Bandwagon, January - February 1969

Bandwagon, Vol. 13, No. 1 (Jan-Feb), 1969. Note: Only some articles are included in this online edition. Many illustrations are not included. The Circus Historical Society does not guarantee the accuracy of information contained in the information in these online articles. Information should always be checked with additional sources.

Readers Comments

50 Elephant Photo Sept.-Oct. 1968

Maybe I can throw some light on the 50 elephant mystery picture. The night before it was made Atwell called me and told me about the plans and asked me about the plans and asked me to come on the lot. I was late getting there and several pictures had been made. All the elephant men were nervous because they were afraid the elephants would stampede into Lake Michigan. They had objected to the whole idea, but Roland Butler insisted.

That stretch of sidewall was between the elephants and Lake Michigan, and the depression you talk about was actually the edge of the lake where waves washed up on a breezy day. Butler could never keep his deft hands off photos; he loved to retouch them and make composites. I remember watching him "skive" or sandpaper the edges of prints he intented to paste over other prints.

The camera lens did not face the banner line, but faced east towards the lake.

Now as I look at these pics in Bandwagon the shadows puzzle me, as they seem to be different in the vertical and horizontal shots. Butler used parts of several pictures to make up the 50 bulls, and used a shot of the banner line and tops which he had on hand. During a discussion with Atwell, Butler and Braden somebody said that "40 elephants" would be a good advertising phrase, but Butler laughed and said - "Hell, man we actually have 40 - we will advertise 50."

My guess is that the vertical picture was flopped, which may account for the difference in shadows. Butler was an absolute master in working over pictures, as you undoubtedly know. I remember one picture he used often of a sitting elephant with part of the top in the background. The sitting elephant's head was as high as the side-wall top. What Butler could do with a razor blade was nobody's business! - Gene Whitmore, Lockhart, Texas

More on 50

About the great elephant photo mystery, Bandwagon Sept.-Oct. I would say your conclusion is correct.

White Tops 1932 Nov., page 9, column 3, Harry Atwell snapped the entire herd of forthy-three Ringling elephants in Grant Park while the show played there. - E. Soubier, Toledo, Ohio

Ringling Barnum Goodwill

In an early issue of Bandwagon, would like a question answered, which many of your other readers no doubt would ilke to know.

Question: Of the $8,000,000 paid by the Astrodome owner for the RB-BB show, what part of the purchase price was for title and good will and how much for physical property?

In view of the recent write-ups in Bandwagon on the subject of good will and circus titles, this should be of interest to all of your readers. - John Eggleston

Ringling-Barnum Wagon at Dietch Farm

Thought this photo might interest you. I relettered this former Ringling Barnum wagon #145 last summer for Bob Deitch of Fairlawn, N. J. Just this afternoon I went over to retouch the scrolls which had faded. Some fellow took this with a polaroid camera, and I do not have the negative. If you care to use it, why go right ahead. If not, I would appreciate return of print. The body color is dark green, aluminum wheels with lettering and scrolls yellow. New number is 115. I put #145 Woody CHS in small script on one corner of wagon. - Regards, Warren Wood

Clyde Beatty Biography July-August 1965

I often read through many of the back issues of Bandwagon, which I thoroughly enjoy and highly value, and upon reading one I noticed an error which I should like to set straight. The issue to which I refer is the July-August, 1965, and the article in it was entitled "Forty Years in the Center Ring" and dealt with the life of Clyde Beatty.

What I find in error is this. The article states (2nd column, page 6) that Beatty had made a serial for Republic Pictures sometime in either early 1935 or late 1934, before Beatty's tour with the Cole show in 1935. Although it doesn't give a date, this is implied in the wording which I won't go into here. The name of this serial was supposedly "The Lost Jungle." However, since Republic Pictures formed in 1935, they did not start producing serials until 1936. According to film authority Alan G. Barbour in his nice little book entitled The Serials of Republic, in which he lists all of Republic's 66 serials from 1936 to 1955, there is no mention anywhere of a serial called "The Lost Jungle." Further, the article of Beatty states that he made a movie in 1936 called "Darkest Africa." True, he did appear in a serial, not a movie in the usual sense of the word, entitled "Darkest Africa." This I think is also the film that the article referred to as "The Lost Jungle." In this serial, "Darkest Africa," Clyde Beatty played himself. Now, here's an interesting fact which may have some significance. Also appearing with Beatty was a Manuel King as the character Baru. Could someone tell me if this was the same Manuel King who later was animal trainer and connected with "Snake" King, owner of a reptile farm and supplier to many zoos and shows?

Well, just thought you might be interested in the information about Mr. Beatty and also the mention of Manuel King. - William H. Schreiber

Editor's Note Manuel King, the boy lion trainer, is the youngest son of Snake King, of Brownsville, Texas. Manuel King appeared with his Father's King Bros. Circus (using Schell Bros. Circus equipment), as well as James M. Cole, Rice Bros, and other truck shows of the 1930s.

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101 Ranch Wild West 1907-1916

Author's preface: One of the highlights of my youth occurred on the day I was driven on an 80-mile round trip to Rochester, N.Y., to see the 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show. As a farm youngster I had enjoyed the western books of Zane Grey, B. M. Bower, Peter B. Kyne, and, of course, the classic of them all, The Virginian. There were magazines and an occasional film that also depicted the life of the western rider but nothing that contained the drama that was guaranteed by cowboys and Indians in person. This I anticipated with eagerness that cannot be described. At last on that hot summer day, after a long drive over a two-lane highway upon which we reached speeds up to and including thirty miles per hour, I saw cowboys in the flesh - and Indians, too - and witnessed their hard-riding, fancy roping, and marvelous shooting. Nostalgia for sure, but the stuff from which dreams are made. Now this was the second edition of the Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch Show - the one that existed from 1925 to 1931. What I want to discuss in this article, however, is the first Wild West Show put out by the Miller Brothers and Edward Arlington - the one that started touring the country and making daily stands in 1908, The emphasis will be upon the early years until it reached a point where it could compete with the big circus organizations of that period. But, before I discuss the events of 1908, it is necessary to drop back a few years and relate how the 101 Ranch got started. In writing this history I will probably puncture a few myths, for example : many persons have related the exciting tale of Will Rogers roping a wild steer in the seats of Madison Square Garden as an event that occurred on the 101 Ranch Show. It, in fact, occurred in 1905 on the Zack Mulhall show in the Garden, not on the 101 Ranch Show. It is also generally believed that the 101 Ranch Show was ended when the English government confiscated its horses after World War I began in August 1914. It is true that a 101 Ranch Show folded in England at the beginning of World War I but it was a second unit. The main show was touring the United States at the time and continued to do so for two more years. The personnel and stock of the second unit had been in South America during the winter 1913-14, came back to the United States for the Madison Square Garden opening, and then were sent on to England. After the stock was lost in September, the personnel began to return to the United States in any way they could. Transportation was not easily available due to war conditions and many came home by freighter. But, I am years ahead of the story and a return to the origin of the 101 Ranch is in order.

Colonel George W. Miller railed his first herd of longhorns out of Texas in 1871 and with this drive began a prosperous cattle business that continued until he, like many another cattleman, succumbed to the great economic depression of the first few years of the 1890s. This business collapse, usually identified with the year 1893, forced Miller to shift his activities from ranching and cattle herding, to a more diversified production. In addition to changing from the lean, rangy longhorn to a higher grade of beef cattle, the ranch began to concentrate on wheat, corn, and alfalfa. Hogs and poultry in great quantity were added to the production schedule of the ranch. In spite of this wide diversification, cattle (Shorthorn and Hereford) were the principal market product. Miller, and other ranchers, were trying to meet the demands of the eastern markets and they had found out long before that the only remaining sale for longhorn beef was the government issue to the Indian reservations. The Eastern public certainly did not intend to wreck their molars on those tough, stringy longhorn steaks any longer.

Colonel George W. Miller, father of the three Miller brothers of 101 Ranch Wild West Show fame, was born in Lincoln County, Kentucky, on February 22, 1841. He inherited land from his father, married, and settled down to raise a family. The first son, Joseph Carson Miller, was born on March 12, 1868. Two years later, George Miller, decided to leave Kentucky and move west with his wife and two-year old boy. The family had reached Newtonia, Missouri, by the following winter and at this point Miller halted and began his first ranching activities. The Miller's second child and only daughter (Alma Miller) was born there on June 21, 1875. Zachary Taylor Miller, the second son, was also born at Newtonia on April 26, 1878. Two years after this son's birth Miller sold this home, and other property that he owned in Newtonia, and moved to Baxter Springs, Kansas. Here, George Lee Miller, the third son, arrived on September 9, 1881.

Miller's connection with the famous numerals "101" was initiated in 1879 when he leased 60,000 acres from the United States government. Although the brand was not used until two years later, the land, located in the famous Cherokee Strip, provided the impetus for increased cattle raising activities and launched Miller into big-time operation. In 1881 he moved his family to Winfield, Kansas, to be nearer his work and also began to brand with the 101 numerals. This brand was used on the left horn of the cattle which also carried a large NO on the left side. A JK brand was used on the horses' gleft shoulder. Several other brands and combinations of marks were used on both horses and cattle until 1888 when the brand on the horn was eliminated and all cattle and horses were burned with 101 on the left hip. The JK and the NO were not used after this time and the other markings were also dropped.

One of the famous landmarks of the region, the ranch headquarters known as the "White House," began with a dugout excavation on the Salt Fork River in 1892. The "White House," a most imposing and complete set of ranch buildings, was constructed on the opposite side of the river from the dugout. It was completed in time for the family to move into it for the Christmas holiday season, 1903. However, Colonel George W. Miller did not live to enjoy this fine building. He died on April 25, 1903, while it was still under construction.

In its way the "White House" was as famous as any of the imposing residences of the circus owners of the same period. Probably as many great and near-great personages of the early 20th century visited it, and were entertained at this location, as were ever hosted at any of the urban locations of the more traditional circus owners. On January 14, 1909, it burned to the ground but it was rebuilt on the same site within a year.

Although many guests visited the ranch to take part in its various activities - agricultural, cattle raising, and social - no one event received as much publicity as did the 1905 convention of the National Editor's Association. After the ranch show went on tour in 1908 this event of three years earlier was still referred to as the "buffalo killing" at which the "Millers entertained 100,000 persons." Most accounts would settle for approximately 65,000 people who arrived at the ranch for three days in June to witness Geronimo (released under guard from Fort Sill), the wagon train drawn by oxen, the buffalo hunt, bronco busting, and Indian dances. The old Apache chief was a fine attraction, but Lucille Mulhall, one of the finest western riders of all time, easily outdrew him. Only one bison was killed and he provided steaks for the editors - not the sixty thousand. But, the newsmen spread the word about the Miller brothers and the 101 Ranch when they returned east and that was the purpose of the whole thing.

A little more than a year later, September 16, 1906, another fifty thousand people descended upon the Ranch for the Thirteenth Anniversary of the opening of the Cherokee Strip. This event was also a western affair with roping, bulldogging, bronco busting, and races. These two celebrations are mentioned to illustrate that the Millers showed no reluctance when it came to exhibitions. In fact, they knew how to stage an excellent show. When the opportunity came in 1907 at Jamestown, Virginia, and Brighton Beach, New York, they were well-prepared to stage a crowd-pleasing exhibition.

Before discussing that eventful year, however, the activities of the men and women in the arena should be mentioned. The present-day rodeo fan would scarcely recognize the techniques used by the participants in the sport at the beginning of the Twentieth Century. Just as the circus has changed, so has the rodeo and wild west exhibition. Sixty years ago both men and women rode bucking horses and steers. Women, as well as men, were excellent ropers and riders. At the present time bulls and horses are mounted while in a chute and turned loose when the rider is ready to begin his bone-jangling, gut-jerking ride. During the period under discussion chutes were unknown. The bronco to be busted was snubbed to another horse in the arena, blindfolded, and saddled. When the rider mounted, the blind was jerked away and the bronc hit the roof. This method not only involved risk for the rider, it also provided some hair-raising experiences for the horse and rider to which the bronc was snubbed. Photos exist which show the wild, angry bronc climbing right into the saddle with the rider who is snubbing him. Jack McCracken describes the scene in these words, "In those days they did not ride bareback broncs. It was all saddle bronc riding and a pick-up man led a bronc out to the front of the grandstand and he then snubbed the bronc and earred him down (that is he got one of the bronc's ears in each hand and held him by also biting his ear with his teeth) while the cowboy who was to ride the bronc got his saddle on the horse, then mounted, and called to the snubber to turn him loose. No chutes were used in those days; all broncs were saddled out in the open arena, and many of the boys got kicked, jumped on, etc. while getting the saddle on the horse."

Steers were roped and ridden and bulldogged on the run without the use of a chute to contain them. A rodeo fan does not see steers roped anymore the way they used to be. In those days the cowboy began the event with his rope tied to the saddle. When the steer took off at a dead run, the rider took down his rope, made a loop, roped the steer - all at terrific speed. He then threw the steer and tied its legs just as calf roping is performed at the present time. In conclusion, it should be stated that the riding and wrestling were probably no more dangerous than today, but the preliminary activities were more exciting and hazardous. Injuries, superficial and severe, were common and some riders died as a result of them.

