Miller became a familiar underworld figure and, according to popular lore, he kept his headquarters at "a lamp-post on the southwest corner of Broadway and Twenty-Eighth Street, against which he could generally be found leaning".
Once he had learned enough from them, he took another more knowledgeable partner and soon began competing with such leading swindlers as Joseph "Hungry Joe" Lewis and McDermott.
Miller possessed a great deal of loyalty from his henchmen and, by directing his schemes though them, criminal prosecution against him was made extremely difficult.
He also held a great deal of influence in the city legal system, due to his extensive police and political connections, which allowed considerable power to "pull the strings of the law when ever he so chose".
[4] He was especially well known in the affluent communities of Long Branch, Nantasket Beach, Richfield Springs and other resorts frequented by New York high society.
Miller fired three shots, one of which only slightly grazed Tracy, and the saloon keeper fell to the floor and began calling for the police.
[4] At around midnight on November 7, 1881, Miller was drinking at Dick Darling's Broadway saloon with several of his friends including Bill Bowie, George Law Jr., Harry Rice, Charles Crawford and Billy Temple.