, and a copy of Emerson." He usually spent his evenings sitting by a campfire in his overcoat, reading Emerson under the stars. As the years passed, he became a "fixture in the valley", respected for his knowledge of natural history, his skill as a guide, and his vivid storytelling. Visitors to the valley often included scientists, artists, and celebrities, many of whom made

3990-658: A total of 225 small prints to the DOI, but held on to the 229 negatives. These include many famous images such as The Tetons and the Snake River . Although they were legally the property of the U.S. Government, he knew that the National Archives did not take proper care of photographic material, and used various subterfuges to evade queries. The ownership of one image in particular has attracted interest: Moonrise . Although Adams kept meticulous records of his travel and expenses, he

4123-469: A walk of about 1,000 miles (1,600 km) from Kentucky to Florida , which he recounted in his book A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf . He had no specific route chosen, except to go by the "wildest, leafiest, and least trodden way I could find". When Muir arrived at Cedar Key , he began working for Richard Hodgson at Hodgson's sawmill. However, three days after accepting the job at Hodgson's, Muir almost died of

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4256-453: A well-known avant-garde composer, gave Adams some lessons. Over the next decade, three music teachers pushed him to develop technique and discipline, and he became determined to pursue a career as a classical pianist. Adams first visited Yosemite National Park in 1916 with his family. He wrote of his first view of the valley: "the splendor of Yosemite burst upon us and it was glorious.... One wonder after another descended upon us.... There

4389-432: A winter storm abated, leaving a fresh coat of snow. He gathered his recent work and had a solo show at Stieglitz's "An American Place" gallery in New York in 1936. The exhibition proved successful with both the critics and the buying public, and earned Adams strong praise from the revered Stieglitz. The following year, the negative for Clearing Winter Storm was almost destroyed when the darkroom in Yosemite caught fire. With

4522-586: The 39th parallel across the Great Basin of Nevada and Utah. Finally settling in San Francisco , Muir immediately left for a week-long visit to Yosemite , a place he had only read about. Seeing it for the first time, Muir notes that "He was overwhelmed by the landscape, scrambling down steep cliff faces to get a closer look at the waterfalls, whooping and howling at the vistas, jumping tirelessly from flower to flower." He later returned to Yosemite and worked as

4655-563: The Panama–Pacific International Exposition in 1915, his father insisted that he spend part of each day studying the exhibits as part of his education. He eventually resumed, and completed, his formal education by attending the Mrs. Kate M. Wilkins Private School, graduating from the eighth grade on June 8, 1917. During his later years, he displayed his diploma in the guest bathroom of his home. His father raised him to follow

4788-696: The Presidio Army Base . The home had a "splendid view" of the Golden Gate and the Marin Headlands . Adams was a hyperactive child and prone to frequent sickness and hypochondria . He had few friends, but his family home and surroundings on the heights facing the Golden Gate provided ample childhood activities. He had little patience for games or sports; but he enjoyed the beauty of nature from an early age, collecting bugs and exploring Lobos Creek all

4921-685: The United Canadas ), to avoid the draft during the US Civil War . Muir left school and travelled to the same region in 1864, and spent the spring, summer, and fall exploring the woods and swamps, and collecting plants around the southern reaches of Lake Huron 's Georgian Bay . Muir hiked along the Niagara Escarpment , including much of today's Bruce Trail . With his money running low and winter coming, he reunited with his brother Daniel near Meaford, Ontario , who persuaded him to work with him at

5054-686: The Yosemite Valley and Sequoia National Park , and his example has served as an inspiration for the preservation of many other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club , which he co-founded, is a prominent American conservation organization . In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to his wife and the preservation of the Western forests. As part of the campaign to make Yosemite a national park, Muir published two landmark articles on wilderness preservation in The Century Magazine , "The Treasures of

5187-551: The "Mural Project" with commissions for the U.S. Potash Company and Standard Oil, with some days reserved for personal work. While in New Mexico for the project, Adams photographed a scene of the Moon rising above a modest village with snow-covered mountains in the background, under a dominating black sky. The photograph is one of his most famous and is named Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico . Adams's description in his later books of how it

5320-512: The 1860s. In early 1892, Professor Henry Senger, a philologist at the University of California, Berkeley , contacted Muir with the idea of forming a local 'alpine club' for mountain lovers. Senger and San Francisco attorney Warren Olney sent out invitations "for the purpose of forming a 'Sierra Club'. Mr. John Muir will preside". On May 28, 1892, the first meeting of the Sierra Club was held to write articles of incorporation. One week later Muir

5453-530: The 1970s. Some of his clients included Kodak, Fortune magazine, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, AT&T, and the American Trust Company. He photographed Timothy L. Pflueger 's new Patent Leather Bar for the St. Francis Hotel in 1939. The same year, he was named an editor of U.S. Camera & Travel , the most popular photography magazine at that time. In 1940, Adams created A Pageant of Photography ,

