The Oakland Poet Who Wrote the Famous “Columbus” Poem Would Rejoice Over “Indigenous People Day"

Joaquin Miller, who is fondly remembered for the national poem he wrote about persistence, had a Native American daughter.

Joaquin Miller’s poem, “Columbus”* was required reading in American schools for around 75 years, but his first novel, Life Among the Modocs, is about the people lost in the American genocide. This first-person story was inspired by his own life as a young lawyer and businessman, which took a historic turn.