Identifier: centuryofamerica00bird (find matches)
Title: A century of American literature and the lives and portraits of our favorite authors
Year: 1901 (1900s)
Authors: Birdsall, William Wilfred, 1854-1909, (from old catalog) ed Jones, Rufus Matthew, 1863- (from old catalog) joint ed
Subjects: American literature
Publisher: Philadelphia, Chicago (etc.) The J. C. Winston co
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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er orspirit of adventure took possession of him again and in 1861 we find him in thegold mines of Idaho; but the yellow metal did not come into his Pan sufficientlyfast and he gave it up to become an express messenger in the mining district. Afew montl^ later he was back in Oregon where he started a Democratic Newspaper i6o JOAQUIN MILLER. I?>I at Eugene City which he ran long enough to get acquainted with a poetical contri-butor, Miss Minnie Myrtle, whom he married in 1862—in his usual short-order wayof doing things—after an acquaintance of three days. Where Joaquin Miller—for he was now called Joaquin after a Spanish brigand whom he had defended—got hib education is a mystery; but through the years of wandering, even in boy-liood, he was a rhymester and his verses now began to come fast in the columns ofhis paper. In 1862, after his marriage he resumed the practice of law, and, in 1866, at theage of twenty-five, was elected Judge of Grant County. This position he held for
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JGAQUiN MILLERS STUDY, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA. four years during which time he wrote much poetry. One day with his usual suddenness he abandoned his wife and his country and sailed for London to seeka i)ublisher. At first he was unsuccessful, and had to print a small volume privately.This introduced him to the friendship of English writers and his Songs of theSierras was issued in 1871. Naturally these poems were fiiulty in style and calledfortli strong adverse criticism; but the tales they told were glowing and passionate,and the wild and adventurous life they described was a new revelation in the worldof song, and, verily, wdiatever the austere critic said, The common people heard himgladly and his success became certain. Thus encouraged Miller returned to Cali-fornia, visited the tropics and collected material for another work which he published11 1C2 JOAQUIN MILLER. in London in 1873 entitled Sunland Songs. Succeeding, the Songs of theDesert appeared in 1875; Songs of Italy 1878; Son

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