The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-03-04

~ night came on.
NO white man there was now afraid
Inc last Modoc had gone;
Ills ghost in Castle Rocks was laid
III everlasting. dawn"
ct In spite OF this early imitation
iDto war, Joaquin Miller came TO be
AL eioquent advocate Of peace. and il
q Ills TO War, and no dis
loyalty TO The Union, that made him
Iake ground during the Civil War
WHICH seemed to the authorities trea-
soHaole, 50 that in 1854 his paper. the
democratic Register. publishe ed at Eu-
gene, or., was suppressed by the gov
eminent officials. But to return to
inc lndan wars, this raid was but the
!lrst OF three IL, which Miller fought
the Aiodocs. showing much courage,
tnoneh his sympathy Was on the side
OF The Indians despoiled Of their lands,
ana Wnen the wars were over he be-
came their friend and helper. When
ne mad recovered from his wounds he
entered Columbia College at Eugene,
Or, and graduated in 1859. paying
ms way by teaching during the long
vacations. His ValedictOry class poem,
written in 1853, was the first compost
uon OF his to be printed. After grad
OatlnS from college he studied law,
and IN 1851 was admitted to the bar.
but instead Of practicing he went to
gold diggings, which were then
the craze. He had ill-luck as q min
er, and ruined his eyes for life with
snow blindness, contracted in a way
which 81 classmate, writing in 1879,
thus described:
FOR years he was foremost in every
desperate notwithstanding snow
capped mountains, swollen rivers. and
, facing hostile Indians. When snow
) Tell ID feet on Florence mountain, and
hundreds were penned i'll camp with
out a word from wives, children. and
. loved ones at home, he said, Boys
! L Will bring your letters from Lewis
ton" AfOOt and alone, q
! trail, he crossed the mountain tops
the dangerous streams, the Wintry
desert of Camas prairie. lighting bacf
) the hungry mountain wolves and re.
turned bending beneath his load o
4 loving messages from home. One da,
he was found. in defense OF the weak
racing the pistol or boWie-knife OF tn
s deSperado; AND the next day he wa.
washing the clothes and smoothin!
the pillow Of a sick coinrade.
J. lie was ever Il roamer and from
!. Oregon and California he went on [
n Mexico and South America, insatiabl
Fl for adventure. 1t WAS upon his re
turn from South America that he IS
le tabl;shed the democratic REGISTER
W which had SO unfortunate an end. II
)r collapse left his fortunes low, but j
TO 1856 he was elected judge OF Graz
l. county, On, and held That Office ii
L. 1870.
lie While serving is Judge he gay
~ himself a~ssiduOuS,y to literature, al
his long nights of writing and STUD
further injured his weakened eye
lis He now had Z little money in haI
and he resolved to visit Europe. hol
ing to find more appreciation III II
old WNrld than in the new. Nor ";
he disappointed in his cxpectatio
His first volume, entitled specimens
published while he was judge, ";
praised in the overland by Bret Hart
but was neglected by the public.
London he published J collection
his poems under the more taking
tie Songs OF the Sierras," and tn
y, met with instant success. E.nslal
liked 10 read OF
.ns the kindled camp
Upon the mountain brow that bro
In steep and grassy stairway to I
damp
And dewy valley snapf'd and flavor
glow
With knots OF pine.
hiS III the United States nc had be
:, known mainly by didactic verse in
newspapers, p~reachuents that Strr
the popular heart, though they /
brought little fame to the author. c
OF the most successful of those ia
waits was us it Worth :':-
Is it worth while that We jostie
brother
Bearing his load on the rough II
Of life?
Is il worth while that We jeer at {;
other
In biackneSS OF heart?--that we
to the knife?
Got pity lis all in our pitiful stril
Cod pity US all rs We jostle each 9th
God pardon us al. for the triun
we feel
When q fellow goes down: poor, he;