Henry Miller (rancher)

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Henry Miller (July 21, 1827 – October 14, 1916) was a German-American rancher known as the "Cattle King of California"Waldschmidt-Nelson, Britta. [http://www.immigrantentrepreneurship.org/entry.php?rec=153 "Henry Miller: The Cattle King of California."] In Immigrant Entrepreneurship: German-American Business Biographies, 1720 to the Present, vol. 2, edited by William J. Hausman. German Historical Institute. Last modified September 05, 2013. who at one point in the late 19th century was one of the largest land-owners in the United States.

Life and work

Born in Brackenheim, Duchy of Württemberg as Heinrich Albrecht Kreiser (Kreyser),Kirchenbücher (church books) Brackenheim, Taufregister (baptismal register) 1808-1832, without page number (entry 38/1827), http://www.archion.de/p/88bf3e72e5/ he emigrated to New York City in 1846, where he worked as a butcher. He moved to California in 1850 under the name Henry Miller, a name borrowed from the non-transferable steamer ticket he had purchased from a friend in New York.

Miller built up a thriving butcher business in San Francisco, later going into partnership with Charles Lux, also a German immigrant and a former competitor, in 1858. The Miller and Lux company expanded rapidly, shifting emphasis from meat products to cattle raising, and soon became the largest producer of cattle in California and one of the largest landowners in the United States, owning {{convert|1400000|acre|km2|-2}} directly and controlling nearly {{convert|22000|sqmi|km2|-3}} of cattle and farm land in California, Nevada, and Oregon.Igler, David. (2001) Industrial Cowboys: Miller & Lux and the Transformation of the Far West, 1850-1920. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press

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Miller purchased most of the Spanish land grants lying between San Francisco and the San Joaquin for about $1.15 per acre, ranged his cattle over the area and eventually forced the land grant heirs to sell out to him at his price. He also "kept the local officials, particularly the county assessors, in his debt.".McWilliams, Carey. (1935) "Factories in the Fields". Berkeley, CA: University of California Press The Miller and Lux Corporation was headquartered in Los Banos, on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Miller and Lux also became owners of the lakebed of the Buena Vista Lake.https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt238nb0f4&&doc.view=entire_text Miller played a major role in the development of much of the San Joaquin Valley during the late 19th century and early 20th century. His role in maintaining and managing his corporate farming empire illustrates the growing trend of industrial barons during the Gilded Age. This detailed correspondence with Superintendent Turner reflects his micromanagement business style and underscores the lack of autonomy of rural farmers in the region. Miller persistently corresponded with his subordinates in order to verify that all the cattle met his standards before being sold. The correspondences demonstrate his attention to detail, especially in regards to the weather conditions and the amount of food and water the ranches contained."Correspondence to Superintendent Turner," 18 July 1912, Henry Miller Papers Collection, Special Collections, Henry Madden Library, California State University, Fresno In 1910, his upstream water rights to the San Joaquin River, which crossed much of the company's land, were acquired by the Big Creek Hydroelectric Project; the project's planned reservoir storage of snowmelt would greatly reduce flooding and increase river flow during the dry season.

At the time of his death, in California, Miller's estate was appraised at some {{US$|40000000|1916|round=-6|about=yes}}, somewhat less than during his prime.{{cite magazine |last=Taper |first=Bernard |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080704143244/https://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1967/5/1967_5_20.shtml |url=http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1967/5/1967_5_20.shtml |archive-date=July 4, 2008 |title=The King of Ranchers |magazine=American Heritage |date=August 1967 |volume=18 |number=5 |access-date=February 11, 2007 |url-status=deviated }} The Henry Miller Trust dissolved after the death of Miller's last grandchild in 1962 and the remaining land was split between Miller's heirs.https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt238nb0f4&&doc.view=entire_text Miller's grandson George Nickel reorganized the holdings and became a large farmer and land developer. Some of his descendants continue to farm in the area around Los Banos and to operate as farmers and land developers in Bakersfield and Kern County.{{cite web |url=http://www.citizen.org/california/water/heist/articles.cfm?ID=11145 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040907035226/https://www.citizen.org/california/water/heist/articles.cfm?ID=11145 |archive-date=2004-09-07 |url-status=dead |title=Kern County a hub of the water trade |website=Public Citizen}}{{void|Fabrickator|comment|archive.today link: https://archive.today/20040628081431/www.citizen.org/california/water/heist/articles.cfm?ID=11145}}{{cbignore}} Miller's contemporary descendants include Wiley Nickel, an American politician serving as a member of the U.S House of Representatives from North Carolina’s 13th congressional district; journalist Nellie Bowles; and Tucker Carlson, who is a descendant of Miller through his birth mother, Lisa McNear Lombardi.{{cite news |last1=Confessore |first1=Nicholas |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-gop-republican-party.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506091506/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-gop-republican-party.html |archive-date=2022-05-06 |title=How Tucker Carlson Stoked White Fear to Conquer Cable |work=The New York Times |date=April 30, 2022}}{{void|Fabrickator|comment|archive.today link: https://archive.today/20220517142736/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/30/us/tucker-carlson-gop-republican-party.html}}{{cbignore}}

References

External links

[http://www.mchsmuseum.com/cattle.html Monterey County Historical Society: The California Cattle Boom, 1849-1862]
[https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/henry-miller-cattleman/#.YaBLGdDMKM8 Oregon History Project: Henry Miller, cattleman (photograph)]
[https://www.oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/henry-miller-cattleman/pdf/ Oregon History Project: Henry Miller, Cattleman (narrative)]
[https://archive.today/20030823164227/http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/events/bancroftiana/122/family.html Article on Miller family history]
[http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf7c600668/ Guide to the Miller & Lux Records] at The Bancroft Library
[https://archive.library.unr.edu/public/repositories/2/resources/3016 Henry Miller letter, NC498]. University of Nevada, Reno, Special Collections Department.

Henry Miller (rancher)

Life and work

See also

References

External links

Further reading