A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 46

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

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Mr. Gormley's demise occurred August 14, 1909, and thereby Cascade county lost a valued and noble citizen.

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HALVER O. LYNG, of Highland, Chouteau county, Mon- tana, has been a resident of the state since 1867, and his accomplishments in the forty-five years that have elapsed since he first cast in his lot with the pioneers of the state have been of a varied and altogether worthy nature, entitling him beyond any question to a specific place in this biographical and historical record of Mon- tana. He came to the west in his early manhood, and he may be virtually said to have grown up with the state of Montana, for the passing years have developed and rounded out his wholesome and genuine nature as surely as they have brought Montana from a state of barren wilderness to one of almost cosmopolitan serenity, and fruitfulness beyond compare. The record of his life is one replete with the frontier experiences which many of the pioneers of the state shared in com- mon with him, and while it would be impossible to give in a brief sketch of this nature any adequate idea of the vicissitudes and hardships of early life in a new country, incidents of peculiar interest may be lightly sketched into the fabric of his life story as a whole.

A native of Norway, Halver O. Lyng, was born in Kongsberg Norge, on September 10, 1842, and is the son of Ole and Enger Lyng. The father was a miner by occupation in his native land, finding ample employ- ment in the silver mines of his district, and he married there in his young life and reared a family of five sturdy sons and daughters. In 1861 the family emigrated to America and settled first in Nebraska. There the mother died, and in 1867 Halver Lyng left home and came to Montana. He secured work on the ranch of Colonel Roosevelt, a cousin of Theodore Roosevelt, soon after taking over the Overland Hotel at Benton, which he ran for about six months, and later operating a restaurant for a few months. His next venture was in Chouteau county, where he erected, buildings for an Indian Agency there for the government. He was occupied nine months in this enterprise, after which he went down the Missouri river and started a wood yard, with a view to furnishing wood to the boats on the river. It was in 1872 that he came to Benton and started up in the cattle business, and so well did he succeed that he has continued in that typically western enterprise to the present tinie, and Chouteau county has nearly always been the scene of his ranching activities, and holds his chief interests of whatever nature.

In 1872 Mr. Lyng went into a partnership arrange- ment with Ed. Kelly on what was known as Twenty- eight Mile Spring, and for two years they continued to be associated together, at the end of which time Mr. Lyng sold his interest in the business to Mr. Kelly and withdrew. He then went to Fort McLeod, in Cascade county, and began operations on his own responsibility, continuing there until 1880, when he disposed of his interests in that district and returned to his original "stamping ground," Chouteau county, and here he has been actively engaged in farming and stock raising on a generous scale. His ranching activities have been from time to time interspersed with other occupations, from all of which he reverted to ranch life in due time. In 1873 he drove stage between Sun River and Benton for three months, being in the employ of Gilmore & Salisbury, for many years prominent stage line people, and this little deviation from ranch life gave him an introduction to another phase of western existence, which he found interesting. if not highly profitable.

Like all westerners, Mr. Lyng has had his experiences with Indians, any of which would be sufficient to inocu- late the average man with a healthy fear of the Redman. Among his many encounters with them in the early days, Mr. Lyng recounts one which took place in 1869. and which, told in brief, will suffice to convey some idea of what the Montana pioneer was called upon to combat in those early days. Mr. Lyng and a number of men acquaintances had gathered at the mouth of the Mus- selshell river, where a little log village was being

