Lance Creek, A Day in the Life - Pat Miller Family History
Lance Creek, a Day in the Life was held on Sunday, September 13, 2026 as part of America's 250th and Explore Niobrara events.
VIDEO: The Pat Miller Family, Presented by Brady Thurston
Good afternoon, everyone.
It’s an honor to be here today to celebrate 250 years of history, and I’m especially honored to share a little bit of my family’s history and the role this area has played in our lives for generations.
Our story in this area begins with Aubry Raymond Miller, better known as Pat.
In 1916, Pat and his brother homesteaded in the Seaman Hills of Hat Creek. In 1938, Pat and Velda came to the Lance Creek area, and in 1939 he began ranching and producing rodeos on Dogie Road, just north of where the Lance Creek Church stands today.
Rodeo has been a part of our family for a very long time.
In 1951, the Miller family moved to Lusk after their home on the ranch east of the Rooming House burned. They sold that ranch to Jim Groves. Today, that same ranch is owned by Brady, Colby, John and Tiffany Thurston—so in a way, that piece of the family history has come full circle.
After moving to Lusk, Pat and Velda (my great grandparents) worked in the butcher shop for about a year before purchasing the Miller Ranch southwest of Lance Creek in 1952.
That ranch is still in the family today, with Justen, Tricia and Blake Miller ranching there.
Jason, Jenne, Maggie and Mack Miller ranch on the place next to the original Miller Ranch, keeping another piece of the family’s ranching legacy alive. Pat and Velda eventually moved to town in 1967 when Pat’s health began to fail.
My Grandad Pat picks up the next piece of history!
After high school, Grandad worked in the oil field and was also an amateur and RCA saddle bronc rider. Rodeo remained a big part of his life.
Then, in 1967, he was given the opportunity to college rodeo.
So, at an age when most people probably wouldn’t think about starting college, Grandad moved his family to Glenrock. Grandma Bev worked as a high school business teacher while Grandad attended Casper College on a rodeo scholarship.
He earned his associate degree and then continued on to the University of Wyoming, again on a rodeo scholarship.
Back then, the rules were a little different, and there wasn’t a limit on how many years you could be out of high school and still compete in college rodeo. So Grandad took full advantage of that opportunity.
While at the University of Wyoming, he worked in the meat lab. Grandma worked on campus as a secretary while also taking classes in elementary education.
They knew that the business teaching position in Lusk wasn’t going to be opening anytime soon, so Grandma changed directions and began preparing for a career in elementary education.
In 1971, Grandad graduated from the University of Wyoming—10 years after graduating from high school.
A lot of people had told him he would never go to college, much less graduate, because he hadn’t gone straight out of high school.
But he proved them wrong.
His college education was something Grandad was extremely proud of.
And I think what made him even prouder was seeing his own children follow that same path.
His three children—Tiffany, Justen and Jason—all became college graduates and all attended college on rodeo scholarships, just as he had.
After graduating in 1971, Grandad and his family returned home to the Miller Ranch southwest of Lance Creek—the same ranch he had purchased from his parents in 1967.
Grandad split his time between ranching and the oil field, eventually starting Miller Enterprises, Inc.
What began with two pickups he purchased from Marathon Oil grew into a successful oilfield business with a large fleet of equipment.
Grandad spent a number of years after his college graduation following drilling rigs wherever he was needed, working as a driller and putting to use the knowledge he had gained through years of experience in the oil field.
Grandma began teaching at the Lance Creek school in 1977. She taught the lower grades there until 1979, when she moved to Lusk and became a fourth-grade teacher.
She spent 25 years teaching fourth grade.
Wyoming history was one of her favorite subjects, and she was truly a wealth of knowledge. She taught Tiffany and Justen during her years at Lance Creek—and they still had to call her Mrs. Miller. She didn’t play favorites!
Grandad continued operating his oilfield business until his death in 2017. His son Justen purchased the company and continues to operate it today alongside his son, Blake.
Justen and Blake split their time between the oil field and the Miller Ranch, continuing both sides of the legacy that Grandad built.
Grandad also loved the ranch.
Over the years, he broke quite a few teams to harness. One of his favorite memories in his later years was breaking a team with his sons and grandkids all there to watch and be a part of it.
And if you knew Grandad, you know he was always working on something.
In his later years, that something was often the museum.
He spent countless hours working on it, adding the Homestead House and the Camp House. If you couldn’t find Grandad, there was a pretty good chance he was at the museum.
He loved the history of this area.
And preserving that history was important to him.
He had so many plans for the future of the museum and this community, and unfortunately, his passing in 2017 meant he didn’t get to see all of those plans come to life.
But his work left something behind.
And I think that is what celebrations like today are really about.
History isn’t just buildings and dates and names in a book.
History is people.
It’s families who stayed.
It’s people who worked the ranches, worked in the oil field, taught in the schools, produced rodeos, built businesses and gave their time to preserve what came before them.
And it’s the generations that come after them who carry those things forward.
For our family, rodeo has been one of those things.
Rodeo was good to our family from the very beginning, when Great-Grandad Miller was producing rodeos, and it continues today with family members involved in rodeo in many different ways.
Jason won a world championship in steer wrestling in 2007.
Jordan won the College National Finals in 2010 and again in 2013.
My siblings and I all attended college on rodeo scholarships, as did our cousin Colton Miller.
Today, Jordan and her husband Chancy continue that tradition by producing youth rodeos, including recently producing what was the largest youth rodeo in Wyoming and the surrounding area.
Colton and his wife, Lexie, have built an amazing business, Double E Saddlery, making saddles, cinches and tack. They also train horses and recently sold the highest-selling horse at the Sundance Select Horse Sale.
So when we talk about 250 years of history, I think about what it means to leave something behind for the next generation.
Grandad didn’t just build a ranch or an oilfield company.
He built a family legacy.
He taught us the value of hard work, perseverance and taking pride in where you come from.
He showed us that it’s never too late to chase a dream—whether that dream is earning a college degree, building a business, raising a family, or preserving the history of the place you call home.
And today, as we celebrate 250 years, I’m grateful that our family is just one small piece of the much bigger story that makes this community what it is.
The names and faces will change.
The businesses will change.
The ranches will change.
But the stories, the hard work and the people who cared enough to build something for the next generation—that is what becomes our history.
And hopefully, years from now, our children and grandchildren will be standing here telling their own stories about the people who came before them.
That’s the greatest part of history.
We don’t just remember it.
We carry it forward.
Thank you.