Carl and Roxie Miller expect ‘49er Days to be a fun event for everyone.
’49er Days Grand Marshal and Lady connect generations
By Don Nelson
Carl Miller remembers the early ’49er Days celebrations from when he was a child growing up in the Methow Valley. His uncle Henry Damman was involved in organizing the first festivities, which Carl recalls being simpler.
The annual celebration, now in its 72nd year, is a little more elaborate these days, with three days of activities this weekend beginning on Friday (for complete information, see stories on pages A6 and A7). But at its roots, ’49er Days is a rural celebration of the valley’s formative days and pioneering spirit.
That’s why Carl’s wife, Roxie — who grew up on a dairy farm in southern Idaho — says that the couple is well-suited to serve as the Grand Marshal and Grand Lady of the 2017 event: “We’re farm people.”
At that, it took some coaxing from valley icon Tom Graves, descendant of early settlers, to convince the Millers that it was their turn to serve as ’49er Days royalty.
“I told him [Graves] I wasn’t old enough,” Roxie says, adding with a smile, “and I’m still not old enough.”
Nevertheless, she and Carl will preside over various events beginning Friday night with their official coronation and continuing through Saturday’s parade and beyond.
The Miller clan has deep roots in the valley. Carl and his brother Claude are well-known horsemen and outdoors enthusiasts. Their grandparents William and Rose Miller migrated from the west side to the Rendezvous area in the early 1900s. When William died, their son George became the head of the family as teenager, according to an entry in “The Smiling Country,” Sally Portman’s history of the Methow Valley.
Carl was born 8 miles up the Chewuch River at Boulder Creek, on his grandfather Dammann’s homestead, but his father moved the family around the valley, buying, improving and selling ranches. “He bought ’em, fixed ’em up and turned them over,” Carl says. George was also a packer and had a variety of jack-of-all-trades jobs in the valley.
At one time, the Millers lived at what came to be known as the Hamilton place — the recently collapsed old farmhouse on Gunn Ranch Road. They also spent time at Beaver Creek, Patterson Lake, Twin Lakes, Balky Hill, Libby Creek, and at the Wagner and Lundgren ranches. Carl went to school in Twisp, where the family also lived for a while.
Carl was also a rodeo competitor as a youngster. “We always had a lot of horses around that would buck, so we had lots of practice.” Carl got his first horse when he was 5.
After high school, Carl moved to Spokane, where he spent the next 35 years as a firefighter. He and Roxie — who moved to Spokane after high school — met and married there, and raised six children. In addition to firefighting, Carl also built several houses.
After the decades in Spokane, Carl decided that it was time to come home. By then, the Millers were both devoted Nordic skiers, and had started a cross country skiing group at Mount Spokane.
“I’ll come [to the Methow] if there are cross country ski trails and I don’t have to groom them,” Roxie told Carl.
That was 23 years ago, and the Millers have been active fixtures in the community ever since. “We’re joiners,” Roxie says. They built a house in Winthrop, and besides skiing are also involved in white water canoeing and bicycling.
“We knew all the people who were involved with the Methow trails, and Carl has family here, so it’s not that we weren’t already hooked,” Roxie says. “We had a built-in community when we came here.”
The Millers have been active in the Shafer Museum, and were co-chairs of a Methow Conservancy capital campaign that raised more than $20 million. Roxie has been on the Winthrop Planning Commission and started a garden club. Carl has been active in Kiwanis and on the Methow Trails (former MVSTA) board. He also was part of a packing and guide business with his younger brother Claude. “We had ‘working vacations’ that were wonderful,” he says.
The Millers have been approached about become royalty for several years. Graves, whose family owned the Graves homestead that is now part of Pearrygin Lake State Park, was finally persuasive. “He said he wanted to see us in the parade before he died,” Roxie says.
Back in the day, Graves worked for Carl’s dad, Carl says, and the families were very close. Those long-time connections and generational continuity remain important. In fact, junior royalty Princess Emily Paul is Carl and Roxie’s grand-niece, and Claude Miller’s granddaughter.
From the earliest festivities, ’49er Days “has always been a valley kind of thing,” Roxie says, and the Millers are ready to enjoy every bit of it.
“We always make sure we have fun,” she says.