The 101 Ranch Wild West Show opened the 1907 season with a two-week engagement at the Coliseum in Chicago, Illinois. It was under the direction of the C. W. Rex Company who were also to manage its operation at the Jamestown Exposition. According to the review of the show there were "110 cowboys, 300 horses and herds of buffalo and long horned steers." Note: Those last three words of the previous sentence indicate that an eastern writer was at work. In the Southwest the animals are "longhorn," never "long horned."

Although reports indicated that J. C. Miller, George L. Miller, and Zack T. Miller were with the organization in Chicago, only two of the brothers were listed as members of the Executive Staff. O. J. Cathcart was President. Zack T. Miller was Show Manager and J. C. Miller was Acting Manager. Ed Botsford was the Arena Director with John Schaefer, Boss Hostler, and Joe Westheimer, Master of Transportation. Despite some exaggeration in the quantity of performing personnel mentioned in the review it was a large outfit. There were about seventy Indians, and ninety cowboys and cowgirls with the show - if the band was included.

The performance opened with the usual grand entry characteristic of wild west shows and the report indicates that the arena was quite crowded with men and women on horseback by the time they were all introduced. The events included the usual stage coach attack, Indian war dances, the attack on the emigrant train, the capture of a horse thief, and the wild pony express ride. Where the 101 Ranch Show excelled, however, was in the roping and riding of wild steers and outlaw horses. In addition to the bull riders and bronc busters, individual performances by Burns (trick roper), George Elser (trick rider), and Bill Pickett (bulldogger) drew acclaim. Much has been written about Pickett, the great Negro bulldogger, and little can be added here except to state that he first attracted attention at the shows held at the ranch in 1905 and 1906 and continued his great career on the traveling show.

Two additional acts presented in Chicago were not wild west in nature but were of high calibre according to the reviewer. The first of these was high school riding presented by Miss Amelia Summerville. The second was "Uncle Dan" Boyington with a group of trained buffalo, ponies and mules. Boyington was billed as a "Professor" in 1907, but he was "Uncle Dan" with his mule act on the 1908 touring show. He continued to work the mules in the Ranch performance for several years. A photo of the "Professor" and his act listed one of the animals as an "African Yak." It was a water buffalo.

A list of the cowboys working in the performance will not be included but many of the 1907 personnel became well-known during the following years. The one man who gained the greatest fame in show business (circus and film) was Tom Mix. He worked in the show during the 1907 season and for part of 1908, as well as other years. Buffalo Vernon was another famous western performer who made the trip to Chicago and Jamestown. Others who gained fame with the 101 Ranch Show in the early years, and who were on the 1907 production, were George Elser, Vester Pegg, Howard Compton, Lon Seeley, and Dan Dix.

The 101 Ranch Show ran for two weeks in Chicago after the May 2 opening and then moved to Virginia for the Jamestown Exposition. It opened there on May 20. In addition to the personnel included at the Chicago date there were Lucille Mulhall and Wenona, the champion rifle shot. Wenona was to be a feature of the show in the years to follow. At Jamestown the Ranch Show was a feature of the War Path. This unusual name was affixed to the amusement section of the Exposition and the reader will pardon a digression while the author gives a brief run-down of the major displays located on the War Path.

Probably the greatest feature, at least the one that was the most discussed in later years, was a replay of the battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac. In similar vein, was the battle of Gettysburg and Manasses. Then there was Old Jamestown, a production which featured Pocahontas and John Smith. In addition, on this same theme, there was Colonial Virginia and the Burning of Jamestown. To include some historical events from the north there was Paul Revere's Ride; or further west - the San Francisco Disaster (the earthquake in that city had occurred the year before.) Then, if the visitor desired some ancient history he could visit Ben Hur which featured chariot races.

The planners of the War Path knew that all the thousands of visitors would not be avid historians so they included Pair Japan and the Imperial Japanese Tea Garden (40 Geisha girls and 40 Japanese maidens); Beautiful Orient and Streets of Cairo; Pharaoh's Daughter (illusion); Ferdinand Akoun's Crystal Palace; the Swiss Village; the International Beauty Show (25 young maidens of all nations); Chute-the-Chutes; Streets of Seville; Spanish Theatre; Revolving Tower and Parachute; Figure Eight and Toboggan Slide; and Hell's Gate (like End of the World at Coney Island during those years).

There were also the Miracle Painting, "In the Shadow of the Cross," Captain Sorcho and His Deep Sea Divers; Colonel Francis Ferrari’s Trained Wild Animals: and, of course, the 101 Ranch Wild West Show. That was the War Path!

The Ranch program ran an hour and a half and consisted of sixteen western acts. In addition to this exhibition the Millers were also producing a second show at Brighton Beach, New York, during part of the summer. The show closed at Jamestown on October 12 and then moved to Richmond, Virginia, for a two-day engagement. It then played a nine-day stand at the Georgia State Fair at Atlanta and a seven-day engagement at Louisville, Kentucky. This was the closing stand of the season. It arrived back at Bliss, Oklahoma, on the morning of November 7. Bliss, later named Marland, was the nearest town or railroad center to the ranch headquarters which lay five miles distant.

At this time Billboard reported that the Miller Brothers were unsure of their future plans. However, by February, 1908, it was able to report that "Wild West Show . . . will move onto railroad cars for a tour of the country in April."

There were probably several closely related events which caused the Millers to arrive at this decision during the winter months of 1907-08. The first of these, perhaps, was the decision of Major Gordon W. Lillie (Pawnee Bill) to forsake the rigors of traveling and to keep his wild west show in one location, Boston, for the entire 1908 season. This meant that there would be only one large wild west outfit on the road that year - that of Buffalo Bill Cody. Closely tied in with this decision of Lillie was the departure of Edward Arlington from the Pawnee Bill organization. Arlington was an extremely skilled circus man and had served for years with the Barnum & Bailey Circus. He had spent the season of 1907 with Pawnee Bill and apparently the move to settle down in Boston for a season was not to his liking.

The Miller Brothers were well aware of the publicity they had gained at Jamestown. They wanted to capitalize on it, so with Arlington at liberty and the Pawnee Bill outfit off the road, it seemed that 1908 was the year. What arrangements were made between Arlington and the Miller Brothers have not been publicized. However, in general, the Millers were to provide the personnel and the animals and produce the performance. In all probability, Arlington had full charge of all the business affairs. It is known that he did have entire control of the route and the advance crews and also that he made visits each week during the season to the show from his headquarters. On these weekly visits he often directed his three advance agents to be present. George Arlington (Edward's father) was also on the show in 1908, and, in later years, he was the General Manager, while Edward Arlington was listed as General Agent and Railroad Contractor. The latter was also named as Proprietor in conjunction with the Miller Brothers beginning in 1910.

There was a great deal of traveling to and from the show during 1908 by the men in charge. In addition to Arlington's weekly visits, Joseph C. Miller made repeated trips to the ranch. It must be remembered that the brothers were not only trying to operate a wild west show, but were also conducting a huge ranch enterprise at the same time. George L. Miller remained at the ranch and did not tour while Zack T. Miller, who was in charge of the arena, was usually with the show.

Producing the arena display was easy for the Millers. In fact, they already had the talent available at the ranch. The one arena feature that was not western was Prince Lucca and his Cossack riders. This equestrian display, from the Pawnee Bill Show, was chosen to oppose the riding of the cowboys and the audiences were left to decide which were the better horsemen.

However, they had no show train, tents, seats, wagons, poles, nor any of the other items so necessary to a touring show. Edward Arlington was busy solving this problem, and while they waited for his activities to culminate a spur track was built out of Bliss. It was only a half-mile long, but it would hold the railroad cars when they arrived.

Meanwhile, some of the management posts were filled. H. G. Wilson was given the side show and concert privileges. W. C. Thompson was selected to be the general press representative. James C. Stuart became contracting agent and Joseph Rohenthal was advance agent. Tom Mix was appointed as assistant to Zack Miller. William Atterberry, band leader who had been with the show in Jamestown, was brought on to instruct a cowgirls' band. One of the biggest problems lay in replacing the longhorns. Although the Miller Ranch owned about forty of these animals, more than a dozen had been killed or crippled at Jamestown and Brighton Beach in 1907. The cowboys were not going to "bust" them any harder in 1908 than they had in earlier years, but the problems of loading and unloading them each day would cause added casualties. A similar problem faced the organization in regard to the bison. The Ranch owned fifty head and planned to carry a dozen with the show. The loading and unloading and the buffalo chase in the arena took its toll of these animals and by the 16th week of the season several had been lost.

Many of the performers contracted had been with the show at Jamestown. One newcomer, Guy "Cheyenne Bill" Weadick, was to become very famous in the Wild West Show business. He left the show when it reached Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, in July, and began a business venture. During the next few seasons he worked on the show and also toured in vaudeville. Later, he was on the unit in England and still later he became the successful manager of the Calgary Stampede. Instead of burning just any emigrant train to conclude the program the Miller Brothers decided to represent the attack on Pat Hennessy's train in July 1874. This was a sad incident from the history of Oklahoma but the Millers probably felt that it should be authentic since they had been exposed to all that history in Jamestown. Consequently they signed Bull Bear, the Cheyenne who had supposedly led the historic charge, to make the daily attacks in the arena during the summer of 1908.

Edward Arlington sent the first section of railroad cars from New York City on March 15. The twenty-two cars had been rebuilt and overhauled by the Pennsylvania Railroad in their Jersey City shops. The train made stops at Buffalo, Cleveland, Chicago, and Kansas City picking up men and material that had been collected at those points. It arrived in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on March 21. The working force was quartered in Ponca City while the performing personnel were located at the Ranch where the rehearsals were held.

At the sale of Pawnee Bill stock and equipment in early May, Mr. Joseph Miller purchased four flat cars and one advertising car as well as four water buffalo (carabo). This is not to be confused with the big sale of 26 December 1908 when a great amount of Pawnee Bill equipment was sold to Haag. Additional purchasers of stock in May were Co. W. T. Cummins, Col. Zack Mulhall, and the Campbell Brothers.

The nature of the wagon equipment on the 101 Ranch Wild West Show in 1908 is shrouded in mystery at this point. Thus far no photographs, parade descriptions, nor other positive clues have come to the writer's attention. Most historians date the acquisition by the Millers of three famous Barnum & Bailey wagons as the winter of 1909-10. Certainly a second group of three fine wagons, formerly on the Norris & Rowe Circus, arrived on the Ranch Show for the 1913 season. These came from William P. Hall. With the exception of the calliope there are no clues to the purchase of the wagons that are associated with the show in 1908. Ricky Pfening writes that an "old Forepaugh calliope" 'was on the show in 1909. Jack McCracken, who drove six and eight-horse teams on the show during portions of the 1911 and 1912 seasons and for all of 1913 and 1914, also reports that the first calliope "was an old Forepaugh-Sells relic." This piece of equipment was probably replaced in 1910 when Edward Arlington purchased the calliope at the Norris & Rowe sale. It was listed as a Kratz steam calliope, 37 whistles, and sold for $680. Arlington's total purchases at this sale in Peru were twenty pieces of hickory for single trees, one set of new six-horse harness, and a ticket wagon, in addition to the calliope. It must have been this calliope that was demolished in a wreck in Wisconsin in 1912 According to McCracken this was replaced at once by another old calliope which later was overhauled and repaired at Hot Springs, Arkansas, during the winter. He reports that he last saw the 101 Ranch Show in 1915 and this calliope was still in use at that time. Ricky Pfening, who has studied the calliope situation on the Ranch Show, states that the 1913 version "is the most famous" of those owned by the Ranch Show. It was used on this show until 1916 and then was on the Jess Willard property. Later it was owned by the Horne Company of Kansas City who sold it to the Veal Bros. Carnival in 1919. According to Jack McCracken the Ranch Show never had a new calliope. They were all old pieces of equipment that were rebuilt and overhauled by the show mechanics.

The 1908 season was a great learning experience for the Miller Brothers and their ranch personnel. The show encountered rain, mud, floods, wrecks, injuries, poor business, excellent business, and opposition from established circuses but after reading some accounts of the season's tour the guiding hand of Edward Airlngton is very evident. The reports from the show indicate that his skillful maneuvering of the route made it a paying venture. Printed financial records (Collings, Ellsworth, The 101 Ranch, University of Oklahoma Press, 1937) indicate that the 1908-1916 years were a rewarding venture for the Miller Brothers. The same source reports that the 1925-1931 show was a loser. The difference, it would seem, was the lack of Edward Arlington, or someone of his stature, during the later years.

