Many a historical figure has had a revelation beneath a tree, and famed naturalist John Muir x1863 was no exception. In June 1863, Muir and classmate Milton Griswold 1863, MA1866 sat beneath a black locust near North Hall for Muir’s first botany lesson. Griswold pointed out that the tree’s flowers resembled pea blossoms, introducing Muir to the surprising connections between plants. In his autobiography, Muir later recalled that the lesson sent him “flying to the woods and meadows in wild enthusiasm.” And fly he did. Muir left the UW, explored the Canadian West, walked 1,000 miles from Kentucky to Florida, and eventually planted roots in California, where he became a leading voice in the conservation movement. Back on campus, the tree was named the Muir Locust, and the hill where it stood was dedicated as Muir Knoll in 1918. Sadly, in 1953, the tree was cut down to make room on Observatory Drive. The black locust was also in decline. Its trunk measured more than 12 feet around, but its core had died, and it was filled with pitch. Rather than let the wood go to waste, agriculture professor Walter Rowlands turned pieces of it into gavels, letter openers, and other keepsakes, which university President E.B. Fred gave to people connected to Muir’s legacy. While the original tree is gone, Muir’s name lives on at John Muir Park, a seven-acre woodland in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve — a fitting tribute to the father of the U.S. National Park System.

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