Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1921-09-29

along the river and more than once used armed
cowboys. The state supreme court sustained
most of his water rights
Miller began the building Of his empire by pur
chasing 100 acres near Gilroy, about. rs miles
south of San Francisco. Later he expanded this
to 10000 acres and made it his home ranch AS
profits accrued, he put the money back into land
cattle and sheep. By 1886 the. operations Of the
partners had reached their peak. They owned
about 100000 acres in California and had large
holdings in Oregon and Nevada.
II once thought that 1 should own the whole
state of California" said Miller, about 1905 81
would have owned half of it, had I not made the
mistake of buying in Oregon and Nevada, and
my son, if he had lived, could have bought the
other half"
1t was in 1886 that Miller and Lux had $4,000
cattle and 100000 sheep. For years their annual
sale of meat had averaged 81 100000. They had
organized water companies had laid out town
sites and had built towns. They had constructed
roads and irrigation canals and bitches.
The ranches were famous as models Miller
spent most of his time in their inspection. Each
ranch had a foreman, with three sub-foreman for
cattle, sheep and farming Every group of ranch
es had a general manager. There a general
superintendent of the sheep interests. But
body ever doubted that Miller was the boss. At
each ranch was a bedroom for the boss. kept in
perfect order for his coming which might be night
a fast team; at eighty-fve he frequently drove
80 miles in q day.
Miller's men were well fed and well lodged.
The superannuated were pensioned. He lib
eral and he demanded efficiency in return. He
gave his foreman practically a free hand; the
man who made good" could have anything within
reason. Order, neatness, cleanliness Mllers
watchYords. At one ranch he became interested
in flock of newly-hatched chicks. On his next
visit he asked for them. "The rats got 'em," said
the foreman. ''Rats/ are a sign of decay" re-
marked Miller. Shortly afterward that foreman
was looking for job.
Charles Lux died in 1887. Thereupon the busi-
ness was incorporated. Miranda Lux. his widow,
took half of his million-dolar estate The other
half went to four brothers and sisters of Lux in
Germany, and another brother, Henry Lux of San
Jose Henry Lux died in 1902, leaving his fifth
share to his three children. Miranda Lux left
son by her first husband; he left widow and
son. By and by these claimants began to press
Miller for accounting and for larger dividends.
The aaltocratic old emprebuilder resented this
interference" and took his battle into the courts.
His only ally was his son-in-aw, ]. Leroy Nickel,
who had married Nellie Sarah Miller.
Miller's first was to allow the California
corporation to lapse through nonpayment Of Ii
cense fees He then reOrganized $12,OOO,OO0 cor
poration under the laws of Nevada. After much
litigation, in 1910, he agreed to a five mon-dol-
lar bond issue through the Bank of California to
enable MIN 10 purchase outright all lne inter
ests of the 81 heirssof Charles Lux in Germany
and the United States This gave Miller absO-
lutte control of all the vast property. The next
five years were practically continuous battle in
the courts over boundary claims, water rights and
other matters.
Upon the death of Henry Miller in 1916 at Gil
roy q new struggle began. When his will was
filed for probate 1t was found that the bulk Of the
estate had been transferred to a trust created in
1913, in which he held life interest and of which
his daughter and her husband were trustees. The
entire estate was estimated at $40.000,000, and
federal and state authorities Immediately began
proceedings in an attempt to collect inheritance
tax on the full amount instead Of on the compare
lively small estate set down in the will. The fed
eral government claimed $4,000OO0, and California
claimed $3,6O0,00O.
The amount claimed in taxes by the federal
government increased rapidly by penalties. In
April of 1913 the claim was nearly $7,0O0OO0.
That year there was a decision against the estate
the property was ordered seized and sold at auc-
ton. An injunction granted by a federal