Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1880-03-11
JOAQUIN MILLER.
From an interview with Mr. James Rsdpath, Ia
San Francisco Ohroniela1


Rep.-How old Is Mllleri
J. R.-He was born on the 10th oi
November, 1920 be Is nearly forty.
He says be doesn't cultivate eccentric
ity. He said he acted in the East and
Europe just as he had always acted on
the coast; but ~ soon rs he found out
how other folks acted be acted like them.
asked ham If be had ever heard il said
that he only pretended to be lame--be-
cause Byron was lame. Joaquin laughed
heartily when asked the question:
He said he had never heard that story.
No; Byron was lame in his right foot;
he himself was wounded in his left
leg.
ReP.-Do you know the story Of his
LIEF
J. R.-Yes. One day caught him
in communicative mood and | asked
him q thousand questions, more or less,
and wrote down his answers in short
hand. He thought I was only making
bries notes. so have got q complete
autobiography. 1 will give you the
main points. Joaquin's real name is
Cincinnatus HeIne Miller. His father
gave him this double-barreled name in
honor of Cincinnati 1.-THE city near which
he was born) and OF Heine, the poet.
His father wasa westward no. err" al
ways moving West. and be kept fol-
lowing Greeley's famous advice until
he got 70 Oregon and he could 60 no
further unless he swan. His father
was a teacher and merchant when he
was n young man, but failed in business
and became farmer when Joaquin was
boy, and he has been farmer ever
since. He settled In Lane County. Or
egOn. in 1852, and has remained there
till this hour. II was then an unbroken
forest. Joaquin did "chores" or tended
cattle or plowed m the neighborhood
until he was about fourteen, when, in
company with another boy he ran away
TO California. He only attended school
about six months in al. and his father
kept il. The two boys stopped at n
miners camp in Yreka, on Humbug
Greek. He has truthlully told the sto-
~ Of his life and OF camp life there in
his "First Families of the Sierras." In
the American edition this character
turns out 10 be woman, but in che Eng
l;sh edition the story is an autobiogra-
ply. He could do nothing-cook nor
work in the mines. He had very
hard time Of it, and the rough fellows in
camp treated him badly. He got a
chance TO 90 with two Mexicans to
Sonora for horses and he went there.
b "a
waited in the Modoc country to fatten
up their horses. The Modocs killed the
Mexicans and took their horses. Joa-
qnin was badly hurt by horses running
over him. He stayed with the Modocs
and learned to like them. They offered
TO return him to the white settlements,
but he chose 10 stay.
The Pit River War broke out. He
fought with the Indians against the
whites. Before be went to Mexico be
had fought with the whites against the
Trinity Indians. There he was wound
ed for the first time. He stayed with
the Modoes for two or three years; not
all the time. but varying his fife by go-
ing INTO the white settlement 10 work
and get at books. When he returned
70 the Indians be alwsys carried back
ammunition. In the Sights he was al-
ways in The Modoe ranks. IL was seen
that there was a white man among
them, and he was supposed to be the
famous Mexican bandit Joaquin MUIR
rietta. Hence the name that he adop-
ted. He married the daughter OF the
Modoc Chief Black Beard. He had one
daughter by her. who is now in school
in San Francisco. The mother was
killed in battle. Once he was captured
by tbs whites IS horse-thief and put
in jail al Shasta City. The whites did
not know that ne was the man with the
Indians, but thought he was only a com
mon horse-thiei. On The night OF the
Fourth oil july when every patriotic
citizen of Shasta Was drunk--and Ghey
were NIL pafFiot~--the Indians came,
down, broke into the isll and liberated
him. They escaped to the mountains.
Some TING after. IN dght With the set
lleFs. The Modocs were badly beaten
Black Beard ~. hisson- in law IN charge
q aWD Endian guldes. loaded him with
g0ld That had been captured from = Cow
srnment tFains and they landed him Il
The head of The Sacramento River. He
made bis way to San Francisco, and
immediately sailed Tor New York BY The
Nicaragua route.
Joaquin landed in Nicaragua and
iossS = sEnlkeF. One day IN forging
expedition The party Sc was with was
arrshsecaded. All were killed. or III