The 101 Ranch opened the 1908 season in Ponca City, Oklahoma, on April 14, and played two weeks through Kansas and Illinois before returning to Chicago for an extended stand, April 27-May 9. A week of one-day stands in Illinois and Iowa preceded a six-day exhibition in St. Louis. Then came two weeks of dates in Missouri and Oklahoma. During the first fifty days of the tour it rained continually. The inclement weather played havoc with the lots and the patronage. Parades were late and afternoon performances started as the patrons were beginning to think of preparing supper. The soft ground of the arena spoiled the performance and caused injuries as the horses slipped and fell. Business at the St. Louis stand was only fair and fell off badly at other points along the route. Finally, during the second week of June, the organization moved north into Iowa and the show was able to get the parade out on time and the afternoon performances were opened at the scheduled tour. The sick list was lowered with the improvement in the weather and the attitude of the performers picked up so that the riding again displayed the skill and zest for which the Ranch Show was known. Two days were spent in St. Paul and two days in Minneapolis with St. Cloud and Fergus Falls the last stands before entering Canada.

Business was great in Minnesota. Not all the business was done at the gate, however. The cowboys on the show, notably Dan Dix and Howard Compton, "busted" any outlaw horse that was brought to the show along the route. This was a side endeavor that continued throughout much of the season and any wild or vicious horse that was brought onto the lot was given a ride.

A half-dozen miles from St. Joseph, Mo., the show ran afoul of the 16-hour railroad law; the engine crew pulled the show train onto a side track to get their prescribed rest. The show lost several hours while it waited for another crew to be assembled and brought out from St. Joseph. Vern Tantlinger came down with typhoid fever; Vester Pegg and Oscar Rixson were out for several days when the broncos they were riding hit the guy ropes; Rose Scott broke her arm when the bucking horse she was riding also hit the guy ropes and cleaned itself of both rider and saddle; Charles Tipton became ill; and Tom Mix was transferred back to the ranch to look after a shipment of several thousand head of cattle.

Accidents, caused by the bucking horses running into the guy ropes, were quite common on the show and recall to this author the comments of a friend who saw the 101 Ranch Show in Pasadena in 1911. He was amazed at the number of ropes used in guying out the show and to this day his most vivid recollection of the Ranch Show is of guy ropes all over the place. "Far more than Sells-Floto or Al G. Barnes ever used," he states.

On June 22 the Ranch Show opened in Winnipeg, Manitoba, for ten days of Canadian dates. It returned to the States at Great Falls, Montana, on July 3. The short Canadian tour was successful even though it followed a tour by Campbell Bros. Circus. Three performances were given at Calgary on Dominion Day where the organization played in conjunction with the Dominion Fair.

High water delayed the movement in Montana and the afternoon show was lost at Great Falls. The same conditions slowed the move to Butte and it did not arrive in that city until four P.M. This same flooding had stranded the Norris & Rowe Circus in Butte where they had exhibited on July 3. It could not get out of town, and, since the 101 Ranch had the lot contracted, the circus had to move to another location in the city. Norris & Rowe did very poor business in Butte with four performances, but the Ranch show had a "turn away" with their one performance. The Millers probably would not have made that single exhibition if it had not been for Norris & Rowe assistance. The circus sent over their baggage stock and drivers and canvasmen to help the Ranch Show get up in time for an evening performance. The Billboard correspondent from the wild west show was lavish in his praise for the assistance given by the circus, but the Norris & Rowe writer did not even mention the incident.

A bad wreck was encountered at Dickinson, North Dakota, when the switching crew telescoped the sleeper, "Bliss," and another sleeper into a dead train. Two men from the Ranch Show died as a result of the accident and several others were injured. The materials in the two sleepers were placed in box cars and sent to Bismark where the Northern Pacific furnished the show with two replacements. The "Bliss" and the second damaged car were sent to St. Paul for rebuilding. In addition to "Bliss," some of the other coaches during the first years of the show were named "Mister Eddie," "The Arlington," Col. Joe," "New York," and "Oklahoma." The "New York" was the canvasmen's sleeper during his time on the show reports Jack McCracken.

From July 3 through 23 the Ranch Show played dates in Montana and the Dakotas. It then began a tour of Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan. It left Michigan the last week of August and moved into Indiana for nine dates. Louisville, Kentucky, on September 7 began a southern tour which took the 101 Ranch Wild West into Tennessee, Georgia, Albania, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. This southern route lasted for over two and a half months and concluded at Brownsville, Texas, on December 3.

A few additional highlights of the 1908 season should be included at this point. The stock was wearing out at a great rate, and, in the middle of July, Vester Pegg brought a carload of fresh animals to the show from the ranch. Another carload of horses and a few bison arrived on the show at Chicago Heights on July 30. Several trips were made to the ranch during July and August by Joseph C. Miller. He was working with his brother to purchase several thousand head of cattle for fall feeding. Tom Mix was still in charge of cattle shipments at the ranch and Charles Tipton had been appointed chief of cowboys and assistant arena director under Zack Miller. Injuries to the bronc "busters" continued to occur. Julia Allen broke her arm when "Old Chainfoot" hit the guy ropes; Dan Dix dislocated a shoulder; George Hoker dislocated a hip, fractured two ribs, and suffered internal injuries when a bucking horse fell on him at Howell, Michigan; and Charles Tipton and George Elser were hospitalized for various periods. Business fell off in Kentucky due to opposition from numerous fairs and the show day-and-dated for the second time during the season when it opposed the Ringling Circus at Nashville, Tennessee.

Rumors had persisted for the last few weeks of the season that the Ranch Show would follow the regular season's tour with a run into Mexico. This was verified in the November 14 issue of Billboard which issued a call for "A few more first-class people in all departments for present Winter Season in Mexico. Including a long engagement in City of Mexico."

The regular season closed on December 3 and on December 6 the show entered Mexico at Monterrey. The 9th and 10th included stands at San Luis Patosi and on the evening of the 11th a parade was scheduled in Mexico City. The engagement in that city extended from December 12 to 26. The most exciting event of an otherwise uneventful tour was a contest between Bill Pickett and a Spanish bull in the bull ring of this fabled city on Christmas Day. Somehow Pickett was induced to bulldog this animal and Pathe-Freres recorded the exciting event on film and it was shown in the United States during 1909. The events in that brief battle - ages long to Pickett - began with the bull goring the rider's horse. Since this is the usual procedure in a bull ring it was to be expected. Then the cowboy got the bull by the horns and nose and began to twist its head in an attempt to throw the animal in the approved western fashion. It is not clear from the reports if he bulldogged the steer before some accurate arm from the stands laid Pickett low with a well-directed missile. In any event, Pickett was stunned by the blow and the bull was still pretty angry about the abuse he was getting. To conclude the exercises, and to rescue the great cowboy from an extremely dangerous situation, a couple of the Ranch hands roped the bull. Pickett had clung to the animal for much longer than the required period of time according to all Yankees reports of the event. He hung on to the lip and horns for seven minutes and the 101 Ranch hands were greeted with jeers and a barrage of garbage and rocks as they escorted their battered contestant from the arena.

The show train had barely returned to Bliss, Oklahoma, when the beautiful Miller residence, the "White House," burned to the ground. This tragic event occurred during the night of January 12, 1909. Just previous to this disaster, the train had been robbed while on its way back from the tour of Mexico. Between San Antonio and Fort Worth, two men, employees of the show, had blown open the safe in the ticket wagon. Both were apprehended almost immediately and neither the fire nor the robbery delayed plans for the 1909 tour.

These plans for the second season on rails included the retention of the same leadership as for 1908. Joseph C., Zack T., and George L. Miller and Edward Arlington were equal owners. Arlington was again to be in exclusive charge of routing and advance. Joseph C. Miller was the manager of the show and Zack T. Miller was to direct the performance. He was also given a part in the program - a number in which he could display his marksmanship while riding full-speed around the arena. George L. Miller was scheduled to direct the ranch activities which, as usual, were exacting. George Arlington was listed as General Director and Fred Beckman was his assistant.

Other staff members for the 1909 Ranch Show included Charles W. Hayes, contracting agent; Joseph Rosenthal, assistant to Edward Arlington; Paul W. Harrell who managed Advance Car No. 1 and Al Riel who was in charge of Advance Car No. 2. Owen Doud was legal adjuster. D. V. Tantlinger headed the cowboy personnel; A. B. Eastman was Band Director; Henry "Apples" Welch was boss hostler; and Herbert H. Warner had charge of the cookhouse. Kid McKenna was train master until mid-July when Harry Parrish took over.

In the early spring of 1909 the Millers and Arlington planned for the first time to use the word "Real" in the title. It was designed to read Miller Brothers' 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show. However, the added adjective did not appear too often in the review or advertising until a few years later. In spite of this wild west emphasis a wild animal show became an important addition for the 1909 season. In December of the previous year, Harry G. Wilson, privilege manager, engaged the George M. Rollins' Trained Animal Exhibition, the Mason & Dixon's Minstrels and Jubilee Singers, and "Uncle Dan" Boyington's troupe of trained mules as the basic part of the annex for the 1909 tour. The Rollins' animals featured performing bears, tigers, and leopards with Lydia Wilmouth's five lions as the main attraction. The staff of this organization included George M. Rollins, Proprietor; William Gaylor, Manager; Edward McIlroy, Treasurer; Thomas Wilmouth, Equestrian Director; Will Hienke, Supt. of Canvas; Alex Kenox, Supt. of Animals; and Capt. Tom Wilmouth, Lydia Wilmouth, Wm. Desdrach (or Dresbach), and Otto Fischer, trainers. Later in the season the annex included, in addition to the animals, the Three Davises; the Barooty Troupe; Capt. George Devere (tattooed man); Professor Allen (Punch); Casibanka (Singalese conjurer); the Ramons (jugglers and battle axe throwers); and Holdena's Southland Minstrel Show of fifteen people in place of the Mason & Dixon outfit. William Carroll's small horse was also an attraction.

The strongest effect made by the Rollins' Animal Show, however, was felt in the parade. The Ranch would not have had much of a procession in 1909 without the five cages of animals that were used. Three dens of lions, one den each of leopards and bears were located near the center of the parade. Aside from those five cages there were only eight other vehicles presented. Of these eight, one was a stage coach, and another was the emigrant wagon, or "prairie schooner." Before further discussion of the equipment is presented a few comments should be noted concerning the baggage stock.

During 1908 and 1909 the Ranch Show used mules and oxen rather than horses for baggage stock. In fact, the horses on the show were used only during the performance except for one team used in parade. Apparently the oxen were not included in parade during these first years but they were employed for that purpose at a later date when they were used in parade, performance, and to haul the "schooner wagon" from the train to the lot and back. During the earlier tours the oxen pulled the emigrant wagon from the train to the lot, around the arena during its display, and returned it to the train at night. This was not always the safest of tasks. In 1908 the wagon was not braked effectively and ran up onto the wheelers on a down grade on the way to the lot at Sedalia, Missouri. One of the oxen was injured so severely it had to be killed and the other could not work after the accident and was sold. During the 1909 tour it was reported that sixteen yoke of oxen were used on the show.

Jack McCracken, describing the oxen used in 1913, states that there were "eight working oxen. They pulled the schooner wagon in the show and in parade and also hauled the wagon from the train to the lot and back. The team was driven by James E. Smedley, better known as "Curbstone Willie," or "Curby." He never used a brake going down hill. He always made the wheelers crowd the curbstone and rub the front wheel as a brake. The team's names were: Logan and Blaze, the leaders; Mike and Frosty, the six body team; Red and George, the four body team; Nig and Buck, the wheelers."

More than sixty mules were used in the parade witnessed and recorded by Isaac Marcks at Pittsfield, Mass., on June 10, 1909. This eye-witness also recorded the equipment used in the parade on that date and, as has been indicated, it leaves the impression that the Ranch Show parade was very meager indeed at that time. The parade leader was followed by a flag bearer and behind the flag came a drum corps of eight people. Zack T. Miller (not yet a Colonel) rode after the drummers. He was followed by four more flag bearers. Then came the first vehicle, the "cowboy band chariot" pulled by eight mules. This band wagon is illustrated in Photo No. 1. While there is no direct evidence that it was on the Ranch Show before 1910 some items of advertising indicate that, in all probability, it was there before that date. Wagon historians do agree that it was one of the oldest vehicles owned by the Ranch. Following this band wagon and preceding the stage coach came a half-dozen cowboys and seven Indians.

The stage, supposedly used on the run from Atchison, Kansas, to Denver, Colorado, shortly after the close of the Civil War, was pulled by eight mules. This a slightly unusual hitch for a stage coach in that four or six animals were more often employed. However, eight mules or horses were sometimes used, especially on difficult stretches of the road. After this vehicle rode sixteen cowgirls and one lone Indian maiden.

Behind the ladies came another "band chariot" pulled by eight mules. The only reproduction this author has seen of a vehicle that might be this bandwagon is a very poor illustration in the Billboard May 15, 1909. In this reproduction, which is almost a silhouette, the carvings on the sides and sky-boards are almost too weak to be classified. It is, however, pulled by an eight-mule hitch. There is a driver on the seat, but the rest of the seats are empty. According to the notes made by Mr. Marcks these two band wagons and the stage coach were the only three vehicles hauled by teams made up of eight mules. None of the other photographs examined by this author has revealed another view of this band wagon and its destiny remains a mystery at this writing.

