ABOUT THE MURIE FAMILY

OLAUS MURIE

Olaus Murie was born in 1889 in Moorhead, Minnesota. After attending Pacific University in Oregon, Olaus accepted a position with the United States Biological Survey in 1920. He became a pioneering Arctic field researcher in the Brooks Range of Alaska. In 1927, he moved with his wife Mardy to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to investigate the largest elk herd in North America, which was dying mysteriously. After completing this lengthy research project, Olaus accepted a position as the first president of the Wilderness Society in 1945. In the final years of his life, Olaus worked closely with Mardy to protect the pristine Brooks Range and the Sheenjek river valley; their hard work and dedication to this uniquely wild treasure culminated in the establishment of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Shortly after his death in 1963, the Wilderness Act was passed. Olaus loved all living things and his visionary approach to habitat preservation placed him at the forefront of wilderness conservation in America. For his lifelong service to wilderness protection, Olaus has received numerous awards including the Audubon Award, the Sierra Club's John Muir Award, the Wildlife Society's Aldo Leopold Memorial Award for outstanding publication, and a Fulbright Fellowship. He is the author of the Peterson Field Guide to Animal Tracks and co-author of Wapiti Wilderness with his wife Mardy.

ADOLPH MURIE

Adolph Murie was born in 1899 in Moorhead, Minnesota, ten years after his brother Olaus. In 1922, he joined Olaus in the Brooks Range of Alaska to study caribou; the experience inspired his life's work. He spent the better part of thirty-two years working for the National Park Service, undertaking pioneering studies that were published in three books: The Wolves of Mount McKinley, A Naturalist in Alaska, The Ecology of the Coyote in the Yellowstone, and The Grizzlies of Mount McKinley. He received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Park Service and the prestigious John Burroughs Medal. Like his brother, Adolph's approach to wildlife management ran contrary to current opinion and took into account whole ecosystems, rather than focusing on single organisms. In 1945, his family settled in Jackson Hole, where he continued his naturalist activities until his death in 1974. He believed that "life is richest where the greatest diversity exists in the natural order." The Murie Science and Learning Center in Denali National Park was dedicated to Adolph Murie in 2004.

MARDY MURIE

Margaret Elizabeth Thomas was born in Seattle in 1902, but spent her childhood in Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1924, she was the first woman to graduate from the University of Alaska. Her marriage to Olaus Murie in 1924 began a lifetime of travel, scientific research, and involvement in conservation activities. Mardy and Olaus had three children, Martin, Joanne, and Donald. Mardy is the author of several books, including Two in the Far North and Wapiti Wilderness. She played a key role in the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the greatest land preservation act in U.S. history. Mardy served on the Council of the Wilderness Society, received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Alaska, the prestigious Audubon Medal, and is an Honorary Park Ranger. She was on the founding board of the Teton Science School. In 1998, Mardy was awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom, which President Bill Clinton bestowed on her for her lifetime service to conservation. In 2000, filmmakers Bonnie Kreps and Charles Craighead released Arctic Dance: The Mardy Murie Story. Her most recent accolade came at her 100th birthday celebration when Mardy was awarded the National Wildlife Federation's highest honor, the 2002 J.N. Ding Darling Conservationist of the Year Award. Mardy passed away on October 19, 2003. She died peacefully in her home in Grand Teton National Park that she and Olaus and Adolph and Louise bought in 1945. To view her obituary click here.

LOUISE MURIE MACLEOD

Louise Gillette was born in 1912 in Fairbanks, Alaska and lived there for the first twelve years of her life. In 1924, her family moved to Washington state. She attended Reed College and the University of Michigan. In 1932, she married Adolph Murie, the half-brother of Olaus. They had two children, Jan and Gail. Louise traveled with Ade as he pursued his naturalist work, spending twenty-five summers and a few winters in Mount McKinley National Park. Several years after Ade's death, Louise married a close family friend, Dr. Don MacLeod, a well known Jackson physician, and lived with him until his death in 1983. Louise continues her conservation and community work, serving as an honorary board member of The Murie Center. She lives in the town of Jackson, Wyoming.