HONEYMOON ON A DOGSLED?

By Caroline Clemmons

Women's History Month Honors Mardy Murie.

Grandmother of

the Conservation 

Movement

Margaret (Mardy) Murie is fondly called the Grandmother of the Conservation Movement, but her love of the land began at a young age. Margaret Thomas grew up in Fairbanks after arriving by sternwheeler with her family as a small child. Her stepfather, Louis Gillette, was an assistant U.S. attorney in Fairbanks.

She met Olaus Murie, a biologist, in Fairbanks. In 1924, Mandy was the first woman to graduate from the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, now the University of Alaska. She and Olaus married in 1924 in a 3 a.m. sunrise ceremony at Anvik on the Yukon River. Doesn’t that sound romantic? It does to me, but there’s a more practical explanation. After her graduation, Mandy traveled by steamwheeler to the village where she and Olaus had agreed to meet. Olaus had been studying birds in Hooper Bay. The couple left on a 550 mile honeymoon on dogsled and riverboat to study caribou migration.

Mardy and Olaus Murie

Another expedition a few years later involved boating from Fairbanks hundreds of miles to the Old Crow River in Canada to band geese. She continued to accompany her husband on his journeys even while nursing their three children. 

The couple left Alaska in 1927, but returned to visit many times in the following decades. Mardy's adventures growing up in Alaska and as a scientist's wife are chronicled in her book, "Two in the Far North," and in a documentary, "Arctic Dance." Published in 1962 and still in print, the book describes the winter night when she was 14 and Fairbanks caught fire. The men burned the town's bacon supply as fuel to keep the steam-powered water pump running. She also recounts her late-winter dogsled trips over thawing rivers, how she became the first woman to graduate from the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, her marriage to Olaus, the couple's honeymoon, as well as a later river journey taken with their infant son, Martin, strapped to their boat. She also authored "Island Between," published in 1977, and "Wapiti Wilderness," published in 1966 with her husband as co-author, even though he had died three years earlier.

Olaus and Mardy

I love the adoring way she

looks at her husband.

In 1927, the Muries moved to Jackson, Wyoming, where Olaus studied ecology, specifically the elk population. Mardy worked side-by-side with Olaus in the field, studying elk, sheep and numerous other animals in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. They would camp for weeks at a time in the wild, open valley of Jackson Hole. Olaus' primary goal was to identify pressures on the elk population, causing the startling decrease in the area. Over the course of nearly 40 years, The couple had numerous backcountry expeditions tracking the wildlife in the area. The couple even took expeditions when their three children were still nursing!

In 1945, they bought a former dude ranch after Mardy decided she no longer wanted to live in town. She wanted to walk out her back door and into the woods. The Murie Ranch became a hub for conversations and problem solving to protect the wild. Olaus and Mardy took on work as director and secretary of the Wilderness Society, helping draft recommendations for legislation and policy like the protection of Jackson Hole National Monument. 

In 1956, Mardy, Olaus and other field biologists traveled to the upper Sheenjek River on the south slope of the Brooks Range, inside what is now the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. That trip began the campaign to protect the area as a wildlife refuge. The couple recruited former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas to help persuade President Eisenhower to set aside 8 million acres as the Arctic National Wildlife Range, which was expanded to 19 million acres and renamed in 1980.

Mardy and Olaus

 

The idea of preserving an entire ecological system became the intellectual and scientific foundation for the creation of a new generation of large natural parks, especially those established by the Alaska National Interests Lands Conservation Act. By the time of his death on October 21, 1963, Olaus had earned a prominent position in the historical ranks of eminent American preservationists. Although he did not live to see the Wilderness Act passed, its enactment was in part attributable to his work and convictions. Mardy, however, attended the signing of the Act, by President Lyndon Johnson, in the Rose Garden of the White House on September 3, 1964.

After her husband 's death in 1963, Mardy began writing and took over much of her husband's conservation work, writing letters and articles, traveling to hearings, and making speeches. Mardy returned to Alaska to survey potential wilderness areas for the National Park Service and worked on the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act that was signed by President Carter in 1980. That legislation set aside 104,000,000 acres of land in Alaska and doubled the size of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In addition to Alaska, Mardy traveled to Tanzania and New Zealand studying wild areas, assessing areas for wilderness qualities and working to protect nature from exploitation.^]

 

The Murie Residence in Moose, Wyoming was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. As part of the Murie Ranch Historic District Landmark in 2006, it now houses a conservation institute name for Mardy and Olaus.

 

During her life, Mandy Murie received numerous honors and awards. She died peacefully at home at age 101.

