As with others of the family, his birthplace was often listed as either Mead, CO. or Longmont, CO., nearby towns with more identifiable names

When Harley was 7 years old, in 1911, the family moved to the area of Bennett in eastern Colorado where the State and Federal Governments were promoting homesteading with promises to develop an irrigation system for the area. Their land was 6 miles west of the railroad and about 10 miles from both Bennett and Watkins, Colorado. This move proved a great mistake and, after almost 7 years of disappointment and near starvation and absence of the promised irrigation system, the family left this barren land in the winter of 1916-17 and moved back to Highland Lake.

The family's youngest daughter, Helen, having never recovered from the hardships of life on the dry prairies of eastern Colorado died within the year at age 6. Harley was 13 that year and he and another boy rode horseback to Mexico to herd cattle for the summer to help the family make ends meet. They returned in time for school that fall.

Harley finished high school in Mead, Colorado, about 8 miles from Highland Lake, where the family had moved to a small, comfortable house in the middle of town on the main street.

As was common among the families living in the farm areas of the time, Harley worked to help the family while he was in high school at a number of jobs as they became available or seasonable. He was athletic and participated in high school athletics and later as a member of the wrestling team at Colorado Agricultural College in Fort Collins. By the time he graduated from Fort Collins, the school was known as Colorado A & M; later to be changed to Colorado State University.

Ambition was a cardinal facet of Harley's personality and he was determined to improve on the conditions of his childhood experience. He worked at several jobs during his college career to defray the costs of tuition, books, fees and board and room including cooking in a sorority house and a downtown hamburger stand. In the summer he and another friend drove the tour bus up to Estes Park and he had another job from his hometown that he always kept and managed to accomplish. Every weekend he drove to Mead and unloaded a carload of coal for the local lumber yard who had it scheduled for distribution to the farms and ranches in the area.

When the college at Fort Collins changed to an agricultural and military university, Harley joined the ROTC program and upon graduation in 1929, was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U. S. Army Artillery. In the midst of his college career, Harley heard the siren's call of the sky and applied to and attended the U.S. Army flying Cadet Program at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas. After receiving his degree and teaching certificate, Harley married Ruth McCormick of Fort Collins. She had attended college in Fort Collins but graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Phi Beta Kappa, that same year. The young couple set off to make their fortune and started in Hoehne, Colorado where Harley was engaged as a teacher and coach in a small rural school in that south eastern Colorado town of a few hundred located along the old Santa Fe Trail

Harley's younger sister, Marjorie, had married Kenneth Page of Fort Worth, Texas and, after a year of teaching, Harley and Ruth moved to that city on June 1, 1930 to work in the magazine distribution company owned by Mr. Page. Shortly after, September 28, 1930, their oldest child, Harley Bruce Markham, Jr. was born. The couple soon moved on the New Mexico on June 1, 1931 where Harley had acquired and outdoor advertising firm. Roswell was not a large town so Harley was not only the owner but the only employee of the firm. He located, built, serviced and sold space on his posters in this one man operation.

In Casper, Wyoming the partnership of J.M. Stewart and James Wilson owned a sign company. The later was employed by the company years later in Scottsbluff, Nebraska as a sign painter. In January 1924, along with Harry O. Warton, they incorporated their sign business as Stewart and Company, Inc. at a value of $5,010. In April of 1925 they purchased the assets and business of the Wyoming Poster Company from Leigh B. Townsend and Hal Curran for $27,000; $10,000 cash and the balance at $425 per month, including interest at 8%, until paid.

In May, 1927, having grown the Fort Collins Express Courier to the position of the only daily newspaper in town, Ruth's father, George McCormick acquired an interest in the small outdoor advertising firm in Casper. The great depression of the 1930's was just around the corner and, by late 1933, the firm was floundering and the stockholders, having accumulated substantial debt including one owing to McCormick, were at odds. The president of the company, Harry O. Rohrbach, resigned in March, 1933

McCormick was pressing them for a return on his investment and service of the debt and he became president of the company in May 1933 and sole owner of the company soon after. George McCormick called on his son-in law, Harley to dispose his small outdoor advertising business in Roswell and manage the affairs of the company known since December 1928 as the Midwest Outdoor Advertising Company. With the understanding that he could eventually buy the company from McCormick, Harley uprooted his little family and headed north in May,1933. In June, 1934 their second son, William Lee, was born in the same Fort Collins hospital as his older brother.

