Hat Creek, A Day in the Life - Mill Family History (9/20/2025)
Opening remarks by JoAnn Wade:
Welcome to a Day in the Life at Hat Creek. We invited you here to not only commemorate the 150th anniversary of the soldiers arrival to this very spot, which initiated all of the local happenings and history down through the years, but also to begin the celebration of America’s 250 years as a nation.
Earlier this year the county commissioners appointed a committee to lead Niobrara county’s celebration of America’s history. The committee consists of Leslie Stewart, Sanda Johnson, Sheila Bolden, Richard Ladwig, Debbie Sturman, Morgan Nolan, Gary Bayne and myself (JoAnn Wade). Throughout the next year, we have many different experiences planned to showcase our Niobrara County History.
Welcome to the 150th anniversary celebration of the Hat Creek Stage Station!
Cheryl Hansen Lund's Mill Family History, September 20, 2025
My mom and I compiled the following narrative with excerpts from an article that appeared in Cow Country written by Margaret Jenne, the book “Our Heritage, Niobrarans and Neighbors” published by the Niobrara County Historical Society, and the book “Hat Creek and Hard Times” by Edward C. Bryant.
The history of the Mill Ranch begins in Baden, Germany, in the year 1873. Twenty-one year old Jacob Mill had just been granted a one year extension on his military draft due to the fact that he was a small man. Conditions were bad in Germany at this time and young Jake could see no future in the Old World with its harsh military regimes and constant depression. He had heard of a place called America, and he made up his mind to go to this new place where the opportunities were unlimited.
Jake found work on a freighter bound for the United States to pay for his fare.
When his ship landed on American shores, Jake set about the laborious task of earning money to bring his brothers to the New World. After his brothers were out of Germany, and settled in various parts of the U.S., Jake himself tried to settle in Des Moines, Iowa, but the same determination and inquisitiveness that had brought him to the United States soon lured him to the West and the vast unknown regions it contained.
While making his way West, he worked many jobs; he herded cattle in the area of Denver, Colorado, and gave up the idea of homesteading on a piece of land there because the ground was too rough - the Albany Hotel was later built on that land. He also trailed sheep from Oregon to Wyoming, and then became a freight drover between Cheyenne and Deadwood during the Black Hills gold rush era. It was on his freight route, where he often camped on Sage Creek, that he spotted the piece of land that he would later call “home.”
In October of 1883, Jacob Mill decided he’d had enough of odd jobs and traveling - he wanted to settle down; so, he married Miss Philaphena Kappleman of Des Moines, Iowa and they moved to Fairburn, South Dakota to homestead. The land was good and the grazing plentiful, but the years began to see more homesteaders, and it wasn’t long before the free range was taken and the number of livestock a rancher could run had to be drastically reduced. Too much so to enable a man to make a decent living ranching.
In 1891, Jake Mill was on the move again, this time in search of a place he could build up into a profitable ranch, and his search brought him to his old campsite on Sage Creek. He purchased that parcel of land in the spring of 1891, from a Mr. Otterback. In the fall of 1891, Mr. Mill brought his wife and five children by covered wagon from Fairburn, to their new home on Sage Creek. Starting with just a small band of sheep and a single cow he brought from South Dakota - it was here that Jake Mill built one of the largest ranches in the area, and where he himself became one of the times most well-known and well-liked stockmen.
Sheep and cattle were the main interests on the ranch, but there was very seldom any extra cash to buy the extra cow or calf that a rancher can always use, so Jake welcomed the trail herds that camped on one of his flowing springs. The camping spot had all the water and grass the herds needed for an overnight stop, and soon became known to the trail bosses as Mill’s Falls. For the use of this lush campsite, Mr. Mill was sometimes given a calf that was born there or an animal that was too weak to trail any further. In this way, he obtained the valuable extras that helped to build his cattle herd. Many of the ranchers during that time raised both cattle and sheep, but few others than Jakie raised good horses as well. He even tried raising hogs and in 1912 sent a railcar load of hogs to Omaha, perhaps the only time in history that such a shipment came from Niobrara County.
When the railroad moved into nearby Lusk in 1886, all the free range was quickly taken. Once more Jacob Mill had to seek land for his livestock; it was at that time that he obtained the “forties” along Lance Creek, Lightning Creek, and Twenty-Mile Creek.
