The History of the Yakima Valley, Washington, Comprising Yakima, Kittitas and
Benton Counties, The S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., 1919, Volume II, page 60

ROBERT BRUCE MILROY.

Robert Bruce Milroy has the distinction of having been a member of the first law
firm of Yakima, where he began practice in 1884, but long previous to this time
he had seen central Washington, for he was a messenger in the Indian service in
1873 and has passed through the valley. He was born in Rensselaer, Indiana,
September 25, 1859, has back of him an ancestry honorable and distinguished and
is fortunate that his lines of life have been cast in harmony therewith. His
grand-father was General Samuel Milroy, who served with the rank of major
general in the War of 1812 and also in Indian wars. The father was General R. H.
Milroy, a distinguished veteran of the Mexican and Civil wars and a promoter of
civilization upon the western frontier. He was born in Indiana in 1816, his
father having settled in that state in 1809. The date of General R. H. Milroy's
birth preceded the admission of Indiana into the Union by a year. In early
manhood he took up the practice of law and became an able attorney. The military
spirit of his father, however, was a dominant characteristic in the son and he
became a captain in the Mexican war. In days of peace he gave his attention to a
large law practice in Indiana and was serving as judge when the Civil war broke
out. He had watched with interest and studied closely the progress of events in
the south and on the 7th of February, 1861, he issued the first call for troops
in the United States. Few so clearly saw or understood the situation as he. When
the news came that the south had fired upon the flag at Fort Sumter, he however,
had only two recruits, but he at once went to the courthouse, rang the bell and
before breakfast his entire company was raised. He had served with General Lew
Wallace in the Mexican war, of whom he was also a classmate, and their
friendship was one that existed through life. General Milroy's training in the
Mexican war well qualified him for the duties which he now assumed in connection
with the defense of the Union. He was made colonel of the Ninth Indiana Infantry
and his regiment went to the front with the first Indiana troops. The first man
killed from the state was John Boothroyd, who was a member of Colonel Milroy's
regiment. On the 1st of September, 1861, Colonel Milroy was promoted to the rank
of brigadier general and in March, 1863, was raised to the rank of major
general, ranking from November 23, 1862. He served until the close of the Civil
w4r and in May, 1863, was presented by the Twenty-fifth Ohio Infantry with a
sword worth one thousand dollars. The scabbard was silver and the sword was a
Damascus blade with jeweled hilt set with diamonds and other precious stones.
There were three other swords also presented to him at various times in his
life. Such was his known bravery, valor and qualities of leadership that
Jefferson Davis offered one hundred thousand dollars for General Milroy, dead
or alive, and the rebel legislature of Virginia offered twenty-five thousand
dollars. He was known as "the old gray eagle." Four horses were shot from under
him in battle. At the battle of Winchester in 1863 he was caught by Lee's
troops, numbering ninety thousand, and his own soldiers numbered but six
thousand. He had orders to "hold on" and then the wires were cut. He "held on"
for three days and then cut his way out. He was blamed by some historians for
not getting out before, but the point was that he obeyed orders and historians
who have investigated the circumstances have for him only words of the strongest
commendation for his courage, his loyalty and his obedience.

General Milroy was a very prominent and honored resident of Indiana throughout
the period in which he made that state his home. In 1872. however, he removed
westward to Olympia. Washington, to become superintendent of Indian affairs in
the northwest and remained in the Indian service until the office was abolished.
He was then put in charge of all the agencies on the Sound. In 1882 he came to
Yakima as agent of the Yakima reservation, having charge of all the Indians from
the Columbia river north to Wenatchee and an exceedingly broad territory
surrounding. He was the first man dismissed on account of "offensive
partisanship" by Grover Cleveland. He was a stalwart republican and made a few
political speeches in the east while on a visit there. He became as prominent
and influential in the wept as he had been in the east and at all times and
under all circumstances he was a most progressive citizen, his aid and influence
being given on the side of advancement and improvement. He began the building
of the branch railway from Olympia to Tenino and he had the Piute ditch dug on
the Indian reservation, this being one of the first irrigation projects of the
Yakima valley. He was the first person who started the allotment of lands in
severalty to the Indians, which course he pursued in the '70s before any
legislation to that effect had been enacted. He was one of the first to advocate
taking the Indian children and educating them in order to civilize them and he
assisted in establishing the Forest Grove Indian school, later called the
Chemawa School. He believed that the Indians should own their land and have
educational privileges. He was a very close student of the problems of the red
men and did all in his power to secure justice to them in their treatment by the
government. He passed away at Olympia, March 30, 1890, the city thus losing one
of its most eminent residents, one whose career had not only reflected credit
and honor upon the state in which he made his home, but upon the whole nation.
His contribution to the world's work had been most valuable and his ability was
attested by distinguished men throughout the country.

The name of Robert Bruce Milroy is also interwoven with the history of the
Yakima valley. He acquired his early education in the public schools of Indiana
and, in the west, at Olympia. He afterward became a student in the Territorial
University of Washington at Seattle and then entered the United States Naval
Academy at Annapolis. He next became a student at Hanover College of Indiana and
pursued his law course in the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. In 1884 he
came to Yakima to visit his father and in March, 1885, he opened a law office in
North Yakima in connection with his brother, W. J. Milroy, theirs being the
first law firm of the city. Later they built the first two-story building on
Yakima avenue and in it maintained their law office. They were accorded a
liberal clientage and Robert B. Milroy remained an able and prominent member of
the Yakima bar until 1897, when he went to Alaska, where he resided for twelve
years. He was engaged in mining for two years at Dawson and later he opened a
law office in Nome, where he continued in the active and successful practice of
his profession until 1901. In 1902 he again took up mining and afterward divided
his time between mining and law practice until 1908, when he returned to the
United States, and in 1909 once more became a resident of Yakima. Here he has
practiced continuously since and is now occupying the office of police judge.
He was also assistant attorney general of Washington under the first attorney
general, W. C. Jones, in 1892. He is a lawyer of marked ability and
comprehensive knowledge and has left the impress of his individuality and
professional powers upon the legal history of the state.

On the 28th of May, 1889, Mr. Milroy was united in marriage to Miss Pauline
Whitson, a daughter of judge Curtis W. Whitson, who was a member of the supreme
court of Idaho.

In politics Mr. Milroy has ever been a stalwart republican and for sixteen years
in all has served as chairman of the county central republican committee. Aside
from the offices which he has held in the strict line of his profession, he was
a member of the state legislature in 1894. Fraternally he is connected with the
Independent Order of Odd Fellows. There is perhaps no man who has a more
intimate or accurate knowledge concerning the history of this section of the
state and he is one of the best known citizens of the Yakima valley, enjoying
the goodwill, confidence, honor and trust of all with whom he has been brought
in contact.

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Submitted to the Washington Bios Project in December 2007 by Jeffrey L. Elmer.
Submitter has no additional information about the subject of this article.