Billy (William Henry) Miller was born in Noble County, Ohio, December 16, 1862 to William, a sawmill operator, and Elizabeth Miller. After receiving a real "licking" from his father, Billy left home at the age of fourteen and came west. When he reached Sidney, Nebraska, he met and was befriended by a freighter, Dennis Carrigan. Billy engagedin freighting until about 1882, when he became interested in the cattle ranching business. He found work with the AHP (Hansen) ranch on Beaver Creek and also
worked for the YT owned at that time by J.L. Baird. In 1886 he filed on a homestead in Crook County. In 1887, William H. Miller and Miss Anna McMoran of Inyan Kara were married in Crook County Wyoming. They set up housekeeping
in a little two room cabin on Billy's homestead. Seven children were born to the couple - two died in infancy. The Millers moved to Weston County in 1894 and started a dairy ranch near Cambria. They sold milk, cream and other products to the miners in the camp. Billy was well liked and respected by the people of Weston County and in 1898 was persuaded by the Republicans to run for sheriff. He was elected and assumed office January 1, 1899. The milk ranch was sold to Mr. Cassius Musser and the Millers moved
to Newcastle and set up house keeping in the sheriff's living quarters at the county jail building. The sheriffs duties were similar to those of any frontier sheriff of that time. An occasional shooting scrape, attempts at murder, disturbance of the peace, suits for recovery of merchandise and for non-payment of bills were part of his everyday existence. Horse stealing was also a common
occurrence. In October 1903, Miller got a posse of respected men together and went out into the Cheyenne River area to arrest a band of Indians who had been given permission by the Indian Agent to leave the Pine Ridge
Reservation on a hunting trip. The posse and the Indians came together on Lightning Creek October 31, 1903. Billy was killed by the first shot the Indians fired. He was
standing unprotected on the bank trying to signal the Indians to stop. He did not expect any shooting. That was the last battle with Indians in Wyoming. Large groups of Indians never came back into Wyoming from Pine Ridge.
Sheriff Miller was buried at Newcastle in the cemetery atop a hill which overlooks the town.

William Henry Miller