Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-08-02
HONORNG THE POET OF THE Wesley Frederic j. Haskin

as he worked that day., Sne says. II watched
him closely and tried to put something of this
force and vitality that | saw in his face into
the bust"
The sculptor saw him il entirely different
mood when he entertained the steady stream
of visitors. He would throw on his ekS hide
coat or fur skin around his shoulders and
put on an Indian headdreSS or some of his
other curious souvenirs and stand in front of
his cabin to greet strangers and admirers who
came to pay their respects or to satisfy their
curiosity.
"They expect me to look unusual, and
won't dsappoint thenl," he would say laugh
ingly to his friends when they inquired why
he went to the trouble of dressing up"
Sometimes he would further entertain a
sensation seeker by joke in which he partic-
ularly delighted. If it was a hot dry day he
would say that he was going in to pray to the
rain god for rain, and into chapel-ike room
of his cabin he would lead the wondering Wis
itor Then he would mournfully chant an In
dian song or prayer with weird gestures. Soon
the sound of rain could be clearly heard on the
tin roof, and Miller would announce that the
rain god had answered him. Dramatically he
would throw open the door to show the rain
pouring down among the cherry trees before
the house.
HOW HE MADE RAIN
The rain was always of brief duration be-
cause it was produced by spout arrangement
similar to the rain storms produced in the
movies. One of MilIer's characteristics was to
keep his head always covered.
81 wanted to make a bust showing the mag
nficent dome of his forehead" says Miss
Boyle "but he always wore broad-brimmed
hat, or cap or some sort of headdreSS. In the
house he generally odd silk caps which
his daughter, Juanta, made and sent to him.
Eventually | did model his head uncovered
But when he saw it, he objected strongly to the
bald effect and finally | added a lock of hair
to please him."
The base of the memorial bust Miss Boyle
expects to make of stones from Rock Creek.
Joaquin used to collect stones and cement them
together to make monuments to his favorite
characters-MoSeS, Browning, Fremont, the pio-
neer, and others. The pedestal of the bust is
to resemble these monuments which seemed to
mean so much to him.
One of them he built for a funeral pyre for
himself. But the use of it was regarded as i'm
practical, and when he died his body was Gre
mated in Oakland, then the ashes were scat
tered from the ridge at his cabin On this
pyre, Gertrude Boyle hopes some day to place
a bust OF the poet as memorial at his real
home.
The bust in Rock Creek Park will be deep
in the park, but near the road along which
many automobiles and some pedestrians pass
Close to the stream, near the cabin, there is
IuSllC taDle WHICH MISS boyle says is very like
one near the California cabin. Here picnic par
ties come regularly through the summer
months.
Rock Creek Park is favorite drive of mo-
florists in Washington. Every evening a steady
stream of cars winds in and out among the
miles of road cut through the woodland The
bust of Joaquin Miller will be the first statue
to be placed in the park, and it will be more
conspicuous and attract more interest there
than it would in Statuary Hall or the capitol
or in one of the small city parks.
Tributes to Joaquin Miller are now taken as
matter of course. Unfortunately, most of them
have come just few years too late for him to
have had the satisfaction of knowing his work
was appreciated by his own people.
He felt deeply the tribute of the California
Society, when his cabin was placed in Rock
Creek Park, and he doubtless would have
been doubly happy if he could have known
that his statue was to be added to the me-
mortal.