Stickeen became famous for the impact he had in John Muir's life during their Alaskan adventure in the late 1800s.
In 1880 John Muir (an environmental philosopher), Reverend S.H. Young, the Reverend's dog Stickeen and an Indian crew set out in a canoe from Fort Wrangell to explore the icy region of Alaska. When Muir saw the small black dog he told the Reverend it would be best to leave him behind. "This trip is not likely to be good for toy-dogs. The poor silly thing will be in rain and snow for weeks or months, and will require care like a baby." The Reverend assured him his dog would be alright.
Muir initially described the two year old dog as "a queer character -- odd, concealed, independent, keeping invincibly quiet, and doing many little puzzling things that piqued my curiosity." None of the men could figure out what he was good for. "He seemed to meet danger and hardships without anything like reason, insisted on having his own way, never obeyed an order, and the hunter could never set him on anything, or make him fetch the birds he shot."
Stickeen (named after the Indian tribe living near the fort) was mostly motionless on the canoe ride through the long channels and inlets of the Alaskan coast, but when a landing was about to happen he would plunge into the cold water and swim ashore as the canoe neared the beach. Stickeen was always the first out of the canoe, and the last to get in. When it was time to leave, Stickeen would hide in the brush and refuse to come when called. He would wait until the canoe was a fair way off then swim to the boat, knowing the men would stop their rowing and bring him aboard. Hoping to put a stop to this, the men would keep rowing farther out so the dog would think they were abandoning him. The ploy did not work - "the longer the swim the better he seemed to like it."
Stickeen took a liking to Muir and began following him on all his hikes, no matter how tough the terrain. Once, Muir had to make a set of moccasins out of a handkerchief for him to wear because his injured paws were leaving behind a trail of blood. "However great his troubles he never asked for help or made any complaint, as if, like a philosopher, he had learned that without hard work and suffering there could be no pleasure worth having."
One morning, Muir set out on his own to explore a large glacier during a blizzard, a journey that was surely not meant for a small dog. His hope was to leave Stickeen behind but the determined dog insisted on going. Stickeen followed Muir without effort as they crossed flooded streams, hiked up and down icy slopes, and leapt over deep crevasses - until they came upon a crevasse that was too wide to leap. Instead, they would have to climb down an ice wall, cross over on a sliver of ice, then climb up an ice wall to reach the other side. For the first time, Muir saw a troubled look on the dog's face as he looked into the crevasse. He whined, and ran back and forth frantically in search of a safer way to cross. "His looks and tones of voice when he began to complain and speak his fears were so human that I unconsciously talked to him in sympathy as I would to a frightened boy." When Muir made it to the other side, it took a long time for him to finally convince the scared dog to cross. Stickeen did make it over to the other side, and the moment he knew he was safe he became over excited with happiness. "Never before or since have I seen anything like so passionate a revulsion from the depths of despair to exultant, triumphant, uncontrollable joy."
The two made it back safely to camp that night, and the once independent dog did not want to leave Muir's side during the rest of the trip. "I have known many dogs, and many a story I could tell of their wisdom and devotion; but to none do I owe so much as to Stickeen."
I want to thank Jim Lawrence for bringing this story to my attention.