A return to the 1909 parade and the review of the procession reveals that the second bandwagon was followed by twenty riders - and outrider, five cowboys, eight Indians, two more cowboys, and four Indians. Behind this mounted contingent came a coach pulled by two horses - the only team of horses in the parade when Mr. Marcks saw it. The design of this coach has not been revealed by my study. Perhaps he referred to another stage, a two-wheeled vehicle of some type, or still another kind of carriage. It rolled immediately in front of an outrider who preced the Rollins' animal dens. These consisted of an open den of lions pulled by six mules, a second open den of lions pulled by six mules, an open den of bears pulled by four mules, an open den of leopards pulled by two mules, then a third open den of lions pulled by two mules. The trainers, Captain Tom Wilmouth, Lydia Wilmouth, Wm. Dresdrach, and Otto Fischer may have ridden on, or in, the cages. One of them was injured during the parade in Boston when a bear attacked him through the bars.

The minstrel band from the annex was transported on a bandwagon which rumbled along the pavements behind the cages. It may well have been the wagon illustrated in Photo No. 2, although this photograph was taken some years later. No date for the arrival of this bandwagon on the Ranch Show has been discovered but it could have been present in 1909. It was followed by five cowboys and five Indian riders. These mounted men were directly in front of a tableau pulled by six mules. Behind this unidentified tableau rode six Cossacks and a half-dozen Indians followed by the emigrant wagon pulled by two mules. This is a very small number of mules for this type of wagon and the greater number of oxen used at a later date seems more realistic. Seven vaqueros from Old Mexico came next and then the two bison. Mr. Marcks did not mention the method of transportation for the bison although at a later date as many as three were carried on a wagon in parade. It can be assumed that this same method was used in 1909. The last unit behind the bison, was the calliope - probably the "Forepaugh-Sells relic" mentioned by Jack McCracken.

Mr. Marcks noted twenty-two cars at Pittsfield in 1909 and it will be remembered that this was the number sent to Ponca City by Mr. Arlington in March, 1908. The train at Pittsfield was composed of "9 flats, 7 horse cars, 6 sleepers." Marcks also noted 36 wagons, 16 steers, the big top, side show tent, horse top, dining tent, and cook tent. The sixteen steers no doubt were in reference to the oxen carried on the show.

The 1909 program opened with a grand review which featured the Wells Fargo stage coach, the overland freight wagon, and Indian squaws using travois - three methods of transportation associated with life on the western frontier. The second display consisted of seventeen introductions. As each group or individual was announced the dust flew high in the arena as the horseman, or company of riders, took their places before the assembled audience. Among the groups introduced were various Indian contingents, cowboys, cowgirls, Cossacks, vaqueros, and rurales. Individual performers who were presented to the patrons were Prince Lucca, chief of the Cossacks; Chief Eagle Feather, Sioux; D. V. Tantlinger; and Zack Miller. After this large assembly rode out of the arena, Display No. 3 featured a recreation of the short-lived pony express which transported the mail during 1860 and 1861.

The expert ropers of the 101 Ranch demonstrated their proficiency in Display No. 4. These star performers, some of whom later held world titles in the field, were Sammy Garrett, Chester Byers, Mable Miller, Esteven Clemento, Otto Klein, Guy Weadick, Florence La Due (Mrs. Weadick), John Franz, Vern and Edith Tantlinger, Pat Christman, and John Mullens. Frank Maish also joined for part of the season. Some of these performers also starred with other skills, and in fact, became better known for their ability with these other techniques. Not all of them remained on the show during the entire season. One of the characteristics of the 101 Ranch Show at this period was the amazing amount of traffic between the touring show and the home ranch at Bliss.

Display No. 5 featured the expert driving of Rocky Mountain Hank Walker as he piloted the overland stage around the arena while pursued by bandits. The highwaymen succeeded, at each performance, in overtaking the vehicle and robbing the passengers and blowing the Wells Fargo strong box. The cowboys from the ranch, however, returned the valuables to the passengers and the gold to the box and pursued the bandits from the arena amid a flurry of pistol and rifle shots. "Eagle," one of the equines engaged in the battle, fell wounded and limped from the field. The program never failed to draw the attention of the patrons to this remarkable feat of animal training. Walker drove the entire season and only overturned the coach one time. That accident occurred at Camden, Arkansas, on October 19.

Indian dances came next on the program and comprised Display No. 6, while Display No. 7 brought on cowboy sports as performed at the home ranch. This interlude consisted of picking up objects from the turf while riding past them at full speed on some of the fleetest horses from the corrals.

The 101 Ranch high school horses entertained the patrons in Display No. 8. Miss Amelia Sommerville and her horse, "Columbus," was the feature of this act, but by mid-summer Zack Miller was also busy training his Arabian stallion, "Ben Hur," to perform in this manner. When Zack Miller was absent from the show, Dr. Webber worked the animal. Miss Sommerville and "Columbus" left after the New Haven stand and joined California Frank's Wild West Show. Maude Burbank and "Dynamo" joined at Metidan, Conn., to replace Miss Sommerville. Another, well-trained high school horse, "Skyrocket," was purchased later in the season.

Military tactics, drills, and Roman Riding followed the high school act in Display No. 9. John Ray and W. Weideman were the Roman Standing Riders while Melvin Saunders vaulted over four horses and landed on a fifth horse as part of this display.

Next came the big act - the one for which the 101 Ranch had gained its fame in show business. This was the bulldogging, or steer wrestling, which was first presented to the public by the ranch hands on June 5, 1905, at the Convention of the National Editorial Association. The techniques for this exhibition of strength and agility were rudimentary. A steer was driven away from the herd, and allowed to return to it at a dead run. The cowboy rode his horse beside the steer and leaped from the horse onto the head and nrho sof [sic] the running bovine. The man then dug his heels into the ground to stop the thoroughly frightened and angry steer and twisted its head up by the leverage he exerted on its neck when he pushed the near horn down and away and pulled up on the animal's nose with his other hand. With his head twisted and unable to see before him, the steer usually was stopped although occasionally he smashed blindly into the protective fencing. Sometimes the sudden weight of the cowboy on the steer's head would cause the animal's horn to be thrust into the ground while racing at full tilt, or just the weight of the man's body produced the same result. The steer's head hit the dirt and his entire body - tail end first - arched through the sky, and heaven help the man if he was underneath when that amount of meat and bone came crashing down. This is called a "houlihan" and is not allowed in rodeo. If it happens, the bulldogger and steer stagger to their feet, if they can, and the steer is thrown with the approved technique.

In modern bulldogging the man's success depends a great deal upon the ability of his horse to put him in the correct position beside the lunging steer. It would be correct to assume that this must have been true in the days when Bill Pickett gained his fame for developing bulldogging. This author can never study the much published photo of Pickett sitting on his mount without wondering just how much that horse had to do with the man's success. A bit of fiction associated with Bill Pickett was his supposed ability to throw a steer by taking the animal's upper lip in his teeth while he avoided any use of his hands. Indeed, at one period, many a bull-dogger did use his teeth in the event - after the steer was thrown. In fact, the rules of the game were that after the steer was flat the bulldogger was required to hold back the animal's head from the ground by grasping its upper lip in his teeth. This held the steer flat and the cowboy released all handholds and extended his arms away from the animal. He was required to hold the steer in this position for four seconds.

Pickett may have been injured seriously in the bullring in Mexico City on Christmas Day, 1908, since he did not perform his specialty during most of the 1909 tour. He is reported to have been ready to rejoin the show sometime in early September. His place was taken by Dell Blancett who did a fine job of bulldogging until August when Cupid's arrows waylaid him. After a trip to the altar, he and his wife left the Ranch Show for the competition at Cheyenne. He was a star rodeo performer until the outbreak of the war in Europe whereupon he enlisted in the Canadian armed forces. He died on the western front. Blancett, during his short career on the 101 Ranch Show, provided some exciting entertainment for the patrons. His leap to the head of the racing steer was successful but he did not stop the animal before it had leaped the netting that separated the crowd from the arena. In a cloud of dust, flying turf, and scrambling spectators, the steer jumped back into the arena where Blancett throw him. At Bridgeport, Conn., he was injured while bulldogging, and John Ray, Esteven Clemento, and Vester Pegg took over the task of wrestling the steers. Blancett returned to action after his shoulder mended and remained with the show until August when he left for the rodeo circuit. Clemento did most of the bulldogging for the rest of the season. However, he was badly gored at Kalamazoo, Mich., and Pegg and Ray had another opportunity to brush up on their skills.

Display No. 11 featured the roping and riding of the longhorns. The technique for this demonstration involved turning the cattle into the arena where the steer to be ridden was cut from the herd and driven to the front of the stands. Here, two riders, a "header" and "heeler" roped the animal. After the steer got to its feet, the rider mounted, and he was turned loose by the ropers to buck his way back to the herd. Various members of the cowgirl and cowboy personnel did this riding. In the rodeos of the period the steer was often saddled for this event. The writer has not been able to find out if this was done on the 101 Ranch Show. However, bareback riding of either steers or broncs was most unusual at the time and did not become a rodeo feature until much later.

D. V. Tantlinger, for many seasons the Chief of Cowboys on the Ranch Show, displayed his skill at boomerang throwing in Display No. 12. He and his wife, Edith, were also skilled trick and fancy ropers but the boomerang display was his special event on this show for several seasons. Tantlinger was assisted by Zu-Rah (billed as an Australian aborigine) who caught the returning implement.

"The Quadrille on Horseback, one of the sports and pastimes on the 101 Ranch" was featured as Display No. 13. Ladies participating in this activity were Bertha Ross, Maude Jameson, Florence La Due, Dolly Mullens, Edyth Christman, Mary Fitzpatrick, Marie Morrison, and Marie Killinger. An equal number of men also rode as their partners.

The Oklahoma Indian girl, Chan-Tu-Ka-Wea, and Edith Tantlinger were the featured stars in Display No. 14. These performers were the well-known fancy and trap shots of the ranch personnel.

The theft of a cowboy's mount, the discovery of the loss, the pursuit of the thief, and the capture of the villain was depicted in Display No. 15. Patrons of the 101 Ranch Show, after witnessing this incident, were inclined to believe that the hold-up men who robbed the stage were in a healthier profession than the "hoss-thief."

In Display No. 16, Prince Lucca and his Cossacks put on a riding exhibition that was intended to prove that the cowboys could command only second place as far as achievements on horseback were concerned. As in 1908, it was left to the patrons to decide the question of supremacy. One of the Cossacks was nearly dragged to death at Davenport, Iowa, when his horse stumbled. The Cossack was hanging from the saddle by one foot as the horse sped around the arena at full speed. Then the horse fell. The unfortunate man was underneath the animal, and when the equine rose and resumed his mad charge, he was dragged along the ground for many yards before the horse could be pulled down. The rider was unconscious and his leg was twisted, torn, and broken. Prince Lucca, the Cossack Chief, fractured his shoulder in a fall on the slippery, rain-swept ground at Fort Worth later in the season.

Display No. 17 brought on the trick and fancy riders. These performers included Vester Pegg (who leaped from the back of one running horse to that of another which was neither saddled nor bridled), George Hooker, Otto Kreinbeck, W. Weideman, "Bridle Bill" Selman, and Dan Dix. An event used on all western shows was projected next in Display No. 18. It consisted of shooting from the back of a horse which was running at full speed. Objects thrown in the air by another rider were the targets. Princess Wenona and Vern Tantlinger were the stars of this event.

Possibly the most exciting event preceded the concluding display. It was designed to bring the audience to its feet with yells and cheers as men and women riders contested outlaw horses in the bucking contests. This and the bulldogging and steer riding were probably the most thrilling spectacles of the 101 Ranch performance and marked it as a "Real" wild west show. The outlaw horses were snubbed down, blindfolded, and saddled in the arena in full view of the audience. The saddle was secured to the bronc's back amid a flurry of squeals, kicks, and jumps. The rider mounted. The blind was jerked from the bronc's eyes and the "buster" was off on a bone-jarring, muscle-jerking, spine-twisting ride. At the beginning of the season the bucking horse riders were Vester Pegg, Johnnie Mullens, Johnnie Frantz, Duke Lee, Bernie St. Clair, Neil Hart, Charlie Killinger, Otto Kreinbeck, and George Hooker. Women who participated in this exciting event were Bertha Ross, Goldie St. Clair, and Marie Killinger. A report from the show in July indicated that Duke Lee rode "Scarface" bareback. This must have been one of the earliest official announcements of bucking bareback riding.

The program concluded as it did in 1908 with the massacre of the Pat Hennessey party. It was the 20th Display.

The advent of the 1909 touring season was signaled by major activity at the ranch near Bliss. Not only were the exhaustive preparations for a long tour occupying the forces there, but also, a shipment of over 15,000 heard of cattle arrived from various points for the summer grazing. Most of the riders who worked on the show were also employed by the Millers at the ranch and certainly all of the riding stock was put to work. In these early years the mules used as baggage stock earned their keep at Bliss, and after 1910, when horses replaced the mules, they too worked at the ranch during the winter months. In addition to handling the cattle the cowpokes and their activities were used as atmosphere for three films made by the Selig Polyscope Company in the early spring of 1909. The featured actors in the western dramas produced by this company were John Kenyon and wife, Van E. Barrett, George L. Graves, Miss Laura Roth, and Carroll McFarland.