started. One day while the men were at dinner in the little cabin of the Smiths, Mrs. Smith left the room to gather some chips at the back of the cabin. She was attacked by Indians, shot and wounded, and then scalped. Although the men heard the shot, they were not alarmed, and thought nothing of it until Mr. Smith began to search for his wife. When they discovered what had happened, the men of the camp supplied them- selves generously with ammunition and set out on a grim hunt for the marauders. They finally located the Indians on the opposite shore of the river, hidden in the willows, and behind its banks, so that they were inacces- sible to their white pursuers. Smith and a companion after some debate hit upon a plan to cross the river at a distant spot, and fire upon the Indians from the rear. The ruse worked admirably, and the Redmen stampeded at the first shot, upon which the rest of the party opened fire. When the smoke cleared away thirty-three Indians had payed for the scalp of Mrs. Smith with their lives, and many others lay wounded and dying. The sur- vivors fled precipitately, leaving beside their dead, wagon loads of robes, blankets, bows and arrows and Indian paraphernalia of every known variety, which the aveng- ing party seized and conveyed by boat to Fort Benton, where it was sold for souvenirs. The Indians were slow to admit themselves beaten, however, and for fully eight months not a week passed but a deputation came back in the hope that they would find the white settlers off their guard. They finally did succeed in killing two and wounding others, after which they left the little community in comparative peace. At one time, Mr. Lyng, while taking into camp the meat of an elk that he had brought down, suddenly found himself sur- rounded by a dozen Indians on horseback, some within a rod of him. They fired on him, but missed, and throwing himself into the brush close at hand, he took careful aim and fired, killing one of their horses. He then jumped into the river and made good his escape in a most miraculous manner. It is a fact that this pioneer Montanian can relate and give the names of reputable witnesses for more Indian skirmishes than perhans any other man living in the state today.

In 1880 Mr. Lyng was united in marriage with Miss Jennie Thomson, a native of Norway, but reared at Neenah, Wisconsin, in Winnebago county. Three chil- dren have been born to them: Hilman C., the eldest, is engaged in the lumber business and lives at Geiser, Montana: Jennie M., the wife of B. F. Kitt, is a resi- dent of Missoula. Montana; Clara, the youngest of the three, is yet in the parental home.

Mr. Tyng is a Republican, and takes an active and citizenlike interest in all affairs of a political or purely civic nature, and is known for one of the valued citizens of the county. He is a member of the Lutheran church, in which he was reared bv his Lutheran parents, but his wife and children affiliate with the Preshvterian church. The family is one which holds the esteem and confidence of all who share in their acquaintance, and they have many friends in the community which has so long represented their home.

JOHN C. HOUCK. To say that a man is a typical Mon- tana pioneer is to pay him the highest of compliments, for as a class the Montana pioneer stands above par and has indelibly impressed his sound ideals of citizen- ship upon the state which enjoys a particularly high rep- utation among commonwealths. No man is worthier of being classed as a representative pioneer than John C. Houck. who has resided within the boundaries of the state since 1867. and here the best of fortunes have come to him-wealth, honor, position and domestic hap- Diness, and he is today identified with several of the largest enterprises in this section of the state. His ranch, situated some ten miles out of Moore, is of the vast proportions, which makes the easterner gasp to contemplate it, for it comprises no less than 2,200 acres,

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which are largely devoted to sheep and wool raising, for which Mr. Houck is widely known. There is lo- cated his splendid home, where reigns the true spirit of hospitality, in the center of a domain of princely proportions. But his interests are by no means bounded by its limits, for he is president of the Moore Mercan- tile Company, the largest established business here; is president of the State Bank of Moore; and this is by no means to complete the enumeration.

Mr. Houck is one of the good citizens the Keystone state has given to Montana, his birth having occurred in Lancaster county, that state, October 25, 1844. There he resided until about the age of twenty-two years, when he answered the call of the west, which has sent so many young men across the continent, and came to Montana, reaching here on June 12, 1867. He found his expectations more than realized and has ever since remained here.

Mr. Houck received his early education in the dis- trict schools of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and having taken advantage of all that they offered, he en- tered the State Normal College at Millersville, that state. At the age of about nineteen years he began school teaching and occupied the instructor's desk for some years. It did not take him that long, however, to find that, although he could do the work successfully, it was not congenial, his field of endeavor being too restricted and his soul yearning for the life which took him out into the world among men. Very sensibly, he gave it up and came west, where he was to become one of his community's leading citizens. It is safe to say that no matter where he might have located he would in due time have become a leading citizen, for he possesses in abundance the requisite qualities.

