Miller Brothers 101 Ranch
Encyclopedia
The Miller Brothers 101 Ranch was an 110000 acres (44,515.5 ha) cattle ranch in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma before statehood. Located near modern-day Ponca City
, it was founded by Colonel George Washington Miller, a veteran of the Confederate Army, in 1893. The 101 Ranch was the birthplace of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and one of the early focal points of the oil rush
in northeastern Oklahoma. It was the largest diversified farm and ranch in America at the time. Bill Pickett
's grave and the White Eagle Monument are located on the ranch grounds. The location of the former working cattle ranch was subdivided and all of its buildings destroyed. The location of the ranch is a National Historic Landmark
.
In 1903, when Colonel George Miller died, his three sons, Joseph, George Jr., and Zack took over operation of the 110000 acre ranch. By 1932 most of the land was owned by the Miller family. They leased other land from the Ponca, Pawnee, and Otoe Indians in Kay
, Noble
, Osage
and Pawnee
Counties. The ranch remained in the family for almost 60 years.
The Millers' neighbor Major Gordon W. Lillie, who performed as Pawnee Bill
, motivated the Millers to produce a Wild West Show of their own. The Millers made their transition from putting on local shows to the national scene in 1907, when they performed at the Jamestown Exposition
in Virginia
.
In 1908, the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show began the tour circuit in Brighton Beach
, New York. Joe Miller, the eldest son, was an exceptional equestrian and star performer. Over the course of the show's history, it's cast included Bill Picket, Bessie Herberg, Bee Ho Gray
, Tom Mix
, Jack Hoxie
, Mexican Joe
, Ross Hettan, and an elderly Buffalo Bill
.
The Miller brothers came late into Wild West Show business and suffered financially along with the other shows after the invention of motion pictures. Their show had more problems than most in a business that was harsh in the best of times. During their first year on the circuit, they suffered a serious railroad accident. Later several members of their cast contracted typhoid fever.
In 1908, when Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill combined their shows into an extravaganza that broke records at Madison Square Gardens in New York City, the Miller Brothers took their show abroad. In England, the British military confiscated most of the 101’s horses, stagecoaches, and automobiles to build up for war, as tensions were building related to the pending World War I. When the Millers' show toured in Germany, authorities arrested some of their Oglala Sioux performers on suspicion of being Serbian spies, they were never seen again. A frantic Zack Miller managed to get the rest of cast out of Germany via Norway, and then to England. Once in London, however, he had difficulty finding a steamship that would sell his people passage. Finally, he obtained passage for his cast on an American ship. Once the cast returned to Oklahoma, the eldest brother Joe Miller refused to pay the Indian cast overtime. As a result, the entire Indian cast quit the show.
By 1916, the two younger Miller brothers abandoned trying to work with their volatile oldest brother. George Jr. and Zack worked at the ranch, while Joe schemed to make the Wild West Show a financial success. Joe Miller hired an out-of-work, aging, and ill Buffalo Bill to star in a World War I recruitment show called the "Pageant of Preparedness." Soon Cody quit the show; he died within a year. Still unwilling to let the show close, Joe continued to operate on a smaller scale. In 1927, Joe was unsuccessful in his attempts to sell his show to the American Circus Corporation.
, later renamed the Continental Oil Company, and then ConocoPhillips
.
On October 21, 1927 a neighbor found Joe Miller dead in the 101 Ranch garage with his car running. The family physician ruled his death accidental. In 1929, George Miller, Jr., died in a car accident.
Zack Miller tried to carry on alone, but in 1932, during the Great Depression, he filed for bankruptcy. The US government seized the show's remaining assets and bought 8000 acres (3,237.5 ha) of the 101 Ranch. Completely broke, the 101 Ranch show closed after the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Zack Miller died of cancer in 1952.
in 1975.
After Zack Miller’s bankruptcy, the federal Farm Security Administration (FSA) divided the remaining ranch lands and sold off parcels to individuals. The 101 Ranch house and most other buildings were torn down. The 101 Ranch store remained standing until September 22, 1987, when it burned in a fire of unknown origins. No 101 Ranch buildings or stables are left standing today. In 1990, the Oklahoma Legislature designated State Highway 156
as the 101 Ranch Memorial Road. An historical marker is located on the highway about 13 miles (20.9 km) southwest of Ponca City.