With his new holdings, Mill was able to run approximately 40,000 sheep and 2,000 cattle. The original ranch at Sage Creek was maintained as the nucleus ranch, and it was here that grub was distributed to the sheep and cow camps, and where the ranch business was handled. Cow camps were spread over various parts of the holdings as were the sheep camps, and the sheep were trailed to the shearing pens in Lusk, where a large camp was also maintained by the ranch. Jake was on the first telephone line and generously shared the telephone with the ranchers and homesteaders who needed to call a doctor or required other emergency communication with the outside world.
Make no mistake, this was still the wild West. A story in the “Our Heritage, Niobrarans and Neighbors” book describes a cold-blooded murder that occurred on Jake’s U Bar L ranch in 1911. Albert and Ray DeGering were batching on their homestead when a man walked in about sundown and wanted to stay the night. They were suspicious as he was on foot and not horseback, but they let him stay anyway.
After supper the man said “If you knew who I was, you probably wouldn’t let me stay all night.” Al said “Why?” and he said “Because I killed a man at the U Bar L Ranch,” which was owned by Jake Mill. They had been working sheep and one of the men kept picking on him. He told the fellow if he didn’t lay off he would cut his heart out, but, not believing him, the man continued. Suddenly this fellow pulled out his knife and killed him.
Indian battles, hard years, and age were some of the factors involved in Jacob’s decisions to disperse some of his holdings and retire to his Sage Creek ranch. During the Great Depression, Jake helped a number of his fellow cattlemen financially - to the point that it was detrimental to himself. It was said that if anyone was down and out, without a job and in need of food for his family, Jakie would give him a job. With their smaller amount of land to manage and semi-retirement, the Mills had time to enjoy the home they had built, and hospitality flowed there. Their graciousness afforded many a weary buggy traveler a place to rest, freshen up, and enjoy a good visit before traveling on.
The first house built at the ranch set on the creek, flanked by the bunkhouse, and other log buildings. Now, the old log bunkhouse is the only original building still standing; the log house was replaced in 1902, by a “new house,” which is where Jake and Lorrie Reed reside today. In 1923, a large barn was put up and it too is still in use. The buildings are nestled in the foothills of the Hat Creek breaks on the creek, and they make a handsome setting against the blue Wyoming sky.
In 1927, and 1935, respectively, Mrs. Mill and “Jakie” (as he was known to his many friends) traded the lovely ranch on Sage Creek for a lovelier one over the Great Divide. Jakie passed just three days before his 82nd birthday, and had remained active until illness claimed him. Following their deaths, their youngest son George and his wife Inice took the reins. As did his parents, George and Inice added their own holdings and ideas to the original, prosperous ranch, and as in days gone by - the welcome mat was always out at the Mill ranch.
From its beginning that spring in 1891, the ranch has known no authority but that of the Mill descendants, which is just what Jacob and Philaphena and George and Inice would have wanted.
George and Inice worked hard to maintain the Mill Ranch. George was a community leader with a special interest in promoting and improving the livestock industry. In recognition of his service directly to agriculture and the livestock industry in particular he was elected to the N.I.L.E. Hall of Fame in Billings, Montana. He was an active member of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association and served as chairman of the Wyoming Livestock and Sanitary Board. He also served as a judge at the National Western Stock Show in Denver a number of times. Inice Mill was active in the State Cow Belles and in the early 50's she organized the Niobrara County Cow Belles.
George Mill passed away in 1975, passing the ranch into the hands of Pete and Wanda Hansen. They made their home on the old C.R. Ranch once owned by United States Senator and the 9th Governor of the state of Wyoming, John. B. Kendrick, now part of the Mill holdings. Today Pete and Wanda’s daughter Cheryl Lund resides there and carries on the Mill heritage.
The yellow-wheeled buggy that came to symbolize Jake Mill and the Mill Ranch rolls no more; but the half-moon, 38, and 55 brands that were also a symbol, live on, as does the ranch itself.
I will leave you with something Inice Mill wrote about the Mill Ranch: “The ranch and its buildings stand as a fitting monument to the two founders who built and worked here, through good times and bad, for the accomplishment of their purpose. The buildings still stand by the creek, the cattle still graze on the meadow, and may the memories of those who labored here, live forever.”