Upon coming to Montana Mr. Houck first settled near Helena in a little mining camp called French Bar, and he engaged in mining there for about six months. Following that he lived for sixteen years in the neigh- borhood of Canon Ferry and Helena, and during this period he devoted his energies to contracting and min- ing. In 1881 he set stakes in the Judith Basin in Fergus county and embarked in his present business of sheep and wool growing. He has been in the county ever since and has steadily progressed, until he is known far and wide for his business ability and suc- cess, as well as for good principles. The fact that he is president of the Moore Mercantile' Company has al- ready been noted. He is also president of the State Bank at Moore and is interested in the Bank of Fergus County at Lewistown, and it is in no small part due to his discrimination and executive ability that these in- stitutions have come to be among the substantial and popular banking houses of the west.

Mr. Houck is one of the influential Republicans of Fergus county and takes an active interest in politics. However, he has never been lured by the honors and emoluments of office, and although often solicited, has always refused to accept office himself. He is a mem- ber of no church, but is genuinely in sympathy with the good causes represented by all and contributes liberally to the support of all. In a quiet way he does a good deal of charitable work and does not turn a deaf ear to the case of his less fortunate brother. He has few affiliations, his great business interests leaving him little time for outside affairs, but he holds membership in the Judith Club. He has a number of enthusiams. He enjoys whirring past the beautiful Montana scenery in an automobile with congenial company and owns a fine car. He is by no means bored by a good game of baseball, good music or a clever play. The subject of Montana is one upon which he waxes eloquent. When asked for his opinion of Montana, he returned lacon- ically : "I have been in Montana forty-five years- that's what I think of it."

Mr. Houck was married in this county about fifteen years ago, the lady to become his wife and the mistress

of his household being Miss DeLes Palmer, a native of this county. Their home, located upon a beautiful portion of the subject's great ranch, is commodious, modern and hospitable and Mr. and Mrs. Houck are among the popular citizens of the county. They have no children.

Glancing at Mr. Houck's parentage, we find that his father, David Houck, was a native Pennsylvanian and lived in that state all his life, following farming and stock raising until his death in 1880, at the age of seventy-five years. The mother, whose maiden name was Mary Coover, survived him for a few years, dying also at the age of seventy-five. They are buried side by side near the old home, but they are still remem- bered as people of fine character and high principles. They reared ten children, Mr. Houck, of this review, being the fifth in order of birth.

The subject may look back over an honorable career and success well won and it is with pleasure that the editors of this work incorporate a review of his life among those of the representative men and women of the state.

JAMES A. MURRAY went to California from Canada, his native country, in 1862, at the age of eighteen, and came to Montana in 1867. He is a citizen of Montana, but a resident of California, residing on the Bav of Monterey, in one of the most beautiful homes in America the "Hacianda Grande." He has been very successful financially. He has been identified with the development of the best interests of the state, and has taken a prominent place in the business, banking and mining circles of Montana. He enjoys the highest es- teem and regard of all who have come to be associated with him in matters of business or in other relations of life.

Mr. Murray was married in 1896 to Miss Mary H. Coulter, of Pottstown, Pennsylvania.

M. M. LOCKWOOD. As the woodman in clearing his land leaves here and there some stalwart elm or oak, which long years after stands alone in the midst of some green and fertile field, a solitary representative of the past, so the grim Reaper, in his relentless harv- est of men, has spared here and there a pioneer who forms a connecting link between the past and the present. The honored subject of this sketch is one of the few surviving pioneers of Chouteau county, and his name is indelibly written on the pages of Montana history, and in the military record of his country. M. M. Lockwood was born in 1842, at Madrid, New York. His education was secured during the winter terms in the district schools, as during the summer months he was kept busily employed on the field and in the for- ests of his father's farm. A vigorous youth, of patri- otic spirit, when President Lincoln issued his first call for volunteers, he was one of the first to lay down his axe to enter the famous Army of the Potomac, the great military body organized by Gen. George B. McClellan in 1861. As a member of Com- pany F, Fifth Regiment, Vermont Volunteer Infantry, he served under "Little Mac" in the Peninsular cam- paign and later in that of Antietam, was under Gen- erals Burnside and McDowell in 1862, and General Hooker in 1863, in July of which year General Meade was in command at the battle of Gettysburg. Eventu- ally General Grant succeeded to the command, and under him Mr. Lockwood served until securing his honorable discharge. On completing his three years' service, Mr. Lockwood became a veteran by re-enlist- ing, and when he finally received his papers had attained the rank of sergeant. At the Battle of the Wilderness he received a severe wound from a rifle bullet in the hip, and for a number of months he lay between life and death in the hospital, and the bullet was not extracted for a number of years. On the close of hos-

