These journals were written by John Muir between 1867 and 1913. They include his 1867-1868 "thousand mile walk," his early years in Yosemite, extensive travels in Alaska, his 1903 world tour, and his 1911-1912 voyage to South America and Africa. The journals offer a unique perspective on Muir's life and experiences in his own words and drawings.
Some of the journals are filled with miscellaneous notes and jotted writings, while others feature diary-like narratives. Similarly, some journals contain only text while others, especially those from his Alaska trips, are full of drawings that reflect the places Muir visited.
Many, but not all, of the digitized John Muir journals are transcribed. Portions of the journals can be difficult to read because of faded writing, but the zoom feature enables users to magnify pages and improve their legibility. Join our Muir Journal Transcription Project to help.
The "titles" assigned to each journal are taken from the published Guide and Index to the Microform Edition of the John Muir Papers, 1858-1957. These titles convey the general content of each journal, but many of the journals contain a wealth of information beyond the subject indicated in the title. It may be helpful to consult the John Muir chronology for more information on where Muir was during the periods when he was writing various journals.
The unpublished works of John Muir are under copyright by the Muir-Hanna Trust. To purchase copies and/or obtain permission to publish or exhibit items from the John Muir Papers, visit our fees and forms page.
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![November 1869-circa August 1870 [Journal 04]: Yosemite Year Book by John Muir](https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cs-jmj/1003/thumbnail.jpg "November 1869-circa August 1870 [Journal 04]: Yosemite Year Book by John Muir")
November 1869-circa August 1870 [Journal 04]: Yosemite Year Book
John Muir
Yosemite Year book No. 14 0003 3a [#7149]
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![July 1867-February 1868 [Journal 01]: The “thousand mile walk” from Kentucky to Florida and Cuba by John Muir](https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cs-jmj/1000/thumbnail.jpg "July 1867-February 1868 [Journal 01]: The “thousand mile walk” from Kentucky to Florida and Cuba by John Muir")
July 1867-February 1868 [Journal 01]: The “thousand mile walk” from Kentucky to Florida and Cuba
John Muir
John Muir, Earth-planet, Universe About [29 or ] 39,000 words Few bodies are inhabited by so satisfied a soul as to be allowed exemption from extraordinary exertion through a whole life. The sea, the sky, the rivers have their ebbs and floods, and the earth itself throbs and pulses from calms to earthquake. So also there are tides and floods in the affairs of men, which in some are slight and may be kept within bounds, but in others they overmaster everything. Few bodies are inhabited by so satisfied a soul as to be allowed exemption from extraordinary exertion through a whole life. The ocean - the rivers - universal sea of air have their ebbs & floods ordinary, & extraordinary. & the earth itself throbs & pulses from the tranquility of undiscernible [indiscernible] motion to the terrible displays of earthquake activity. So also there is a tide not only in the affairs of men but in the [primary] thing of life itself, which in some is slight & easily obeyed or overcome but in others is constant & cumulative in action untill in power it is sufficient to overmaster all impediments & accomplish the full measure of its demands. For many a year I have been impelled towards the Lord's tropic gardens of the South. Many influences
![March 1868 [Journal 02]: Crossing the Panama Isthmus by John Muir](https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cs-jmj/1001/thumbnail.jpg "March 1868 [Journal 02]: Crossing the Panama Isthmus by John Muir")