As was so often the case in those days, the dynamics, fortune and future of a man and his family were unalterably tied to his occupation. In a closely held, family company, the story of the company is a large part of the story of the man and his family and vice versa.

During their first two months in Casper, the Markham family lived in a rental house at 115 E. 13th Street and, in July, 1933, moved into a small second story walk-up apartment at the Poling Apartments, 842 E. Durbin. They moved again in July 1934 to a rental house at 335 E. 12th where they remained until June, 1936 when they moved to another rental house at 537 E. 11th. In June 1937 they moved again to a rental house at 1242 S. Center St. then, in March 1938, to 905 S. Grant St. In June, 1940, they moved into the house they built at 1645 S. Walnut, the first residence they owned.

During these depression years money was scarce and all business was hard with more than a little being done on the basis of barter. Harley worked steadily for the survival of the company and actually managed to expand its territory through acquisition of outdoor advertising plants in Rawlins and Laramie from Laramie Poster for $11.500. By 1938 the Midwest Outdoor advertising Company operated outdoor advertising in the entire state with the exception of Cheyenne, General Outdoor Advertising of Chicago, Sheridan, Mrs. Delcia Neighbors and the the southwestern towns of Rock Springs and Evanston which belonged to the R.L. Bird Company of Salt Lake City.

Harley was active in community affairs, serving on the board of the chamber of commerce and generally participating in all the community functions designed to improve the business climate of the town. The foundations of the economics of Wyoming at the time consisted of cattle and sheep ranching and extraction of mineral resources, mainly oil. Three refineries flourished in Casper, Standard Oil of Indiana, Texaco and Socny Vacuum (Mobil) and Casper was the financial and market nucleus for most of the state.

In addition to a wild-grass, oiled-sand green, nine-hole community golf course, Casper sported a country club with a nine hole golf course with oiled-sand greens and a club house that was the social center for many of the town's business people. At this time and until World War II, the U.S. Cavalry still maintained remount stations throughout the west along the old trails. These stations along the old Bozeman Trail were located in Cheyenne, Casper, Sheridan, Billings and other towns had a fine supply of horse flesh and no shortage of cavalry officers to participate in polo games. The cavalry armory in Casper was the site of many a polo game with Harley and his friend, Tobe Allen and other local business men part of the team.

Wyoming is a state of superlatives. Dramatic rock and snow covered peaks that reach the sky, wide open prairies second to none, vast oil, gas, coal, uranium and potash reserves and some of the best fly fishing and hunting in the United States. As a sort of balance, Wyoming is also blessed with wild blizzards that sweep the plains in winter and winds that rarely let up in summer. Some say that the lack of dust storms can be accounted for by the fact that anything loose has long since been blown to Nebraska. In the early 1930's, Wyoming was an infant state, being the next to last of the continental United States, joining the union in 1914. Harley took advantage of the natural blessings of his adopted state and was an active hunter and fisherman who supplied a goodly amount of meat, fowl and fish for the family table.

Skiing was in its infancy in the 1930's and early '40's. Perhaps through desperation for some activity during the long winter months, a rudimentary ski tow was set up south of town on Casper Mountain. The Markhams were among the first to explore this new sport under Harley's leadership. He spent many week-ends pulling his kids out of snow drifts and helping them fill the sitz marks left in the soft, ungroomed snow. Harley attended the opening of the first great ski area in the western United States at Sun Valley and reinforced his interest in the sport.

In addition to being active in civic affairs, Harley participated the state, regional and national associations and organizations of the outdoor advertising industry. The history and story of that industry in the United States is fascinating and should be the subject of some future publication before all the people who remember the old days are gone.

