[Illustration] OUR NATIONAL PARKS by John Muir Contents PREFACE Chapter I. The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West Chapter II. The Yellowstone National Park Chapter III. The Yosemite National Park Chapter IV. The Forests of the Yosemite Park Chapter V. The Wild Gardens of the Yosemite Park Chapter VI. Among the Animals of the Yosemite Chapter VII. Among the Birds of the Yosemite Chapter VIII. The Fountains and Streams of the Yosemite National Park Chapter IX. The Sequoia and General Grant National Parks Chapter X. The American Forests Appendix Index List of Illustrations John Muir in Muir Woods (1909) Map showing the National Forests, Parks, and Monuments of the United States Cassiope Mt. Rainier and Alpine Firs (_Abies lasiocarpa_) The Grand Cañon of Colorado Minerva Terrace, Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone Park Great Falls and Grand Cañon, Yellowstone Park Looking South from the Summit of Mt. Washburn, Yellowstone Park A Thunder-Storm in the Sierras Glacier Monument (Fairview Dome) Along the Crest of the High Sierras from the Summit of Mt. Lyell (13,090 feet) California Cones Yellow Pine (Yosemite Valley Form) A California Life-Oak A Yosemite Cañon Cliff (El Capitan) California Azaleas Mariposa Tulips and the Snow Plant Alpine Phlox and _Polemonium confertum_ A Cinnamon Bear Deer Feeding in the Forest A Mountain Woodchuck A Trout Stream in the Sierra Nevada (King’s River) Mono Desert from Mono Pass Liberty Cap and Nevada Falls, Yosemite Valley Water Ouzels in a Mountain Stream “Fountain Snow” on the High Sierras (Mt. Lyell Group) A Mountain Stream in June (Merced Creek and Vernal Falls, Yosemite) A Sierra Cañon (King’s River Cañon from Lookout Peak) A Giant Sequoia Midsummer in the Sequoia Forest “General Grant” Sequoia in General Grant National Park In a Puget Sound Forest Sugar Pine All the illustrations are from photographs made for this book by Herbert W. Gleason. [Illustration: John Muir in Muir Woods (1909).] TO CHARLES SPRAGUE SARGENT STEADFAST LOVER AND DEFENDER OF OUR COUNTRY’S FORESTS THIS LITTLE BOOK Is Affectionately Dedicated NOTE For the tables of information concerning the National Parks and National Monuments printed in the Appendix to this volume the reader is indebted to Mr. ALLEN CHAMBERLAIN, who has been at much pains to accumulate data not easily obtainable elsewhere. The map at the beginning of the book has also been compiled by Mr. Chamberlain from authoritative government sources. PREFACE In this book, made up of sketches first published in the Atlantic Monthly, I have done the best I could to show forth the beauty, grandeur, and all-embracing usefulness of our wild mountain forest reservations and parks, with a view to inciting the people to come and enjoy them, and get them into their hearts, that so at length their preservation and right use might be made sure. Martinez, California _September_, 1901