During my youth, there was a zoo / animal sanctuary at Rocklands known as Wide Horizon on the road to Uitenhage. The owner / zookeeper was an iconoclast, with the pertinent sobriquet of Cowboy Mills. Being very young at the time, I recall very little of the place other that the entrance with a billboard advertising the delights inside. Whether we actually went inside, I cannot recall.

Main picture: Hugh Cadle Mills aka Cowboy Mills

Arrival of the Animals
This section deals with the arrival of the animals at the Wide Horizon Sanctuary in mid 1961. As Cowboy Mills died by his own hands 8 years later, this attraction, despite its lack of longevity, made a lasting impression on most who visited it.

https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/1096182

Title of video: S. AFRICA: The arrival of Wild Animals at Wide Horizon, Animal Sanctuary.
Date of release: 23rd December 1961
Summary per section:

• 1.”Si-Kiang” entering Port Elizabeth Harbour.

• 2. “Si-Kiang” tying up. 3.
• 3: Cowboy Mills greeting family waiting on shore.

• 4. Animals are uncovered with excited Stevedores crowding round.
• 5. Veterinary Surgeon & Cowboy Mills and his family examining the Sun Bear from India or Honey Bear.
• 6. Sun Bear being fed with an orange by Cowboy Mills.
• 7. Python is removed from box.
• 8. Mills and Robin Hillyar with Python. Congo monkey or Spotted nosed monkey.
• 9. Fighting with Python.
• 10. Giant South American Anteater leaves cage on deck.

• 11. Crew from Captain to Deckhand were very helpful during the two weeks journey by sea. Here from left to right chief engineer, Marinari, Captain Nicaise, and First Officer Breboir admire the Anteater being fed on deck by Cowboy Mills at extreme left.
• 12. Sun Bear being lifted from deck of the ship.
• 13. Cases full of animals in the air, being hoisted by crane from the ship.
• 14. Placing of crates on the waiting truck which will take them to the animal sanctuary.
• 15. Another shot of crane being hoisted by crane from deck to truck.
• 16. Animal crates being loaded on to the truck.
• 17. Truck loaded to capacity being guarded by Cowboy Mills.
• 18. Arrival at Quarantine Station in Animal Sanctuary.
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• 20. ” ” ” ” ” ” ” ” “
• SECOND REEL 21. The new arrivals are placed in especially prepared cages for their quarantine. Here a box containing a Patas Monkey is carried to its new home.
• 22. Patas monkey which is from the Congo in the Elizabethville region is released into its cage.
• 23. Cowboy Mills’ twin boys who speak fluent Xhosa carry a Redial Tortoise into a cage.

• 24. Ring-tailed Lemurs entering their new cage.
• 25. Giant Asiatic Hornbills enter their cage and perch on the branch provided. (Cameraman in cage)
• 26. Bruno the Sun Bear, carried in a crate to its cage.
• 27. Bruno entering the cage.
• 28. Bruno being fed by Cowboy Mills after entering.
• 29. Pigmy mongoose being carried to their new home.
• 30. Being very shy creatures, it was difficult to persuade them to leave the crate and when they did so, left from it with great speed.
• 31. The Anteater was released from its crate and allowed to wander around the station. Here it is shown eating ants at a tree root.
• 32. We now leave the Quarantine Station and have a look at a few of the more interesting animals to be seen in this animal sanctuary. Here a Young Giraffe is fed from the hand by visitors.
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• 33. Visitors examining a Drill Monkey.
• 34. Visitors looking at a lion which is walking up and down its cage.
• 35. Canadian grizzly and Siberian brown bear.
• 36. A 5-year-old Cape Buffalo.
• 37. Visitors watching the peculiar mouth action of the camel.
• 38. Wide Horizon Animal Sanctuary Sign.
• 39. Cowboy Mill’s house among the trees in the Animal Sanctuary.
• 40. Visitors looking over the fence at the camel, horse (mare) and foal.

Hugh Cadle Mills aka Cowboy Mills
DoB: 9 October 1925, East London
DoD: 28 January 1969 at Wide Horizon

Daphne MacQueen
DoB: 25 October  1926 Graaf Reinet
DoD: 28 January 1969 Port Elizabeth, Daphne, his twin sons, Howard and Basil with David Raymar’s boys

At the age of 44, Cowboy Mill’s life drew to a tragic close. On discovering that his wife was having an affair, he proceeded to the house, confronted her, killed her and then took his own life.

Basil Mill’s story
Basil is the son of Cowboy Mills and twin brother of Howard. In the video clip below Basil narrates the story of his life with his incongruous friends many of them vicious animals.

According to John Allen, Cowboy Mills had a house in Sydenham where he kept some strange reptiles etc in cages on the verandah.

Sources
David Raymar supplied some of the photos as well as the two clips
https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-99XQ-M45Y?lang=en&i=1
https://reuters.screenocean.com/record/1096182