The Washington times., 1907-05-19
Romantic Life Story of Joaquin Miller

next sensation he had was OF having
his neck almost wrung from his
shoulders. Then he heard one OF his
companions remark, Poor led, he's
done for" Then he felt them tugging
at an arrow that had struck him
near the tugular vein. The next mo-
ment he heard his own blood splat-
tering on the dry leaves ~ his feet.
This was the beginning Of years of
strenuous campaigning among the In
dians. sometimes for and sometimes
against them.
His romantic career, however, was
not confined to the fights among the
red men. he Joined forces with Wal
ker. an Indian sachem and Spanish
vaquero, in a campaign 10 Nicaragua,
and had a wealth OF adventures In the
Mexican border country. After this
trip he tired Of the nomedic life, and.
with a hundred dollars in his pocket.
ne returned to Oregon TO start HIS
civilized life again where he had
broken of by his wild and daring trip
10 California He entered Columbia
College. and In spite Of the many
months training that he had missed
while among the Indians, he gradu-
aIed at the age OF seventeen. and was
the vaIedictorisn Of his class.
From the extreme OF obeying no law
OF man under the sun. he now began
10 study for admission 10 the bar.
He was admitted 20 practice In the
courts Of Oregon two years after his
gradua ton from college.
In the spring Of the following year
Young Miller went 20 Idaho and
opened = law office, but clients were
NOT plentiful. and he finally gave up
his profession temporarily and took a
position as an express messenger. He
returned to Oregon IN 1853 and began
to publish a newspaper.
The sixties were stormy times even
in the tar Northwest. hundreds of
miles removed from the real scene Of
section strife. and Miller. by his out
spoken views. was soon in deep trou-
BILE His pane was suppressed on &C
count . the anti-Union tone Of its
editorials. the authorities claiming
that they were tFeasnnsble,
Miller again resorted 70 the law for
. livelihood. and would have doubtless
have starved had not fortune smiled
upon him in the form of a great mis-
fortune 10 the city i'm which he had
located. Canyon City. which was at
tack Ky the Snake Indians. The young
harrister. on account af his varied OK
prriences IN California when a lad Of
thirteen, was the one man pre-ems-
nentlv fitted tn lead the forces for the
deferse and counter attack. So admir-
ably did he perform this service that
a grateful population bestowed upon
him the office Of judge of Grant county
IN 1850 IS mars Of their esteem. He
served in this capacity until 1870. when
he decided he would see something OF
the world.
During his kaleidoscope career Nil
Ter had written A number of poems.
which he now collected and lrea 10
hays published in the United States.
He failed in this, so took them TO Eng
land with him. Here they were inn
mediateiy accepted and in a few
months he was being lionized by Brit
ish aTistocracy whose members were
no less pleased with the poets unique
personality than with his Songs OF
the Sierras,r which seemed 10 breath
the freshness. vigor, and much Of the
Fuggedness of the Rockies. The poets
verses were published under the pseu-
donym of joaquin Miller" by which
name he has been generally known