INTERVIEW WITH RUEL C. MILLER, WHO SETTLED IN TARKIO TOWNSHIP.

Written for the Page County Historical Society by Mabel H. Kenea.
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One of Page county's early settlers who has many interesting recollections of pioneer days dating back to over sixty years ago, is Ruel C. Miller of this city.  When a lad of 15 Mr. Miller came to Tarkio township with his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. George Miller, and several younger children, from Anderson county, now Union county, Tenn., in the fall of 1854.   Coming with the Miller family were two other families, one bearing the name of Rogers, and the other the name of Chesshire.   The former family went on to Fremont county, while the latter settled in Tarkio township, and there are still descendants of this family in Page county bearing the name of Chesshire. The overland trip from Tennessee was made years before the advent of railroads in this section of the country.   The Miller family had a mule team, an ox team, and a team of horses, the latter drawing the covered wagon in which the family rode.   The other teams were used to draw the household goods. Some cows were also brought along. At St. Louis was the first railroad and cars that Mr. Miller had ever seen. His family left Tennessee with the expectation of going to Kansas, but the party was met at Savannah, Mo., by Elijah Miller, a brother of George Miller, who with their father, Isaac Miller, had come from Tennessee early in the fifties, and had settled in Missouri.   In 1852 Isaac Miller and son, Elijah, removed  to  Iowa and here settled on land in the western part of the county, which afterwards became Tarkio township.

Upon meeting his brother in Savannah, Elijah Miller persuaded him to come to Iowa instead of Kansas. At this time the border troubles preliminary to the Civil war were beginning in the latter state, and because of this fact, together with the excellence of the farming lands of Iowa, made the decision one that was not regretted.

There were no bridges in this part of the country and all the streams had to be forded.   The aspect of Page county was that of a prairie country, with timber only along the streams. Mr. Miller says that since then the old trees have been cut away almost entirely, and the timber which we now have is a new growth.   There was a little settlement in Tarkio township where Isaac Miller and his son Elijah had located, and it was at this settlement that George Miller and his family arrived after over a month's journey from Tennessee, in the fall of 854.    The   place was afterwards known as Tarkio City.   Here George Miller rented a log house of Joshua Akin, in which he and his family lived during the winter.

The 15 year old boy was homesick, and didn't like Iowa.   He remembers telling his father that they would burn all the wood there was the first winter so that when spring came they would have to go back to Tennesse, but notwithstanding this he has lived ever since in Page county, with the exception of the years he was in the Civil war.

In the spring work was begun for a log house which was to be the family home on land about two miles to the northwest of the little settlement—"over on the hill," as Mr. Miller describes it. This land was entered from the government by Mr. Miller's father. It is now owned by Ruel C. Miller's brother, J. N., Miller, of Clarinda, and is located a mile and a half northeast of the present village of Norwich. Until a few years ago the old log house was still standing. This house, located as it was between the streams of the Middle, and West Tarkio was on an old Indian trail running north and south, on the divide between the two streams. The log house at that time and for some time afterwards, Mr. Miller says, was the only one on the divide between these streams from Cass county, la., on the north, to Atchison county, Mo., on the south. Along the Indian trail in the spring and fall of the year there would come hundreds of Indians after game, deer particularly. George Miller had a grove on his land, and on this grove the Indians, brave in war paint and blankets would camp for weeks, some times all winter. Mr. Mil­ler remembers them as friendly and peaceful in manner, but much indignation was felt by the settlers because the Indians had the bad habit of setting fire to the prairies in order to drive the deer to bay where they were killed, thus, depriving the white men of' the privilege of enjoying venison themselves, as the animals were slaughtered in such numbers that they finally became extinct in this part of the country. The homes of the settlers were of course endangered by the prairie fires. The Indian trail of which Mr. Miller speaks as having wound along the divide between the two streams is one of Page county's historical spots which should be located and marked before all trace of it is obliterated.

Corn and wheat was sowed as soon as the land was broken. For some reason fall wheat could not be grown on the land for several years, as it would freeze out in the winter.

After a time the George Miller home became known as "Miller Station," so called because it was a stage station on the line from Savannah, Mo., to Nebraska City, Nebr. Clarinda, another station on the route, was at this time a small village, the first town lots having been sold here in 1853. Mr. Miller has recollections of nights when his home was filled to overflowing with weary travelers who were glad of a space on the floor upon which to rest after strenuous riding in the stage coach. There were also times when high water or drifting snows prevented the arrival of the stage. After the stage line was established, temporary bridges were built over some of the streams. On account of their rude construction they went out at the slightest approach of high water, and the stage service was thus delayed.

Wild game abounded in the old days. Mr. Miller mentions particularly the abundance of prairie chickens. There were great numbers of wolves—both the gray wolves and prairie wolves. Upon one occasion Mr. Miller and another lad were filled with the spirit of adventure and started out with their guns on a wolf hunt. They had two dogs with them. One of the dogs ran ahead of the boys over a hill and was lost to sight for a short time. When he reappeared he was running at full speed with a wolf after him. The boys felt their bravery oozing away, and they started home as fast as they could go, but the other dog came to the rescue of its companion, and the two animals managed to kill the wolf. Mr. Miller's record for bravery in later years, when he so faithfully served his country for over three years in the Civil war, does not bear out the wolf story.