The collection comprises more than 200 objects and was acquired from Rebecca Masland, an antiques dealer who purchased it in 1969 and kept it in an armoire in her shop. The Chapman was loaned the collection in 1998 for an exhibition, but it returned to storage until 2022 when the collection of wooden carvings of animals, people, model wagons, and religious figures was acquired by the Chapman Museum.
Julius Mortimer Miller (1850-1955) — best known as Broncho Charlie — lived a long and adventurous life, the stories of which begin when he was an 8-year-old boy taming wild horses to earn a living. At age 11, he was the last and youngest Pony Express Rider before the service closed. He traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show as “The Most Famous Broncho Buster in the West”; was a circus performer; trained horses for President Teddy Roosevelt; was an Army dispatch rider; and a range war fighter storied to have ridden with Jesse James and General Custer. He traveled throughout Europe performing in Wild West shows and was a star performer at Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1887. In 1889, he met and married Glens Falls native Carrie Potter. The couple moved to Glens Falls, where Miller spent his most prolific years. He worked and raised his children in the city, and is buried here.