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5586-532: The American-born Joanna. His earliest recollections were of taking short walks with his grandfather when he was three. In his autobiography, he described his boyhood pursuits, which included fighting, either by re-enacting romantic battles from the Wars of Scottish Independence or just wrestling on the playground, and hunting for birds' nests (ostensibly to one-up his fellows as they compared notes on who knew where

5719-693: The Ansel Adams Gallery and remains owned by the Adams family. At age 17, Adams joined the Sierra Club, a group dedicated to protecting the wild places of the earth, and he was hired as the summer caretaker of the Sierra Club visitor facility in Yosemite Valley, the LeConte Memorial Lodge , from 1920 to 1923. He remained a member throughout his lifetime and served as a director, as did his wife. He

5852-645: The Art Center School of Los Angeles, now known as the Art Center College of Design . In 1941, Adams contracted with the National Park Service to make photographs of National Parks, Indian reservations, and other locations managed by the department, for use as mural-sized prints to decorate the department's new building. The contract was for 180 days. Adams set off on a road trip with his friend Cedric and his son Michael, intending to combine work on

5985-556: The Dix ranch. This likely had an effect on his writings. His daughter Helen married Frank Buel and lived in Daggett. Muir's friend, zoologist Henry Fairfield Osborn , writes that Muir's style of writing did not come to him easily, but only with intense effort. "Daily he rose at 4:30 o'clock, and after a simple cup of coffee labored incessantly. ... he groans over his labors, he writes and rewrites and interpolates". Osborn notes that he preferred using

6118-573: The East Lothian landscape, and spent a lot of time wandering the local coastline and countryside. It was during this time that he became interested in natural history and the works of Scottish naturalist Alexander Wilson . Although he spent the majority of his life in America, Muir never forgot his roots in Scotland . He held a strong connection with his birthplace and Scottish identity throughout his life and

6251-582: The Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks ", was a Scottish-born American naturalist , author, environmental philosopher , botanist , zoologist , glaciologist , and early advocate for the preservation of wilderness in the United States. His books, letters and essays describing his adventures in nature, especially in the Sierra Nevada , have been read by millions. His activism helped to preserve

6384-575: The Pacific , from 1925 to 1950. Charles Adams's business suffered large financial losses after the death of his father in the aftermath of the Panic of 1907 . Some of the loss was due to his uncle Ansel Easton and Cedric Wright 's father George secretly having sold their shares of the company, "knowingly providing the controlling interest" to the Hawaiian Sugar Trust for a large amount of money. By 1912,

6517-608: The Sierra (1911). Muir's biographer, Frederick Turner, notes Muir's journal entry upon first visiting the valley and writes that his description "blazes from the page with the authentic force of a conversion experience". During these years in Yosemite , Muir was unmarried, often unemployed, with no prospects for a career, and had "periods of anguish", writes naturalist author John Tallmadge . In 1880 he married Louisa Strentzel . He went into business for 10 years with his father-in-law managing

6650-478: The Sierra Club's efforts to secure the designation of Kings Canyon as a national park. This book and his testimony before Congress played a vital role in the success of that effort, and Congress designated Kings Canyon as a national park in 1940. In 1935, Adams created many new photographs of the Sierra Nevada; and one of his most famous, Clearing Winter Storm , depicted the entire Yosemite Valley , just as

6783-596: The Yosemite" and "Features of the Proposed Yosemite National Park"; this helped support the push for US Congress to pass a bill in 1890 establishing Yosemite National Park . The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings has inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas. John Muir has been considered "an inspiration to both Scots and Americans". Muir's biographer, Steven J. Holmes, believes that Muir has become "one of

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6916-549: The best viewpoints and to brave the worst elements. During the mid-1920s, the fashion in photography was pictorialism , which strove to imitate paintings with soft focus, diffused light, and other techniques. Adams experimented with such techniques, as well as the bromoil process , which involved brushing an oily ink onto the paper. An example is Lodgepole Pines, Lyell Fork of the Merced River , Yosemite National Park (originally named Tamarack Pine ), taken in 1921. Adams used

7049-601: The brain through the senses, and, writes Muir, "If the creator were to bestow a new set of senses upon us ... we would never doubt that we were in another world ..." While doing his studies of nature, he would try to remember everything he observed as if his senses were recording the impressions, until he could write them in his journal. As a result of his intense desire to remember facts, he filled his field journals with notes on precipitation, temperature, and even cloud formations. However, Muir took his journal entries further than recording factual observations. Williams notes that

7182-673: The camping trip. "Camping with the President was a remarkable experience", he wrote. "I fairly fell in love with him". Muir then increased efforts by the Sierra Club to consolidate park management. In 1906 Congress transferred the Mariposa Grove and Yosemite Valley to the park. In his life, Muir published six volumes of writings, all describing explorations of natural settings. Four additional books were published posthumously. Several books were subsequently published that collected essays and articles from various sources. Miller writes that what

