Muir of the Mountains: A review.

One of the things I really love about literature-based history in elementary school is that you get to decide the criteria of who's "important" enough to spend lots of time on.    In elementary school, you can, if you wish, pick historical characters based on interestingness, or, well, character.   Even if some of the folks you pick would be relegated to a little side box in a typical American history textbook for elementary school kids.

We just finished reading a biography of John Muir:  Muir of the Mountains by William O. Douglas.  We spent four precious sessions of American history on it.  And I am so glad we did!  

First of all, the kids all loved the book and listened with rapt attention.   Really good biographies are wonderful ways of getting at history, I suppose because they are at bottom stories.  The more interesting the character, the more interesting the book, of course, and Muir was definitely an interesting character.  "He's crazy," all the kids agreed as I got to the part where Muir was leaping across crevasses during a morning walk with his dog Stickeen.  "Definitely crazy," they added when I got to the part where he had to lie in hot-spring-warmed mud all night to keep from freezing in a mountain snowstorm.  But they didn't think he was crazy when I read about his efforts to protect the redwood trees from extinction, or his elaborate descriptions of the Yosemite valley.  (This particular book includes lengthy passages of Muir's own writings -- poetic, detailed, multisensory.  All the better.)

Second, the book gave us a window into how much people's attitudes towards nature have changed just in the last hundred years or so.  We were able to discuss how much they take it for granted, the idea that parkland should be set aside for people to enjoy it in a state close to its natural state; the idea that future generations deserve to enjoy the resources that our generation has now.  It really helps put into perspective the modern environmentalist movement.   The proper end of nature conservation is to make life better for human beings -- a point Muir stressed over and over in his writings, and one that comes through in this particular biography quite clearly.

Third, the book pointed out something to love about the United States of America (Canada too) -- unlike in many other places in the world, our country stepped in to protect huge areas of the wilderness before it got destroyed, and we still enjoy that today.  America's national parks are a treasure we should never take for granted.  The book taught the kids that it might have gone differently -- the giant redwoods might have been logged into extinction, for example, or the parks and forests might never have been created for us to enjoy as hikers, campers, bird watchers.  Someone had to care about the land and the species that inhabit it, and someone had to lobby the government to get the necessary laws passed.   Seriously:  Our national parks are a big reason why I'm glad to live in the USA and call it my country.

Fourth, the background information about Muir's life, like many biographies, reinforced a lot of other concepts in American history that could have been taught from a textbook -- so we don't have to.   We got to discuss immigration, economics,  political lobbying, among other things.  Several U. S. presidents make cameo appearances in the book -- most notably, Teddy Roosevelt, who went camping with Muir, and Woodrow Wilson (boo hiss) who undid some of Muir's work.  

Fifth, it gave us another opportunity to talk about the tensions between different interest groups and to point out the way they interact non-simplistically.  For example, why encouraging more people to participate in hunting and fishing can help state DNRs protect the same species that are hunted and fished as well as other species.  

Sixth, the book contains a considerable amount of scientific information about glaciers, rocks, and the animal and plant species that interested Muir.  

Seventh, it gave us a chance to talk about Muir's admirable character traits.  Not just his love of the outdoors and his eye for beauty, his persistence and his charisma that helped him get laws passed that would protect his beloved Sierra Nevadas, although these alone would be  The biographer made a point of telling how after Muir married, he deferred his dream of full-time naturalist/environmentalist work for about ten years while he worked on a farm, carefully saving money until he had ensured that his wife and daughters were provided for.  Not till then did the family sell off the farm and Muir devote himself year-long to his beloved mountains.

Finally:  this is history that my kids can relate to.  Mark and I try hard to pass down our love for outdoor activity, for the outdoors in general, to our kids.  It's really one of our family values.  I'm glad to be able  to place something so important to our family in its historical context.

After we finished the book, we unrolled the U. S. map and spent quite some time looking over it and marveling at the national parks and forests and wilderness preserves shown all over the country.   The kids all want to see Yosemite for themselves, and wished the only Minnesota national park (Voyageurs -- it's up in the north woods) were close enough to make a day trip.  Well, we are heading out to Rocky Mountain National Park this summer at least, and I expect the trip will be made more meaningful with a little bit of background knowledge about the man who more than anyone else made it and all the other national parks possible.  

Comments

[Cathie B]

Thank you for the book review! I will have to pick it up for the kids. We truly enjoyed Muir Woods in California. It is truly a blessing and really puts things in perspective.

[MelanieB]

Oh what fun! I have fond childhood memories of Rocky Mountain National Park. Also Glacier National Park, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Muir Woods, Zion, Bryce Canyon, Canyonlands, Arches, Monument Valley, Big Bend, Black Canyon of the Gunnison, Carlsbad Caverns, Crater Lake, Death Valley, Grand Tetons, Great Sand Dunes, Mesa Verde, Mount Rainier, Olympic, Petrified Forest...

Obviously it was one of our family values as well.

Looks like a good book. I'm making note to one day share it with my kids.