The show opened at Ponca City on April 14 and a series of Oklahoma dates followed. These two and a half weeks of daily stands provided the "shake-down" for the big Kansas City, Mo., two-day date on May 3 and 4. An otherwise smooth operation was slowed down a bit about five o'clock in the morning on April 20 while making the run to Enid. The brake rigging fell from beneath one of the cars near the rear of the train and five cars left the tracks in one grand swoop. Two of them overturned and plowed up the prairie as they scooted across the sod on their side. The other three remained upright. One of the overturned cars contained ninety-two working men all of whom were asleep at the time of the accident. Fortunately, or miraculously, no one was killed as the men were hurled from their bunks. Not one bone was broken. A half-dozen very painful bruises were the result of the disaster. The people in the five cars gathered their gear and moved onto the flat cars for the rest of the jaunt to Guthrie. A coach was picked up at that point and many rode in that vehicle while the train puffed over the tracks to Enid.

A decision made early in the spring, or even during 1908, by Arlington to take the 101 Ranch Wild West Show to the big population centers of the eastern states was carried out very successfully in 1909. The show had not been east since its successful ventures at Jamestown and Brighton Beach two years earlier. Arlington surely desired to make this eastern tour in 1908 when there was no great competition from either Cody or Lillie. However, he refrained and used that season to solve the problems that he knew would be met with a new show in a time of financial distress. Now, in 1909, despite the merger of Cody and Lillie into one big show, he was ready to take the 101 Ranch Show to the Atlantic Coast.

At the end of the first week in May the show was in Indianapolis, Ind. A two-day stand at Cincinnati opened the week of May 10 and additional Ohio cities followed. Two days in Pittsburgh, Pa., opened the next week and the fourth week in May began with a two-day stand in Cleveland, Ohio. Thus, the weekly routing pattern for the month included an opening date of two days in a large city followed by one-day stands in large towns in the immediate vicinity. Most of the dates were in Ohio and Pennsylvania during the month of May. This brought the show's first real test against strong opposition because the struggles with Norris & Rowe, Campbell, and Ringling in 1908 had, in a way, been only occasional brushes of a day or so.

Here, in 1909, the 101 Ranch Show bumped into Barnum & Bailey, which had opened in Chicago for the first and only time. It's stand in that city was from April 1-23 and, during the second week of May it was touring Ohio. The week after the Ranch left Cincinnati, Barnum & Bailey opened the week with a two day stand in that same city. The Greatest Show on Earth was in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio, on the 19th and 20th of May while the Ranch Show spent the 12th and 14th of the month in the same towns. Hagenbeck-Wallace, which had opened in at Peru, Indiana, on April 24, played Dayton on May 3rd; Springfield, 4; and Columbus 5. The fans of Ohio, in other words, were having a field day. The Wild West Show was in Wheeling, West Virginia, on a Saturday and Hagenbeck-Wallace came to the same city two days later on Monday. Barnum & Bailey rolled into Wheeling on the Saturday following - a week after the Miller-Arlington show left.

In New England during June there was some competition with the Frank A. Robbins Show and a minor skirmish with the Buffalo Bill and Pawnee Bill combination in New York during the summer. However, the real tangle between the two large western productions did not occur until mid-October in Kansas and Oklahoma. Campbell Bros, was in that territory also, and so was the Ringling Brothers' World's Greatest Show. The Baraboo outfit especially provided close opposition in Texas, but the efforts of Arlington to move into territory which had been the province of large circuses and the Buffalo Bill Show proved, for the most part, to be successful. Business held up at nearly all of the stands and weakness was noted only in the smaller towns. Especially encouraging from a financial standpoint were the New England stands. On Sunday, June 13, the tents were erected on the Boston College grounds before a large crowd of spectators. This successful stand of one week was followed by equally great business during the eleventh and twelfth weeks of the season in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

However, there were other problems that confronted the ownership. After the wreck near Guthrie, Okla., in April, the train gave no further trouble until Columbus, Ohio, when one of the flats jumped a switch frog and over-turned. Four wagons were demolished. A hot-box on a flat car caused the train to arrive late at Norwich, Conn., on July 1. The haul to the lot was three miles and the parade and afternoon performance were both delayed. Late in September, near Wichita Falls, Texas, one of the baggage stock cars was wrecked. Several mules were injured so badly that they had to be sent to the ranch at Bliss. Injuries to key performers continued to be a problem. For the most part the serious accidents were confined to the bulldoggers, steer riders, and bronco busters. However, Dan Dix, clown, was out of action for a week as a result of a well-directed blow from the rear hoof of his mule, "Virgil." Several residents of Port Huron, Michigan, were injured while watching the parade when the longhorn steers migrated in a hurry. Apparently about two dozen head of cattle were being driven at the rear of the parade when the local canine population decided to chase them out of town. This maneuver by the dogs almost worked since the steers stampeded the length of the parade, over the sidewalks, and between the wagons and cages. The riders were not able to stop them until some distance had been covered and several of the townsfolk had been knocked down.

About the first of October arrangements were made to winter in East St. Louis, Ill. Two large buildings, the former National Iron Works, a foundry, and a structure (58 feet x 175 feet) located at the Southern Railroad and Terminal tracks were secured to house the equipment. When the show closed all the stock was shipped to Bliss, Oklahoma, and the rest of the equipment went to East St. Louis.

Pleased with their successes while competing with the big circuses during the 1909 tour, the Miller-Arlington forces planned an even more elaborate eastern route for 1910. Boston was omitted, but St. Louis, Philadelphia, Washington, Baltimore, Brooklyn, and Chicago were added. Even though Boston was left out, the New England states were not to be overlooked. In, fact, thirty-four stands were scheduled in that area, with eight of these in the state of Maine. From May to mid-August the 101 Ranch Wild West Show was scheduled to play eastern territory.

This venture was not undertaken without some strengthening of the equipment. A third advance car was added. It was under the direction of John D. Carey. Al Riel and Paul Harrell still remained in charge of the other two advance cars. The mules that had been used as baggage stock were eliminated and horses replaced them. "The reason for getting rid of them," says Jack McCracken, "was that they were no good in the mud. They would balk, lie down, and refuse to pull when the mud got deep." Henry (Apples) Welch returned to the Forepaugh-Sells Show and Charles Rigby replaced him as Boss Hostler.

Some additions were made to the program, but in general it remained the same as it had been with major emphasis on the bulldogging and bronco busting. Chief additions in performing personnel were Stack Lee, famous rifle shot; Pearl King, lady Roman rider and steer rider; and Lulu Parr, an outstanding bucking horse rider. The parade was strengthened by the addition of the new equipment. As the reader will no doubt have noted a short string of animal cages was not an adequate parade for the big cities of the east. After all the Millers and Arlington were about to compete with the Greatest Show on Earth (Barnum & Bailey), the resurrected Forepaugh-Sells Circus, and, for part of the season, the World's Greatest Show (Ringling Brothers).

Somehow Arlington was able to procure during the winter three pieces of equipment that enabled the Ranch Show to put on a fairly presentable parade. The three vehicles were the old Barnum & Bailey organ tableau, an old Sells Bros, tableau, and a float named "Our Country" which was new on Barnum & Bailey in 1903. The last wagon (Photo No. 5) originally had two pedestals and a railing mounted on a deck and carried six people in parade. Five of these were dressed in costumes significant to the history of the United States. The sixth person was a lady, dressed in flowing robes, who sat on the rear pedestal. Behind her, and perhaps part of her costume, were two huge wings. The wagon box carried a large plaque on the side with the words "Our Country" on it and series of raised, wood ribbons upon which were carved the names of the states.

The pedestals and railing were no longer a part of this float on the Ranch Show but the reliefs on the sides remained as they had been on Barnum & Bailey. Instead of the people who had been carried in its early days, the wild west show loaded long-horn steers or bison on top. How often they were switched, or which animals rode there most often is not known. Jack McCracken states, "Two longhorn steers rode on top of this wagon in parade when he opened at Hot Springs, Arkansas, on April 5, 1913. Later on when we left St. Louis, Shorty Phillips, the boss hostler, changed the two steers and put the two buffalo, Nip and Mary, on this wagon as there was more room on top. He also switched teams, putting the checkerboard eight on this wagon. George O'Brien was the driver." At another date, when questioned which shows three bison on this wagon, McCracken wrote, "The driver sitting in the center is George O'Brien and the cowboy on his right is "Frenchy" who handled the buffalo on the show along with Bill Pickett. The other fellow on O'Brien's left is his helper holding the brake. The buffalo behind Frenchy is old "Nip" and the other is "Mary" up front. The one at the rear was named "Tommy." (Photo No. 6)

The Barnum & Bailey organ wagon, or orchestmelchoir wagon, had been in service for many years before the 101 Ranch Show obtained it. The carvings dated back forty years to the 1870s, according to Historian Richard Conover. The Ranch Show was using only a portion of the original wagon since the organ pipes which arrayed the top level and the roof that covered them had long since been removed. Also gone were the corner statues of four female figures with stringed musical instruments. Only the mirror section and the base with its elaborate carving remained in 1910. It will be noted that a sky-board with carved scrolls was in use at some time during the period in which this vehicle was in use on the Ranch Show. Jack McCracken reports, "An Indian family rode this wagon in parade . . . the Sunshine Family in 1913." An undated photo from the Pfening collection shows another group, obviously not an Indian family, riding the orchestmelchoir. (Photo No. 7). This photo shows the wagon without the sky-boards. However, a photo taken in 1915 does show the wagon with sky-boards and with an Indian family as passengers. (Photo No. 8). The Sells Tableau was built about 1895 and was used on Sells and Forepaugh-Sells until 1907 when it was sent to Bridgeport for Barnum & Bailey productions. This wagon was decorated with very elaborate carvings among which were two well-designed figures with reptilian heads and bird-like bodies. Three mirrors dominated each side. (Photo No. 9). Jack McCracken has written to the author that this was the "side show trunk wagon in 1913. "Dynamite" Jack Lundy drove this wagon with the "Nip" and "Tuck" six-horse team. He had a black stallion in the wheel, whose name was "King." Photo No. 10 shows this wagon outside the Annex waiting to make parade in 1910. The band is aboard and ready to roll. In this same photo is an excellent view of another fine parade wagon used throughout the rest of the life of the 101 Ranch Show. It had carved sky-boards, two large reliefs of Indian heads on each side, and a painting of a bearded colonist kneeling before an Indian maiden. Behind these two figures are a scattering of Indians and tepees. This 1910 photo in which the wagon is waiting for parade shows an Indian group as passengers. A parade photo taken in Wisconsin in 1912 also shows an Indian family as passengers. (Photo No. 11).

An additional parade wagon, used by the Ranch Show at this time, bears a similarity to the one just discussed. It, too, had a carved sky-board, and a large painting, and two bas-relief heads on each side of the art. However, the painting depicted an Indian attack on a stage coach and the two heads were those of bison. (Photo No. 12). Two later photographs of this wagon show it transporting a Scotch band with drums and pipes in the parade. The painting has been changed in these photos and no longer depicts the attack on the stage. (Photo No. 13).

Also appearing in the parade was another box-type wagon that was used to carry a longhorn steer. This wagon has a changed appearance in the several photos in which it appears but the longhorn towering over the driver and his assistant is always the same animal. (Photo No. 14 and Photo No. 15). In 1913 this wagon had a scroll near each end, a large, elaborate sky-board, and a painting depicting a cowboy riding a bison with other cowboys in the background. The reader will remember that this wagon at one time carried the bison. It also was pulled by the checkerboard eight team before the switch to "Our Country."

Most of the leadership continued to be the same as in previous years. However, there were some changes and some additional superintendents appointed. George V. Connor became Manager of the Side Show and Donato La Banca started the first of several seasons as Musical Director. Other appointments included Arthur Davis, Supt. of the Commissary Dept.; "Shanty" Raymond, Supt. of Lights; Harlin Hall, Supt. of Side Show Canvas; Blackie Williams, Boss Carpenter and Master Mechanic; Mike Welsh, Blacksmith; Roy Hacket, Master of Transportation; James Jackson, Properties; and John Thrasher, Wardrobe. Ed Lacy was Supt. of Canvas with Mike Quinlan and John Nugent as his assistants.

Several key members of the 101 Ranch performing personnel had left for South America in November, 1909, with the I X L Ranch Wild West Show. The first stand was in Buenos Aires on December 18. D. V. Tantlinger and his wife, Edith; Vester Pegg, Johnnie Frantz; Frank Maish, George Hooker, Jim Garrett, Chester Byers, and Ethel and Juanita Perry were among those making the tour. This show arrived in New York City on April 4, 1910, and the Ranch personnel who arrived with it left at once for St. Louis where the show was scheduled to open on April 16.