7315-455: The cheapest in the room, a $ 260 coffin that seemed the least he could purchase without doing the job himself. The undertaker remarked, "Have you no respect for the dead?" Adams replied, "One more crack like that and I will take Mama elsewhere." Adams became interested in playing the piano at age 12 after hearing his 16-year-old neighbor Henry Cowell play on the Adams' piano, and he taught himself to play and read music. Cowell, who later became

7448-424: The conservation movement into two camps: the "preservationists", led by Muir; and Pinchot's camp, who used the term "conservation". The two men debated their positions in popular magazines, such as Outlook , Harper's Weekly , Atlantic Monthly , World's Work , and Century . Their contrasting views were highlighted again when the United States was deciding whether to dam Hetch Hetchy Valley . Pinchot favored damming

7581-410: The conventional image of a Creator "as purely a manufactured article as any puppet of a half-penny theater". When he was 22 years old, Muir enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison , paying his own way for several years. There, under a towering black locust tree beside North Hall , Muir took his first botany lesson. A fellow student plucked a flower from the tree and used it to explain how

7714-700: The culture during the period of the New Testament. But as Muir became attached to the American natural landscapes he explored, Williams notes that he began to see another "primary source for understanding God: the Book of Nature". According to Williams, in nature, especially in the wilderness, Muir was able to study the plants and animals in an environment that he believed "came straight from the hand of God, uncorrupted by civilization and domestication". As Tallmadge notes, Muir's belief in this "Book of Nature" compelled him to tell

7847-548: The day, saw merit in Muir's ideas and lauded him as "the first man I have ever found who has any adequate conception of glacial action". In 1871, Muir discovered an active alpine glacier below Merced Peak , which helped his theories gain acceptance. A large earthquake centered near Lone Pine in Owens Valley strongly shook occupants of Yosemite Valley in March 1872. The quake woke Muir in

7980-422: The early morning, and he ran out of his cabin "both glad and frightened", exclaiming, "A noble earthquake!" Other valley settlers, who believed Whitney's ideas, feared that the quake was a prelude to a cataclysmic deepening of the valley. Muir had no such fear and promptly made a moonlit survey of new talus piles created by earthquake-triggered rockslides. This event led more people to believe in Muir's ideas about

8113-486: The effect of the blackened sky before risking the last image. He later said, "I had been able to realize a desired image: not the way the subject appeared in reality but how it felt to me and how it must appear in the finished print." One biographer calls Monolith Adams's most significant photograph because the "extreme manipulation of tonal values" was a departure from all previous photography. Adams's concept of visualization, which he first defined in print in 1934, became

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8246-633: The example of photographer Alfred Stieglitz , Adams opened his own art and photography gallery in San Francisco in 1933. He also began to publish essays in photography magazines and wrote his first instructional book, Making a Photograph , in 1935. During the summers, Adams often participated in Sierra Club High Trips outings, as a paid photographer for the group; and the rest of the year a core group of Club members socialized regularly in San Francisco and Berkeley. In 1933, his first child Michael

8379-587: The eye. The file slipped and cut the cornea in his right eye and then his left eye sympathetically failed. He was confined to a darkened room for six weeks to regain his sight, worried about whether he would end up blind. When he regained his sight, "he saw the world—and his purpose—in a new light". Muir later wrote, "This affliction has driven me to the sweet fields. God has to nearly kill us sometimes, to teach us lessons". From that point on, he determined to "be true to [himself]" and follow his dream of exploration and study of plants. In September 1867, Muir undertook

8512-463: The fall of 1895 that included Muir, Joseph LeConte , and William R. Dudley, the Sierra Club discussed the idea of establishing 'national forest reservations', which were later called National Forests . The Sierra Club was active in the successful campaign to transfer Yosemite National Park from state to federal control in 1906. The fight to preserve Hetch Hetchy Valley was also taken up by the Sierra Club, with some prominent San Francisco members opposing

8645-465: The family's standard of living had dropped sharply. Adams was dismissed from several private schools for being restless and inattentive, so when he was 12, his father decided to remove him from school. For the next two years he was educated by private tutors, his aunt Mary, and his father. Mary was a devotee of Robert G. Ingersoll , a 19th-century agnostic and women's suffrage advocate, so Ingersoll's teachings were important to his upbringing. During

8778-422: The features of the Yosemite Valley and surrounding area. This notion was in strong contradiction to the accepted contemporary theory, promulgated by Josiah Whitney (head of the California Geological Survey ), which attributed the formation of the valley to a catastrophic earthquake . As Muir's ideas spread, Whitney tried to discredit Muir by branding him as an amateur. But Louis Agassiz , the premier geologist of

8911-479: The fight. Eventually a vote was held that overwhelmingly put the Sierra Club behind the opposition to Hetch Hetchy Dam. In July 1896, Muir became associated with Gifford Pinchot , a national leader in the conservation movement. Pinchot was the first head of the United States Forest Service and a leading spokesman for the sustainable use of natural resources for the benefit of the people. His views eventually clashed with Muir's and highlighted two diverging views of