 

Sources:

https://uaf.edu/centennial/uaf100/murie.php

https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/208020

https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/olaus-mardy-murie.php 

https://wilderness.net/learn-about-wilderness/olaus-mardy-murie.php

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Murie

 

“John of the Mountains”, My Hero by Sarah J. McNeal

 John Muir

Many of you may already be acquainted with John Muir, or “John of the Mountains” as he later became known, the Scottish-American naturalist. As well as being an author of many books about nature and conservation, he also dedicated his life to the preservation of wilderness in the United States, particularly the vast western wildlife. He founded the conservation organization, the Sierra Club, a community of members who fight to preserve our wild lands and the creatures who live there.

John Muir was born in Dunbar, United Kingdom on April 21, 1838. His birthplace is a four-story stone house in Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland. He was the third of eight children by Daniel Muir and Ann Gilrye. His earliest recollections were of taking short walks with his grandfather when he was three. John described his boyhood pursuits in his autobiography, which included fighting, either by re-enacting romantic battles from the Wars of Scottish Independence or just scrapping on the playground, and hunting for birds' nests. 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. 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 also never lost his strong Scottish accent after many years living in America.

In 1866 Muir settled in Indianapolis to work in a wagon wheel factory. In early March 1867, an accident changed the course of his life: a tool he was using slipped and struck him in the eye. He was confined to a darkened room for six weeks, worried whether he would ever regain his sight. When he did, "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 a walk of about 1,000 miles from Kentucky to Florida, which he recounted in his book A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf. When Muir arrived at Cedar Keys, he began working for Richard Hodgson at Hodgson's sawmill. However, three days after accepting to work for Hodgson, Muir almost died of a malarial sickness. (It seems every time he went to work for someone, something bad would happen to him. Just sayin’…) One evening in January 1868, Muir climbed onto the Hodgson house roof to watch the sunset. From the roof he saw 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 and booked passage to California. Muir served as an officer in the United States Coast Survey, a uniformed government service agency.

John Muir at home with his wife and two daughters

Beginning in 1874, John wrote a series of articles entitled "Studies in the Sierra" that launched his successful career as a writer. He left the mountains and lived for a while in Oakland, California. From there he took many trips, including his first to Alaska in 1879, where he discovered Glacier Bay. In 1880, he married Louie Wanda Strentzel. They moved to Martinez, California where they raised their two daughters, Wanda and Helen. Settling down to some measure into domestic life, Muir went into partnership with his father-in-law and managed the family fruit ranch with great success.

Because of his activism, he managed to preserve the Yosemite Valley, Sequoia National Park and other wilderness areas. The Sierra Club, which he founded, is a prominent American conservation organization to this present day. Because of his activism, John has been admired and honored by many who have given his name to many natural places and establishments: The 211-mile (340 km) John Muir Trail, a hiking trail in the Sierra Nevada, Muir Woods National Monument, Muir Beach, John Muir College, Mount Muir, Camp Muir and Muir Glacier. In Scotland, the John Muir Way, a 130-mile-long route, was named in honor of him.

John Muir in his later years

In his later life, Muir devoted most of his time to the preservation of the Western forests. He petitioned the U.S. Congress for the National Park bill that was passed in 1890, which established Yosemite National Park. The spiritual quality and enthusiasm toward nature expressed in his writings inspired readers, including presidents and congressmen, to take action to help preserve large nature areas. He is today referred to as the "Father of the National Parks" and the National Park Service has produced a short documentary about his life.

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 the patron saints of twentieth-century American environmental activity," both political and recreational. His writings are frequently discussed in books and journals, and he is often quoted by nature photographers such as Ansel Adams. Holmes said, "Muir has profoundly shaped the very categories through which Americans understand and envision their relationships with the natural world."

California's Commemorative Quarter

Muir was noted for being an ecological thinker, political spokesman, and religious prophet, whose writings became a personal guide into nature for countless individuals, making his name almost synonymous with the modern environmental community. 

Commemorative Postage Stamp 

According to author William Anderson, Muir exemplified "the archetype of our oneness with the earth", while biographer Donald Worster says he believed his mission was "...saving the American soul from total surrender to materialism." On April 21, 2013, the first ever John Muir Day was celebrated in Scotland, which marked the 175th anniversary of his birth, paying homage to the conservationist.

I think you can well imagine why I consider John Muir or “John of the Mountains” as a hero. He helped us understand we must take care of our planet and the creatures on it or we lose touch with our spirit.

A few of John Muir's inspirational books:

  

Sarah J. McNeal is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She is a retired ER and Critical Care nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Prairie Rose Publications and its imprints Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press. Some of her fantasy and paranormal books may also be found at Publishing by Rebecca Vickery and Victory Tales Press. She welcomes you to her website and social media:

Website 

My Amazon Author’s Page

Facebook

Twitter

The Wildings

Fantasy and Dreams Blog

Sweethearts of the West

Prairie Rose Publications Blog

My Pinterest Boards