After a week in St. Louis the 101 Ranch moved into Ohio for four stands at Dayton, Springfield, Columbus, and Cambridge. The Columbus date proved to be an interesting exercise in circus opposition techniques. Although the 101 Ranch had signed for the lot the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus was able to obtain part of it for the same date. Therefore, on April 29 both the circus and the wild west show unloaded on tracks within ten feet of each other. According to Billboard, May 7, 1910, "Each show took turns running the wagons from the chutes and letting them down." There was no friction. The Ranch parade went out first, at ten o'clock, and the circus parade was presented an hour later. The main entrance of each outfit faced a street and were located at right angles to each other. Both circus and wild west came in on the same railroad and left on the same, but different, line. Attendance was spotty due to a strike of the Columbus Street Railway Company and no cars were running to the lot which lay two and one-half miles from the center of the city. Visits were exchanged between personnel and happiest of all were the two Davis brothers. Arthur Davis was in charge of the commissary on the Ranch and his brother James had the cookhouse on Hagenbeck-Wallace.

The Forepaugh-Sells Circus had opened its touring season at Springfield, Ohio, on April 23 and the Ranch was in that town on the 28th of the same month. These two shows battled each other most of the season with close contests developing in Philadelphia, New York, several stands in Maine, and later on in Iowa. The Sparks Circus and the Dode Fisk Show were also slightly involved in this mid-west billing fracas.

Competition developed with Barnum & Bailey. The Greatest Show on Earth was in Philadelphia from May 2-7 and the Miller-Arlington outfit played there May 9-14. Barnum & Bailey scheduled Washington, D. C. for May 9-10 with the 101 Ranch there on May 16-17. Baltimore was more of the same and both were fighting each other in New England and parts of New York State. The Greatest Show on Earth toured all the way to the Pacific Coast but both were in Mississippi at the end of the season - the Barnum Show during the first week of November and the Ranch Show two weeks later.

The World's Greatest Show (Ringling Bros.) succeeded in getting into the act also during many weeks of the season. It came into St. Louis May 2-7 and the Ranch had completed a week's stand just eight days earlier. Ringling moved into the mid-west ahead of the Ranch Show, but both were close together in Tennessee in early fall. The wild west show was ten days behind the Baraboo outfit at Montgomery, Alabama, in November and both ended the season at West Point, Miss.; Ringling closed there on November 9 and Miller-Arlington on November 19. A brief review of the season's route depicts how thoroughly the 101 Ranch Show played through the eastern states in 1910. After the Ohio contests with Forepaugh-Sells, three stands were made in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. On May 9 the week-long Philadelphia engagement began and it was followed by two days at Washington, D. C., and two days at Baltimore. May 23 was the first day of the week-long Brooklyn stand. The lot was located at 5th Avenue and 3rd street. In the middle of the week the show moved to Halsey and Saratoga Avenue. On June 7 the show crossed from Albany, N. Y. into New England. Mr. Marcks described the train as "23 cars - 6 sleepers, 9 flats, 8 horse cars, with 34 wagons." Dates were played in all of the New England states during the tour that lasted until July 16 when the Miller-Arlington show erected its tops in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. It then moved south through New Jersey and Maryland and turned west to West Virginia and Ohio. It was scheduled to play the Riverview Exposition in Chicago from August 21-28. Its next week-long stand was at the Minnesota State Fair, September 5-10. Within two weeks it had crossed Iowa, and Nebraska, and was beginning another week-long stand at the Interstate Live Stock Show, St. Joseph, Missouri. This was followed by two days at Kansas City, Mo., several days in Illinois, and a Saturday and Sunday at St. Louis. The fall swing through the south began during mid-October and in this section New Orleans was a two-day stand; Atlanta was two days; and Macon was four. The show left Macon on November 5 and made four Georgia, three Alabama, one Florida, and four Mississippi dates before it closed on the 19th.

The usual casualties to bulldoggers, steer riders, and bronco busters occurred during the season. Bill Pickett had returned to the performance and was the star bulldogger. Dan Dix and Bill Caress, rube clowns with the mule, continued to provide comedy. The six mules that pulled the stage mistook the sidewalks of Gloversville, N.Y., for the Deadwood Trail and bolted while Rocky Mountain Hank Walter frantically tried to stop them before anyone was run down. A flat car left the track between Clarksburg and Sistersville, West Virginia, but otherwise the train was remarkably free from accidents. Charles Rigby, Boss Hostler, left the show October 5 and "Uncle Billie" Fauklner from the Young Buffalo Wild West Show took his place. Faulkner was a former Forepaugh-Sells hostler. Eastern winter quarters were established at Passaic, New Jersey, and the equipment was sent to that location while the stock was returned to Bliss.

The opening date for 1911 was April and the location was the Boston Arena. The program remained essentially the same as during the previous seasons with the exception of the addition of Madame Marantette, one of the outstanding high-school riders of that period. A Col. Harris worked with her and the horses used were "Chief Geronimo" and "Sun Flower." She closed the act on a jumper named "Saint Patrick," who cleared an obstacle six feet four inches in height. Goldie St. Clair and Virgil Barnett rode brideless broncos and one of the cowboys attempted the same feat on a bison. The cowboys were D. V. Tantlinger, Vester Pegg, Stack Lee, Hank Durnell, Scout Maish, Wayne Beasley, Burney St. Clair, Chester Byers, Sammy Garrett, Lou Stack, Oscar Rixen, Tommy Grimes, Pat Christman, George Hokoer, Ed Botsford, Esteven Clemento, Doc Weber, Bud Osborne, Virgil Barnett, T. W. Simmons, Bill Pickett, and Tommy Kernan. The cowgirls were Edith Tantlinger, Goldie St. Clair, Ethel Christman, Alice Lee, Stella Vonderheide, Beatrice Brosseau, Victoria Allen, Ethel and Juanita Parry, Dora and Gertie David, Babe Christman, Cookie Clemento, Bessie Worley, and Rose Wenger.

After closing at the arena on April 15 the show moved to Philadelphia where it opened under canvas on the 17th. It played until the 22nd in that city. The arena tent was 390 feet in width by 550 feet in length. Three horse tents measured 200 x 40, 80 x 40, and 60 x 35. The five-pole cookhouse measured 60x180. A Weyer-Bolte light system was used.

Baltimore was a two-day stand on April 24-25; Trenton and New Brunswick, New Jersey, were each a single day; and Newark closed the third week with two days. Then the Ranch Show opened in Brooklyn on May 1 for six days. The Barnum & Bailey Circus had opened in New York as usual and had followed that long stand with a week in Brooklyn. It left the lot in that city on April 29, the evening before the 101 Ranch Show moved into town from Newark. Ringling Bros, was in Washington, D.C., on May 1-2; Baltimore the next two days; and was preparing for a week in Philadelphia beginning on May 8. This was two weeks after the Ranch Show had vacated that town.

The Miller-Arlington show stayed in New England for two weeks after closing in Brooklyn and then headed west across New York state. As they passed through Pittsfield, Mass., Mr. Marcks noted, "one train of 24 cars: 9 horse cars; 9 flats; 6 sleepers, and 34 wagons." The cars and wagons were painted yellow, according to this observer, except the last one which was white. It carried Miss Marantette's horses.

The Ranch Show turned into Pennsylvania on June 5 for sixteen stands. Ringling had played Harrisburg on May 27 and 101 Ranch was there on June 12. Ringling played Scranton on June 1; Forepaugh-Sells played it on May 30, and 101 Ranch was in that town on June 5. Forepaugh-Sells played Pottsville on June 3 and the Ranch Show came in on the 8th. It continued in this manner throughout the summer. Forepaugh-Sells spent nearly all of the month of July in Michigan. Barnum & Bailey spent the last half of July in Ohio and Illinois. Ringling Bros, moved through Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota in July. The 101 Ranch Show spent July in the same area - Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. Eight days were spent in Chicago on four different lots, and the show stayed in the North Central States until the last week of August.

As it moved south it ran into opposition again. The Miller-Arlington aggregation played Tulsa, Oklahoma, on September 20 and the Ringling Show was scheduled there on the 24th. In October it bumped into Barnum & Bailey on their return from the west coast. The wild west show played Dallas, Texas, on September 29 and the Greatest Show on Earth came there on October 1. In many towns the two outfits played within a week, or less, of each other. However, by the end of the month the Ranch Show pulled away as it headed west for California. It reached that state at Barstow on November 8 and closed its season with a dozen stands in the area south and east of Los Angeles. Its only opposition there was the small Al G. Barnes Wild Animal Show which was finishing its tour with late November and December dates and preparing to go into quarters at Venice.

The Ranch Show selected Venice also for its winter activities and the equipment and stock were kept in the Los Angeles area. The choice of this site for the winter months was to bring the personnel and stock close to a film studio. A contract had been signed with the Bison Moving Picture Company and film production began that winter. McCracken reports that on at least two other occasions the Millers sent people and stock to Inceville to make films for the Thomas H. Ince studio on the Malibu coast. This location was near the point where Santa Monica Blvd. joins the Pacific Coast Hwy. but, of course, the ever-present gasoline stations have replaced the entrance to Inceville and the studio has long since vanished.

The 1912 season was remarkable in that almost all of the Ranch Show dates were played in western territory. No time was spent east of Ohio, a Canadian tour was included, and all large metropolitan centers were avoided. Just previous to the show's tour a rodeo was produced on the Lucky Baldwin Ranch in Arcadia and Miss Lulu Parr won the top prize in the bucking horse event for women. It opened in Santa Monica on March 23 and included thirteen cities in the southland before moving across the Tehachapi Mountains into the San Joaquin Valley. Added to the wild west show for the three-day stand in Los Angeles was a contest of Olympic track stars. The purpose of this event at Praeger Park was to raise funds to send the southern California athletes to the Games at Stockholm, Sweden. The Olympic Games Committee was given a percentage of the advance sale of tickets and had a ticket wagon on the show grounds. The Committee also handled the advertising.

The Miller-Arlington wild west show exhibited every day from April 8 (Bakersfield, Calif.) through May 11 (Idaho Falls) in 1912. San Francisco was a five-day stand and Oakland was played for two days. Otherwise, all were one-day stands as the show left the Bay area, moved into Nevada from Auburn and played three dates, before picking up Ogden, Salt Lake City, Prove, and Logan, Utah.

Performances in fourteen towns in Montana and Washington temporarily completed the tour of the western United States. After a brief tour into British Columbia, the Ranch Show returned to the States with a Tacoma, Washington, date in June. Portland, Oregon, was a four-day visit and another fourteen stands in the northwest followed. The Ranch Show went into Canada again at Cranbrook, B.C., on June 27 and left it at Wayburn, Sask., after the July 8 date. The rest of July was spent in the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Iowa. Wisconsin, Illinois, and Ohio were covered in August and on September 1-2 it had returned to Davenport, Iowa for two days. It finished the season by playing eighteen Texas dates, an equal number in Arkansas, and six Louisiana stands. This part of the tour occupied the last seven weeks of the season, from September 30 to November 16. The season closed at Hot Springs, Arkansas, on the last date mentioned.

Opposition with the big outfits was avoided for the most part in 1912. The Ranch Show was close to Ringling Bros, in July and August and near the Greatest Show on Earth in Texas. However, nothing like the competition of 1911 developed for any period. By leaving California when it did, the Miller-Arlington forces had made its tour of that region before the Sells-Floto Circus entered the state.

Two incidents involving damage to equipment occurred in 1912. On the run to the Milwaukee stand a fire broke out in the wagons in which the horse tents were stored. It was discovered and extinguished before a great amount of damage was done. Within a few days a more serious accident occurred when the show had four cars wrecked on the run between Platteville and Lancaster, Wisconsin. Jack McCracken has written that his recollection is that five head of baggage stock and the same number of arena horses were killed. About twenty-five additional horses were injured, and four cars were smashed; the calliope was among the wagons demolished. "Blackie Williams, the wagon builder, repaired the wagons along with Mike Welsh, the blacksmith and horse shoer. They got some horses out of Chicago that were delivered at Evanston, Ill., on Sunday and we had them in parade on Monday. They got a calliope at the same time, but I don't remember where it came from. And this calliope was old, and was overhauled at Hot Springs that winter and was still on the show in 1915. There was no new calliope. They were all old ones, overhauled."

The 1913 season opened at Hot Springs, Arkansas, on April 5, and after showing a week in that state the Ranch Show moved to St. Louis where it played ten days. In many ways the 1913 season was a repeat of 1911 since Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Washington, Baltimore (all two-day stands) were spring dates before the two-week Brooklyn stand. The first week in the New York city was spent on a lot on Fifth Avenue, and the second week on a lot at Myrtle and Wyckoff. The show followed this with two weeks of daily stands in New England and then moved into Boston for a week. Two more weeks were spent in New England and then one week of dates while crossing New York state to Buffalo where the show jumped over Sunday to Detroit. The rest of the summer was spent in the mid-west and on October 1 it entered Texas at Dallas. The show closed on Tuesday, October 28 at Houston, Texas. Quarters for the stock were at Bliss and the equipment was sent to Lakeview, New Jersey, for an eastern opening in 1914.

