Miller Brothers 101 Ranch

File:101 Ranch, State Highway 156 between Ponca City and Marlin, Ponca City, Kay County, OK HABS OKLA,36-PONC.V,1- (sheet 3 of 14).png

File:101 RANCH MURAL.jpg

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File:PawneeBill and ZackMiller.jpg and Zack Miller on horseback in Oklahoma]]

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.

Later in 1907, the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch Wild West Show began the tour circuit in Brighton Beach, New York."Buffalo Astray from Show," The New York Times, July 24, 1907. Joe Miller, the eldest son, was an exceptional equestrian and star performer. Over the course of the show's history, its cast included Lillian Smith,{{cite book |title=The Real Wild West: The 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West |last=Wallis |first=Michael |year=2000 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-0-312-26381-2 |pages=672 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4I4F3i9eKiwC&q=princess+wenona+lillian+smith&pg=PA309 |access-date=2010-03-15}} Bill Pickett, Bessie Herberg, Bee Ho Gray, Tom Mix, Jack Hoxie, Mexican Joe, Ross Hettan, and an elderly Buffalo Bill.

The Miller brothers entered the Wild West Show business late, and suffered financially along with 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 increasing related to impending World War I. When the Millers' show toured the German Empire, authorities arrested some of their Oglala Sioux performers on suspicion of being Serbian spies, and they were never seen again. A frantic Zack Miller got the remaining cast out of Germany via Norway, and then to England. In London he had difficulty finding steamship passage for his people. He eventually obtained passage for his cast on an American ship. Upon return to Oklahoma, the eldest brother Joe Miller refused to pay the Indian cast overtime. Hence 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 WWI recruitment show called "Pageant of Preparedness." Soon Cody quit the show, and died within a year. Unwilling to end the show, Joe continued to operate on a smaller scale. In 1927, Joe was unable to sell his show to the American Circus Corporation.

File:Willie-Cries-For War Oil Well.jpg

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.John Joseph Mathews, E. W. Marland: Life and Death of an Oil Man, p. 80. (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, (1985): {{ISBN|0-8061-1238-7}} The company's 1911 oil discovery led to the founding of the Marland Oil Company, later renamed the Continental Oil Company, and then ConocoPhillips.

Circa 1924, the ranch reportedly had a herd of around 500 American bison. The herd was featured in the film North of 36.{{Cite news |date=1925-01-25 |title=Rounding Up the Buffalo |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/01/25/archives/rounding-up-the-buffalo.html |access-date=2023-02-02 |issn=0362-4331}}

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 {{convert|8000|acre}} 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.{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}}

A small portion of the ranch property was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1975.{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: 101 Ranch Historic District, Bill Pickett's Grave, and White Eagle Monument|url={{NHLS url|id=73001560}} |format=pdf|date=September 27, 1974 |author=Marcia M. Greenlee |publisher=National Park Service}} and {{NHLS url|id=73001560|title=Accompanying 14 photos from 1974.|photos=y}} {{small|(6.35 MB)}}

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.Palmer, Griff, "Flames Destroy Bid to Preserve 101 Ranch Store," Daily Oklahoman, Sept. 23, 1987. Few of the 101 Ranch buildings are left standing today. In 1990, the Oklahoma Legislature designated State Highway 156 as the 101 Ranch Memorial Road.{{cite web|author=Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Planning & Research Division|url=http://www.okladot.state.ok.us/memorial/legal/sh156.htm|title=Memorial Dedication & Revision History - SH 156|access-date=2008-03-11}} An historical marker is located on the highway about {{convert|13|mi|km}} southwest of Ponca City.

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• List of Wild West shows
• The 101 Ranch a book about the ranch, written by Ellsworth Collings and Alma Miller England
• List of National Historic Landmarks in Oklahoma
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kay County, Oklahoma

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{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |last=Cunniff |first=M.G. |date=February 1906 |title=The 101 Ranch |journal=The World's Work: A History of Our Time |volume=XI |pages=7219–7228 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=bn8chfRnjScC&pg=PA7219|access-date=2009-07-10 }}
• Collings, Ellsworth, and Alma Miller England. The 101 Ranch (University of Oklahoma) 1937.
• Everett, Dianna. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture (Oklahoma Historical Society) 2002.
• Tintle, Rhonda. "Oklahoma and the True Story of the Wild West Show" (University of Oklahoma) 2007.
• Wallis, Michael. The Real Wild West: the 101 Ranch and the Creation of the American West (New York) 1999.
• Western History Collection. "Miller Brothers 101 Ranch and Wild West Show Collection" (University of Oklahoma).
• "The Fabulous Empire: Colonel Zack Miller's Story" — by Fred Gipson

• [http://www.cherokee-strip-museum.org/NobleCounty/101_Ranch.htm Cherokee Strip Museum: "The 101 Ranch"]
• [http://www.beehogray.com/ Bee Ho Gray] — a star trick roper of the 101 Ranch Wild West Show.
• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080706034325/http://www.101ranchota.com/index.html 101 Ranch Old Timers Association]}} — via 101 Ranch Collectors.com
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20121024013411/http://www.library.okstate.edu/okmaps/ Oklahoma Digital Maps: Digital Collections of Oklahoma and Indian Territory]

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{{National Register of Historic Places}}

Category:Buildings and structures in Kay County, Oklahoma

Category:National Historic Landmarks in Oklahoma

Category:Ponca

Category:Ranches on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma

Category:Wild West shows

Category:Cowboys

Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Oklahoma

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Kay County, Oklahoma