WEEK 28: WYOMING
A Lifelong Passion for Place and Conservation: Wyoming, Alaska, and the Muries’ Arctic Love Affair
By Dan McIlhenny, Docent of The Murie Center of Teton Science Schools, together with U.S. Department of State staff.
One of the stories connecting Wyoming with the Arctic begins with Olaus and Margaret Murie. Olaus known by many a naturalist as the “father of modern elk management.” He began as an Oregon State Conservation Officer, and later became a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Biological Survey in 1920, as well as an artist and photographer. He married a woman with a similar passion for exploring and explaining nature. His wife, Margaret “Mardy” Murie is seen as the “Grandmother of the Conservation Movement” — in her many years of work in the outdoors with Olaus, she gained wide recognition as a naturalist, author, adventuress, and conservationist.
Olaus and Mardy met in Fairbanks through a mutual friend in 1921, but with Olaus tracking caribou in Mount McKinley National Park (now called Denali National Park and Preserve)and Mardy off to school in Boston, they did not marry until 1924, after Mardy transferred and became the first female to graduate from the University of Alaska. They eventually settled in Wyoming in 1927 and would live there for many decades. Throughout their lives, both Alaska’s Arctic Region and the beautiful state of Wyoming were places that made an indelible mark on the couple and provided them with unforgettable experiences and natural adventure.
I myself am a docent at The Murie Center of Teton Science Schools here in Moose, Wyoming. The Murie Center was originally established in 1997, and merged with Teton Science Schools in the fall of 2016. Teton Science Schools’ continues the Murie legacy through a cooperative agreement with Grand Teton National Park: offering programs at the Murie Ranch that connect people, place and nature through science, education and stewardship. The Murie Ranch, where Mardy, Olaus and their children lived for many years was honored as a National Historic Landmark District in 2006. I came here in 2014, drawn by the love of nature and spirit of conservation found here, bringing my story-telling and song-writing gifts.
I’d like to take this opportunity to tell you a story, one about the Murie’s special connection with Alaska. Through their story, which in my mind is a love story, we learn much about passion for place.
The story begins when a young Olaus Murie, after graduating from Pacific University in Oregon and doing a few years of scientific exploration in Hudson Bay and Labrador, happens upon an ad in a newspaper. It may have read something like: “Wanted: a Biologist to study the Caribou in the Ice Box of the Northern Alaska.” As any young naturalist, he was intrigued by the idea of Alaska — the wild frontier. In 1920, Alaska was still decades away from becoming America’s 49th state. But a recognized territory populated by many Alaska Natives, Northern European immigrants, and miners from the gold rush of the previous decades, Alaska was already being scouted by the U.S. Government, studying wildlife and looking for resources. This unique job was being offered up by the U.S. Biological Survey (now part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service).
Olaus inquired about the job, and learned that the challenges would be many: bitter cold, untrammeled wild, and working — principally solo — with a dog team and sled full of survival gear. The job would involve following the migratory paths of the caribou, which required living in the same kind of conditions as the caribou themselves. He, Olaus, was the perfect man for the job. Growing up in the wintry deep of Morehead, Minnesota, the son of Norwegian immigrants, left him unafraid of the wildness or any of the rigors that might come his way in the wild. So he applied, was offered the job, and accepted it, a step that would change the course of his life and begin a life-long love affair with the natural world of the far north.
Olaus was not your typical wildlife biologist. Although he followed the science, prepared detailed reports, and took photographs whenever possible, he did the one thing most biologists don’t do: he sketched the animals he studied in great detail. He was also a stellar reporter, and rapidly gained recognition for his ability to report back on what he was seeing in Alaska.
For Olaus, it was a dream job. Following the caribou was hard, solitary work that might have made some men lonely, but for Olaus, it only fueled his passion for the outdoors, and for studying nature’s flora and fauna. While he spent most of his time following caribou throughout the state to determine where populations were the largest, he returned monthly to Fairbanks, in the center of the state, to mail off his work reports. When in Fairbanks, he resupplied his needed provisions — gas for the camp stove, concentrated meat bars, dehydrated stew and soups— and gave the dogs a break from their hearty trail work. On one such occasion he chanced to meet a young woman named Margaret Thomas. A friendship ensued, and included dinner invitations to the Thomas Family home in Fairbanks whenever Olaus came to town.
Margaret Thomas was born in Seattle, Washington, but moved to Fairbanks with her mother when she was young to join her stepfather, an Assistant U.S. Attorney. Growing up in Alaska, Mardy spent her days by the Tanana River, living in a log cabin in the golden birch woods and green spruce forest. All her life Mardy was enchanted by the nature around her.
Over time, Olaus and Mardy’s friendship became romantic and mutual feelings of love were revealed. They married in 1924 in Anvik in a 3 AM sunrise ceremony in August, on the banks of the Yukon River. The cook on the steamship that carried Mardy hundreds of miles down the river to her groom made a surprise wedding cake: featuring a snow covered log cabin.
