[Charles Wilkins]. American journalist and frontiersman, born at Russellville, KY, on the 29th of May 1819; went to Texas in 1838, where he became one of the famous Texas rangers; returned to Kentucky and studied medicine; entered Princeton Theological Seminary in 1843, but abandoned his intention of entering the ministry; went to New York City and engaged in literature, becoming a contributor to the New World, Democratic Review, Sunday Despatch, and subsequently to the Whig Review, of which he was joint proprietor and editor for two years. He headed an expedition to the Colorado and Gila Rivers in 1849. On account of the difficulty he experienced in crossing the desert he formed a camel company, obtaining a charter from the New York legislature in 1854. In 1855 he joined the Walker expedition to Nicaragua, took part in the battle of Rivas, and fell in a chance encounter in that engagement, April 11, 1856. He was the author of Old Hicks, the Guide: or, Adventures in the Comanche Country in Search of a Gold Mine (1848); The Gold Mines of the Gila (1849); The Hunter Naturalist (1851); Texan Virago: or, the Tailor of Gotham (1852); Tales of the Southern Border (1853); Spiritual Vampirism (1853); Shot in the Eye (1853); Adventures with Texas Rifle Rangers (1853); Wild Scenes and Song-Birds (1854); and “Sam:” or the History of Mystery (1855).