9044-527: The formation of the valley. In addition to his geologic studies, Muir also investigated the plant life of the Yosemite area. In 1873 and 1874, he made field studies along the western flank of the Sierra on the distribution and ecology of isolated groves of Giant Sequoia . In 1876, the American Association for the Advancement of Science published Muir's paper on the subject. Between 1879 and 1899, Muir made seven trips to Alaska , as far as Unalaska and Barrow . Muir, Mr. Young (Fort Wrangell missionary) and

9177-431: The grand locust is a member of the pea family, related to the straggling pea plant. Fifty years later, the naturalist Muir described the day in his autobiography. "This fine lesson charmed me and sent me flying to the woods and meadows in wild enthusiasm". As a freshman, Muir studied chemistry with Professor Ezra Carr and his wife Jeanne ; they became lifelong friends and Muir developed a lasting interest in chemistry and

9310-400: The help of Edward Weston and Charis Wilson (Weston's future wife), Adams put out the fire, but thousands of negatives, including hundreds that had never been printed, were lost. In 1937, Adams, O'Keeffe, and friends organized a month-long camping trip in Arizona, with Orville Cox, the head wrangler at Ghost Ranch , as their guide. Both artists created new work during this trip. Adams made

9443-414: The hills to recover, climbing Mount Rainier in Washington and writing Ascent of Mount Rainier . Muir threw himself into the preservationist role with great vigor. He envisioned the Yosemite area and the Sierra as pristine lands. He thought the greatest threat to the Yosemite area and the Sierra was domesticated livestock—especially domestic sheep, which he referred to as "hoofed locusts". In June 1889,

9576-400: The ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson : to live a modest, moral life guided by a social responsibility to man and nature. Adams had a loving relationship with his father, but he had a distant relationship with his mother, who did not approve of his interest in photography. The day after her death in 1950, Ansel had a dispute with the undertaker when choosing the casket in which to bury her. He chose

9709-479: The influential associate editor of The Century magazine, Robert Underwood Johnson , camped with Muir in Tuolumne Meadows and saw firsthand the damage a large flock of sheep had done to the grassland. Johnson agreed to publish any article Muir wrote on the subject of excluding livestock from the Sierra high country. He also agreed to use his influence to introduce a bill to Congress to make the Yosemite area into

9842-513: The largest and most important photography show in the West to date, attended by millions of visitors. With his wife, Adams completed a children's book and the very successful Illustrated Guide to Yosemite Valley during 1940 and 1941. He also taught photography by giving workshops in Detroit. Adams also began his first serious stint of teaching, which included the training of military photographers, in 1941 at

9975-504: The luxuriously refitted 250-foot (76 m) steamer, the George W. Elder. He later relied on his friendship with Harriman to pressure Congress to pass conservation legislation. In 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt accompanied Muir on a visit to Yosemite. Muir joined Roosevelt in Oakland, California , for the train trip to Raymond . The presidential entourage then traveled by stagecoach into

10108-513: The most accurate sources. In his book, The Story of My Boyhood and Youth (1913), he writes that during his childhood, his father made him read the Bible every day. Muir eventually memorized three-quarters of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament . Muir's father read Josephus 's War of the Jews to understand the culture of first-century Judea , as it was written by an eyewitness, and illuminated

10241-414: The most were located). Author Amy Marquis notes that he began his "love affair" with nature while young, and implies that it may have been in reaction to his strict religious upbringing. "His father believed that anything that distracted from Bible studies was frivolous and punishable." But the young Muir was a "restless spirit" and especially "prone to lashings". As a young boy, Muir became fascinated with

10374-481: The need for timber and the forests to provide it, but Pinchot's view of wilderness management was more resource-oriented. Their friendship ended late in the summer of 1897 when Pinchot released a statement to a Seattle newspaper supporting sheep grazing in forest reserves. Muir confronted Pinchot and demanded an explanation. When Pinchot reiterated his position, Muir told him: "I don't want any thing more to do with you". This philosophical divide soon expanded and split

10507-415: The north of Ireland during the early 19th century. His paternal grandfather founded a very prosperous lumber business that his father later managed. Later in life, Adams condemned the industry his grandfather worked in for cutting down many of the redwood forests . One of Adams's earliest memories was watching the smoke from the fires caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . Then four years old, Adams

10640-570: The observations he recorded amounted to a description of "the sublimity of Nature", and what amounted to "an aesthetic and spiritual notebook". Muir felt that his task was more than just recording "phenomena", but also to "illuminate the spiritual implications of those phenomena", writes Williams. For Muir, mountain skies, for example, seemed painted with light, and came to "... symbolize divinity". He often described his observations in terms of light. Muir biographer Steven Holmes notes that Muir used words like "glory" and "glorious" to suggest that light

