The John Millers, Boyne’s First Settlers
John Miller, his wife, and two sons, Hugh R. and James R. had come to Northport from Oswegotchie, New York in search of a home in the west. Here they met John S. Dixon who talked them into going to Pine River (Charlevoix) with him.
It was October 26, 1856 that Mr. and Mrs. Miller arrived in Pine River. Their sons had secured passage in another boat. To us this would seemed to be a hazardous journey at that time of year, but not to hardy pioneers who faced it as just another day.
On November 14, 1856, they continued their journey to the head of Pine Lake (Lake Charlevoix) in and old fishing boat. Here they found cabins left vacant by the Mormons who had been forced to leave. The Millers decided to occupy one that over looked the lake in the vicinity of what is now North Boyne.
In 1884, Harriett Miller related the following story to a writer of the H. R. Page & Co., who had put together the book Traverse Region, Historical and Descriptive.
“Mrs. Miller relates a curious dream she had before leaving Oswegotchie, the fulfillment of which she recognized in the circumstances of their arrival at their new home. She saw in her dream the log house, as it actually was, with a roof made of troughs, as the settlers made them where boards were scarce, with a trough inverted on the ridge in place of weathered-boards. In front of the house was what appeared to be a swamp. She thought the built a fire on the floor in the house. Then the man who brought them there took the end board out of his wagon box to close an open window, and said to her that she would never want while she remained there. The features of the man were indelibly fixed in her memory. When, at Northport, she first caught sight of Mr. Dixon on the wharf, she recognized him as the man in her dream, and pointed him out to her husband as such.
John Miller, sitting outside the Mormon cabin
in found when first landing in Boyne City.
John was the first permanent resident of the Boyne
area, and named the river and falls after a
river in his native home of Ireland.
Arriving at their destination, everything appeared as she had seen it. What she had taken for a swamp, however, was a lake, hidden by a row of evergreen trees along the beach. They did build a fire on the floor, or, rather, on the charred remains of the floor, which had been partly consumed by accident or design. Then Mr. Dixon brought, not the end from a wagon box, but the centerboard from his boat, and it closed a window, to keep out the night air. We are not informed as to whether Mr. Dixon spoke the words attributed to him, but his prophecy as heard in the dream made such a deep and lasting impression on Mrs. Miller, that many years after, when, by building up the village of Boyne City and Bay Springs, their land as made valuable and tempting prices were offered for it, she steadfastly refused to sell.”
The year of 1856 was important one. The Mormons had been driven out and settlers had established homes at three focal points; Pine River (Charlevoix), Horton Bay, and at the head of Pine Lake (Boyne City).
The Millers found the potatoes that the Mormons had planted, unharvested. These they dug from the snow to supplement the meager provisions that must be “packed” on their backs from the settlement at Bear River (Petoskey).
During the first six weeks the Millers didn’t see another person. From two Indians, they learned about Andrew Porter, the head of the Indian Mission at Bear Creek. Here Mr. Miller went, making his way through the forest on snowshoes; returning later to work for Mr. Porter at seventy-five cents a day.
In the spring, the Millers planted a half-bushel of corn, some potatoes, and two bushels of wheat on the clearing made by the Mormons, using a hoe as their only tool.
The homestead law went into effect in January 1863. Hugh, John’s eldest boy, was old enough now to file a land claim for him self. In the middle of the winter he and other settlers of South Arm walked to the land office at Traverse City. His claim was the first to be filed for our area.
The loneliness that they endured as settlers must have been a major hardship. In the winter the men folk trapped mink and marten; selling the pelts at a good price. This left Mrs. Miller alone. Then too, there were the trips that must be made to bring needed supplies. The log canoe, which they had found near their cabin, could be used only in the summer for the hauls. At times bad weather delayed them, prolonging their stay. Once when this happened Mrs. Miller saw no other person for fourteen days. Such was their lot; a life full of privations.
How Boyne Falls First Receives it’s Name
To the few scattered settlers, John Miller became known as “Uncle John”. A native of Ireland, he named our Boyne River after one in Ireland where a decisive battle was fought. In the spring of 1857, after the snow had left the woods easier to travel, “Uncle John” Miller followed the Boyne River to a falls, which he names Boyne Falls. Not only did John Miller name the river and the falls, but soon his ‘river in Ireland’ became the name sake of two towns, a valley, and nickname for a region.
Beyond naming our falls, there is evidence that he played a role in the early development of Boyne Falls. John Miller, and his wife Harriett names can also be found as the witnesses to the original Plat of Boyne Falls in 1873, made by William Nelson and Joseph Powers.
