Science

History

Art &
Literature

GIS &
Mapping

Library

ChatRoom
Search
TrailHead
Base Camp
       



Ralph Waldo Emerson

writer and transcendental philosopher

One of the most famous writers to visit the California Backcountry was Ralph Waldo Emerson. Leaving his Concord, Massachusetts home with family and an entourage, Emerson made his way to explore the California BackCountry in 1871.

Emerson was the grandfather of the transcendentalist movement. He was the patron of Henry David Thoreau who wrote the American classic, Walden's Pond, and himself was a widely read author in his time. The transcendentalists recognized the divine presence in the natural world, and sought to raise attention to this quality, which would lead civilization to protect its natural environment, not solely be consumers of the natural world. They encouraged personal, social, and environmental responsibility. And they tried various experiments in communal and solitary living to demonstrate their beliefs in concrete terms.

Emerson came to California with a letter of introduction to John Muir, and the two were quite taken with one another once they met in Yosemite. Emerson would visit Muir daily, and Muir would enjoy showing Emerson his botanical collection, taking him for splendid hikes along the Yosemite trails, and shared with Emerson his profound love for the natural world. Emerson saw in Muir a western version of his protégé Thoreau, and noted that Muir was "a new kind of Thoreau … browsing upon the cedars and sequoias of the Sierra instead of the scrub-oaks of Concord."

Muir urgently wanted to take Emerson off the beaten track that the tourists enjoyed at Yosemite, and to take him on explorations to remote points. But Emerson, and especially his entourage, were cautious. He had firm commitments for speaking engagements, and regretted not being able to take Muir up on his offerings of exciting adventures. Sadly, Muir watched the Emerson party depart from the Mariposa grove and they continued to correspond for the rest of Emerson's life. Before leaving California, the Emerson party also visited Lake Tahoe, and then headed back east to Concord where Emerson lived until his passing in 1882.