Book Review: From the Eagle's Wing

One of the glaciers in Glacier Bay. One of these was named for John Muir.

A biography of John Muir, From the Eagle's Wing, told the story of an incredible life. Muir was born in Scotland, but his family soon emigrated to the United States. He spent his early years helping to carve a family farm from raw land under the stern hand of his father. John had a keen mind that longed to learn but he was refused the opportunity to go to school because he was such a hard worker that he would have been sorely missed. Even his sisters were working in the fields from daylight until dark. A neighbor once said of John's father that he worked his children like beasts of burden. 

Trained to be obedient but still longing to learn, he found that a neighbor was starting a lending library out of his home. This was just the opportunity he needed. His father had told him that he could get up as early as he wanted and that time would be his, but as soon as it was time for the predawn chores, he "free time" was over. John took to waking in the wee hours just to have time for his reading and the building of his inventions. Allowed no fire wood and only a candle to work by, he suffered terribly from the cold. But in his determination, this seemed a small price to pay for the freedom to learn. 

His first great success was when a neighbor encouraged him to enter some of his inventions in a large fair. Having never been to anything like it before, he had no idea what to expect, but was certainly willing to give it a go. His inventions were the talk of the fair and gained him his first public fame through the local newspapers. While at the fair, he walked by a university. Everything in him wanted to stay, but he knew it was impossible. 

When he "came of age", he did attend the university exploring many different departments and excelling in each. After finishing his course of study, his knack for inventing made him a valuable asset to several different companies where he was able to create machines that saved many man hours. His genius was perfectly timed to take advantage of the beginning of the industrial age. 

He wandered from job to job until he ended up in California working at a mill that would cut only downed trees, those felled by age or wind. He had fallen in love with the forests and since this mill did not cut down trees, he was able to enjoy the scenery while earning money, all with a clear conscience since he had come to believe that the forests should be protected from clear cutting strictly for commercial use. 

His love of nature induced him to begin a life long habit of exploration and discovery. Many years were spent in California, and he became famous when he began to sketch and write about his travels for the newspapers and magazines of the day. As industry grew, he became a defender of wild places. One of his favorite spots was in the groves of giant sequoias. Theodore Roosevelt, newly inaugurated President, sent him a secret letter asking John to personally play host for the President's visit to these enormous trees. They spent three nights with just the two of them exploring this beautiful wilderness area. And it was largely due to the influence of these two men that our nation began the program of our National Parks. 

His wanderings took him all over the world. Next to California, he was fascinated by Alaska where he spent many months exploring the glaciers. His fascination with them began when he became one of the very first to theorize that glaciers were responsible for the formation of many of the valleys around Yosemite. His trips to Alaska were for the purpose of studying the movement of these mighty mountains of ice in order to better defend his theory about the valleys in California. 

The biography, though filled with information, was not really a book that I liked. The style of writing seemed choppy and disjointed, jumping from one thing to another without smooth transition. Perhaps it was the sheer volume of adventures covered that necessitated the writing style in the mind of the author, Hildegarde Hoyt Swift. 

This is another in my 52 in 52 challenge. That brings my total to 9! I'm almost caught up so that I could just read one book per week.