John Burroughs
A gentle but insistent writer who turned his quiet observations of the Catskill woods into a gospel of nature for a modernizing America.
1837–1921 (age 84)·American naturalist and essayist·Birthday: April 3
Biography
John Burroughs emerged from a hardscrabble New York farm to become the most beloved nature writer of his era, a companion to presidents and a guide for city-dwellers yearning for the wild. Unlike the rugged adventurers of his day, Burroughs found his subject in the familiar landscapes around his rustic cabin, Slabsides. His essays, rich in detail and devoid of sentimentality, described the flight of a bird, the bloom of a trillium, or the turn of a season with the clarity of a scientist and the warmth of a friend. He was a central figure in the early American conservation movement, using his popularity to argue for the preservation of natural spaces not as monuments, but as necessities for the human spirit. His work created a template for the personal nature essay, inviting readers to see the extraordinary world waiting in their own backyards.
#1 When John Was Born
The biggest hits of 1837
John's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1837Born
1842Started school
1850Became a teenager
1853Could drive
1855Could vote
1858Turned 21
1867Turned 30
President: Andrew Johnson
1877Turned 40
President: Rutherford B. Hayes
1887Turned 50
President: Grover Cleveland
1897Turned 60
President: William McKinley
1907Turned 70
Financial panic grips Wall Street
President: Theodore Roosevelt
1917Turned 80
Russian Revolution overthrows the tsar; US enters WWI
President: Woodrow Wilson
1921Died at 84
First commercial radio broadcasts
President: Warren G. Harding"My Man" — Fanny Brice
Key Achievements
- Published over two dozen volumes of nature essays, beginning with *Wake-Robin* in 1871, which established his literary reputation.
- Became a key popular voice for the American conservation movement, influencing public opinion and policy.
- Formed significant friendships with influential figures like President Theodore Roosevelt, Walt Whitman, and Henry Ford.
Did You Know?
A mountain in New York's Catskill Park and a glacier in Alaska are named after him.
He briefly worked as a federal bank examiner in the late 1800s.
He was an early and skeptical critic of the nature faker literary genre, which attributed human emotions to animals.
“I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.”