During the winter months of 1912-13 three former Norris and Rowe tableau wagons were purchased from W. P. Hall. That collector of circus properties had obtained a large portion of the Norris and Rowe equipment and stock in the sale which took place in Peru, Ind., on August 6, 1910. These wagons were of recent construction and added a great deal to the parade. McCracken has made this comment about them: "The 101 Ranch Show brought three of the Norris and Rowe Show tableau wagons. One was painted white; one was red; and the other was blue. The white wagon was used as a first band wagon on the 101 Show. The red one was used for the side show band, and the blue one was the second white band in parade. They were all loaded at night with trunks, etc. They were not numbered; they were alphabetically lettered. The white wagon was "A"; the blue wagon was "B"; and the red wagon was "C."

"I drove a dapple gray eight," McCracken continues. The horses were Manny and Dan, the leaders; Rocks and Barney, the six-horse body team; Snap and Tinker, the four-horse body team; and Brigham and Shorty were the wheelers ... a really flashy team, and I hauled the Blue Tableau (second band) in parade. The first band team was ten blacks; Florence and Pansy, the leaders. Smiley Brown drove them in 1914. Henry "Blocks" Brown drove them in 1913."

On August 12, 1915, the show paraded in Pittsfield, Mass., and Mr. Isaac Marcks was able to make notes of the order in which it moved. The line-up is presented here so that the reader will be able to picture the location of the Norris & Rowe tableuas and compare this parade with the 1909 edition. It will be noted that this parade was much more attractive than the 1910 version and colossal compared to the 1909 attraction. It led off with four Indian riders who were followed by Joseph C. Miller in a two-horse coach. In the past this vehicle had been pulled by a pair of pintos, Ponca and Bliss, and driven (in 191o) by Ralph Beckman. An outrider, a cowboy, and clown, Bill Caress, followed.

Then came the first of the former Norris & Rowe tableaus with the big show band. Jack McCracken (writing about 1913) relates, "Henry "Blocks" Brown, old-time Ringling driver (not the Boss Hostler, Henry Brown) drove the first band team which worked eight in baggage and ten in parade. A train team, Rock and Rye, were added to the baggage team. They were all blacks." (Photo No. 21)

After the bandwagon rolled past the crowd saw three more cowboys and four Indians and then a tableaus upon which there was a burlesque boxing match. (Jess Willard was a feature of the Annex this 1915 season.) The tab was pulled by six horses. Five Indians rode past and the wagon with the steer on it followed them. Five more cowboys and then another tableau pulled by a six-horse team rolled along the route. Then, four Indians and a second Norris & Rowe tableaus with its band. Photo No. 22. This bandwagon was the elaborately carved vehicle with two lionesses or panthers flanking a single carved figure.

Eleven cowgirls, the stage pulled by six mules, and four cowboys were next in line. After them came the wagon with the bison heads and the Scotch band. It was pulled by eight horses. Then there were four Indians, a wagon pulled by four horses, the Indian camp on a float, five squaws, an outrider, and a cowboy. All of these were in advance of the "Our Country" wagon with a live bison on it and pulled by an eight-horse hitch. Four cowboys rode behind it and immediately after them rolled the third Norris & Rowe tableau with the sideshow band. It too was pulled by an eight-horse hitch as were all the bandwagons.

A tandem hauled by three horses, three cowgirls, an outrider, and a cowboy rode ahead of the Prairie Wagon which was hauled by four horses in the parade of 1915. At the end of the parade was a group of four Cossacks and the calliope.

Jack McCracken's letters about the Ranch Show in 1913 heavily favor the baggage stock department but since little is usually written about this department it will be presented as McCracken recalled it. It has been mentioned in this article that Brown, who drove the Number One bandwagon had gained years of experience of the Ring-ling Show. The same is true of Hughie Corrigan who drove a dapple gray eight (Mamie and Dan, the leaders). Jim Nolan was a former Barnum Show driven who handled a black eight-horse team on the Ranch Show, (Ponto and Plato, leaders). "Spot" Flynn drove a gray eight-horse team with Maude and Jim, leaders, and George O'Brien handled the checkerboard team - four blacks and four whites alternated - with Dave and Webber, leaders, and Diamond and Harry, wheelers. During part of the season, McCracken reports, that he drove the black six-horse team that pulled the float which the Indian family rode in parade. This float was the jack wagon for the greater part of each day. McCracken's team was composed of Dina and Trouper, leaders; Minnie (she was blind) and Topey, four-horse body team; and Bert and Fred, wheelers.

Six buckskin mules were used in parade, hauled baggage wagons to the lot, and also pulled the stage coach in the arena. Buck and Bob were the leaders of this team. The mules were driven by Bill Bush.

There were five gray six-horse teams used in 1913. The calliope was hauled by one of these teams. Cap and Pilot were the leaders and "Tulsa" Eddie Moore was the driver. A second gray six was driven by Roy Taylor. It had Sally and George as the leaders. A third gray hitch was driven by Billy Rutledge. Zack and Lucy were the leaders. Dick and Billy were the leaders of the fourth gray six-horse team and Ole Berg drove it. "Blackie" Harrison drove the fifth gray team. Shamrock and Mike were the leaders; Judy and Gypsy were the four-horse body team; and Irene and Lil were the wheelers.

The pull-up team (Rome and Saginaw) was driven by Eddie Clark. Ralph Duval drove Rock and Rye, the black train team that was added to the Number One bandwagon eight for the parade. Another train team (Nig and Jim) was driven by Roy Lumsden.

Others who were involved with the baggage stock that year were Jim Howard, a former Barnum & Bailey driver, who had the feed pile; Bill Tinker, who took care of the bosses' saddle horses and did light veterinarian work; and "Whitie" Donnelly who drove the gilly team (mules). Shorty Phillips, the Boss Hostler, rode a gray horse named Eagle and Johnnie Feeney, his assistant, rode a bay named Otoe.

In summary, there were 132 head of horses and mules in the baggage stock department. This included five 8-horse teams; eight 6-horse teams; eight 4-horse teams; three 2-horse teams; and one team of mules for the gilly wagon. The bosses had two saddle horses and the two front door buggy teams are included in this total by McCracken who adds, "We were using the old wooden cars at that time and loaded 28 head to a car. One car was used for part baggage horses and part arena horses.'

Jack McCracken's comments about additional features of the 1913 show include references to the personnel - both performing and those behind the scenes. Ropers and riders were Chester Byers, Tommy Kirnan, Hank Durnell, Montana Jack Ray, Clarence Shultz, Grover Shultz, Eadie and Ed Lindsey, Bill Pickett, Lafe Lewman, Bee-Ho Gray and his wife, Ida Sommerville, Milt Hinkle, George Hubert, Tommy Grimes, Willie George, Pascale Perry, Joe Rodriguez, Billy and Tony Binder, Tom Eckhardt, Weaver and Juanita Gray, Harry Smith, Buck Stewart, Ethel and Juanita Perry, Beatrice Brosseau, Mabel Kline, Lulu Parr, Blanch McGaughey, Jane Fuller, Vera McGuiness, O'Dell Osborn, and Martha Allen.

The six, spotted high-school mules that had been worked by "Uncle Dan" Boyington were presented by Dan Dix in 1913. During that season Dix, Bill Caress, Billy Lorette, and Joe Lewis were the clowns. It was a twenty-eight car show with six sleepers, eight stock cars, fourteen flats - all wood.

In 1914 the Miller Bros, and Arlington 101 Ranch Real Wild West Show opened its season in Madison Square Garden. The stand extended from April 20 to May 9. Barnum & Bailey had closed its operation in the Garden on April 18. The Ranch Show was nine days behind the Greatest Show on Earth in Philadelphia and made a week-long stand in Boston ahead of the Ringling-owned organization. All but one week of 1914 was spent east of the Mississippi River as the wild west show saturated eighteen states in the east and south with stands during the months from April to November. The last week, November 16-21, was spent in Arkansas, the only stands west of the Mississippi. Winter quarters were located at Hot Springs in that state. It was during this season that the ill-fated adventure in England took place. According to McCracken, "It was made up mostly of the people who had gone to South America in the fall of 1913. They were in South America all winter 1913 and returned to New York to open the 1914 season in Madison Square Garden. After the Garden engagement, the Millers & Arlington decided to send a show to England. The show went along until September when the English government took all the horses for their army and the people came back on freighters and other ships as best they could . . ."

Mr. Marcks describes the 1914 train as follows: "First Section: 15 cars; six flats, five horse cars, four sleepers, and twenty wagons. Second Section: 17 cars; seven flats, five horse cars, four sleepers, Madame Marentette's horse car, forty-one wagons, one carriage, and two autos."

The 101 Ranch Show toured for two more seasons, 1915-16, and then the Millers dropped out of the operation when they sold to Arlington. Without much doubt the show reached its largest size during the seasons from 1913 through 1915. However, in the last two years of Miller brothers ownership it came up with two men of national reputation as attractions. In 1915, Jess Willard, champion heavyweight boxer, was a feature of the concert and in the following year William Cody, the famed Buffalo Bill, was the headliner. In 1915 the train used fewer cars than it had a year earlier. Mr. Marcks described its arrival at Pittsfield as "one train of 24 cars: ten flats, seven horse cars, seven sleepers, and thirty-four wagons and one auto." At the close of the season the cars, wagons, and equipment were housed at quarters located at Ponca City. For several months during the season the show had a unit outside the grounds of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition at San Francisco, Calif.

The writer has for some time felt that the Miller brothers dropped their wild west show activities for three sound reasons. It was becoming obvious that the United States could no longer avoid participating in the war in Europe. The declaration of a state of war would surely increase the difficulties with which the show was transported. An even more important reason for abandoning show business was the increased financial success of their ranching activities. The prolonged war accelerated the demand for beef as well as increasing the need for horses and mules. The Millers were aware of these opportunities and were, no doubt, eager to take advantage of them since they owned large ranch lands. The United States was also furnishing most of the oil for the conflict and many new fields were being explored. For this reason, too, the Millers lost interest in show business and turned their attention to supporting the war effort.

The writer is deeply indebted to Jack McCracken for providing the stimulus, and a great amount of information, for this paper. While completing a series of articles for Bandwagon concerning the activities of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, the author received a letter from Mr. McCracken calling attention to an error regarding a baggage stock team. This comment resulted in a series of communications from which the writer renewed a dormant interest in wild west shows. A great deal of appreciation is expressed also to Don Marcks for making the notes made by his father available and to Gordon Borders for the many hours of discussion about this topic. The resources of Richard Conover, Ricky Pfening, and Joseph Bradbury were probed for information regarding the wagons used by the 101 Ranch Show. Needles to say, the files of Billboard were consulted to obtain additional material.

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High Grass and Miller Magic, The Hugo, Oklahoma Circus Story

In the early 1940's if one was traveling through south-eastern Oklahoma and came across the town of Hugo he would consider it to be like any other city of less than 10,000 people in the area. It was 8 miles from the Red River and was the county seat of Choctaw County, a shipping and trading center for a cattle raising, farming, and lumber region. But a new industry was to arise in this locality and bring the hinterland areas circus entertainment of a new breed.

The main stays of the Kelly Miller Circus over its great years were Dory "D. R." and his father Obert Miller. Photo taken in 1950 by Bob Raupfer.

The first show we shall consider will be the Al G. Kelly & Miller Bros. Circus. This is the strong base from which all the others grew, copied, and prospered. It all starts with a showman of the grand style Obert Miller. As a young man in Smith Center, Kansas he worked tickets and hawked popcorn in the Grand Opera House owned by his father. Then Miller moved to the country and spent nine years as a farmer. Moving back to the city he took jobs as a house painter and hung wallpaper. By the early '20's he was eager to go into show business and booked a pony act into the silent movie theaters the nights that they were dark.

In a few years the act had expanded into quite a dog and pony revue and he booked it onto the Isler carnival. This did not last long and he set out on his own. He continued to troupe until the Fall of 1928 when illness of his first wife forced him to close. Her death led him to give up show business for a while. But by the winter of 1929 he had ponies on the Alfredo Codona Circus in Mexico. The season of 1930 found him booking a pony ride on the fair circuit. In 1931 he launched a small dog and pony show trading on the established Gentry name as Gentries as Dog & Pony Show. He decided it was better to book his act on other shows so in 1932 and '33 he was on Fletcher Fowler's Circus and 1934 opened with the Ferris & Short show and closed with Beers-Barnes. The 1935 season was on Atterbury Bros, and 1936 was spent on the Bud Hawkins Show.

That winter he landed in Springfield, Mo. with a truck, 4 ponies and no money. His son Dores had been on Seils Sterling and closed with $125. He booked the act into a department store for the Christmas season. Soon they were joined by his other son Kelly and they began that winter to frame there own little show. They made their own tents and it can't be imagined how they scrapped and put together that first winter. How the Kelly-Miller name was decided upon is interesting itself. "Kelly" came from the son's first name. The "Al G." came from the time that Miller had briefly been a partner with Al G. Campbell of Fairbury, Nebraska. Apparently there was no thought of trading on the names of Al G. Barnes or Miller Bros. 101 Ranch Shows which had been popular throughout the areas they planned to play.

