USA > Montana > Yellowstone County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 83
USA > Montana > Park County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 83
USA > Montana > Dawson County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 83
USA > Montana > Rosebud County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 83
USA > Montana > Custer County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 83
USA > Montana > Sweet Grass County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 83
USA > Montana > Carbon County > An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley : embracing the counties of Park, Sweet Grass, Carbon, Yellowstone, Rosebud, Custer and Dawson, state of Montana > Part 83
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ARTHUR C. ANDERSON, one of the fortunate landholders and enterprising ranch- ers of the attractive Stillwater valley residing four and one-half miles west of Absarokee, Carbon county, on the Stillwater river, was born in Johnsville, Montgomery county, Ohio, October 23, 1874. His father, James, also a native of the Buckeye State, was a farmer. born at New Lebanon. February 18. 1827. dying August 29. 1900. His entire life was passed in Ohio. The mother, Catherine (Ziler) Anderson, was born in Maryland, January 16. 1833. With her parents she removed to
Ohio, where she was married, and passed her life. She died June 23, 1892.
Our subject is the youngest of eight chil- dren. His brother, W. E. is vice-president of the Columbus State Bank. Until he was nineteen years of age our subject made his home with his parents, and attended the pub- lic schools in Ohio. He then married, and a year later left for the west. He came direct to Absarokee, where one of his brothers then held a ranch. Here he secured a "bench" ranch, but relinquished it and purchased a "squatter's" improvement on an Indian allot- ment. Through a complication in the title, Mr. Anderson was engaged in a long and con- tinued litigation to secure a clear title, and during this time he worked out by the month, his wife remaining on the contested ranch. When he arrived in Montana, he had only $165, and during the first few years he barely existed. During that time he, or rather his wife, made what improvements were possible, keeping the crop irrigated and harvesting while he worked elsewhere. Industry has told powerfully for their present home, for it is a model of neatness and comfort. He has now 160 acres of the choicest land in the valley, and under irrigation.
April 15, 1894. Mr. Anderson was united in marriage to Alva J. Kein, born in West Alexander, Ohio, ten days previous to the birth of her husband. Her father, Frederick W., is a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, born March 16, 1836. At present he is a farmer living in Ohio. Her mother, Sophia M. (Eickhoff)) Kein, was born in Dayton, Ohio, October 2, 1847, of Prussian parentage. She still lives. Mrs. Anderson has a brother, Oliver Kein, near Absarokee, and a sister, Mrs. W. E. Anderson, her husband being a brother of our subject, residing at Columbus, Montana. Our subject and his estimable wife have one boy. Orville Bryan, born November IO, 1897. An offer was made by a couple of bachelors, friends of our subject, to start him
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in the cattle business if he was named Bryan ; hence his name. Politically Mr. Anderson is a Democrat, and holds the office of road super- visor. He never permits party politics to af- fect his vote in local affairs.
ALBERT TROGER, a stockman residing twelve miles north of Gardiner on an estate of four hundred acres of deeded land, was born April 14, 1860, at Ottawa, Illinois, being the son of Andrew and Anna Marie ( Birken- buel) Troger. The father was born in Ba- varia, came to America in 1850 and settled in Illinois where he followed his trade of car- pentering. The mother was born in Prussia and came to this country in the early fifties with her parents, being married about 1857. Our subject has one brother and three sisters living. After receiving a business education in the schools of Illinois, Mr. Troger left home when twenty years of age and went to Yank- ton, South Dakota, where he took up river steamboating. In 1881 he followed construc- tion work on the Northern Pacific and two years later engaged in prospecting in Bear Gulch and on the eastern slope of the Rockies. During that time he located and became in- terested in a number of good claims as the Graham, Mountain Chief, Tip Top, Iron Duke, Traction, Empire State and Vanity Fair. He followed mining with varying success until 1904 when he quit the business and engaged in farming and stock business. Where he now lives, he secured a homestead in 1905 and has added until he has a fine estate. Mr. Tro- ger makes a specialty of Angora goats, hav- ing at this time the largest band owned by any single individual in the state. He has demon- strated that in this latitude the goats as they grow older become much heavier producers in fleece weight. Last year he shipped in and has now on his ranch, Lazarus, one of the most famous bucks in America. He was
champion at the Royal Stock Show in Mis- souri and sold for seven hundred dollars. Mr. Troger takes great interest in the Angora goat business and is making a splendid success of it.
