One of the most famous poets and writers in American history, Henry David Thoreau was a native of Massachusetts and spent most of his life here. His best known work is Walden, an autobiographical story of life in the woods on Walden Pond, where Thoreau made his home. Another of Thoreau's works, Civil Disobedience, was an influence for both Mahatma Gandhi, in his passive resistance campaigns, and Martin Luther King, Jr. in his quest for civil rights.