[4] During the early years of the twentieth century, Bland penned reviews of the works of California writers for Town and Country.

He was the friend of Joaquin Miller, Jack London, John Muir, Edwin Markham, and other California literary figures.

The title given was The Laurel Crowned Poet of California (Statutes of 1929, Resolution Chapter 23).

California began the practice of naming a poet laureate in 1915.

[3] Bland died on April 29, 1931, two years into his life-term appointment as California's Poet Laureate.