The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-01-16
THE HOME OF A POET.
DESCRIPTION or THE HOUSES AND
GROUNDS or JOAQUIN MILLER.

The Beautiful Things which Surround she
"Poet Of the Slcrras~-How Hc Welcomes
and Entertains His Friends-Wanss Ev-
erybody to BE Happy.
The road widened and came out upon
the summit Of the hill owned by Mr..
Miller. Six years ago he bought 1000
acres in the foothills for . sum almost
nominal. Now. by his own hard work.
this place has improved to suoh an ex-
tent that he has been offered $40, 900 for
it, and in q few more years it will be
worth twice that sum.
As we left our carriage ut the gate.
there being no drive up TO the house,
Mr.. Miller came running down the path
to meet rs, himself the brightest figure
in all that bright landscape. He wore
the gayess Of colors, and, ~ I under
stand, was dressed as he always is when
corduroy trousers. . buff silk shirt. red
sash and black velvet vest. with o bear
skin slung over his shoulders. He looked
like q true Spanisrd of the olden days.
His long. light hair made . beautiful
frame for . very kind face. As he greet
ed ms he turned and waved his hand,
taking in the whole country round
about.
1T IL all yours" he exclaimed,
"the houses. flowers and fruit. and all
Il ask Of You is to be happy"
A small thing. we thought, but one
that much 10 him, as he cannot
bear to have any unhappiness near him.
He took rs up tho path to three small
cottages, standing side by side, CALLED
Spring, Summer and Autumn. ! only
peeped into the irst, the walls OF which
were gay with childish pictures-the
whole room, in fact, furnished for q
child, his little daughter JnAnita. who.
with her mother. came on from New
York to spend the summer.
As we started into the next cottage,
Summer. Mr.. Miller babe rs look up
over the door. saying: There arc the
three religions. You may take your
choice"
There. indeed. were the symbols over
the door-ths rising sun. the crescent
and the cross. This cottage consists OF
. large square room-Mr. Miiier's
own. Half Of it IL used for . sitting
room. furnished in ray chintz, while
the sloping walls ara M mass Of photo
graphs of noted people and curious rel
les ito owner has brought from all parts
Of the world. Curtains divide the room
and make q bedroom Of the other half,
and here Ii where Joaquin Miller. the
Poet Of the SierYas," does his writing.
He told me that he had coffee brought
TO him ut II o'clock In the morning. and
from that time till l he did what writ.
ing he had to do, then dressed and was
ready for the first real meal Of the day.
The third cottage Ia . miniature chapel
on the outside. but within there il no
suggestion OF the church. The room is
simply filled with quaint articles gath.
cred from the Indians, nearly all having
STORY connected with them. Two huge
bear paws hanging from the ceiling
caught our attention. and ] asked what
they were for. He babe each one OF "a
take hold Of them and look directly at
the paw in our hands, saying to Is that
they were claws from the famous Rain
Bear OF the north. given him by the CHIEF
OF an Indian tribe he had journeyed
with, and that when sought through the
medium Of the paws the Great Spirit
would bring rain TO the earth. This waa
the greatest gift the chief could bestow
on his friend, as the other two paws
must stay in the tribe forever. Much In
teressed, we fastened our eyes upon tbs
paws, and Mr.. Miller began to sing q
queer Indian song. begging for rain. Al
we were, listening to him we suddenly
heard the sound Of water on the outside.
Who ever heard Of rain in California in
midsummer and with the sun shining
and not q cloud in the sky?
But there it was, and for ten fee
around us the ground was wet.
In n few minutes Mr.. Miller sang an.
other little song and waved . coyotes
tail, which caused the rain to cease.
On walking out behind the house
discovered the secret Of the rain-witt
all due respect TO the Rain Bear-fol
over the house was q most compact wa.
ter tank with sprinklers running around
on the four sides, and key connected
with the tank 10 operated from tbs
chapel.
might tell of many more ingenious
c~ontrivances Mr.. Miller has prepared
for his own and his guests amusement
We were then taken up to q fourth
and larger cottage for luncheon, wher,
q kind old lady came down the path t.
bid rs weeome ''in JoaQuin's name
his mother.
After a hearty luncheon and a look a
his two fish ponds-there being plenty
Of water on the ranch-I started no tb,
mountain with Mr.. Miller to visit hi