John Muir’s Dog Stickeen Kate Kelly
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54 4 Legs & a Tail
tickeen wasn’t even naturalist John Muir’s dog, yet he was Muir’s faithful companion as the explorer made a treacherous journey across a glacier in the southeastern section of Alaska. Who Was John Muir? John Muir (1838-1914) was to become a an inf luential conservationist who led many battles for conservation and wrote persuasively about the importance of preserving our natural world. He was born in Dunbar, Scotland. His family emigrated from there, finding their way to Madison, Wisconsin, when Muir was 11. Though he always loved being outside, one of his early jobs as an adult was in Indianapolis working on machinery. A bad accident, however, caused him to re-think his life. When he recovered from his injury, he resolved that he would look for a way to be outside full-time. Leaving Indianapolis, Muir hiked to the Gulf of Mexico and sailed to Cuba. From Panama, he caught a ship going up the West Coast to San Francisco. Eventually he also traveled up the coast into Canada and Alaska. He particularly loved California. He and his family settled on a ranch in Martinez, California, where he could still easily travel to his beloved Sierra Fall 2020
