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Show 403. and so he encouraged Muir to become John the Baptist in the nineties, to bring good news for the future. Muir was quite capable of playing that r o l e , and had t r i ed in the early seventies to baptize his fellow c i t i z e n s in the beauty of Nature. But Muir would have to moderate his tone for Century, if the s t r a t e g y was to work. Muir did accept Johnson's advice, and even attempted to convince certain a l l i es to follow the same course, depending on what Johnson called the "power of understatement" when dealing with such issues as the California State administration of Yosemite Valley. Muir would t ry not to a t t a c k government, c i v i l i z a t i o n , or culture; the explosive f i r e of youth would yield to the constant flame of maturity. A genial prophet would replace the Jeremiah. Muir's image as c u l t u r a l hero became a t o o l , to be used in the campaigns for a large National Park surrounding Yosemite Valley, for a similar Park in the Kings Canyon region, and for the creation of National Forest Reserves in the West. Later, the Sierra Club would use Muir's s t a t u r e in i t s fight to save Hetch Hetchy from the dam which San Francisco proposed. Johnson t r i e d to b u t t r e s s t h i s powerful image by s o l i c i t i ng autobiographical material from Muir. He was also probably instrumental in g e t t i n g Muir an honorary degree from Harvard. He would use anything which made Muir a popular figure in the East. The power of t h i s image can be seen by the magnitude of later e f f o r t s to destroy Muir's reputation. John P. Irish °f California was the most e f f e c t i v e of Muir's attackers, |