Harley considered politics to be a cardinal responsibly of citizenship and could be quoted as saying, "Politics is the most important thing you ever do." He ran, unsuccessfully, for the state house of representatives and was active in local political events. Wyoming was a Democrat state in those days, a hold over from the rancher wars on the range of only a few decades before. Ruth ran for the school board with the same success. Neither of them ever looked back. In December, 1940, Harley acquired a half-interest in the company with a note in the amount of 10,528 payable to McCormick. The final payment on the note was made years later by H. Bruce Markham, Jr. after he had succeeded his father as head of the family company. McCormick remained president of the corporation until December, 1945.

Harley had attended some Army Reserve encampments during the 1930's and when war was declared following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, he was immediately called to active service as a First Lieutenant at age 37. he would have been a year older that month and, most likely, exempt from service due to his age and the size of his family. He was out of town on business when War Department letter came and upon his return, off he went to report to Fort Warren in Cheyenne as ordered. In a short time he was at Fort Sill, Oklahoma and, after a refresher course, took his place as part of the faculty of the Officer Candidate School and Battery Officers Course as an instructor in Field Artillery. He remained at Fort Sill until being transferred to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas as the great armies were being assembled for the invasion and campaigns on continental Europe

By the time he got to England he was a Captain and shortly after the invasion, during his transit of the English Channel on at LST, they were torpedoed in mid-channel by a German submarine. He and his group were successfully transferred to a British ship for the completion of the voyage across to France. He was now a major with the headquarters of the 15th Army and, after being on the nose of the Battle of the Bulge, moved east with the army as it moved through Belgium into Germany. His luck held and on VE day, he was in Paris to help celebrate the end of hostilities in Europe.

After spending some time with the army of occupation, Harley returned to the United States and shortly after the war was over was mustered out to return to civilian life and his family and job in Casper.

When Harley left almost overnight for the service, Ruth Markham took over the reins of the Midwest Outdoor Advertising Company and, with no prior experience and, while still caring for her two boys, conducted the business until Harley returned. The outdoor advertising industry was less than poor during the war with shortages of revenue, material, supplies and manpower. The fact that the company survived is due entirely to her tireless effort and dedication. Ruth managed to keep up her participation in the Casper Women's Study Club and served as a volunteer at the local USO serving the personnel of the Army Air Base which had been constructed west of Casper to train bomber pilots for service in Europe. Her troubles were magnified by the care required for her youngest son, Bill, who was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes in 1943

By January 1946, Harley's salary from the company had risen to $9,000 a year and in March of that year, the Overstreet Company's holdings in Scottsbluff and five other western Nebraska towns were added to the company's operating territory at a cost of $7,050. At about the same time Harley began negotiations with Bill Mussellman and Roy Eitel of Pocatello, Idaho for acquisition of their outdoor advertising businesses known as the Big 4 Advertising Company and Billz Signz Company for $150,000. This acquisition doubled the size of the combined operations and was made by a sister corporation to the original Midwest Outdoor, Markhams, Inc., with loans from Midwest Outdoor and the Casper National bank. One of Harley's unspoken objectives in life was to have a company that could support his family and their families.

As in Casper, Harley immediately took an interest in community affairs as a board member of the Chamber of Commerce, one of the organizers of the Golf and County Club, member of Rotary, Elks and the Masonic Lodge. He found plenty of time to fish the streams of southeast Idaho and continue his political activities. Ruth became a board member of the national Red Cross, was a leader in the local Red Cross blood program and spent a great deal of time working with the First Methodist Church in Pocatello.

Harley remained active with the Chicago based Outdoor Advertising Association of America and its regional bodies. he became president and chairman of that organization and help guide the trade associations activities for many years. He also served on the board of directors of Outdoor Advertising Incorporated, the industry's national sales company headquartered in New York. These activities demanded more than the average amount of traveling to the business and financial centers of the country and Washington, D.C., which he and Ruth enjoyed to the fullest.

