A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 113

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

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On December 2, 1884, Mr. Hartman was married to Miss Flora B. Imes, who was born in White county, Indiana, the sixth in order of birth of the eight chil- dren of William and Malinda (Faris) Imes, both of whom are deceased. Mr. Imes was for a number of years engaged in the insurance business. Mr. and Mrs. Hartman have had two daughters: Lois, teacher of domestic science in the State University at Salt Lake City, Utah; and Flora, a music teacher, who was mar- ried August 21, 1912, to Roy D. Pinkerton and resides at Glendale, California. The family is connected with the Presbyterian church.

LOREN W. ORVIS. The pioneer merchant of Sales- ville, Montana, where he has been engaged in business for nearly twenty years, Loren W. Orvis has the dis- tinction of being a self-made man, and one who has so conducted his activities as to redound to the best in- terests of his community. Miner, farmer and merchari- dizer, Mr. Orvis has been a busy and industrious work- man, but has found time to give to his city as a public official, and through his ability and conscientious regard for duty has won the unqualified esteem of his fellow citizens. Mr. Orvis was born in Oakfield, Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, March 16, 1853, and is a son of James and Julia (Lawrence) Orvis.

The Orvis family originated in this country in the New England states, whence three brothers came prior to 1600, in which year there was a George Orvis liv- ing in Massachusetts. James Orvis was born August 15, 1818, in Vermont, and in 1849 removed to Wiscon-

sin, locating at Fond du Lac, where he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. Subsequently he became the proprietor of a sawmill, owning the water power and building the mill at Avoca, Wisconsin, and being a pioneer in that line of industry. For a number of years he was also engaged in agricultural pursuits in Fond du Lac county, but retired from activities some time prior to his death, which occurred in 1885. His wife, born in New York state, in 1831, died in 1885, having been the mother of nine children, six of whom survive, of whom Loren W. is the oldest. James Orvis was orig- inally a Whig and later a Republican, served as a mem- ber of the school board and in other township offices for many years, and was eventually sent to represent his district in the state legislature.

Loren W. Orvis secured his education in the schools of Oakfield, Wisconsin, and in 1875 removed to Canton, Iowa, from whence he went to Calliope, in the same state. For some time he was an employe of the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad, but resigned his position to en- gage in farm work at Eldora, and from there returned to his home in Wisconsin, where he spent about two years. In January, 1879, Mr. Orvis went to the Black Hills and moved on to Bismarck, North Dakota, by stage, spending about two years. On June 1, 1882, he · arrived in Miles City, Montana, having traveled over- land with his own tcam, and subsequently went to old Coulson, Bozeman and Cook City. He was engaged in mining and prospecting in the latter place, and later at old Three Forks and Toston on the Missouri river, and in 1885 located near Salesville, where he was en- gaged in farming. On January 1, 1893, Mr. Orvis became the pioneer merchant of Salesville, establish- ing himself in a general merchandise business that has become the leading store of its kind in this section. He carries a full line of up-to-date goods, and has every convenience for his customers. A man of the strict- est integrity, the confidence in which he is held by the community has been shown by his election to the office of clerk and trustee of the school board for some eight or ten years, where his duties were discharged in an able and faithful manner. In political matters he is an ardent Republican. He is a member of Salesville Lodge No. 69, I. O. O. F., and was elected noble grand in January, 1912. He has many friends in the order, as he has, indeed, in business and social circles.

On August 17, 1891, Mr. Orvis was married to Mrs. Mary E. Schmidt, widow of Paul Schmidt, and daugh- ter of Robert C. and Lana (Spry) Thomas, and born in Canton, Fulton county, Illinois. Her father, a na- tive of Covington, Kentucky, born in 1830, was three years of age when taken to Illinois by his parents, and on reaching manhood engaged in a general merchandise business at Canton. In 1869 he removed to Carter county, Missouri, where he carried on a general mer- chandise business and grist mill until 1874, in which year he removed to Jasper county. For thirty-four years he was a resident of Nashville, Missouri, and was one of the leading local preachers of the United Brethren church. He was deputy sheriff in Fulton county, Illi- nois, and while a resident of Jasper county, Missouri, acted as assessor for many years. In the latter part of his life he came to Montana, where his death oc- curred in 1903, when he was seventy-three years of age. He was married October 6, 1853, to Miss Lana Spry, who was born in Knox county, Ohio, in 1831, and she died January 4. 1902, having been the mother of ten children, of whom five are still living, Mrs. Orvis being the fourth in order of birth. Mrs. Orvis was appointed postmistress in January, 1893, and acted in that capacity for a period of eight years. She had two children by her first marriage, Otto and Zulu, and she and Mr. Orvis have had four children: Lora May, who died in infancy; and L. Worth, R. Keith and Lyle B.

