Geronimo's Final Buffalo Hunt at the 101 Ranch near Ponca City, Oklahoma

Geronimo's Final Buffalo Hunt at the 101 Ranch near Ponca City, Oklahoma

June 1905

Kentucky native Colonel George Washington Miller (d. 1903) established the 101 Ranch in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) in 1879. Through acquisitions and lease agreements with the Ponca, Tonkawa, and Osage Indians, the ranch grew from a modest 2,000 acres to more than 110,000 acres in just a few years. After the colonel's death, his sons operated the ranch and in 1905 offered to provide entertainment for the National Editorial Association conference. In June of that year, more than 65,000 spectators arrived at the 101 Ranch and enjoyed performances by local cowboys and American Indians. The great Apache warrior Geronimo (1829-1909) was escorted to the ranch from nearby Fort Sill, where he was a prisoner of the U.S. government. He killed a buffalo and signed autographs for the audience before being returned to confinement. (Geronimo later died at Fort Sill of pneumonia.) The day was such a success that the Miller brothers organized the 101 Ranch Wild West Show and began touring internationally; for a brief time, their show toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show.

Gelatin silver print

Princeton Collections of Western Americana, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Purchase, J. Monroe Thorington Fund.