The environmentalist John Muir was born in Dunbar in 1838. His father was a religious zealot and before Muir emigrated to America he could recite the bible from memory. Known as the "Father of United States Conservation" his writings led to the creation of the Sequoia and Yosemite national parks and the national park movement in general.
A prolific writer, his books include My First Summer in the Sierra and Our National Parks as well as A Thousand-Mile Walk to the Gulf and The Yosemite .
There are said to be more places named after John Muir in California than for any other person. He also founded the town of Haines in south-east Alaska in 1879 and sighted the glacier there which now bears his name. He also visited Russia, Siberia, India, Australasia, and the Philippines to study their forests. The homes of Muir and his daughter, in Martinez, California, were designated the John Muir National Historic Site in 1964. For more information on the John Muir Birthplace Trust at Dunbar see their Web Site.