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FRANK FOSTER has been a resident of the state of Montana since 1882. He came here in his young man- hood, being about eighteen years of age at the time of his advent in these parts, and he has been more or less prominent in the county since that time. He has acquired a nice ranching property in the vicinity of Paradise, and adds surveying and prospecting to his other activities, so that he is easily one of the busiest men in the county.

Born in Santa Cruz, California, on June 18, 1864, Frank Foster is the son of Franklin B. and Annie (Miller) Foster. The father was a native New Yorker who came to California with the pioneers of that state in the days of "forty-nine" and he followed mining there until his death, which occurred in 1864, when he was in his young manhood, being but thirty-five years of age at the time. His widow survived him until 1906, and was sixty-six years of age when she died. She is buried at Plains, Montana. Two chil- dren were born to these worthy parents,-Frank of this review and an elder sister, Mary, who is married to Carlton R. Perrine and resides in Buffalo, New York.

Frank Foster was an infant less than a month old when his father died, and when he was about four years old his widowed mother went to Buffalo, New. York, and there they lived until the subject was about eighteen years old. They came to Montana in 1882, and settled first in Chouteau county, there remaining for a year, during which time Mr. Foster gained some ranching experience as a "hand" on a cattle ranch. He then went to Philipsburg and the Deer Lodge valley, where he gave his energies and time to the business of mining for something like ten years. He was reasonably successful in the work, but at the end of that time gave it up and came to Plains val- ley where he engaged in farming for another decade. Although he no longer is actively engaged in ranch- ing, he still owns his place in the valley near Par- adise, which is admitted to be one of the finest in that vicinity. He has in later years devoted himself to surveying and prospecting, and has been deputy county assessor, an office which he has filled with all satis- faction to the people. In the recent election he was elected to the office of county clerk, and it is safe to predict that he will discharge the duties of that office in a manner consistent with his usual methods, thus further proving his fitness for public service. He was elected on the Democratic ticket and has long been a faithful adherent of the party, in whose inter- ests he has taken an active part. Other public offices have claimed his services, and he was at one time a member of the school board, as well as having served as justice of the peace, while he has served as county surveyor in recent years.

No more enthusiastic Montanian may be found in these parts than Mr. Foster, and he is well qualified to speak of the possibilities of the state for the future, in consideration of his work in its various sections in his capacity of surveyor and prospector. He believes the development of the state, great as it has been, to be still in its infancy, and points out the magnificent resources of the state in her water power alone, which he avers will continue to attract capital and industries for many years to come, while the town of Thompson Falls he believes will one day be a beautiful city. Mr. Foster is unmarried.

HON. GEORGE McCONE. The day of the open range in Montana is now a thing of the dim and distant past, and the great herds of cattle that once roamed the plains. unmolested save for an occasional attack by the hostile red-skins, have been replaced by bunches confined to their owners' properties by the barb-wire of civiliza- tion. Along with the customs and usages of the early days of the battle industry of the state are passing the

pioneers who came to this section to overcome the hardships of frontier existence, to give battle to the wild animals and wilder men, and to blaze the trail that those who came afterward might lay the foundations for the upbuilding of a mighty center of commercial, industrial and educational activity. Among those who still remain to relate as an eye-witness the thrilling ex- periences of early Montana life, and whose connection with the cattle industry for many years has made him one of the best known business men of his part of the state, is the Hon. George McCone, of Burns, now serv- ing his second term as a member of the state senate. Mr. McCone was born April 4, 1854, in Livingston county, New York, and is a son of Isaac and Polly (Griswold) McCone. His father, a native of the Em- pire state, moved in 1855 to the vicinity of Herricks- ville, Michigan, there dying in 1863. His wife was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1823, and still makes her home at Herricksville, having reached the advanced age of eighty-nine years.

