ROUNDUP1 2 WILD WEST JUNE 2019
FAMOUS LAST WORDS‘IF THAT SON OF A BITCH COMES OUT HERE,
I WILL FILL HIM WITH LEAD’
—Mine guard Jack Truby said these words right before Deputy Sheriff John Diamond emerged from
the Elk Horn Saloon in Silver Reef, Utah Territory, to engage him in a duel on March 27, 1879.
Truby did fill Diamond with lead, but Diamond did the same to Truby. Both died.LEFT:^ COURTESY^ OF^ JI
M^ FULBRIGHTBICENTENNIAL V
FOR FORT
ATKINSON
The site of the first
U.S. fort built in the
unorganized territory
west of the Missouri
River (in present-day
east-central Nebraska)
marks it bicentennial
in 2019. Fort Atkinson
State Historical Park
[outdoornebraska.gov/
fortatkinson] sits atop
a riverside bluff north
of Omaha, on the out-
skirts of the town of
Fort Calhoun. In 1819
a military expedition
led by namesake Colo-
nel Henry Atkinson
established Canton-
ment Missouri at the
base of the bluff. After
the Missouri flooded
the cantonment in
spring 1820, soldiers
built Fort Atkinson
atop the bluff—as had
been recommended
by Captain William
Clark of Corps of Dis-
covery fame, who’d
held a council with local
Indians on the site in
- The garrison saw
its only action in 1823,
when soldiers attacked
an Arikara village in
retaliation for an at-
tack on a fur trading
party led by William
H. Ashley. Though
no soldiers were killed
in the skirmish, seven
drowned after their
keelboat struck a log.
The Army abandoned
Fort Atkinson four
years later, and by
the 1850s it had all
but disappeared.
A century later ar-
chaeologists mapped
the footprint of the fort,
and in 1961 the site was
designated a national
historic landmark.
Beginning in the 1980s
the Nebraska Game
and Parks Commission
directed the construc-
tion of a replica fort.
The present-day state
park includes living
history demonstrations
and an interpretive
center. Its three-year
bicentennial celebra-
tion kicked off in 2018.
This year the focus is
on Lewis and Clark’spassage. Visit the
Washington County
Historical Association
online to purchase
a 2019 Fort Atkin-
son Bicentennial cal-
endar [wchamuseum.
com/2019-historic-
picture-calendar].101 RANCH W
TURNS 140
In 1879 Kentucky-born
Colonel George Wash-
ington Miller started
leasing from Indians
the Salt Fork pasture
in the wide-open ranges
of the Cherokee Out-
let in Indian Territory
(present-day Oklaho-
ma). There his ranch
hands built a makeshift
dugout headquarters—
the modest roots of
what grew into the
renowned 101 Ranch.
Miller reportedly con-
ceived his 101 brand
in 1881 as a playful
jibe at his cowboys,
who prior to a drive
north would get falling-
down drunk at a SanAntonio saloon named
the 101. “When I’m
through, you’ll wish
you’d never seen the
101,” the rancher told
the boys, “because
I’m gonna make you
put it on every cow
I own!” And that,
says Oklahoma au-
thor Jim Fulbright,
“was the beginning
of the 101 brand, not
only on livestock but
just about everything
Miller and his three
sons eventually owned.”
When cattlemen
were forced to leave
the Cherokee Outlet
in advance of the 1893
Land Run, Miller be-
gan leasing land from
the neighboring Ponca
Indians. Through sub-
sequent purchases,
leases and buyouts,
the 101 Ranch south
of Ponca City soon
amassed over 100,
acres. Although the
senior Miller died in
1903, his dream of a
grand, modern ranchhome, known as the
“White House,” was
fulfilled by his three
sons. The 101 went
on to earn worldwide
fame with the Wild
West shows it staged.
The brothers’ show
business career be-
gan in 1905 with a
gala on the Okla-
homa ranch grounds
to showcase the skills
of their cowboys and
local Indians. Soon
the brothers took their
show on the road. Bill
Pickett, Will Rogers
and Tom Mix all per-
formed for the 101.
This year is the 140th
anniversary of the 101
Ranch. “To celebrate
this milestone, the 101
Ranch Collectors Asso-
ciation [facebook.com/
101ranchcollectors]
is presenting a show,”
Fulbright says. “Scores
of historic 101 Ranch
artifacts along with
other Western mem-
orabilia can be viewed
at the Kay County Fair-
grounds Event Center
in Blackwell, Okla., on
Friday evening April 12
(4 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and
all day Saturday April
13 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
Items on display and
for sale include ori-
ginal cowboy gear,
firearms, assorted
antiques, rare photos
and ephemera.”