10773-451: The orchards on the family 2600 acre farm in Martinez, California . John and Louisa had two daughters, Wanda Muir Hanna and Helen Muir Funk . He was sustained by the natural environment and by reading the essays of naturalist author Ralph Waldo Emerson , who wrote about the very life that Muir was then living. On excursions into the back country of Yosemite, he traveled alone, carrying "only

10906-502: The origins of the natural world. According to Williams, philosophers and theologians such as Thomas Dick suggested that the "best place to discover the true attributes of deity was in Nature". He came to believe that God was always active in the creation of life and thereby kept the natural order of the world. As a result, Muir "styled himself as a John the Baptist ", adds Williams, "whose duty

11039-421: The park. While traveling to the park, Muir told the president about state mismanagement of the valley and rampant exploitation of the valley's resources. Even before they entered the park, he was able to convince Roosevelt that the best way to protect the valley was through federal control and management. After entering the park and seeing the magnificent splendor of the valley, the president asked Muir to show him

11172-418: The patron saints of twentieth-century American environmental activity", both political and recreational. As a result, his writings are commonly discussed in books and journals, and he has often been quoted by nature photographers such as Ansel Adams . "Muir has profoundly shaped the very categories through which Americans understand and envision their relationships with the natural world", writes Holmes. Muir

11305-704: The photography magazine Aperture , and co-founded the Center for Creative Photography at the University of Arizona . Adams was born in the Fillmore District of San Francisco , the only child of Charles Hitchcock Adams and Olive Bray. He was named after his uncle, Ansel Easton. His mother's family came from Baltimore , where his maternal grandfather had a successful freight-hauling business but lost his wealth investing in failed mining and real estate ventures in Nevada. The Adams family came from New England, having migrated from

11438-470: The prints were made during the 1970s, with their sale finally giving Adams financial independence from commercial projects. The total value of these original prints exceeds $ 25,000,000; the highest price paid for a single print of Moonrise reached $ 609,600 at a 2006 Sotheby's auction in New York. The Mural Project ended on June 30, 1942; and because of the World War, the murals were never created. Adams sent

11571-493: The real Yosemite. Muir and Roosevelt set off largely by themselves and camped in the back country. The duo talked late into the night, slept in the brisk open air of Glacier Point, and were dusted by a fresh snowfall in the morning. It was a night Roosevelt never forgot. He later told a crowd, "Lying out at night under those giant Sequoias was like lying in a temple built by no hand of man, a temple grander than any human architect could by any possibility build." Muir, too, cherished

11704-527: The reality he wished to convey". However, he was prodded by friends and his wife to keep writing and as a result of their influence he kept at it, although never satisfied. Muir wrote in 1872, "No amount of word-making will ever make a single soul to 'know' these mountains. One day's exposure to mountains is better than a cartload of books". In one of his essays, he gave an example of the deficiencies of writing versus experiencing nature. Muir believed that to discover truth, he must turn to what he believed were

11837-415: The same time writing articles for publication. During those years, Muir and Carr continued corresponding. She sent many of her friends to Yosemite to meet Muir and "to hear him preach the gospel of the mountains", writes Gisel. The most notable was naturalist and author Ralph Waldo Emerson . The importance of Carr, who continually gave Muir reassurance and inspiration, "cannot be overestimated", adds Gisel. It

11970-531: The sawmill and rake factory of William Trout and Charles Jay. Muir lived with the Trout family in an area called Trout Hollow, south of Meaford, on the Bighead River . While there, he continued "botanizing", exploring the escarpment and bogs, collecting and cataloging plants. One source appears to indicate he worked at the mill/factory until the summer of 1865, while another says he stayed on at Trout Hollow until after

12103-460: The sciences. Muir took an eclectic approach to his studies, attending classes for two years but never being listed higher than a first-year student due to his unusual selection of courses. Records showed his class status as "irregular gent" and, even though he never graduated, he learned enough geology and botany to inform his later wanderings. In 1863, his brother Daniel left Wisconsin and moved to Southern Ontario (then known as Canada West in

12236-470: The simplest English language, and therefore admired above all the writings of Carlyle , Emerson and Thoreau . "He is a very firm believer in Thoreau and starts by reading deeply of this author". His secretary, Marion Randall Parsons, also noted that "composition was always slow and laborious for him. ... Each sentence, each phrase, each word, underwent his critical scrutiny, not once but twenty times before he

12369-465: The story of "this creation in words any reader could understand". As a result, his writings were to become "prophecy, for [they] sought to change our angle of vision". Williams notes that Muir's philosophy and world view rotated around his perceived dichotomy between civilization and nature. From this developed his core belief that "wild is superior". His nature writings became a "synthesis of natural theology" with scripture that helped him understand

12502-471: The technical range of his works, emphasizing detailed close-ups as well as large forms, from mountains to factories. Bender took Adams on visits to Taos, New Mexico , where Adams met and made friends with the poet Robinson Jeffers , artists John Marin and Georgia O'Keeffe , and photographer Paul Strand . His talkative, high-spirited nature combined with his excellent piano playing made him popular among his artist friends. His first book, Taos Pueblo ,

