Doctors gave Seattle shipbuilder months to live; he sold his business, moved to an island and lived another 38 years

Robert Moran, former mayor of Seattle and shipbuilding magnate was told in 1905, that he only had a few months to live. Resolved to spend his last days peacefully, he sold his business interests for $3.5 million ($126 million in 2025) and moved to Orcas Island where he eventually acquired about 7,000 acres of forest. Eventually, he gave away part of the land as a park and outlived the predictions, as per a report by HistoryLink.org.Life in the beginningAround 1910, Moran offered to donate a vast tract of land on the island to the State of Washington.Moran arrived in Seattle in 1875 with only a dime in his pocket. He began his new life by negotiating credit for breakfast. Slowly but strongly, he worked his way up and learned from mentors in the shipping business. In 1879, he was hired as chief engineer on the Cassiar for the steamer's Alaska run, where he stayed for three years. During this time, Moran became friends with naturalist John Muir, meeting him when he was a guest onboard the ship for a journey to study Southeast Alaska and Glacier Bay. Muir's approach to nature and spirituality fascinated Moran, and this contact with Muir is credited as the beginning of his interest in l...