34 Facts About Joaquin Miller

Cincinnatus Heine Miller, better known by his pen name Joaquin Miller, was an American poet, author, and frontiersman.

Joaquin Miller is nicknamed the "Poet of the Sierras" after the Sierra Nevada, about which he wrote in his Songs of the Sierras.

Joaquin Miller's parents were Hulings Miller and Margaret, who married January 3,1836, in Union County, Indiana.

For unknown reasons, Joaquin Miller later claimed his birth date was November 10,1841.

Joaquin Miller said he was born in Millersville, Indiana, a town he claimed was founded by his father, while on a wagon heading west.

Joaquin Miller was wounded in the cheek and neck with an arrow during this latter battle, recuperating at the Gold Rush-era mining town of Portuguese Flat.

Joaquin Miller accompanied William Walker on the latter's 1855 filibustering expedition to Nicaragua.

Joaquin Miller credited her with saving his life, but said she had always been a platonic friend.

Joaquin Miller's exploits included a variety of occupations: mining-camp cook, lawyer and a judge, newspaper writer, Pony Express rider, and horse thief.

On July 10,1859, Joaquin Miller was caught stealing a horse gelding valued at $80, a saddle worth $15, and other items.

Joaquin Miller was jailed briefly in Shasta County for the crime, and various accounts give other incidents of his repeating this crime in California and Oregon.

Joaquin Miller earned an estimated $3,000 working as a Pony Express rider, and used the money to move to Oregon.

That year, Joaquin Miller married Theresa Dyer on September 12,1862, in her home four days after meeting her in Port Orford, Oregon.

Joaquin Miller had corresponded with her after exchanging poems with her for critique and chasing away a competing suitor.

Joaquin Miller published poetry under the pen name "Minnie Myrtle" and later, as Minnie Myrtle Miller.

In 1868, Joaquin Miller paid for the publication of 500 copies of his first book of poetry, Specimens.

Dyer filed for divorce on April 4,1870, claiming they had a third child, Henry Mark, the year before and that Joaquin Miller was "wholly" neglectful.

Joaquin Miller was ordered to pay $200 per year in child support.

Joaquin Miller believed the divorce prevented him from being nominated for a seat on the Oregon Supreme Court.

Joaquin Miller never denied her charges that he was neglectful of her and their children and was rarely home.

Joaquin Miller went to England, where he was celebrated as a frontier oddity.

Rather abruptly, Joaquin Miller left England in September 1871 and landed in New York.

Joaquin Miller eventually settled in California, where he grew fruit and published his poems and other works.

In 1877, Joaquin Miller adapted his First Fam'lies of the Sierras into a play, The Danites, or, the Heart of the Sierras.

Joaquin Miller married for a third time on September 8,1879 to Abigail Leland, in New York City.

In 1886, Joaquin Miller published The Destruction of Gotham, a book which was one of the earliest to depict a prostitute as a heroine.

In 1897, Joaquin Miller traveled to the Yukon as a newspaper correspondent.

Joaquin Miller died on February 17,1913, surrounded by friends and family.

Joaquin Miller was championed, although not enthusiastically, by Bret Harte and Ambrose Bierce.

Joaquin Miller is remembered today, among other reasons, for lines from his poem in honor of "Burns and Byron":.

The Hights, the Oakland home Miller built at the end of his life, was purchased by the city of Oakland in 1919, and is known as the Joaquin Miller House, located in Joaquin Miller Park.

Joaquin Miller planted the surrounding trees and he personally built, on the eminence to the north, his own funeral pyre and monuments dedicated to Moses, General John C Fremont, and the poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Joaquin Miller is portrayed by Sean McClory in the Death Valley Days 13th season episode "Magic Locket", which portrays Ina Coolbrith and the love of her life.

The location is near where Joaquin Miller lived with the Wintus.