12635-735: The use of the country's natural resources. Pinchot saw conservation as a means of managing the nation's natural resources for long-term sustainable commercial use. As a professional forester, his view was that "forestry is tree farming", without destroying the long-term viability of the forests. Muir valued nature for its spiritual and transcendental qualities. In one essay about the National Parks, he referred to them as "places for rest, inspiration, and prayers." He often encouraged city dwellers to experience nature for its spiritual nourishment. Both men opposed reckless exploitation of natural resources, including clear-cutting of forests. Even Muir acknowledged

12768-406: The valley as "the highest possible use which could be made of it". In contrast, Muir proclaimed, "Dam Hetch Hetchy! As well dam for water-tanks the people's cathedrals and churches, for no holier temple has ever been consecrated by the hearts of man". In 1899, Muir accompanied railroad executive E. H. Harriman and esteemed scientists on the famous exploratory voyage along the Alaska coast aboard

12901-580: The visit cured him of his disease and compulsions. Adams avidly read photography magazines, attended camera club meetings, and went to photography and art exhibits. He explored the High Sierra during summer and winter with retired geologist and amateur ornithologist Francis Holman, whom he called "Uncle Frank". Holman taught him camping and climbing; however, their shared ignorance of safe climbing techniques such as belaying almost led to disaster on more than one occasion. While in Yosemite, Adams had need of

13034-545: The way to Baker Beach and the sea cliffs leading to Lands End , "San Francisco's wildest and rockiest coast, a place strewn with shipwrecks and rife with landslides." Adams's father had a three-inch telescope, and they enthusiastically shared the hobby of astronomy, visiting the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton together. His father later served as the paid secretary-treasurer of the Astronomical Society of

13167-399: The west and Mt. Wright and Mount Case to the east. From 1892 to approximately 1980, it had retreated nearly 32 kilometers (20 mi). Between 1941 and 2004, the glacier retreated more than 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) and thinned by over 800 meters (2,600 ft). Ocean water has filled the valley replacing the ice and creating Muir Inlet . The 1941 image shows the Muir Glacier as

13300-479: The year after he died. Muir Glacier has undergone very rapid, well-documented retreat since its Little Ice Age maximum position at the mouth of Glacier Bay around 1780. In 1794, the explorer Captain George Vancouver found that most of Glacier Bay was covered by an enormous ice sheet, some 1,200 meters (3,900 ft) in places. In 1904 the glacier reportedly "broke through the mountains" with Pyramid Peak to

13433-530: Was "saving the American soul from total surrender to materialism". On April 21, 2013, the first John Muir Day was celebrated in Scotland, which marked the 175th anniversary of his birth, paying homage to the conservationist. John Muir was born in Dunbar , Scotland, in a three-story stone building now preserved as a museum . He was the third of eight children of Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye; their other children were Margaret, Sarah, David, Daniel, Ann and Mary (twins), and

13566-435: Was "through his letters to her that he developed a voice and purpose". She also tried to promote Muir's writings by submitting his letters to a monthly magazine for publication. Muir came to trust Carr as his "spiritual mother", and they remained friends for 30 years. In one letter she wrote to Muir while he was living in Yosemite, she tried to keep him from despairing as to his purpose in life. The value of their friendship

13699-513: Was already 11 years old when he and his family emigrated to America. In 1849, Muir's family immigrated to the United States, starting a farm near Portage, Wisconsin , called Fountain Lake Farm . It has been designated a National Historic Landmark . Stephen Fox recounts that Muir's father found the Church of Scotland insufficiently strict in faith and practice, leading to their immigration and joining

13832-511: Was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West . He helped found Group f/64 , an association of photographers advocating "pure" photography which favored sharp focus and the use of the full tonal range of a photograph . He and Fred Archer developed a system of image-making called the Zone System , a method of achieving

13965-479: Was an author and Professor of Art at Rutgers College (now Rutgers, State University of New Jersey). His nephew Dix Strong Van Dyke had gone to Daggett, California to seek his fortune. Like his uncle, Dix was an author, who wrote Daggett: Life in a Mojave Frontier Town (Creating the North American Landscape) . John Muir found his way to Daggett and had many conversations with the uncle and nephew Van Dyke at

14098-460: Was asked to form the first fine art photography department at the California School of Fine Arts . Adams invited Dorothea Lange , Imogen Cunningham, and Edward Weston to be guest lecturers, and Minor White to be the principal instructor. The photography department produced numerous notable photographers, including Philip Hyde , Benjamen Chinn , and Bill Heick . In 1952 Adams was one of

14231-417: Was born, followed by Anne two years later. During the 1930s, Adams began to deploy his photographs in the cause of wilderness preservation. He was inspired partly by the increasing incursion into Yosemite Valley of commercial development, including a pool hall, bowling alley, golf course, shops, and automobile traffic. He created the limited-edition book Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail in 1938, as part of

