How did Henry David Thoreau’s friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson begin?

The friendship between Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson began after Emerson settled in Concord during Thoreau’s sophomore year at Harvard. By the autumn of 1837, the two had begun to develop a close bond.1

Emerson recognized in Thoreau a "true disciple"—an individual who possessed enough Emersonian self-reliance to remain his own person—while Thoreau viewed Emerson as a mentor, a father figure, and a friend. This relationship became a cornerstone of the New England Transcendentalism movement, as the two authors collaborated and supported one another's literary pursuits.12