1961H67

I found out a few more things about the Millers , mostly from his nephew and some from the Abees that worked for them. Evidently 10Tucky Stables & Farms was one of the most successful in the Walking Horse community in the 70s and early 80s . John C “ Tennessee “ Miller passed away in 1984 , His wife in the early 90s , they had no children. They left most of their fortune to Middle Tennessee University, Over 20 Million Dollars. The 154 acre complex was built with the money . They had an auction at 10Tucky Stables, Joe Jaines said he didn’t inherit the LTH , he was the highest bidder ( he never told me what he paid) . He brought it to White Pine , Tennessee . A few pictures, some staff at 10Tucky in 1978, The John C “ Tennessee “ Miller Colosseum. And a write up on his induction into the Walking Horse Hall of Fame.And 10Tucky as it looks today, privately owned.

I would like to thank everyone on here for your support! It was a fun journey.

After we took the LJ to Mack’s 125th birthday celebration I was contacted by Mack’s Bulldog Magazine for a interview, this came out in this months issue, it can be accessed online to read the article, I was grateful for the opportunity to share the journey.

Yes you can, It’s big Money also! The way I understood John C Millers nephew, Joe Jaines continued to work in Alaska for a while and Mr Miller eventually sold his company ( Frontier Companies of Alaska Inc) in the late 70s . I think they relocated to Lewisburg Tennessee. Alan Abe’s father worked for 10Tucky as their Farrier and Blacksmith, and also hauled the horses. There was a Lady, famous in the Walking Horse World named Billie Nipper, she was a artist, she did this painting of John C “ Tennessee “ Miller , if you look closely there’s horses, mules , some construction images. Miller gave Mr Abee a copy, his son Alan sent me this picture of it .

Great idea, I have often thought about finding someone that attends the Walking Horse championships regularly over in Tennessee,,, I’ll keep looking for more information, there are a few people locally who have Tennessee Walkers, they have been to the National events, I mentioned 10Tucky and the Millers to them and they knew exactly who I was talking about, so they were a big deal back in the day, Kinda like Mentioning Petty Enterprise and Richard Petty around here , A big deal back in the day .

I need to interject this story before I get ahead of myself, it’s one of the most coincidental stories that I’ve ever heard ( I couldn’t even make this one up) . Finding out that My LTH and Dan Thomas’s was consecutive numbers were 200 to 1 , because that’s how many LTHs were built. This Coincidence is 18 Million to 1 ,, the population of North Carolina and Tennessee ! Here we go, My best friend in High School, Brian has been a manager of a hydraulic hose business for 35 years and knows NOTHING about a truck. He stopped by my shop about a week after I brought the LTH , I was showing him the engine change, we talked a bit and he left. About a week later he stopped at a older fellows shop near Hickory NC that had been a customer of his ( about a mile off I40 ) years ago, the shop was locked up, he saw a man across the road working on a truck, he walked over and asked if he had seen the older gentleman lately and was told he had retired but came by from time to time. Brain said the guy was setting on the tire and the hood was up on the truck, he noticed it was a Mack Superliner with a Detroit,( RW770 8v92 ) He told the guy that his friend (me) had purchased a old Mack with a Detroit a few weeks ago,, the guy asked him what color it was, Brian told him faded Yellow with 10Tucky on the door, He said the fellow looked at him as he had seen a ghost, and about fell off the truck! He said he had ridden in that truck when he was a kid his Dad drove it some for the Millers , His Dad also was the Blacksmith for 10Tucky Stables !! Brain had me on the phone with him ( Alan Abee ) within 10 minutes, I talked to Alan for about a hour. He has given me a lot of information, some pictures from his old magazines, I stay in touch with him often, him and his brother use the Superliner hauling their equipment, he also is a Blacksmith for the Tennessee Walking Horses. I had a better chance winning a lottery than meeting Alan this way! It’s over 400 miles from Hickory NC to Lewisburg , TN !

I really knew nothing of the Tennessee Walking Horse until I started researching this truck but it looks like they have a pretty big following. But that’s what the LTH was transformed from a work truck to a show truck to haul the Millers Show Horses , they had a trailer all dolled up that the LTH pulled. Unfortunately I haven’t found any pictures of them hooked together the only picture of the trailer is in a Walking Horse magazine from back in the 70s, and haven’t found any clue about it’s whereabouts. Here’s a picture of a flyer from the early 70s , it even has the Millers names still listed from Fairbanks Alaska , Later it was listed they were from Lewisburg Tennessee. In the picture of the magazine you can only see the rear tire of the truck hooked to the trailer. I would love to find a picture of it all together, and that annual Celebration in Shelbyville TN is a very big event,, I’m sure it was there many times throughout the 70s . Maybe one day a picture will pop up.