14364-623: Was delighted to find at the end of his career the prophet-naturalist he had called for so long ago ... And for Muir, Emerson's visit came like a laying on of hands." Emerson spent one day with Muir, and he offered him a teaching position at Harvard, which Muir declined. Muir later wrote, "I never for a moment thought of giving up God's big show for a mere profship!" Muir also spent time with photographer Carleton Watkins and studied his photographs of Yosemite. Pursuit of his love of science, especially geology, often occupied his free time. Muir soon became convinced that glaciers had sculpted many of

14497-608: Was distressed by the Japanese American internment that occurred after the Pearl Harbor attack. He requested permission to visit the Manzanar War Relocation Center in the Owens Valley , at the base of Mount Williamson . The resulting photo-essay first appeared in a Museum of Modern Art exhibit, and later was published as Born Free and Equal : The Story of Loyal Japanese-Americans . Upon its release, "[the book]

14630-401: Was elected president, Warren Olney was elected vice-president, and a board of directors was chosen that included David Starr Jordan , president of the new Stanford University . Muir remained president until his death 22 years later. The Sierra Club immediately opposed efforts to reduce Yosemite National Park by half, and began holding educational and scientific meetings. At one meeting in

14763-417: Was extremely fond of Thoreau and was probably influenced more by him than even Emerson . Muir often referred to himself as a "disciple" of Thoreau. During his first summer in the Sierra as a shepherd, Muir wrote field notes that emphasized the role that the senses play in human perceptions of the environment. According to Williams, he speculated that the world was an unchanging entity that was interpreted by

14896-475: Was first disclosed by a friend of Carr's, clergyman and writer G. Wharton James. After obtaining copies of their private letters from Carr, and despite pleadings from Muir to return them, he instead published articles about their friendship, using those letters as a primary source. In one such article, his focus was Muir's debt to Carr, stating that she was his "guiding star" who "led him into the noble paths of life, and then kept him there". John Charles Van Dyke

15029-535: Was first elected to the Sierra Club's board of directors in 1934 and served on the board for 37 years. Adams participated in the club's annual High Trips , later becoming assistant manager and official photographer for the trips. He is credited with several first ascents in the Sierra Nevada. During his twenties, most of his friends had musical associations, particularly violinist and amateur photographer Cedric Wright , who became his best friend as well as his philosophical and cultural mentor. Their shared philosophy

15162-471: Was frequently heard talking about his childhood spent amid the East Lothian countryside. He greatly admired the works of Thomas Carlyle and poetry of Robert Burns ; he was known to carry a collection of poems by Burns during his travels through the American wilderness. He returned to Scotland on a trip in 1893, where he met one of his Dunbar schoolmates and visited the places of his youth that were etched in his memory. He never lost his Scottish accent since he

15295-407: Was from Edward Carpenter 's Towards Democracy , a literary work which endorsed the pursuit of beauty in life and art. For several years, Adams carried a pocket edition with him while at Yosemite; and it became his personal philosophy as well. He later stated, "I believe in beauty. I believe in stones and water, air and soil, people and their future and their fate." During summer, Adams would enjoy

15428-476: Was in U.S. Camera 1943 annual, after being selected by the "photo judge" for U.S. Camera , Edward Steichen . This gave Moonrise an audience before its first formal exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1944. Over nearly 40 years, Adams re-interpreted the image, his most popular by far, using the latest darkroom equipment at his disposal, making over 1,369 unique prints, mostly in 16" by 20" format. Many of

15561-531: Was less disciplined about recording the dates of his images, and he neglected to note the date of Moonrise . But the position of the Moon allowed the image to be eventually dated from astronomical calculations, and in 1991 Dennis di Cicco of Sky & Telescope determined that Moonrise was made on November 1, 1941. Since this was a day for which he had not billed the department, the image belonged to Adams. When Edward Steichen formed his Naval Aviation Photographic Unit in early 1942, he wanted Adams to be

15694-405: Was light everywhere.... A new era began for me." His father gave him his first camera during that stay, an Eastman Kodak Brownie box camera , and he took his first photographs with his "usual hyperactive enthusiasm". He returned to Yosemite on his own the next year with better cameras and a tripod. During the winters of 1917 and 1918, he learned basic darkroom technique while working part-time for

15827-442: Was made probably enhanced the photograph's fame: the light on the crosses in the foreground was rapidly fading, and he could not find his exposure meter; however, he remembered the luminance of the Moon and used it to calculate the proper exposure. In the resulting negative the foreground was underexposed, the highlights in the clouds were quite dense, and the negative proved difficult to print. The initial publication of Moonrise

15960-511: Was met with some distressing resistance and was rejected by many as disloyal." This work was a significant departure, stylistically and philosophically, from the work for which Adams is generally known. He also contributed to the war effort by doing many photographic assignments for the military, including making prints of secret Japanese installations in the Aleutians. In 1943, Adams had a camera platform mounted on his station wagon, to afford him