Ponca City, Oklahoma
Ponca City is a small city in Kay and Osage counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, which was named after the Ponca Tribe. Located in north central Oklahoma, it lies approximately south of the Kansas border, and approximately east of Interstate 35. 25,919 people called Ponca City home at the...
, it was founded by Colonel George Washington Miller, a veteran of the Confederate Army, in 1893. The 101 Ranch was the birthplace of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and one of the early focal points of the oil rush
Texas Oil Boom
The Texas Oil Boom, sometimes called the Gusher Age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in U.S. state of Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a large petroleum reserve near Beaumont, Texas...
in northeastern Oklahoma. It was the largest diversified farm and ranch in America at the time. Bill Pickett
Bill Pickett
Willie M. "Bill" Pickett was a cowboy and rodeo performer.Pickett was born in the Jenks-Branch community of Travis County, Texas. He was the second of 13 children born to Thomas Jefferson Pickett, a former slave, and Mary "Janie" Gilbert. Pickett had 4 brothers and 8 sisters...
's grave and the White Eagle Monument are located on the ranch grounds. The location of the former working cattle ranch was subdivided and all of its buildings destroyed. The location of the ranch is a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
.
In 1903, when Colonel George Miller died, his three sons, Joseph, George Jr., and Zack took over operation of the 110000 acre ranch. By 1932 most of the land was owned by the Miller family. They leased other land from the Ponca, Pawnee, and Otoe Indians in Kay
Kay County, Oklahoma
Kay County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 48,080. Its county seat is Newkirk. The largest city in Kay County is Ponca City.-19th century:...
, Noble
Noble County, Oklahoma
Noble County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2010, the population was 11,561. Its county seat is Perry.-21st century:In 2010, the Keystone-Cushing Pipeline was constructed north to south through Noble County....
, Osage
Osage County, Oklahoma
Osage County is a county in the northern part of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Coterminous with the Osage Indian Reservation, it is the home of the federally recognized Osage Nation. As of the 2010 census, the population was 47,472 a 6.8 percent increase from 2000, when the population was 44,437...
and Pawnee
Pawnee County, Oklahoma
Pawnee County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 16,612. Its county seat is Pawnee.-History:The Osage Tribe used the area that contains present day Pawnee County as buffalo hunting grounds...
Counties. The ranch remained in the family for almost 60 years.
The 101 Ranch Wild West Show
Pawnee Bill
Pawnee Bill , born Gordon William Lillie, was a Wild West showman and performer.Best known for his short partnership with Buffalo Bill, Pawnee Bill was born February 14, 1860, in Bloomington, Illinois. Pawnee Bill and his show made several false starts during the latter part of the nineteenth...
, motivated the Millers to produce a Wild West Show of their own. The Millers made their transition from putting on local shows to the national scene in 1907, when they performed at the Jamestown Exposition
Jamestown Exposition
The Jamestown Exposition was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States in the early part of the 20th century...
in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
In 1908, the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show began the tour circuit in Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is an oceanside neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. As of 2000, it has a population of 75,692 with a total of 31,228 households.-Location:...
, New York. Joe Miller, the eldest son, was an exceptional equestrian and star performer. Over the course of the show's history, it's cast included Bill Picket, Bessie Herberg, Bee Ho Gray
Bee Ho Gray
Bee Ho Gray was a Western performer who spent fifty years displaying his skills in Wild West Shows, vaudeville, circus, silent films and radio...
, Tom Mix
Tom Mix
Thomas Edwin "Tom" Mix was an American film actor and the star of many early Western movies. He made a reported 336 films between 1910 and 1935, all but nine of which were silent features...
, Jack Hoxie
Jack Hoxie
Jack Hoxie was an American rodeo performer and motion picture actor whose career was most prominent in the silent film era of the 1910s through the 1930s...
, Mexican Joe
Mexican Joe
José Barrera became famous as Wild West showman, Mexican Joe.Barrera was reportedly born in Juarez, Mexico in 1882. In 1897, Pawnee Bill’s Wild West Show was the first to hire Barrera as a performer. Only fifteen years old at the time, Barrera was already an expert equestrian and roper...
, Ross Hettan, and an elderly Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill
William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
.