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tilities, Mr. Lockwood, then fully recovered, journeyed west to Omaha, Nebraska, and thence overland to Fort Benton, reaching this city, then only a stage station, June 15, 1867. He secured a position on the Clee farm in the Prickly Pear valley, and worked there until the stampede to Iowa Gulch, which he joined as a gold seeker and was moderately successful. At one time he received a handsome offer for his holdings, but believed they were of considerable value and refused to sell. Later, his mines not proving up to his expecta- tions, he started a dairy farm in the Prickly Pear val- ley, and subsequently received one dollar per pound for the butter he made, but when he had saved a con- siderable sum his partner in business went to Helena, then a wide-open mining camp, and lost all the money over the gaming table. Somewhat discouraged, but not disheartened, Mr. Lockwood then secured oxen and took up freighting between Helena and Fort Ben- ton, and was on the fair road to success again, but just at the height of his prosperity he was attacked by a band of hostile Indians, his outfit was burned, and he barely escaped with his life. This occurrence took place on Gallatin Bar, in 1869, the same year that Clark met his death at the hands of the redskins. On December 15th of the same year Mr. Lockwood went with the stampede to Cedar Creek, but the dig- gings not panning out he returned to French Town and again took up dairying. This again proved suc- cessful and for three years he continued to supply the citizens of his locality with dairy products, but in 1873 went to the Bitter Root valley and engaged in stock raising and farming. During the summer of 1877 Chief Joseph and his band of hostile warriors passed up the Missoula valley and through Missoula, claiming to be peaceful, but when they reached Mr. Lockwood's farm they began their pillaging. Mr. Lockwood was in Missoula on business, and his wife, with the baby in her arms, fled to the home of a distant neighbor, where she found safety. When he returned to his home he found his stock all killed and his house and barns burned to the ground, and received reports of the Indians' attack on the settlers. Thinking that his family had been murdered, he made his way rapidly back toward Missoula to give the alarm, but before arriving there was met by Colonel Elliot and the Sev- enth United States Cavalry, which troop had been on the trail of the treacherous old Chief Joseph for some time. He was immediately engaged as guide, and Gen- eral Gibbon having joined the party in the meanwhile, he was ordered to lead. The party at once struck the trail, and at four o'clock in the morning of August 9, 1877, the avenging body of soldiers came upon the Indians' camp in the Big Hole country. The engage- ment which followed was a vicious and bloody one, in which the Indians lost eighty-nine killed, while the whites had forty killed and twenty-nine wounded. Only the opportune arrival of General Howard's com- mand saved General Gibbons' troops from meeting the fate of General Custer's men, for they were greatly outnumbered, they were cut off from their ammunition and supply wagons, and their retreat would have been an impossibility. Even when the battle was practically over. bullets kept coming from some unseen point, and finally an Indian was discovered ensconced in a tree, some thirty feet from the ground, from whence a well directed bullet brought him headlong to the ground. Among those severely wounded was Mr. Lockwood, who had been struck twice by rifle bullets, one of which, the most serious, had passed through and killed Colonel Elliot. He lay on the field throughout the night, unconscious, and was discovered during the next morning and taken to the hospital, where for seven months he lay with a shattered hip joint. When Gen- eral Sherman was on his tour to the western division of the war department, he visited Mr. Lockwood on a number of occasions, and offered him a life position

at Washington, D. C., which, however, was gratefully refused by Mr. Lockwood, who preferred to spend the remainder of his life in the west. His injuries, while not fatal, have been of such a nature as to make it impossible for him to engage in activities of any kind, although he acted as guard at the penitentiary for four years. In political matters he is a Republican. He takes a keen and active interest in all matters pertain- ing to the welfare of his community, where as one of those who sacrificed his future that the new state might advance, he is honored and respected by all who know him. With a clear and alert mind, and possessed of a retentive memory, he has a large fund of anecdotes and delights to recall those stirring times when the young commonwealth was in the making and men's hearts tried.

