Slug Mills: Historian, Collector, Businessman

The man cuts an impressive figure as he enters a room, generally clad in his favorite color – red. When that room is in his personal museum of local memories, and he begins to explain what lies therein, he becomes even more impressive. The man is a virtual encyclopedia of historical knowledge.

The fellow of which we write, Slug Mills, has built this remarkable collection of knowledge and historical artifacts during his 70+ years of life in Southeastern Montana, building an equally remarkable auction and real estate business, as well as a family, along the way.

Despite many rumors about how Slug received his nickname, during an interview last week Mills revealed that the moniker was gained innocently enough. When he was born, the delivery doctor, Dr. Amick of Broadus, noted that due to his size, he was "a helluva slug."

"The name stuck, and it's been that way ever since," Mills said.

"My whole family has been collectors," he noted. "Grandpa Williams was a collector; his western collection is now the Tri-State Museum in Belle Fourche."

As he grew up on the family ranch at Boyes, Slug's interest in history and collecting began from an early age, as he foraged the Boyes area for a diverse variety of prizes, including horse headstalls, Indian arrowheads, cartridges, and more.

When the country was still full of people, Boyes was a lot busier place than a passerby would realize today. The original Boyes townsite, built along the old Fort Keogh to Fort Meade trail, was located further north of its present position along Hwy 212. Slug spent a lot of time exploring the old site, and has a neat collection of treasures found at the old Boyes site. Boyes even had a newspaper for approximately four years during WWI, the Boyes Blaze. Slug has a well-preserved issue in his collection.

Slug went on to graduate from high school in Broadus, and after a brief stint in college, performed construction work until his father's untimely death in 1963, when Slug was 19.

Slug then returned home, to help his mom with the ranching, as well as to run a custom spraying busing, all while helping to put his two sisters and brother through college.

Mills married Poppy Gaskill in 1965, and in 1967 the couple welcomed their first daughter, Darlynn, followed by another daughter, Charlee, in 1974.

Meanwhile, Slug built up the ranch, acquiring some other properties and eventually translating his interest in history and collecting into a business – when he went through auctioneering school in 1978.

Additionally, in the early 80's, Slug began in the real estate business, and currently employs a host of local real estate agents in selling properties.

Since that time, Slug has built an impressive auctioneering business, employing his family in the process. "We do about 55-60 auctions a year," Slug humbly said.

Mills Auction Service also handles a number of volunteer auctions every year, including benefits for folks who have been through injuries and hard times, for instance the Quincy Bayo benefit, held earlier this year, or Joe Stuver's benefit. Slug noted that they also do volunteer auctions elsewhere, including a yearly benefit in Camp Crook, SD, and several in Spearfish and Gillette. "We do around ten benefit auctions a year," Slug described.

Working as an auctioneer, Slug has translated his interest in history into a working knowledge of everything he sells. This means that folks attending one of his auctions not only get to bid on and bring home cool old stuff.

They also learn something interesting about the history of the goods being sold, as Slug will often explain the why and when behind an old piece of machinery or household good that may have just been another "piece of stuff" if a person didn't know the backstory.

Over the years, auctions have changed, with some goods fading or gaining popularity over the years, Slug noted. "Oak furniture used to be a big seller, now not as much. There's always a market for restoration tractors, ranch equipment, and guns, but there's a definite ebb and flow."

While Slug was selling, he was also collecting, amassing an impressive collection of his own. His museum houses a "general store" of earthenware jugs and other assorted sundries like may have been found in an older store, and an impressive amount of horse tack. Something really interesting seemed to lie just about everywhere a person looked, for example, an old telephone switchboard from the short lived Boyes Telephone Company, which had sixteen folks on the line.

"You get to know the values, and you've gotta be fair," Slug said of the auctioneering process. "Folks know how much stuff is worth, so there's an art to knowing where to start the bidding."

Slug has now been fair and knowledgeable and the art of auctioneering for 40 years, with no plans to retire.

For those looking to acquire some neat stuff of their own and see Slug in action, Mills Auction Service will be holding the Ruby Olson Estate Auction, south towards Biddle along Highway 59, this Saturday.