'Stickeen' Summary

It was first published in The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine in September 1897 (V. 54, No. 5), under the title "An Adventure with a Dog and a Glacier". The editor cut out parts of the original manuscript so Muir attempted a reconstruction when it was republished in expanded book form in 1909 as Stickeen. A slightly shortened version of the 1909 edition was published in his 1915 Travels in Alaska. Ronald Limbaugh's book, John Muir's "Stickeen" and the Lessons of Nature (1996) reconstructs the original manuscript submitted by Muir in 1897. Many later editions were printed throughout the 20th century that included artwork, children's adaptions, audio, music and video.

Muir felt it was the hardest thing he ever tried to write. Muir saw Stickeen as "the herald of a new gospel" adding "in all my wild walks, seldom have I had a more definite or useful message to bring back."