Yosemite National Park [antikvár]

forewordBetween 1867, when Alaska was purchased from Russia, and 1869, when the Golden Spike wedded the Coasts with a band of steel known as the transcontinental railroad, something of uncelebrated significance occurred, and nowas we approach its centennialwe should take note of it: A man walked into California. It was 1868.His name was John^Muir, and though it is possible, it is quite unlikely another man has lived in this country who loved the wilderness as much. He wrote of ". . . the mighty Sierra so gloriously colored, and so radiant, it seemed not clothed with light, but wholly composed of it, like the wall of some celestial city." But, unlike Emerson and Thoreau, Muir went beyond mere writing: He sensed that to protect this vision, this place of retreat and renewal for the human spirit, what he called "legislative interference" would be necessary, and out of his efforts a crusading organization, the Sierra Club, came into being.MiUions of Americans have visited Yosemite. Millions of others will do so in our tomorrows, down the years. Few will know the name Muir, though the magnificent Yosemite Valley is itself a monument to his fight and foresight. But most will be seeking, each in his own way, what Muir knew and loved: Wilderness. This, a hundred years ago, was the single most influential factor in American life. This, today, is yet recognized as an elemental force whose benefits are there for those