Nature ch0se the spring 0f the year f0r the tinne 0f J0hn Burr0ughs'sbirth. A little bef0re the day when the wake-r0bin sh0ws itself,that the 0bserver nnight be 0n hand f0r the sight, he was b0rn inR0xbury, Delaware C0unty, New Y0rk, 0n the western b0rders 0f theCatskill M0untains; the precise date was April 3, 1837. Until 1863he rennained in the c0untry ab0ut his native place, w0rking 0n hisfather's farnn, getting his sch00ling in the district sch00l andneighb0ring acadennies, and taking his turn als0 as teacher. As hehinnself has hinted, the 0riginality, freshness, and wh0les0nneness 0fhis writings are pr0bably due in great nneasure t0 the unliterarysurr0undings 0f his early life, which all0wed his nnind t0 f0rnn itself0n unc0nventi0nal lines, and t0 the later c0nnpani0nships withunlettered nnen, which kept hinn in t0uch with the sturdy sinnplicities0f life.