St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-12-09
A Son Of Joaquin Miller. in
the Role Of a Stage
RObber.
Neglected by His Family, the
Lad Drifted Into a Life Of
Crime.
Opening Of the Graves Murder
Trial ArouseS Interest at
Denver.
Isaac Sawtelle Relates TIL e
Circumstances Of His
Crime.

SAN FRANCISCO. Dec. S.-Joseph Nc
Kay, who is in jail at Ukiah, CAL,
charged with stage robbery, has been
found to be the son of Joaquin Miller.
the ''poet of the Sierras." The real
name of the young man is Harry Miller.
He is twenty-five years of age, and is
the son of the poet-and the latter's first
wife, Minnie Myrtle. Nov. Is the
Ukiah and Eureka stage was held up
nineteen miles from Ukiah by a masked
man, armed with rifle.
Charles Lambert. the stage driver,
hastily complied with the demand of
the highwayman to throw out the ex-
press box, but demurred when ordered
to hand over the mail bags, saying they
were on the inside of the stage. well,
get down and get them OUT" was the
robbers response.
Fooled the RObber.
Lambert accordingly started to drag
out the sacks. The stage was heading
up grade, and the horses kept backing
so that Lambert obtained the highway
mans permission to drive to level
place, and drove to the crest of what is
known as robbers hill" Instead of
stopping when he reached the top,
Lambert lashed the horses and went
dashing down the grade out of danger.
Reaching Ukiah, the stage driver told
his story to the sheriff, and the latter
started on the trail. He found the
empty treasure box, and learned that
farm house in the vicinity of Willet's
village, five miles distant. had been
robbed few days previously of rife
and other articles similar to
those in the possession Of the
masked man who stopped the stage.
The sheriff followed the trail to Hop
land, fourteen miles south of Ukiah,
and there learned that Miller had been
cutting wood for man named Willard,
had left Wizards four days prior to
the stage robbery, and returned there
five days after the robbery. He OBJ
tanned his mail from the postOffice, and
again disappeared.
A Written Clue
On searching Wizards woodpile, the
sheriff found letter dated from the
Hermitage, Oakland Heights, which is
the home of joaquin Miller, and signed
"YOur brother, George Miller" The
letter was addressed TO Joseph Mckay.
The sheriff followed the fugitive to
Santa Rosa, and arrested him at the
hotel there. In relating the story, the
sheriff said that Miller, after considera-
bic persuasion, confessed. and took the
sheriff to the place where the rifle and
an ak had been buried.
The boys mother, Minnie Myrtle, the
first wife of the poet, was an exceed
ingly bright woman. whose reputation
for intellectual yigOI was little short of
her husbands. She died in New York
some years ago. Miller says he was
hard up, and, as there was no money in
cutting wood. he thought he would try
stage rObbing.
Joaquin Miller himself does not have
anything to do with the boy, and the
latter says his life might have been diff
ferent but that he never was encouraged
to go to school or make anything of
himself. He is credited with having
served sentence in the Portland, Or,
penitentiary for house-breaking, but his
identity was not disclosed until now.