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He Slept on a Grave 32.042645° -81.046146°.

He Slept on a Grave 32.042645° -81.046146°.

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 32.042645° -81.046146° Other coordinates are at the end of the notes.Hey, everyone!Okay… okay… A while back, I heard a story of a famous person doing something that I would never do. I doubt that any of you would either, but, hey, what do I know. Anyway…I ask myself this question…Why would a young man… anWhy would a young man… an intelligent and educated young man… hike 700 miles, walk into a strange cemetery where he had never been and knew no one buried there… then unknowingly lie down on an important grave and go to sleep?educated and young man… hike 700 miles, walk into a strange cemetery where he had never been and knew no one buried there… then unknowingly lie down on an important grave and go to sleep?You may know the guy. It was John Muir, who was a naturalist and a conservationist and is remembered as one of the fathers of the US National Park system.Today there are mountains, forests, parks, and two John Muir Trails, one in California in the Sierra Nevada and one in Tennessee in the Cumberland Mountains.So, why did he come to the cemetery/ and which grave did he sleep on?Stick around, we’ll look at the clues, and I’ll tell you my take on it.I’m JD Byous… Welcome to History by GPS, where you travel through history and culture, GPS location by GPS location.You can find transcripts of the show and all of the coordinates of where these events happened at our website, HistoryByGPS.com.Okay, get your pencil and paper and I’ll give you the first location and you can follow us on your favorite map app.Okay, this one is in the back end of Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GeorgiaIt’s at the coordinates … 32.042645° -81.046146°. Now, this location marks the grave where I suspect Muir slept. And it is an important grave.But first, a little background on the grave-sleeping guy.John Muir was born in Dunbar, Scotland, in 1838 and his family emigrated to the United States where he grew up in Wisconsin.He was hard-working and inventive. Loved botany and geology and traveled and studied his scientific passions around Wisconsin, and the states around it, and up into Meaford, Ontario, Canada.When he was in his twenties, he left the farm and attended college, and became an excellent woodworker, ending up in a carriage factory in Indiana.A freak accident left him blind for a short time, and when he regained his sight decided that working in a factory wasn’t for him… he wanted to see the world.When he through to Savannah, Georgia, he was on his famous 1000-mile walk to the gulf, which started in Louisville, Kentucky, and ended in Cedar Key, Florida. From there, he ended up in Yosemite Valley, where he changed history.As for his stay in Bonaventure… he was there for about five nights.That was in October, 1867.So, what are the differences in Bonaventure today you ask?Well… I’m glad you did.The birds still chirp and gather seeds. The squirrels still scamper through the oaks, and today, Spanish moss waves in the wind just as it did when Muir visited.I guess you could say that life among the dead at Bonaventure Cemetery is just… life… a lot like Muir described it back then. He wrote quite a bit about the plants and animals he found.But, today, there are more graves… there are a lot more graves. So, why Bonaventure? It was several miles outside of the main city back then.Muir wrote that on October 8, 1867, he was waiting for a package… a parcel of cash that was supposed to be mailed by his brother. But IT had not reached Savannah.So… low on money… he searched for a place to spend the night. The first night he said he went to the meanest looking lodging house that he could find, as he said, “on account of its cheapness.”It was probably on Bay Street at that time because it was a rough waterfront range filled with cheap bars and lodging houses.[Bay Street and the Customs House,After a night’s sleep in a cot, he only had enough money to buy a few days’ worth of food. Again, he went to the post office –which by the way, for you who have visited Savannah – was in the basement of the old Customs House on Bay Street.Well, the package still had not arrived.So he wandered around the streets, sightseeing, and studying plants in the gardens of the large homes, of which Savannah had many. There still are.Then after a while, he found the road to Bonaventure, which was at that time called the old Thunderbolt Road.Today, the route is divided into three sections – Wheaton Street, Skidaway Road, and Bonaventure Road.He said… that on the route to the cemetery, he wandered along Savannah’s sandy eastern bluff, looking for a safe place to rest under the stars.I’ve looked for the dunes as he described and it is hard to tell that they ever existed… They’re buried under warehouses, parking lots and apartment buildings.He wrote that he was very thirsty after walking so long in the muggy heat… a dull, sluggish, coffee-colored stream ...
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