10Tucky name, according to Joe Jaines his nephew, the Millers had a Walking horse farm in Tennessee and a Mule farm in Kentucky, Therefore a play on words 10 For Tennessee and Tucky for Kentucky! Anyone remember the old Western “ Tales of Wells Fargo “ with Dale Robertson ? I’ve never been able to find out if they were business partners or just friends but they hung around together, her is Dale Robertson with them at the 1973 Walking Horse Celebration in Shelbyville Tennessee.

Tube type is getting harder to get here,, I’ll get more on this when I finish the LTH story

This old Mack has been around way more than its younger Sister,, but I love that one also, it’s like a time capsule because it was never modified. Watergate was raging I was 14 years old, Reading back on 1973 the Nation needed a hero, And it got one! In the spring Secretariat one the Triple Crown, with records that still haven’t been broken ( I’m not really a Horse person, but I love the Secretariat story, ) I have a picture hanging in my office signed by jockey Ron Turcotte , the famous “ Looking Back “ Shot to see what 22 lengths looked like! We have all heard that story,, But not many of us in the truck world have heard of the other famous Horse in the fall of 1973 ,,,The World Grand Champion “ Delight Bumin Around “ Tennessee Walking Horse,, Owned by John C & Mary Miller of 10 Tucky Stables, I got most of these photos from a magazine I got while researching the truck and a few that people posted on facebook,,, there’s still more!

I’ve got some more interesting things,( the most important as the history of the truck as it looks today) I’ll try to get some more pictures to go with it before the weekend is over. For those of us who were around in 1973 ,,, think of some famous things that happened. If you weren’t you have probably heard about them.

I’m about halfway through this story so I will continue before I forget something, The last time I talked with Joe Janes , John C Millers nephew he told me all he knew about the truck and some of the details. John & Mary Miller were big into Tennessee Walking Horses, sometime around 1970 he sent the LTH back down to middle Tennessee where he had a farm, Joe said he was unsure who did the restoration & custom painting and chrome work . He said there were once some pictures of it when it was finished but he had no clue where they ended up. The old Mack had helped make John C Miller millions of dollars , and for a truck in the early 70s he wanted it to look like a million bucks. It was painted yellow, added roof a/c , lots of Chrome! Axles , glove box, heater cover, dash, twin exhaust and aluminum tanks ( personally i like the box/steps on a LTH , but this is the way he did it ) . It has a clock in the glove box cover, and a 8 track tape player ( I found a Jonny Horton “ North to Alaska “ tape that I keep in it ) . All the tires were branded with their names on them. A long way from working hard logging in Northern California & hauling equipment in Alaska. This Sister started wearing a lot of “ BLING” !

Good thoughts, I’m not sure when that became law, My 61 H Model had a driveline brake when I got it in 1995 , and they used it to move a 175 IHC loader for years before I got it ,,,but here in NC they were just state inspections , the federal inspection did not have to be done until about 1990 because I let my NC certificate go dead after that . Our 65 C Mack has a setup like the LTH but uses long rods instead of cables,,, Probably like you said,when they passed the law in the 60s there were several aftermarket companies making spring brake conversions.

Yes the transmission and rear ends are original, 10 speed Duplex with a divorced 3 speed Brown Lipe auxiliary transmission, lol , direct and overdrive . When I was talking to Wayne Hyatt about it, he asked if it still had the “ Brownie Box “ the way his Dad ordered it. And it would have had a drive shaft emergency brake, with a lever between the seats and a drum on the back of the transmission. I have no clue if that spring brake system was a aftermarket truck item or something from a off road vehicle,, it’s worked well for probably 60 years,, They had no worries about DOT or weight scales up there,, I think they had my drivers license number memorized at the westbound scale on I85 coming out of Charlotte with my Western Star!

I assume they added that spring brake system when the engine was switched, it’s pretty neat, it works well. It doesn’t have a Jake brake on it, I have one for a 318 but really doesn’t need it now except for fun . I think Dans truck has had a Jake installed. I don’t think they came out with one for a Cummins ( Mr Cummins was the inventor of it ,, Another story) I have a real low serial Model 20 on my LJ ,, According To D.A. Strickland it’s one of the first around 1963 I think,, he has a B73 with the same model. Any way if you look at the dash in mine and read the article on Dans it shows a lot of stuff that has been added to this one ,, Mostly in Anchorage. The 3rd stick behind the fuel pedal is the 3 speed “ Browine “