In 1893 Colonel George Washington Miller (a Confederate Veteran of the Civil War) started a ranch on 1100,00 acres he leased from the Quapaw tribe, in the Indian Territory of Oklahoma. T the time it was the largest working ranch in the United States. In 1903 George Washington Miller died and his three sons Joe, Zachary, and George Lee, took over the ranch.
1905 the Miller brothers put on an exhibition which they called "Oklahoma's Gala Day."to demonstrate the western skills and horsemanship of their ranch hands and the local American Indian tribes. The "National Editorial Association"attended the event and it received much publicity across the nation.
After the success of the exhibition, the Miller brothers decided to go on the road with a traveling wild west show, the show began at Brighton Beach, New York in 1907.
In 1908 the Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill wild west shows combined into one gigantic traveling extravaganza, after the show broke all records at New York's Madison Square Garden, the Millers decided to take their show to Europe, a decision they would later regret due to unfortunate timing.
Tensions were high in Europe just prior to the World War I, most of the show's horses and wagons were confiscated by the British military in preparation for the on coming war. When the show played Germany, many show's personnel were arrested by the German government on suspicion of spying, some never to be seen again.
After the World War I began the show took a hiatus from 1916 until 1925. When the 101 Ranch Wild West Show returned to the road they ran in to grave financial difficulties, loosing over over $ 100,000 in 1926 alone, then as the Great Depression began the show went deeper into debt.
On October 21, 1927, Joe Miller died and on February 2 1929, George Miller also died, leaving brother Zack to cope with the financial losses. The situation had become overwhelming and in 1931 both the show and the ranch Ranch went into receivership, most of the equipment and property being sold at auction in 1932. |
