John Muir (1838-1914), world famous naturalist and "father of the national park system," often stopped to rest and admire this view as he walked from his home in Marquette County to the University of Wisconsin. Muir loved the wilderness from which his parents carved a farm and home, first at Fountain Lake, later at Hickory Hill, about 20 miles north from here (south of Montello). When he left Hickory Hill to enroll at the University, Muir's love for nature was matched only by his genius for "mechanical contrivances" varying from a device to feed the horses at any designated hour to an "early rising machine" which tipped the occupant out of bed at a pre-set time. After four years in Madison, Muir left "one university for another, Wisconsin University for the University of the Wilderness."
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