The old frame house, with its curious hand-carved frieze boards at the gable ends of the roof, is not the original home of the Muirs, their pioneer abode being located to the rear of the present domicile. It was a little farther from the highway and long since destroyed by fire.
LITTLE JOURNEY TO HOMES OF JOHN MUIR
(1) Fort Winnebago
(2) Fort Winnebago Cemetery
(3) School Where Annie and Johanna Muir Taught
(4) School Where Muir Children Attended
(5) Fountain Lake, first home of Muir family.
(6) Muir church.
(7) Second home of the Muir family.
The Lake
But the lake still shimmers in the sun as of old. No ridge of rock encroaches on its shores, which are low and lush with grasses, ferns and other vegetation. Over this water John Muir rowed, in it he swam, and on one occasion nearly lost his life, as related in the story of his youthful days. The diversions which the lake afforded were never ending. Muir speaking of it says: "The water was so clear that it was almost invisible, and when we floated slowly out over the plants and fishes, we seemed to be miraculously sustained in the air while silently exploring a veritable fairyland."
Bluejays, kingbirds, blackbirds, buntings, kingfishers and other descendants of the feathered comrades of John Muir and his brothers, still inhabit its shores, delighting the visitor as they flit from tree to tree.