Miller Family Yavapai Co. Az Submitted by Carol Powell Clara May Miller was born in Prescott AZ in 1914 to William and Anna (Fairchild) Miller. Her older sister Pearl loved to relate old family stories about their family settling the Arizona territory. As the two grew older Clara May, had children, the sisters would tuck the children in bed for the night and as the children drifted off to sleep they could hear the muffled voices of their aunt Pearl and their mother in the outer room as they shared old family stories at the dinning room table. Their favorite story was an about-their grandmother Clara S. Olmstead, In the early 1800s she and her second husband left Texas to make a better life for their large family in Arizona the family had lived in Concho, Texas a resort for desperate characters, mainly made up of gambling and drinking saloons and other disreputable places. Both the town and the countryside were filled with the greatest set of scoundrels that ever lived on the face of the earth. Concho's inhabitants were described as drunken cowboys, ex-confederates, pimps and prostitutes. The Miller family seemed to venture forth without regard for physical boundaries or human limitations. As the recounted narrative went, Louis Miller, the head of the household was killed by apache Indians. The family was part of a wagon train that deserted them after the death of the Louis Sr. because they couldnt keep up. A friendly tribe of Indians discovered the family and took them to their destination. When Clara May and her sister passed away, all that was left were the memories of bits and pieces of the story, and a list of the names of the last eight children born to Clara S. Olmstead It has been said that she had 22 single births. Fourteen children by her first husband Franklin Howard and eight by her second husband Louis Miller. The oldest son from Claras second marriage was Louis Clair Miller named after both his mother and his father, some study had been done in Prescott at the Sharlot Hall Museum, but nothing was found on a Louis. Miller. The reason was because he was better known as L.C.. Miller, a forger and cohort to murder. The museum does have a file under that name. L.C. Miller forged a check and was placed in jail with James Parker the men planed and carried out a jail break. During the escape Parker killed Lee Norris as Norris attempted to help Jailer R. W. Meador contain the prisoners. Louis Miller was sent to prison, while in lock up a wealthy philanthropist in New York, Mrs. Russell Sage heard about the case and bought L.C. a complete set of surveying tools to use to find work if he ever got out of prison. While doing time, he took to studying surveying. One of the most amazing things about researching L.C.s life would be the loyalty shown to him by his family especially his sister Mrs. Frederick J. Haas. It was Minnies house he sought refuge in when he broke out of jail. She talked him into turning himself in. She testified at his trial in his behalf. Louis was paroled in 1907 to Cochise, County where much of Arizonas history happened. When Tombstone was "cleaned-up the Arizona Rangers came into existence to rid Arizona of criminals. Their objective was to hunt down and capture and clear the areas in which criminals came together and make them safe for settlement by law-abiding citizens and drive the riffraff of the rest of the country to seek refuse elsewhere. The Rangers also acted as a state police force to help enforce law when local authority was overwhelmed. Many of the outlaws migrated to Cochise because there were little communities everywhere,with long distances between them. It was very easy to get by with murder or whatever. Cochise was the last of the rip-roaring western places where the six-shooter reigned and dance hall girls, gambling and other sordid activities prevailed. The area, was overrun with all kinds of illegal pursuits and the Arizona Rangers job was to cleaned it up. Louis had family in Cochise. His ever faithful sister Minnie and her husband Fred were there, By the Arizona Rangers admission, "Douglas was tougher than Tombstone ever hoped to be. Fred ran a saloon called the German Beer Hall a brother named Baldwin O. Miller was an engineer for the El Paso & Southwestern Railroad. Four out of six of the Miller brothers were engineers for the railroad. Another brother Otto was mining in Cohise Co. in 1907 he later went to work for the railroad. Things didnt work out too well for Louis in Bisbee, and in 1909 he was sent back to Yuma Prison for (what else?) Forging a check again! The rapid spread of civilization through the Southwest in the early 1900's made it increasingly difficult for the outlaw to accomplish his crimes in the first place and then to escape detection and apprehension. By 1909 the Arizona Rangers had rid Cohise Co. of many of the undesirables. Louis was paroled in 1912. The following year found Louis in Park City, Utah. In Dec. of 1913 Louis Miller was horribly injured in Park City Ut. in a mining explosion. Miller lost both eyes his right hand was amputated his escape from instant death was considered as a miracle. Following that, he married a much younger woman named Emma A. Schultz on March 21, 1914 in Park City, Summit, Ut. Emma was 25 years old, she was the nurse that took care of him after his accident. Louis wasnt the only Miller in Utah. Frederick J. Haas had Died March, 15, 1912 after his death the only hope for his widow Minnie was for a relative to take her and her daughter in they ended up in Park City Ut. Minnie had always been there for Louis, after he turned his life around he was there for her. By 1920 Louis C. Miller was living in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon he is on the census page 12B. roll T629-1499 born in Texas he was 49 years old his mother born in Iowa his father born in Germany. His wife was Emma born in Germany.Her parents were German.Their son was Granite E. age(5). No occupations. The Millers must of moved to Oregon from Utah shortly after they married.Their son Granite E. Miller was born in Oregon in 1919. Louis's brother Charles lived in the Oregon, Washington area at that time.He may have taken them in after the accident. A Brother Tobe Miller lost his life in a railroad wreck in Spokane, Washington, two months before Louis's accident. Tobe died while performing his duties as an engine man on his locomotive. After Tobe's death Charles stopped working on board the trains and worked in the trainyard. Charles Miller seems to of been the most successful out of the Miller boys, he was promoted from engineer to a managerial position as a Trainmaster in Pasco,Washington.There were no seniority or union rules at that time to prevented it. Charles W. Miller and his wife Mary A. were living in Portland, Multnomah, Oregon in 1930 when the census was taken. L.C.s wife Emma was the informant on his death certificate she said that Louis had spent 25 years at his occupation leading one to believe that Emma was unaware of Louis prison time. Between being incarcerate for thirteen years and becoming blind and maimed in 1913 Louis could not have spent more then five years as a civil engineer in the mines. Death Certificate. Louis was the son of Louis Miller and mother was Olmstead. He was living at 709 Holt in Portland Oregon when he died of cardiac failure on March 29,1932.Three days after his 62nd birthday. He worked as a civil engineer in the mining industry. He worked 25 years at his occupation and quit in 1913. He was born in Texas. His wife was Emma. His burial was at Lincoln Memorial Park.(Woodland Lot 69 Grave 3 buried on 1 April 1932) The undertaker was Miller and Lacey. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format for profit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain express written permission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.