After receiving a common school education, George McCone began working for himself at the age of seven- teen years, devoting his time to farming in the sum- mer months and to working in the pineries during the winters. He first came to the west in 1877, locating in Indian Territory, where he carried mail from Fort Reno to Fort Sill for one year. During the following spring he came to Bismarck, and began carrying mail from that city to Fort Keogh, continuing therein until the fall of 1881 and having at the same time charge of the United States government hay, wood and grain teams between those two points. In 1882 he embarked in the cattle business on Burns creek, forty miles north of Glendive, and was the first man to bring cattle into that locality, which at that time was not organized. In July, 1882, he secured the contract to carry the mail from Glendive to Fort Buford, and from there .. to Wolf Point, and so continued six years, or until the advent of the Northern Pacific Railroad. During this time he had continued to carry on his cattle business, to which he added sheep and horse raising, and for this long stretch of years has been one of the leading stock- men of eastern Montana. Mr. McCone recalls numer- ous reminiscences of the early days of the state; days fraught with peril to the hardy pioneers who faced the dangers of the wild country with that indifference to hardship and privation that only the true American pioneer can show; the days of deeds of violence and deeds of valor; the days the like of which have hardly a parallel in history. Through those days men's souls were tried, and those who have lived through them are not wanting in courage; neither can they be said to be lacking the confidence and esteem of their fellow citizens. Mr. McCone is the owner of 4500 acres of land, about one-half of which is tillable, and in 1912 he had three hundred acres in wheat, flax and oats. Although his cattle no longer roam the open range, he still keeps large herds, and finds a ready sale for his animals in the large markets.

In 1884 Mr. McCone was married at Sidney, Montana, to Miss Mattie Newlon, a native of Peoria, Illinois, and daughter of W. W. Newlon, who came to the Yel- lowstone valley in 1879. Three children were born to this union, namely: LeRoy, born in 1886, was married in 1906 to Mida Finlev, a native of Michigan; Lydia, born in 1890. married Charles Lorenzo Hood, and has one son, Milton Lorenzo; and Alice, born in 1896, residing at home. On October 1, 1908, Mr. McCone was mar- ried to Miss Viola Bowers, a native of Michigan, and daughter of Henry H. and Orrissa (Rosencrants) Bowers, natives of Michigan. Mr. Bowers, who has been engaged in farming throughout a long and hon- orable career, now resides at Grand Rapids. Two chil- dren were born to Mr. and Mrs. Bowers: Mrs. Mc- Cone and Mrs. Colin P. Campbell, the latter the wife of a prominent Grand Rapids attorney and politician, who

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HISTORY OF MONTANA

at one time was speaker of the Michigan house of rep- resentatives. Mr. and Mrs. McCone have had one child, George Henry, born November 15, 1910.

In his political belief a stalwart Republican, Mr. McCone was appointed a member of the first board of county commissioners, and in the first general election, in 1882, was elected to that office, being re-elected each succeeding year until 1900. In that fall he was selected to represent his district in the general assembly, and after serving that term was sent to the senate, being subsequently re-elected. A prominent Mason, he is a member of Glendiye Lodge, Yellowstone Chapter and Damascus Commandery, all of Glendive, and in each of these he has numerous warm friends. Mrs. Mc- Cone is a member of the Episcopal church. A lady of culture and refinement, she presides over the Glendive home with gracious hospitality, and is a general favorite in social circles of the city. Her husband spends his" time between the city home and the ranch, in the vicinity of both of which he is widely known and most thoroughly esteemed.

GEORGE W. BAKER. Now living in comfortable retire- ment after many years spent in successful agricultural operations, George W. Baker, of McLeod, Sweet Grass county, enjoys the respect and esteem of his community, and is recognized as one of the men to whose progressive spirit this section owes much of its prosperity. More than a quarter of a century ago he introduced the grow- ing of alfalfa into this locality, braved the ridicule of those who claimed this product not be produced with success here, and vindicated his judgment by building up a large and prosperous enterprise. Mr. Baker, like many of the successful residents of Montana, is a product of the New England States, having been born in Essex, Chittenden county, Vermont, December 28, 1840. His father, Nahum Baker, was born in the same county in 1812, and in 1852 removed to the state of New York, where he was engaged in farming until 1856, then going to Fillmore county, Minnesota. He there took up a government tract, the deed for which was signed by Abraham Lincoln, and continued operations until 1885, then removing to Gallatin (now Sweet Grass) county, Montana, where his death occurred in 1889. Originally a Whig, he later joined the ranks of the Republican party and was steadfast in his support of its principles and candidates. Mr. Baker married Clarissa Cutting, who was born in 1813 and died in 1890, and they had three sons: George W .; Leslie, who died at the age of thirty-seven years; and Holloway, who was thirty years old at the time of his death.