Obert with his sons Kelly and Dores Miller launched their small dog and pony show in the Spring of 1937. Their route adhered to the strictly "high grass" area of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, and South Dakota. During this period the show was never very large in size. In 1939 for example the outfit was carried on 7 trucks and semi trailers. The Big Top was a 70 ft. round with three 30 ft. middles with two rings and a stage. They were always rather heavy for a show of this size in the equine line with 16 horses and ponies being carried.

Millers did not put up permanent base in any spot during these years and located quarters at Springfield, Mo. for three years, Joplin, Mo. for two, and Mena, Ark. for one before they set up home base at Hugo, Okla. for the winter of 1942-43. In 1940 the show acquired its first elephant and the herd eventually grew into pretentious size. Rather than involve the reader in numerous purchases and trades of the K-M elephant herd over the years a table is provided with this story to show the bull herd transfers.

The show liked Hugo and the town seemed proud to be the home of traveling shows and brought much propriety to the local merchants and banking facilities. The first few years out of Hugo the show traveled its usual area and remained much the same size. H. V. Darr was general agent of the show from 1941-1946 and it was in 1946 that growth and innovation first became apparent.

A huge spool was mounted crosswise in a truck and as the truck moves slowly across the lot the canvas is unreeled mechanically off the spool. For loading operations the process is reversed with the truck backing towards the canvas as the spool takes it up. This canvas spool device was designed by Kelly Miller and Wayne Sanguin, Hugo, Okla. machine shop operator. K-M was the first modern show to use spools and has had one or two each year since 1946. To illustrate the popularity of the design it was in use on the following shows by 1951 in addition to K-M itself. Stevens Bros, had been using one for about 4 years. K-M had equipped its Cole & Walters Circus with a Miller-Sanguin spool. Wallace & Clark went out with a Miller-Sanguin model. Ben Davenport bought one for his new Campa Bros. Circus. Kelly & Morris came up with one of its own design, and in midyear King Bros, added a Miller-Sanguin model. It might be a little rough on the canvas, but it certainly proved a fast and efficient way of getting the canvas down and off the lot each day.

In 1947 Art Miller took over as general agent to begin a long relationship. Extensive routing that year took the show into Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. In August they began to expand the menagerie with addition of a zebra and when the tour was over it was chalked up as one of the most successful up to that date.

In 1948 further strides were taken forward, with some that were entirely new to the truck show field. This was the year that the giraffe pit show was added. Heretofore no giraffes had been successfully carried on a truck show. Soon however, King Bros. Circus, was to add one also. Lots of new trucks and trailers were added and 1948 was another big year.

The year 1949 found the show moving on 33 show-owned trucks, of which 27 were semis. The menagerie was blown up into fantastic size. Outstanding animals added were a hippo (Miss Oklahoma a 2-year old from the Memphis Zoo), polar bears, and a black rhino.

Without going into great detail it is almost impossible to list the growth of the K-M show during this era. Kelly-Miller went into expansive standards that had never before been seen on a truck circus. In 1950 for example here is a list of the show's all new canvas: Big Top: 100 ft. round with four 30's and three 40 ft. middles (8 center poles). Menagerie Top: 60 ft. round with five 20 ft. middles (6 center poles) (Under this top was housed 83 head of horses, ponies, and mules, 14 elephants, and three cage units of monkeys, chimps, and working animals). Side Show Top: 70 ft. round with three 20's and two 30 ft. middles (6 center poles). (It housed all the other animal dens: hippo, rhino, tapirs, ostrich, llamas, bears, and lions). There were also marquees for the Big Top and Side Show. To complete the layout there was a new double deck bannerline and three pit shows including the giraffe special attraction.

This impressive layout moved on 35 trucks. The route moved the show further eastward than ever before across Indiana into Ohio and Michigan and back south into familiar territory staying out in Louisiana and Texas until Dec. 3rd. By the time the caravan returned to Hugo it had transversed 10,195 miles and the red wagon was full of the green stuff.

This was the year that the Dailey show closed and K-M picked up 7 camels. Mr. and Mrs. Dores Miller bought a new home across from the K-M quarters. That winter a unit made up largely of K-M and Cole & Walters personnel made a winter tour under the Royal Circus title.

For the 1951 season all the previous year's spread of canvas was utilized except for the Side Show top. New trailers were added to carry a built-in grandstand and another to load spec carts and a pony-sized cage. The sensational business again held with the show and it set its usual spring route and then headed east once more. From June 25 to Sept. 12 the show was in Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan. It then dropped into Kentucky and Tennessee with a closing Oct. 29th at Idabel, Okla.

This winter Kelly Miller built himself a new home at Hugo. A new special elephant act was framed featuring Col. Bill Woodcock to tour on its own route. A new 8-pole Big Top was erected for this year's (1952) tour over the old familiar "high grass country" north to the Dakotas, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and return.

In Nov. and Dec. Royale Bros. was sent out on a string of indoor dates. During the winter a new truck shop was built and an addition was put onto the elephant barn at the quarters. Special loading chutes were built to facilitate movement of animals from cages to the winter barns.

For 1953 the show moved eastward across Kentucky and as far east as Ohio, West Virginia, and parts of Pennsylvania before moving up into Michigan for one month. That fall a labor shortage hit the show and the menagerie top was not put up the last several weeks. The take for the season was off 20% from prior years.

That winter it was announced that Terrell Jacobs was booked to handle the wild animal acts as a featured attraction. On March 10, 1954 the giraffe died in quarters. It had been a featured pit show for the last six years (1948-1953). The 1954 route found the show back into its regular territory across Wyoming and into Montana and the Dakotas. New canvas for the show arrived before the season was over, but they finished up with the old canvas. Again this year the profit was below other recent years. The show closed Oct. 31 and the elephant act and the Miller-Woodcock elephants finished out the season on the King Bros. Circus.

The 1955 season found the show completely revamped. The Big Top was an 118 ft. round with three 50 ft. middles, making it shorter, but wider. All new seats were built. A new giraffe arrived for the opening and in late May they took delivery of a baby female rhino. The route confined itself to Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin with a late August swing eastward to Michigan and Indiana. The season was finished out with a tour of Mississippi and Louisiana.

Nineteen fifty-six was the year of the Ringling under canvas closing, Beatty and King failures, but things were not so on the K-M show. The usual western territory was adhered to and the show moved eastward in August to Ohio and wonderful business. That fall was good in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas with either full or straw houses at almost every night show. The season was termed strong and above the previous year and one of the best in the show's history. Yes, the Millers had won their niche in American circus history!

Late in the fall the show experimented with a portable drop side grandstand mounted on a semi trailer designed by Wayne Sanguin. That winter three more were built to remold the show's seating arrangement. These were very easy to set up with the side folding up so that the interior could be used to great advantage for storage space. New canvas was purchased and the Big Top was an 100 ft round with one 40 ft. and two 60 ft. middles. The top was a 6-center poled affair (therefore one pole was inserted in the middle of each of the 60 ft. middle sections). K-M must have used more varieties in tent sizes than any other show on record. Always fearsome of the blowdown a bale ring top was never used on any of the Hugo shows and one could truly say that the pushpole top was utilized to the utmost on K-M and its various affiliated tented organizations.

For the 1957 tour Col. Tim McCoy and his Wild West Show were the concert feature. The show had another terrific season with many turnaway crowds throughout its old familiar Kansas and Nebraska territory. That fall the show moved south thru Tennessee and they closed a week early in Arkansas due to the Asian flu epidemic.

In 1958 a decision was made to take the show on an entirely new route to the West Coast into a vast new area for the show. After opening at Paris, Texas in 11 days the show was across Texas and into New Mexico and Arizona. In 38 stands they moved up the Central Valley route of California on Highway 99 and then into Oregon and Washington. After a swing through Idaho the show reversed itself back through Oregon and California on the Coastal route. In all 60 stands were played in California and the show returned home with another winning tour.

That winter Kelly Miller sold out his share to Dores Miller to make him sole owner of the K-M show. Kelly retired to slow down and enjoy life's rewards. The 1959 tour took the show over its usual mid-western territory, however the rewards were not as great as had been the record in prior years. This show was fully reviewed in the special Bandwagon issue of Jan.-Feb., 1960 and the reader is referred to that issue for complete details of that season's tour.

On August 10th Glen J. James rejoined K-M after his ill-fated sojourn on the Famous Cole show (details of which appear later in this article) to finish out the season as an assistant to Miller. February 20, 1960 Kelly Miller passed away at Hugo after a bout with cancer and the show people at Hugo greatly mourned and missed the guiding hand of a man who worked as hard as any of his employees. He was the mechanical wizard of the show and as was pointed out helped in the development of the spool truck and other labor saving devices in the movement of the show.

The 1960 tour was set to be a repeat of the 1958 one but events proved otherwise. After a mid-March opening in Texas the show found satisfactory business but made the mistake of pulling into the populous areas of Southern California and met with all sorts of fire and police regulations and general harrassment. After making it up the Coast business got better and the show moved onto Vancouver Island for its first Canadian Tour into the province of British Columbia. The return was made through Washington, Idaho, a portion of western Wyoming, Utah, and across Nevada and was set to re-enter California at Placerville on August 16th. A fiery truck wreck on mountain grades took the lives of two show people including equestrian director Col. Harry Thomas and caused all the trucks to be tied up until they could pass the inspection of the California Highway Patrol. More than a week's route was lost and much money was expended to get the trucks back in shape. The show had fairly good business on its way back to Hugo except for losing a couple of shows to winds and blizzards. A total of 22 performances were lost on the 12,345 mile route.

The season of 1961 was to mark the Silver Jubilee 25th anniversary tour and all the trucks were painted silver for the event. Replacing the traditional marquee tent for the first time was the new mechanical marquee walkthrough semi. The Big Top was 100 ft. round with a length of 360 ft. In one end of the top was located the 12 elephants, caged animals for the arena, and the rhino, and hippo. The show dipped into Texas and headed north through Arkansas and Missouri. A month was spent in Illinois and then the show proceeded further eastward than ever before going into upstate New York and then southward along the Seaboard to Florida and back across the south to Louisiana and Texas and return home. This was all new area for K-M.

In 1982 Joe McMahon came on the show as manager. He had spent a number of years on the Hagen Bros, show as agent. This year's Big Top was another strange one as it was 110 ft. round at the ends with three 40 ft. middle pieces. However, the center middle was 120 ft. wide with the other middle pieces tapering out 5 ft. on both sides to make it appear football-like in shape. This enlarged middle section was made to allow for erection of the arena on one side and that it could be left up during the performance. Henry & Sandra Thompson had the Side Show and painted the pictorial bannerline. The usual mid-west route through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Missouri were played and then up into Wisconsin and Michigan before heading down through Kentucky and playing 4 days at the Tennessee State Fair at Nashville. Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana were played before closing at Orange, Texas Nov. 4th.

Part of the show shipped down into the Carribean and played Jamaica during the winter months. A winter unit opened in the Rio Grande Valley at Harlingen, Texas Feb. 9, 1963 and played Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas before being enlarged by the rest of the show April 16th at Sherman, Texas. The staff was much the same as the prior season and the show headed eastward again into upstate New York playing as far east as Vermont and return. The route swung as far west as New Mexico and then headed eastward again closing at Ocean Springs, Mississippi, Oct. 31 after traveling 15,849 miles for the season.

At Ocean Springs a winter zoo tourist attraction was set up along the main highway at this Gulf Coast location. This was the first year since 1942 that the show hadn't wintered at Hugo.

The 1964 season took the show upon an entirely different route than ever before. It opened March 30th at Robertsdale, Alabama, dipped into Florida and cut across Georgia and Alabama and northward to West Virginia with Pennsylvania and New York being played extensively before a New England tour. After this they moved quickly westward into familiar Wisconsin territory by late August and then eased back to close at Chickasha, Oklahoma Oct. 7th and then going back into Hugo quarters.

The 1965 season found a very different cut-down type of show making the tour. Obert Miller was back on the show after selling his Fairyland Circus. Freddie Logan and his family put on most of the performance. This outfit didn't open until May llth at Gainesville, Texas and played Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Nebraska closing August 28th at Durant, Okla. It laid off 6 days and reopened at Mena, Ark. Sept. 4th until finally calling it a season at Camden, Ark. on Sept. 18th and returning once again to Hugo.

In 1966 Joe McMahon came back on the show as general manager and D. R. Miller moved over to handle the concessions. The season opened March 12th at El Campo, Texas and remained in that state until April 18th before moving through familiar territory to Wisconsin, Chicago suburbs, and Michigan. Soon they were eastward to New York by late July. Then it was down the eastern Seaboard to Georgia and across the Gulf areas closing at New Iberia, Louisiana October 16th and going to the Ocean Spring, Miss. quarters. 17 shows were lost during the season to storms, flooded lots, or lateness due to truck breakdowns.

The 1967 season was handled