The Miller brothers came late into Wild West Show business and suffered financially along with the other shows after the invention of motion pictures. Their show had more problems than most in a business that was harsh in the best of times. During their first year on the circuit, they suffered a serious railroad accident. Later several members of their cast contracted typhoid fever.
In 1908, when Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill combined their shows into an extravaganza that broke records at Madison Square Gardens in New York City, the Miller Brothers took their show abroad. In England, the British military confiscated most of the 101’s horses, stagecoaches, and automobiles to build up for war, as tensions were building related to the pending World War I. When the Millers' show toured in Germany, authorities arrested some of their Oglala Sioux performers on suspicion of being Serbian spies, they were never seen again. A frantic Zack Miller managed to get the rest of cast out of Germany via Norway, and then to England. Once in London, however, he had difficulty finding a steamship that would sell his people passage. Finally, he obtained passage for his cast on an American ship. Once the cast returned to Oklahoma, the eldest brother Joe Miller refused to pay the Indian cast overtime. As a result, the entire Indian cast quit the show.
By 1916, the two younger Miller brothers abandoned trying to work with their volatile oldest brother. George Jr. and Zack worked at the ranch, while Joe schemed to make the Wild West Show a financial success. Joe Miller hired an out-of-work, aging, and ill Buffalo Bill to star in a World War I recruitment show called the "Pageant of Preparedness." Soon Cody quit the show; he died within a year. Still unwilling to let the show close, Joe continued to operate on a smaller scale. In 1927, Joe was unsuccessful in his attempts to sell his show to the American Circus Corporation.
Oil and Miller brothers' decline
In 1908 the Millers entered into a leasing arrangement with E. W. Marland, who formed the 101 Ranch Oil Company. Oil was struck in 1911 at the "Willie-Cries-for-War" well. Marland would become a millionaire and later a U.S congressman. He was eventually elected the governor of Oklahoma. The company’s 1911 oil discovery led to the founding of the Marland Oil CompanyMarland Oil Company
Marland Oil Company was an American oil company founded in 1917, by Ponca City, Oklahoma oil exploration pioneer E. W. Marland when he assembled his various holdings including the 101 Ranch Oil Company into one unit, forming Marland Oil Company...
, later renamed the Continental Oil Company, and then ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips
ConocoPhillips Company is an American multinational energy corporation with its headquarters located in the Energy Corridor district of Houston, Texas in the United States...
.
On October 21, 1927 a neighbor found Joe Miller dead in the 101 Ranch garage with his car running. The family physician ruled his death accidental. In 1929, George Miller, Jr., died in a car accident.
Zack Miller tried to carry on alone, but in 1932, during the Great Depression, he filed for bankruptcy. The US government seized the show's remaining assets and bought 8000 acres (3,237.5 ha) of the 101 Ranch. Completely broke, the 101 Ranch show closed after the New York World’s Fair in 1939. Zack Miller died of cancer in 1952.
National Historic Landmark
The ranch property was declared a National Historic LandmarkNational Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1975.
After Zack Miller’s bankruptcy, the federal Farm Security Administration (FSA) divided the remaining ranch lands and sold off parcels to individuals. The 101 Ranch house and most other buildings were torn down. The 101 Ranch store remained standing until September 22, 1987, when it burned in a fire of unknown origins. No 101 Ranch buildings or stables are left standing today. In 1990, the Oklahoma Legislature designated State Highway 156
State Highway 156 (Oklahoma)
State Highway 156, also known as SH-156 or OK-156, is a highway maintained by the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Spanning 17 miles through the north-central part of the state, it connects the town of Marland, Oklahoma to US-77/US-177 in the north to US-77 in the west. It is the former alignment of...
as the 101 Ranch Memorial Road. An historical marker is located on the highway about 13 miles (20.9 km) southwest of Ponca City.
External links
- "101 Ranch", Cherokee Strip Museum
- Bee Ho Gray - 101 Ranch Trick Roper
- 101 Ranch Old Timers Association, 101 Ranch Collectors
- The Fabulous Empire: Colonel Zack Miller's Story by Fred GipsonFred GipsonFrederick Benjamin Gipson was an American author. He is best known for writing the 1956 novel Old Yeller, which became a popular 1957 Walt Disney film. Gipson was born on a farm near Mason in the Texas Hill Country, the son of Beck Gipson and the former Emma Deishler...