12/23/2008 6:04:00 AM
Van Wert artist sees the other side of the battle
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| Kirk Dougal/Times Bulletin
Above is an oil painting of one of the many Native American subjects Miller portrayed in his artwork. |
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BY KAY SLUTERBECK
Times Bulletin Correspondent
It is easy to understand how a boy could become fascinated by Custer's Last Stand. The gallantry, the larger than life characters and the battle against all odds - it would all conspire to seem like some grand adventure. How many times have you seen a ten-year-old playing cowboys and indians with their friends? Now ask, how many times does the boy ask about the victors in the battle?
David Humphreys Miller was the son of two artists, Lew and Edna Miller of Van Wert. When he was a teenager in the 1930s, he became obsessed with the 1876 Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand. The mystery associated with the battle baffled Miller. If participants in the battle were still alive, why hadn't they spoken? Those participants were the Native Americans and they had never been the focus of the writers who chronicled the battle.
Incredibly, the 16-year-old Miller convinced his parents to let him go west in search of history. They gave him a Plymouth coupe and $100 with the only stipulation that he promise to be back in time for school in the fall.
Miller traveled to Pine Ridge, South Dakota, beginning a journey that would continue for the next 60 years. By the time the last survivor, Iron Hail, died in 1955, Miller had interviewed all the Native American survivors of the battle and published a book, Custer's Fall. The book described the battle from the Native American perspective, but it was the research that endeared Miller to the Indians.
In a statement he wrote years later, Miller discussed his relentless drive to relay this untold part of America's past.
"I recall feeling a considerable sense of urgency when I began my quest. Will Durant has written that 'no man in a hurry is quite civilized.' I was anything but civilized in my haste to find as many old veterans of Little Big Horn as I could to straighten out history."
Over the years he interviewed 70 warriors, drew dozens of sketches, and painted oil portraits of Native Americans from numerous tribes. They grew to trust him because he listened to what they had to say. Along the way Miller learned 12 native languages so he could talk with the Indians without a translator.
He became so accepted by the Plains Indians that he was adopted as a son by Black Elk, the renowned Ogallala Sioux medicine man who was present at both the Little Big Horn and the 1890 Massacre at Wounded Knee. Miller's collection of artifacts included Black Elk's walking stick, adorned with 10 eagle feathers, and the war bonnet of White Bull, the warrior who may have killed George Armstrong Custer himself. Miller did not consider himself a collector. He was given these things by his friends, out of fondness and trust. In all, there are more than 2,100 items in the Miller collection, including photographs, sketches, paintings, notes, interviews, and objects.
Miller died in San Diego in 1992, and the collection passed to a family friend, Sandy Solomon of San Francisco. Solomon wanted to see the collection go into public hands, but couldn't afford to give it away because of the costs she incurred while dealing with Miller's estate so the collection went up for sale.
Brent Stevens has been collecting work by David Humphreys Miller, Lew Miller and Edna Miller since 1977, after being introduced to a Lew Miller painting by his grandfather, Bill Hoeken. Brent eventually began promoting Miller and his work in 2003. He felt the work Miller did with the survivors of the Battle of Little Big Horn was an important part of history that was not getting the publicity it deserved.
In 2006, Stevens began working with John's Western Gallery in California to save the collection of works in the estate of David Humphreys Miller. By bringing more exposure to David Humphreys Miller and his work, Stevens hoped to keep the collection from being dismantled and lost forever as a complete collection. As a part of that effort, Stevens contacted the Wassenberg Art Center.
"Van Wert can be very proud of this native son," says Stevens. "He dedicated his life's work to studying the survivors of Little Big Horn and has shed new light on the true story of Custer's Last Stand."
The Wassenberg Art Center will be presenting an exhibit of the Miller family works - Lew, Edna and David Humphreys Miller - in January. In addition to David's national renown, his father Lew was also recoginized across the country as an artist. In fact, it was his works that sparked interest of the arts in Charles and Vera Wassenberg, eventually leading to their donation for a community art center.
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