A "mini" reunion of Millers

It was a few years back -- in June of 2006 -- that three Miller cousins got together in the City Park at Spearfish, South Dakota, for something of a "mini-reunion."

Left-to-right are: Pete Miller of Metaline Falls, Washington, son of Fred and Charlotte Miller; Jeanette Miller Gleed of Rapid City, South Dakota, oldest daughter of Alex and Mildred Miller; Connie Miller Merchen of Rapid City, South Dakota, middle daughter of Alex and Mildred Miller; and Larry Miller of Spearfish, South Dakota, younger son of John and Lettie Miller.

The last large gathering of this Miller family was in Chadron, Nebraska in 1985. Or was it 1988?    Or....?   Perhaps we're due for another one, eh?

Millers find a home in the Pend Oreille

Pete and Dora (Eckerdt) Miller came to the United States from Russia and were married in Longmont, Colorado in 1909. They ultimately chose Whitney, Nebraska, as their home, but their children would make their homes in other locales -- ranging from Wyoming and Arizona to Washington and Texas.

We've visited most of these places and must confess that we've become especially smitten with one of them.

The beautiful Pend Oreille River Valley north of Spokane, Washington, is home to many of Pete and Dora's descendants.

In the photograph above is their grandson, "Pete" Miller and his wife, Judy, who guided us up to this overlook above Metaline Falls, Washington, which they've called home most of their lives -- and the place they chose to raise their family. Pete's brothers, Wayne and Charlie, aren't far away, and their sister Jean and family live just to the south in Spokane. Their mother, Charlotte Miller, still lives in the family home nestled on a hill above the river. Pete's cousin Albert "Mike" Miller and his wife, Cheryl, live in nearby Ione.

It's easy to see why two of Pete and Dora's sons -- Fred and Albert -- chose to settle in this region after they left military service following World War II. There's nowhere in the country any more beautiful, and it's hard to imagine a better place to raise kids.

I suspect that if Pete and Dora Miller were to peek down from above today, they'd find great joy in seeing the wonderful lives many of their descendants have found in this part of the country. It's a far cry from the wind-swept plains along the Volga River where they grew up. I think they'd be very pleased.

A family death....a family gathering

One of our favorite photographs, this shot was taken in Whitney, Nebraska. We earlier thought it was taken when Dora Miller died in February of 1963; however, cousin Bruce Miller in California suggests it was more likely in June of 1957, upon the death Pete Miller. Grandma and Grandpa Miller had moved from the irrigation company "ditch house" near the railroad depot in Whitney to the small house just north of the Post Office, then on the northwest corner of the intersection of Division and Missouri Streets. The Post Office is just to the right and out of view in this photograph. .

In this photograph are three of Pete and Dora's sons; left-to-right are: Alex Miller of Lusk, Wyoming; John Miller of Chadron, Nebraska; Louis Bird of Houston, Texas; and Fred Miller of Metaline Falls, Washington. Louis Bird was married to Pete and Dora's fourth daughter, Bertha.

In the background on the left, the tops of both the old lumber yard and the Baldwin building are visible.