John Miller (North Dakota politician)

John Miller (October 29, 1843 – October 26, 1908) was a bonanza farmer, business man and American Republican politician in North Dakota. He served as the first Governor of North Dakota from 1889 to 1891, after it was admitted as a state to the union.

Born in the Finger Lakes region of New York state, Miller had moved to the Dakota Territory in 1878. With a partner he bought thousands of acres of land for what was called bonanza farming: large-scale farming of wheat as a commodity crop on an industrial scale. The Northern Pacific Railroad connected such farms to the populous eastern markets. He became a wealthy partner or owner of three major agricultural companies; the last also provided milling and other services.

Miller was born in Dryden, New York, in 1843 in the Finger Lakes region. He became a farmer there. In the late 19th century, the government sold off large amounts of land at inexpensive prices in the Dakota Territory after extinguishing Native American claims, and Miller joined the thousands of people moving there. So many came from the Northern Tier of states that they established a political and social culture similar to that in New York, the Upper Midwest and New England.

In 1878, he moved to the Dakota Territory with Jeremy W. Dwight and purchased 17,000 acres (69 km²) of land in the fertile Red River Valley land of Richland County. As "bonanza farmers," the two men established the Dwight Farm and Land Company, selling some land as speculators. They became quite wealthy from cultivation of wheat as a commodity crop.

Miller married Addie S. Tucker on February 22, 1882. They had two daughters.

In 1888 Miller was elected to the Dakota Territory Council, the territorial legislature. In 1889 Miller participated in the constitutional convention that resulted in North Dakota statehood. In 1889 he was the Republican nominee for Governor of North Dakota. He had no aspirations to the office, but North Dakota Republicans were convinced that he was the only candidate who could unite the party -- Miller had developed a reputation for honesty by resisting lobbyists and others who attempted to obtain favorable action from the Council through bribery and other corrupt means. Persuaded that if he did not run the Republicans would lose, Miller agreed to become a candidate.

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