"On the way to Californy
It was a Long and teejus journey,
Fur across the Rocky Mountains,
Crystal caves and snow-white fountains."
William Collins crossed that Overland Trail to the Pacific between 1880 and 1900 - the roaring days of the American Frontier. Now, in full retreat from the civilisation he helped to create, he lives an elusive hermit's life in a mountain cabin high in the Sierra Nevada.
Fyfe Robertson tracked him down; and this is his story.
A Tonight presentation