Following the wedding, Olaus invited Mardy on a three-month honeymoon. Naturally her curiosity was piqued, and she asked, ‘Who gets a three month honeymoon?’ To which he replied, ‘You do Mardy!’ “Well, Where are we going?’ she replied. Then Olaus said… ‘I’ve got extra provisions on the dogsled. Let’s go study the Caribou together!’ And swoosh they were off, with fur boots and parkas packed, into the wilds of Alaska’s Brooks Range. It was a beautiful experience and Mardy loved it. Together they traveled over 500 miles via boat and dogsled, North on the Koyukuk River, up into the Endicott Mountains, and camped out in the cold, all while Olaus collected specimens for his work. It was a honeymoon made in heaven for two perfectly matched, nature-loving souls.
You know, these days we often speak of the term “soulmates.” Anyone who knows the Muries’ story will say that they were a perfect match from the get-go. Alaska in 1924 was overrun with eligible bachelors — much like today, some would say — and Mardy could have chosen from a grand selection of men. However, she did not want just any man. She chose Olaus because he brought nature to her. Olaus brought Mardy along as a true partner in his work, and they worked together effectively to make a real impact. Here at The Murie Center of Teton Science Schools, we like to think that through the scientific studies they carried out, and through their art and writing, the Muries captured and personified the spirit of wilderness.
In 1927, Olaus was reassigned to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to study elk. He and Mardy left Alaska with reluctance, but the move was necessary as Olaus was keen to continue in his position working and studying outdoors. In Wyoming, Mardy managed the dude ranch on which they lived, and Olaus continued his work for the survey, studying coyote and Elk in Yellowstone National Park. Olaus was considered a “maverick” because of his views contrary to the U.S. Biological Survey regarding the culling of predators. His elk studies are well-documented in his book, The Elk of North America, just one of the many books he published over his lifetime. In 1937 Olaus accepted a place on the council of the Wilderness Society, which was then based out of his and Mardy’s home. He worked tirelessly for conservation efforts in the area, and was instrumental in the creation of Grand Teton National Park.
The Murie’s beautiful Wyoming-Alaska love story revolves around concept of place. Olaus and Mardy were of course passionate about each other, but they also had a passion for place. While they spent the rest of their lives living in Wyoming, both of them made many trips back to Alaska and continued to work to protect it, fueled by their passion.
Their love affair led to the creation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In 1956, the couple returned to part of the Brooks Range near the upper Sheenjek River accompanied by other field biologists. This trip, as well as Olaus and Mardy’s efforts to convince Justice William Douglas of the importance of the region, contributed to influencing President Eisenhower’s decision to make the first land designation of the area as part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This refuge was one of the first built around the idea of preserving an entire ecological system within the boundaries of a park.
Even after Olaus’s death in 1963 at the age of 74, Mardy continued to work tirelessly to save even more of the Alaskan wilderness that she and her husband so cherished. Their work helped lead to the enactment of the Wilderness Act in 1964, the signing of which by President Lyndon B. Johnson Mardy was invited to attend, even if it was with Olaus no longer by her side.
Her work did not end there. In 1975, Mardy continued to travel around Alaska with the National Park Service identifying and advocating for lands that she deemed worthy of protection from her years of hands on field biology work with Olaus. The report generated from this trip was used by Congress to pass the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, protecting millions more acres of Alaskan wilderness and more than doubling the size of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Over her career she would go on to earn the Audubon Medal, the Sierra Club’s John Muir Award and the Wilderness Society’s Bob Marshall Award as well as honorary degrees from multiple universities, including the University of Wyoming.
Mardy’s efforts added many more millions of preserved acres in land she and her husband loved so well — in fact, they were able to preserve the very place they honeymooned. Funny how the acorn falls so close to the tree.
Olaus and Margaret Murie live on as great American conservation heroes. In 1998, Mardy was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, by President Bill Clinton in recognition of her contributions to wilderness conservation. At the ceremony, John Denver sang a song he wrote for the Muries, entitled “A Song For All Lovers”:
I see them dancing somewhere in the moonlight
Somewhere in Alaska, somewhere in the sun
I hear them singing a song for all lovers
A song for the two hearts beating only as one…In a place of enchantment where the wild things are known
Will the future remember when the lovers are gone?— John Denver, “A Song For All Lovers”
We all owe the Muries for their long-lasting gifts in the form of the lands they preserved for future generations. We can all look to their legacy and be reminded that highly focused passion can bring about wonderful things — in Wyoming and in the Arctic.
Learn more about the Muries and The Murie Center of Teton Science Schools at: www.tetonscience.org
About the Contributor: Dan McIlhenny has been an avid enthusiast for Mother Nature all of his life. He has been an entertainer, storyteller and songwriter for more than forty years, performing across the west under his stage name, Dan’l (his stage name). He has shared his nature-focused music with fans at Yosemite, Kings Cayon, and Sequoia National Parks, published a CD of his music, and previously worked at Artichoke Community Music in Portland, Oregon. He retired in 2012 and now serves as the Docent for The Murie Center of Teton Science Schools in Wyoming.
