The Poet's Cabin LbNA #61726 (ARCHIVED)

Joaquin Miller was a colorful, eccentric and thoroughly American character - Pony Express rider, mining camp cook, lawyer, horse thief, newspaperman, playwright and poet. Sometimes called "The Poet Of The Sierras," he lived briefly in DC during the 1880's while attempting to add politician to his resume. He built a cabin on Meridian Hill in what was then the countryside outside of Washington City. Frustrated in his attempts to gain either appointed or elective office, he departed DC in 1885, returning to Oakland California.

In 1911, when the cabin was slated for demolition, the state of California and the Columbia Historical Society intervened and sought to have the cabin moved to Rock Creek Park.With a little prodding from the Senator from California, the Park Service grudgingly agreed, painstakingly disassembling the cabin and then re-assembling it at the current location on Rock Creek just north of Military Road.

The Miller cabin is marked on the Park Service maps of Rock Creek. It is situated next to a pleasant glade with picnic tables, so on a nice day there may be a lot of other park visitors nearby - be discreet. Once you find the cabin, stand with your back to the windows on the south side. Look to your right - there are two massive tree stumps. along the bank of the creek, one standing and one toppled over. You will find the letterbox in a hollow at the foot of the standing trunk, on the creek side.