Abbey, The-Joaquin Miller House

Joaquin Miller, the so-called "poet of the Sierras," is said to be the first major poet produced on the far-western frontier. His writings deal largely with the exploits of the pioneers, outlaws, and Indians of the wild west. From 1863 to 1885, Miller traveled in England and Europe regaling the natives with adventure stories of the most imaginative sort. Franklin Walker says that just as he borrowed the name of the West's most famous bandit for his nom-deplume, he borrowed the events of a dime novel for his past. Returning to California, he built his house, ''The Abbey," and a series of monuments to various men Miller admired. The most famous of his numerous literary products are Songs of the Sierras (1871), and Songs of the Sunlands (1873).

Cincinnatus Heine, born near Liberty, Indiana, in 1837, was brought to a homestead in Oregon with his family in a covered wagon in 1852. He quickly took to the adventuresome atmosphere of the wild west, following a turbulent career as a miner, judge, student, teacher, express-rider, and editor. His first book of poems. Specimens (1868), met with only limited local interest. Assuming the name of the West's most notorious outlaw, Joaquin Murietta (1832-1853), and migrating to England, he immediately grasped the potential of his natural inclination to showmanship. In England, parading about in a red shirt, high boots, and a broad sombrero, Miller established himself as the center of attention in certain circles, performing such zany acts as smoking three cigars at a time and biting the ankles of squealing debutantes in Mayfair drawing rooms. Miller was providing the English with just what they expected of a California frontiersman, and in 1871, when Longman published Miller's Songs of the Sierras, he was loudly acclaimed.

After a brief visit to America which confirmed his unpopularity at home (largely because of his lack of learning and his unrealistically romantic depiction of the West), Miller decided to console himself with more foreign travel. Visiting South America, Europe, and possibly the Near East, all the while grinding out more and more of his poetry and prose, Miller returned to the U.S.A. sometime in the early '80s. He briefly tried living in New York, Boston, and Washington but found them too crowded. In 1883, he remarried, and in 1886, settled permanently in Oakland, California, purchasing a 100-acre estate known as "The Heights."