George W. Baker was educated in the public schools of Vermont, New York and Minnesota, and was nine- teen years of age when he left the parental roof. On March 24, 1859, he started overland from Spring Valley, Minnesota, with an ox-team, bound for California, and arrived at Wyreka, September 21st. There he secured employment working on a ranch, where during the next three years he received thirty-five dollars a month, and then went to Red Bluff, California, and engaged in farming for himself. Subsequently he followed teaming to different points for two years, and in 1867 removed to Silver City, Idaho, with a freight team of his own, carrying goods purchased in California, and arriving in Idaho disposed of his goods and mule teams and for about five years was engaged in mining with varied success. Going thence to Minnesota, he was married in 1875, after which he went to Nevada and resumed the teaming business, working between Car- son City and Bodie and from Wordsworth south to the mining camps, and to Silver City, Idaho. In 1882 Mr. Baker came overland to Gallatin county, Montana, and, locating at Boulder, engaged in railroad contract- ing, getting out ties for the Northern Pacific. In con- junction with this he engaged in hauling supplies from Columbus to his camp on the Boulder river, a trip of

sixty-five miles by wagon, after which the goods were packed twenty-five miles to the camp. Later he was en- gaged in getting out logs, having entered land on the government reservation, and in 1885 brought his family out from Minnesota to the new home, Mrs. Baker being the first white woman to locate on the Boulder river. Mr. Baker then engaged in the cattle and horse business, and later added sheep, and each year added to his landed holdings until he now owns one thousand acres in Sweet Grass county, and has control of five thousand acres for his range. In 1886 he was the first to introduce alfalfa into this section of the country, and the success which has met his efforts is ample proof of the good judgment that prompted this innovation. The Natural Bridge of Montana, which is known all over the civilized world, is located on Mr. Baker's ranch. Several years ago, feeling that he had earned a rest from strenuous activities, Mr. Baker retired, and is now living in McLeod, where he is often visited by his children, who all live in Sweet Grass county, within a radius of fourteen miles. Since 1874 he has been a member of the Odd Fellows, and his political views are Independent, he exercising his right to vote rather for the man than the party. In 1870, Mr. Baker visited Minnesota. On the return trip, he left Omaha in time to be at Promotory, Utah, at the laying of the last tie and rail of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads, thus being a passenger on the first through train from Omaha to Sacramento in 1871. In 1883, he was present at the driving of the Golden Spike of the Northern Pacific near Garrison, a station in Montana, half way between St. Paul and Seattle.

On April 24, 1875, Mr. Baker was married at Cres- ton, Iowa, to Miss Emma B. Cowles, who was born in Wisconsin, and they have had four children: Pearl born in Nevada, wife of Primus Bruffery, partner of Mr. Baker in the stock business; Mabel, born in Minne- sota, wife of Elmer McConnell, a ranchman in Sweet Grass county; Ralph, born in Nevada, also engaged in ranching in Sweet Grass county, married Mamie Knight, and Edna, born in Nevada, widow of Thomas Brather. Christmas is always celebrated at the parent's home in McLeod, and on these occasions the children and eleven grandchildren are present. The family is one of the best known and most highly esteemed in this part of the county, its members all being honest, industrious people who are making their influence for morality and good citizenship felt by their community. Although advanced in years the father is still in excellent health and spirits and, surrounded by his children, may look forward to many years of contented enjoyment of the fruits of his early years of labor.

JAMES R. Goss. One of the best-known attorneys practicing at the Montana bar is James R. Goss, a man whose ability and profound learning as an attorney has been demonstrated in the trial of many important suits, as well as in sound counsel and legal advice, and who has been called upon to fill various important positions of honor and trust. Mr. Goss is a native of the Empire state, and was born near New York City, April 17, 1848. His early education was secured in Lorain county, Ohio, and he later attended Oberlin College. In 1873, Mr. Goss turned his attention to the study of law, and after prosecuting his studies for some time, entered the law department of the Univer- sity of Michigan, from which he was graduated in 1876.

After being admitted to the bar, Mr. Goss engaged in practice in Jackson county, Michigan, but in 1881, re- moved to Bismarck, Dakota, (now North Dakota) where he remained for one year. The year 1882 saw Mr. Goss's advent in Billings, Montana, and this has since been his home and field of practice. In the prac- tice of his profession Mr. Goss has met with a large measure of success and has become one of the most

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prominent members of the profession in this section of the state. He has served his fellow citizens as county attorney and probate judge of Yellowstone county, with unquestioned success, and has been president of the Yellowstone Bar Association since its organization. As president of the school board and as a member of the building committee and one of the first trustees of the Parmly Billings Memorial Library, which was erected in 1900-1901, Mr. Goss has done much toward the betterment of the schools and the general improve- ment of this side of the city's civic life.

