Marble Hill press., 1921-09-22

y. l. IS4I-Jo; went to san Francisco 1850;
worked iu meat market 1901 started on his
OVID account 1901, with Charles Lux. started
H. cattle business l>f5. They acquired SO
90 arres IN California. besides other lands in
Oregon and Nevada aud ~ uuc time had ~.
tuo cattle ana 10000 sheep. Mr Lux died
IN 1857 and The business was Incorporated.
Nj Miller retaining large interests Home
-lul LU1uua =. Office. 1914 Merchants TX.
change building, San Francisco.
This is the Miller aud this was his empire II
rose because Miller had eenus--the genius Il
taking palns-aHd aim that refused to be d.
rerted. 1t fell because Miller died October q
1916 and It Is against public policy that tile vast
estate should be allowed to remain Intact Il Is
'herei"re being broken up aud sold pecemeal TO
the highest bidders
The foregoing hIography-or autobiography.
rather-is said TO have been written by Henry
Miller himself II may be the truth and nothing
hut the truth, but 1t is far from being the whole
truth Anyway. Il Is a bit skinny as the life
story Of Il penniess German boy Immigrant who
acquired "A million Acres OF land and accumulated
fortune Of $4oVooGp 1t can hardly be said
10 give much Of an idea uf the Processes by which
a butcher boy could leave behind him the largest
area Of land ever assembled under one ownershfn
In this country. And Il Is eloqueutly sil.p, ~
the methods ty which he survived aud prosrered
while other Range Barons" and Cattle Kings"
toppled from their thrones with the coming of
the homesteader and the farmer In short there
Is considerable TO be read between the lines Of
Henry Miilers laconlc autobiography
Well, to begin with the beginning Henry Miller
was christened Heinrich Mueller lie yas the
son Of cattle dealer and got seven years Of
schooling At fourteen be went 10 work for his
father. He got ten thaers for his first wears
work. Thereupon he left home. He went 10
Holland then to England and arrived In New
York at twenty. He had saved enough as a
butcher to be able to buy passage TO San Fran.
cisco when the gold stampede set In. He reached
there with So and went to work at his trade He
never wasted n minute In looking for gold He
saw there was more money In feeding those who
found gold.
Cattle were plentiful In California: under th.
Mexcans the export Of hides and taIlow had been
the chief business Of the region. Land was plen
ufu' too. Under the land laws II could be had
for song, IL one went at It In the right yvav
So Miller took to himself partner Kari Lnchs,
another young German Immigrant and started out
to acquire cnttle and land Charles Lux figures
only incidentally in the story Henry Miller was
the empire builder Miller got his cattle hv huv
Ing them and raising them
Miller also bought much land as the years went
on. But old-ttme Californians say that In his
early years Miller got land In various yays he.
sides direct purchase. Cowboys filed homestead
Claims to sell out TO him. One story is that he
mounted boat on q wagon and drove over thou.
sands OF acres In the San Joaquin valley, later
much submerged land" over which bs
rode In a boat"
Miller, OF course, did not overlook the imnor
lance of water, though irrigation In those davs
had not been dreamed of by CafornIans He
acquired riparian rights along the San Joaauin
liver wherever he could by homesteading and bv
purchase. He also secured water rights in other
Ways. One of these was the patentng Of min.
RS inches for mining purposes: the process served
aualiy well for watering stock and rrtgatinr n
and Later many attacks were made on his We
er rights He kept lawyers under retainer