He got miserably depressed and took to drinking--

他常常郁郁寡欢借酒消愁
that part's true--

那倒是真有其事
when he was stationed way out in California in the late-1850s.

那是在19世纪50年代末他被派遣到加州期间
He was a bit of a drunk in those years

那几年他几乎就成了一个醉汉
and he resigned from the army.

他离开了部队
He'd been a veteran of the Mexican War, decorated,

他墨西哥战争老兵经历让他看上去十分光彩
but he quit the army, bored, depressed,

但是因为乏味与压抑他选择了离开部队
and he went back to Illinois, his home--

回到了他的家乡伊利诺伊州
well born in Ohio but he went back to Illinois--

尽管出生在俄亥俄州但是他回了伊利诺伊
and he was working,

他谋到另一份工作
as the story goes,

要是故事这么发展下去
it's not a legend,

也就称不上一个传奇了