12
MARCH 16�23, 2022
CULTURE & HERITAGE
CELEBRATING THE HISTORY
OF EASTERN OREGON
Two historic buildings for one quick stop
Joaquin Miller Cabin
and Greenhorn
Jail are at home in
Canyon City
By Cheryl Hoefl er
GO! Magazine
C
ANYON CITY — Those two
old buildings next to the
Grant County Historical Museum
look pretty innocuous.
But, as the saying goes, if
walls could talk, both would
have some mighty tall stories
to share.
The Joaquin Miller Cabin was
the home of Cincinnatus Hiner
“Joaquin” Miller, during his six-
year stay in Canyon City in the
mid-1800s. He, his wife, Theresa
Dyer, and their children lived in
the cabin on property not far
from its current location.
Before, during and after his
time in Grant County, Miller led a
colorful life, traipsing from loca-
tion to location, enjoying a string
of adventures and pursuits. A
sample includes cook, miner,
poet, newspaper editor, rancher,
teacher and lawyer. A full ac-
counting of his exploits would fi ll
many pages.
Born in the Midwest in 1839,
Miller was 15 when his family
moved to the Willamette Valley.
Soon after, he set off on his own
for a series of brief excursions.
First, to the Yreka, California,
area where he lived with Native
American tribes; back to Eu-
gene where he graduated from
college and taught school for a
year; then off to Idaho where he
mined and was a Pony Express
rider; and fi nally, back to Eugene
Cheryl Hoefl er/Go! Magazine
The historic Joaquin Miller Cabin and Greenhorn Jail are located along
Highway 395 in Canyon City.
where he launched a newspaper.
It was there in 1862 that Miller
married Dyer, whom he met from
her “Minnie Myrtle” poetry sub-
missions to his newspaper.
In 1864, the Miller family set-
tled in Canyon City, which was a
lively, thriving community follow-
ing the discovery of gold nearby
just two years earlier. Miller built
a cabin, set up shop as a lawyer
and dabbled in poetry.
In 1866, at only 29 — and
despite a reputation for un-
derhanded behavior — he was
elected to the position of Grant
County judge.
A few years later, Miller and
his wife divorced. And after his
judicial term was over in 1870,
he was on the move again. This
time he headed to the San Fran-
cisco area of California, where
he began devoting himself to
writing poetry. Often called “The
Poet of the Sierras,” Miller’s
works include “Songs of the
Sierras” (1871).
Miller’s travels also took him
to Europe, where his poetry was
well received, and Alaska, where
he worked during the Klondike
gold rush.
In 1886, he moved to Oak-
land, California, where he built
a house and later died in 1913.
That building is now a historical
landmark, and the centerpiece
of a 500-acre park. Both it and
a cabin he built in Washington,
D.C., bear his name.
Several locations throughout
Oregon have also been named
for this eccentric and legend-
ary fi gure.
The Joaquin Miller cabin is
furnished with Miller artifacts
and other items typical to that
time period, plus portraits of
the couple and samples of his
poetry.
Next door to the cabin, the
Greenhorn Jail (circa 1910) is
the subject of a shorter, but no
less interesting tale.
During one night in 1963,
the two-cell historic building
was apparently “lifted” from its
location in Greenhorn, about 45
miles northeast of Canyon City,
by a group of unnamed locals. By
morning, the jail was at its new
home on the Grant County Histor-
ical Museum property — where it
has remained for nearly 60 years.
The cabin, jail and museum
are closed during the winter
months, but are conveniently
located on Highway 395 in the
heart of Canyon City, making for
an easy stop and photo op.
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