The eldest son, Bruce, joined the company in 1955 after his release from active in the U.S. Navy and was followed by his younger brother a few years later. Harley slowly turned over the active management to Bruce and concentrated on his civic and political activities.

Under the management of Bruce with Harley still participating, the outdoor advertising plants in southwestern Wyoming and northern Utah belonging to the R.L. Bird Company of Salt Lake City were acquired by a partnership of Harley, Bruce and Bill. Bruce then negotiated for the plants in Bozeman, Miles City and the lower Yellowstone Valley and Helena, Montana which were acquired by the Tri-State Partnership. Son Bill moved to Casper to assume management of that division of the company operations

In 1960 and 1961 respectively, The Hayward Larkin Company of Spokane, Washington and the Llewelyn Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico were purchased and all the holdings of the Markhams were consolidated through merger into the Markham Advertising Company, Inc. The company now operated in 7 western states, a far cry from the few poster panels and signs originally acquired from Stewart and Company in Casper. Harley had reached his ambition of having a company large enough to support the whole family.

He had been chairman of the Bannock County Republican Central Committee and was elected National Committeeman to represent the state party with the Republican National Committee., an office he served for many years. Following the 1960 presidential election, Harley was chairman of the Committee formed by the Republican National Committee to determine if and how the election had been stolen in Illinois, Texas and other suspected states.

He frequently traveled with his friend, 4 time Idaho Governor Robert E. Smylie, to a number of Republican National Conventions and to National Governors' Conferences of which Smylie was chairman. When U.S. Senator Henry Dworshak died in office, Harley was considered for appointment to that office. At the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida, Harley served as housing chairman, a job which took him away for several months.

Another activity that took Harley away for some time was service as representative of the Outdoor Advertising industry in Washington, D.C. during Ladybird Johnson's attempt to eradicate the industry in 1965. With the help of Garden Clubs of America and other enemies of the industry, she was successful in having broad legislation passed controlling outdoor advertising along the federally supported road system. However, due entirely to Harley's efforts, provisions in the legislation provided for the payment of "Just Compensation" to the owners of assets confiscated under the act. This alone allowed the owners of outdoor advertising structures around the nation to be paid for the exercise of the "Police Powers" of the state when they ordered sign structures to come down.

Harley got a big kick out of newspaper portrayals of the "Billboard Lobby" in Washington D.C. as a large, overpaid and overweight group of cigar smoking schemers working with endless cash and bribes behind the legislative scene. In fact, this one man from a small company in a small western town who was unpaid and maintained and office with one secretary in a non nondescript Washington building represented the industry's entire lobbying effort. The press of the time were open in their opposition to outdoor advertising and perfectly willing to admit that they considered it an industry competing with them for advertising dollars.

During the late 1960's Harley and Ruth started spending some of their time in Scottsdale, Arizona, seeking relief from the long Idaho winters. They eventually moved full-time to Scottsdale where Harley remained active, playing golf and participating in local political functions. During this time they took several trips abroad, visiting The United Kingdom, Europe, Africa, and China. In July, 1968, their youngest son, Bill, died of complications following a car accident near Dubois, Wyoming. Throughout their lives, Harley and Ruth maintained a close relationship with their son's widow, Ann, and her 4 girls.

In January, 1980, Harley and Ruth moved to the Los Gatos Meadows, a retirement facility in California's south bay city of Los Gatos. Harley continued for some years with his golf and they remained at the Meadows until their deaths; Harley in October 1984 at age 80 and Ruth in July, 1998 at age 91. The couple is interred at the Memorial Cemetery in Casper, Wyoming alongside their son, Bill.

In all the communities in which they resided and all the organizations and functions they contributed to so generously and tirelessly, Harley and Ruth were a major and welcome part. Their story is one of success in a difficult and often misunderstood business in small western towns in spite of the dust bowls of the early part of the 20th century, the ravages of the great depression and the trials of World War II. They were both team players and leaders who established a tempo, attitude and demeanor within which they could perform and others could successfully work toward the common benefit of their family, business, industry and community.