16093-462: Was most important about his writings was not their quantity, but their "quality". He notes that they have had a "lasting effect on American culture in helping to create the desire and will to protect and preserve wild and natural environments". His first appearance in print was by accident, writes Miller; a person he did not know submitted, without his permission or awareness, a personal letter to his friend Jeanne Carr, describing Calypso borealis ,

16226-538: Was no longer visible in the photograph. The Riggs Glacier had also undergone significant changes, retreating by 0.25km and becoming disconnected from the Muir Glacier. Vegetation began to dominate the landscape where ice once prevailed. This article about a glacier in Alaska is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . John Muir John Muir ( / m jʊər / MURE ; April 21, 1838 – December 24, 1914), also known as "John of

16359-507: Was not yet up to the standards of Strand. He decided to broaden his subject matter to include still life and close-up photos and to achieve higher quality by "visualizing" each image before taking it. He emphasized the use of small apertures and long exposures in natural light, which created sharp details with a wide range of distances in focus, as demonstrated in Rose and Driftwood (1933), one of his finest still-life photographs. In 1932, Adams had

16492-404: Was noted for being an ecological thinker, political spokesman, and environmental advocate, whose writings became a personal guide into nature for many people, making his name "almost ubiquitous" in the modern environmental consciousness. According to author William Anderson, Muir exemplified "the archetype of our oneness with the earth", while biographer Donald Worster says he believed his mission

16625-539: Was often invited to the Carrs' home; he shared Jeanne's love of plants. In 1864, he left Wisconsin to begin exploring the Canadian wilderness and, while there, began corresponding with her about his activities. Carr wrote Muir in return and encouraged him in his explorations and writings, eventually having an important influence over his personal goals. At one point she asked Muir to read a book she felt would influence his thinking, Lamartine 's The Stonemason of Saint Point . It

16758-436: Was published in 1930 with text by writer Mary Hunter Austin . Strand proved especially influential. Adams was impressed by the simplicity and detail of Strand's negatives, which showed a style that ran counter to the soft-focus, impressionistic pictorialism still popular at the time. Strand shared secrets of his technique with Adams and convinced him to pursue photography fully. One of Strand's suggestions that Adams adopted

16891-403: Was satisfied to let it stand". Muir often told her, "This business of writing books is a long, tiresome, endless job". Miller speculates that Muir recycled his earlier writings partly due to his "dislike of the writing process". He adds that Muir "did not enjoy the work, finding it difficult and tedious". He was generally unsatisfied with the finished result, finding prose "a weak instrument for

17024-522: Was taking on a religious dimension: "It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the notion of glory in Muir's published writings, where no other single image carries more emotional or religious weight", adding that his words "exactly parallels its Hebraic origins", in which biblical writings often indicate a divine presence with light, as in the burning bush or pillar of fire , and described as "the glory of God". Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984)

17157-404: Was the story of a man whose life she hoped would "metabolize in Muir", writes Gisel, and "was a projection of the life she envisioned for him". According to Gisel, the story was about a "poor man with a pure heart", who found in nature "divine lessons and saw all of God's creatures interconnected". After Muir returned to the United States, he spent the next four years exploring Yosemite, while at

17290-631: Was to immerse in 'mountain baptism' everyone he could". Williams concludes that Muir saw nature as a great teacher, "revealing the mind of God", and this belief became the central theme of his later journeys and the "subtext" of his nature writing. During his career as writer and while living in the mountains, Muir continued to experience the "presence of the divine in nature", writes Holmes. His personal letters also conveyed these feelings of ecstasy. Historian Catherine Albanese stated that in one of his letters, "Muir's eucharist made Thoreau's feast on wood-chuck and huckleberry seem almost anemic". Muir

17423-792: Was to use glossy paper to intensify tonal values. Adams put on his first solo museum exhibition, Pictorial Photographs of the Sierra Nevada Mountains by Ansel Adams , at the Smithsonian Institution in 1931; it featured 60 prints taken in the High Sierra and the Canadian Rockies . He received a favorable review from the Washington Post : "His photographs are like portraits of the giant peaks, which seem to be inhabited by mythical gods." Despite his success, Adams felt that he

17556-494: Was uninjured in the initial shaking but was tossed face-first into a garden wall during an aftershock three hours later, breaking and scarring his nose. A doctor recommended that his nose be reset once he reached maturity, but it remained crooked and necessitated mouth breathing for the rest of his life. In 1907, his family moved 2 miles (3 km) west to a new home near the Seacliff neighborhood of San Francisco, just south of

17689-611: Was with the party that landed on Wrangel Island on the USS Corwin and claimed that island for the United States. He documented this experience in journal entries and newspaper articles—later compiled and edited into his book The Cruise of the Corwin . In 1888 after seven years of managing the Strentzel fruit ranch in Alhambra Valley, California , his health began to suffer. He returned to

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