In politics, Mr. Goss has always been a staunch Republican, and he is recognized as one of the leaders of his party in Yellowstone county. He has been a well-known stump speaker and has acted as a member of the county central committee on various occasions. He has been a member of the Masonic fraternity for many years. During the year of 1911, Mr. Goss was the president of the Eastern Montana Pioneer Associa- tion, an organization which included all of the eastern counties of Montana, and whose requirements for mem- bership were that the applicant must have been a resi- dent of Montana before 1884. He has been one of the leading citizens in Billings in the establishment and growth of the Billings Polytechnic Institute at Billings, a young but growing institution of the state of Mon- tana, with a most brilliant future. He has been a member of the board of directors of this institution since its organization, and takes a great and active in- terest in all its affairs and great pride in its develop- ment.

Mr. Goss was married in Michigan to Miss Florence E. Lord, a native of that state and they have one child, Marion, now residing in Billings, a graduate of Oberlin College.

Mr. Goss has always aimed to advance the best inter- ests of the city of his residence, believing that the com- munity in which he has lived, and which has liberally contributed to whatever success he has attained, de- serves on his part a reciprocal obligation. His career as a lawyer has been a long and honorable one. He has achieved and maintained an exalted position in his pro- fession, and is held in confidence and high esteem by all who know him.

FRANK W. KINNEY. In the beautiful and picturesque hills overlooking the Yellowstone river in Dawson county, Montana, is situated the cattle and horse ranch of Frank W. Kinney, an enterprise that stands as a monument to the courage, perseverance and ability of the youth who, some thirty years ago, arrived in the city of Glendive with a capital of ten dollars borrowed money, and who today is one of the leading stockmen of eastern Montana. Frank W. Kinney was born in Blue Earth county. Minnesota, November 23, 1857, and is a son of Horace and Elizabeth (Darling) Kinney, the former a native of New York and the latter of Wisconsin. His father migrated to Minnesota in 1855, and the remainder of his life was spent in agricultural pursuits in that section, where he died in 1879, his widow surviving him until 1894. They had a family of five sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to maturity, and of these Frank W. Kinney was the second in order of birth.

Frank W. Kinney received his education in the com- mon schools of Blue Earth county, and grew up on his father's farm, remaining under the parental roof until the older man's death. He then began operations on his own account in Minnesota, but a desire to see more of the country, and a belief that he could find a wider field for his abilities in the west, brought him to Glendive in 1882, at which time he had ten dollars, this having been borrowed. He began his career on a cattle ranch in Dawson county, entering the employ of Charles Krug, and later worked for Griffin Brothers for five years. Having been reared to habits of in-

dustry and economy, Mr. Kinney carefully conserved his earnings and gradually invested them in cattle, finally being able to buy a carload of animals, but this auspicious start was nipped in the bud by the disastrous storms of the severe winter of 1886-7, when almost every ranchman in this section lost the greater part of his stock. Mr. Kinney did not allow himself to become discouraged, however, but sold what little stock he had been able to save and invested the result of his sale in horses. In 1887 he secured employment with the ferry company at Glendive, and after three years bought the interest of the owners, continuing to con- duct the ferry until the bridge was built across the Yellowstone river. In the meantime he had continued to carry on horse raising, and eventually became one of the leading horsebreeders of eastern Montana, usu- ally owning from 300 to 400 animals at a time and shipping to all parts of the country. At this time he is starting to breed pure Percheron animals, and is de- termined to accumulate one of the best droves in the northwest. His fine ranch is five miles west of Glen- dive, where he has 2080 acres, some of which is under the plow, although Mr. Kinney is not a farmer, but devotes all of his time to raising horses. On this land is situated a fine cement block house, with ten rooms, modern in construction and appointments, which he erected in 1911, and a modern, well-equipped cement barn. 40x100 feet, which would do credit to any com- munity. Mr. Kinney also owns a winter home at Glendive, where he has a brick block rented for a meat market business.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 113

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883- Publication date: 1913 Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author: Sanders, Helen Fitzgerald, 1883-
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Chicago : Lewis Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002