Mr. Lockwood was married January 6, 1863, at Comp- ton, New York, to Miss Amanda P. Gordon, who died at Hamilton, Montana, in 1904, and of their four children, Frank, a native of Helena, now resides in Portland, Oregon; William Reuben is now a resident of the Bitter Root valley, where he is engaged in ranching; Mrs. Maude Van Duberg is a resident of Chicago, Illinois; and D. G. is one of the leading busi- ness men of Fort Benton.

D. G. LOCKWOOD. Everywhere, the better. class of druggists are men of scientific attainments and high integrity, who devote their activities to the welfare of their fellow men in supplying the best of remedies and purest medicinal agents of known value, in accordance with physicians' prescriptions, and scientific formula. The earningof a fair living, with the satisfaction which arises from a knowledge of the benefits conferred upon their patrons and assistance rendered the medical pro- fession, is usually their greatest reward for long years of study and many hours of daily toil, but occasionally one arises whose ability and progressive ideas advance him to a place in the forefront of those of his voca- tion, and prominent among these may be mentioned D. G. Lockwood, of Fort Benton, president of the Hilger Drug Company, and proprietor of the leading pharmacy of the northwest. Mr. Lockwood was born at Prince- ton, Montana, March 19, 1871, and is a son of M. M. and Amanda P. (Gordon) Lockwood.

M. M. Lockwood was born at Madrid, New York, and served during the Civil war as a member of a Vermont regiment in the Army of the Potomac. He was severely wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness, but after many months in the hospital recovered. After the close of the war he came west, via Omaha, Nebraska, and after a number of years spent in farming, dairy- ing, prospecting and mining, finally settled down as a rancher and cattle raiser in the Bitter Root valley. There the misfortunes which had attended him almost from the start of a stormy career, culminated in his ranch being pillaged by a band of Indians under Chief Joseph, and when he guided the soldiers of the Seventh United States Cavalry to the camp of the savages, received wounds in the battle which made him a lifelong cripple. He now resides at Fort Benton, one of the highly honored citizens of the city. A more thorough record of his stirring career will be found on another page in this volume. His wife passed away in 1902, the mother of four children, of whom D. G. was the youngest.

D. G. Lockwood received his early education in the public schools of Ohio, where he graduated from the Ada high school, and subsequently entered the Ohio Normal University, where he was graduated from the pharmaceutical department and also took a classical course. He subsequently secured employment in the pharmacy of A. M. Flanigan, and after four years bought his employer's interests and began to. conduct the business on his own account. During the fifteen years that this establishment has been in existence, it

David Hilger

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has grown from a modest venture into the leading busi- ness of its kind in the northwest. Mr. Lockwood has spent these fifteen years in building up a reputation, and this reputation is back of every sale he makes. It is his boast that no goods goes into his house that are not right, and as a consequence no article can leave his establishment which will not stand the test of fair and honest merchandising. In addition to a full stock of standard drugs and medicines, Mr. Lockwood carries a complete line of optical goods. He has interested him- self in various business enterprises, being identified with the ranching and stock raising activities of Chouteau county, a director in the State Bank and president of the Hilger Drug Company. A Republican in his poli- tical views, from 1898 to 1902 he served very acceptably as treasurer of Chouteau county, and takes an active in- terest in the work of his party in this section. In fra- ternal circles he is known as a member of the Odd Fel- lows, and he also belongs to the Montana State Pharma- ceutical Association.

Mr. Lockwood was married at Fort Benton, in September, 1898, to Miss Belle Freals, daughter of George W. Freals, a well known Fort Benton citizen. Mrs. Lockwood is a member of the Episcopal church and is well known in religious and social circles of Fort Benton, where she has numerous friends.

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A history of Montana, Volume II, Part 46

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