Maxwell Struthers Burt
Maxwell Struthers Burt was an American writer and rancher born on October 18, 1882, in Baltimore, Maryland. He had a rich educational background, studying at esteemed institutions such as Princeton University, the University of Munich, and Merton College, Oxford. After marrying fellow writer Katherine Newlin in 1912, Burt transitioned from journalism to academia, teaching English at both Oxford and Princeton. In 1912, he moved to Wyoming to pursue ranching, founding the Bar BC Ranch and later developing the Three Rivers Ranch, which became a significant retreat for his family and a source of inspiration for his writing.
Burt was also an advocate for environmental conservation, playing a crucial role in the establishment of Grand Teton National Park by convincing John D. Rockefeller to support the project. As a prolific author, Burt wrote across various genres, gaining recognition for works like "The Diary of a Dude-Wrangler" (1924) and notable subjective histories addressing social and political issues. His commitment to environmental preservation is reflected in both his literary works and his actions, making him a significant figure in American literature and conservation. Burt passed away on August 29, 1954, in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
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Subject Terms
Maxwell Struthers Burt
Writer
- Born: October 18, 1882
- Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
- Died: August 29, 1954
- Place of death: Jackson Hole, Wyoming
Biography
Maxwell Struthers Burt was born on October 18, 1882, in Baltimore, Maryland, and spent his childhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gifted and well educated, Burt enrolled at Princeton University in 1900, after graduating from high school. After one year at Princeton, he went abroad to study at the University of Munich in Germany, where he stayed until 1905. He continued his education at Merton College, Oxford, until 1906. In 1912, Burt married Katherine Newlin, a fellow writer whom he met while attending Oxford. The couple had one son, Nathaniel Burt, in 1913, who also would become a writer.
While in his late teen years, Burt worked as a reporter for the Philadelphia Times, but left his newspaper job to further his education. When he completed his studies at Oxford, he began teaching English at Oxford University, and then taught the same subject at Princeton University before he moved to Wyoming. In Wyoming, Burt started a new life as a rancher and founded the Bar BC Ranch in 1912. He worked on the ranch as a rancher and cowhand until 1929, when he gave up that rugged lifestyle. He bought two old ranches in Moran, Wyoming, combined the properties and formed the Three Rivers Ranch, which would serve as a family retreat and peaceful writing location for more than fifty years. The Burt family spent half of their time in Three Rivers and the other half in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
Burt strongly supported the development of a national park in the Jackson Hole and Teton Mountain area of Wyoming, despite local community protests. He urged and successfully convinced John D. Rockefeller to become a financial backer of the project. Rockefeller used his Snake River Land Company to create the Grand Teton Park. Burt agreed to sell his Three Rivers Ranch to Rockefeller at cost, and Rockefeller later donated the property to the government. The property has been part of the Grand Teton National Park since 1980.
Burt became a successful and prolific writer able to cross genres, writing short stories, poetry, screenplays, nonfiction, and novels. Arguably his most famous book was The Diary of a Dude-Wrangler (1924), which detailed his life on the Bar BC Ranch. Throughout the 1920’s, Burt focused his writing primarily on short stories, publishing more than thirty. His stories appeared in leading magazines and literary journals, including Scribner’s, Collier’s, and Saturday Evening Post. Later in his life, Burt returned to writing novels and nonfiction. His subjective histories, Philadelphia, Holy Experiment (1945) and Powder River: Let’er Buck (1938), were critical pieces, tackling contemporary social, environmental, and political issues.
Burt died in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on August 29, 1954. His dedication to preserving the national forest and the environment comes through in his fiction and nonfiction, and his ability to express his passion and commitment to this cause through his writings is his greatest contribution to literature.