At Gardiner in 1894. Mr. Troger and Vic- toria Fridlin were married. Mrs. Troger was born in Germany and came to this country in 1886. They have become the parents of three children, Alice E., born September 4, 1896; Irene V. March 12, 1898, and Henry R. Sep- tember 25, 1900.
Mr. Troger has always been an active Re- publican and is often delegate to the county and state conventions. In 1893 he was elected justice of the peace and in 1900 was chosen county commissioner and has held the office ever since.
Mrs. Troger's father was Lambert Bruder. born in Seebach, Germany, January 9. 1826. He is a Forest Ranger in his country. His father, Joseph Bruder, was a very successful farmer and died in the summer of 1898, aged ninety-two. Mrs. Troger's mother was Eliza- beth (Braun ) Bruder and she was born in Seebach, Germany. November 19, 1830. Mrs. Troger is the second of two children, her old- est sister being Caroline, born June 7. 1857, and the date of her birth was August 15. 1860.
JACOB P. WEAST, of the firm of Weast Brothers, railroad contractors and general ranchers, resides eighteen miles northwest of Red Lodge, Carbon county. The place of his nativity is Woodford county, Illinois, where he was born January 23, 1871.
The father of our subject, John Weast, a native of the same place, was born April 20, 1846, and was a railroad contractor and pro- moter. He also laid out the town of Benson, Illinois, going to Nebraska twenty-six years ago, where he remained four years. Thence he went on to Wyoming, where he again en-
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gaged in contracting. In October, 1895, he located on the fine ranch now held by the fam- ily, where he died February 12, 1898.
Owing to reverses in Nebraska, whither his family had removed when our subject was a lad, he did not secure a chance to study until after he had attained his majority. He then availed himself of two terms of schooling. Following this he found employment on rail- roads, in which line he has been engaged in contracting since he was fifteen years of age. In company with his brother two years young- er our subject took a railroad contract of two miles of construction work, and with a capital of only $90, but plenty of nerve, turned it into a profitable investment. Since that period his work in this line has steadily increased at different points on the Burlington, and includ- ing a seven-mile contract on the newly com- pleted Montana Railroad extending into Lew- iston.
Two years prior to that event our subject returned to Nebraska where he built ten miles of the "Brush" branch of the Burlington, from Lyons to Guernsey. Mr. Weast is one of the promoters of the Rosebud Irrigation system, incorporated under the firm name of the Rose- bud Irrigation Company. Work on this en- terprise was commenced in June, 1892, and at this date eighteen miles of ditch have been completed. It is intended to add another 14- mile ditch which will irrigate in all about 15,000 acres. The officers of this company are Alfred Pillsbury, president, Minneapolis; George Huff, secretary and treasurer, Brid- ger, and M. G. Swan, consulting engineer. Gebo.
December 2, 1905, our subject commenced on a twelve-mile contract on the Burlington system of the Big Horn, Wyoming, and is about to begin another thirty-mile job for the same firm. Last year he completed a twenty- two-mile contract on Yellowstone Park rail- road from Bridger. From the $90 outfit with which they began work the firm now has a
$95,000 plant, with the most up-to-date equip- ment.
The mother of our subject, Mary (Som- mers ) Weast, was born in Woodford county, Illinois, and was three months older than her husband, with whom she went to school. She reared a family of six: Mrs. Annie Fredrick, wife of W. R. Frederick, of Joliet, Montana, a railroad contractor: our subject : William F., a partner of subject ; John F., Mrs. Mary Turnicliffe, of Merritt, Montana ; Martin W., ( Grover), a nickname. Politically Mr. Weast is a Democrat, and takes an active interest in party issues, but was compelled to oppose the re-election of President Cleveland. Two years since he made a visit to the old place in Illinois, where he found the log building of his boy- hood's home. Aside from his contracting en- terprises Mr. Weast has an excellent ranch of . a section of land, where he rears draft horses. When the father of our subject left Illinois for Nebraska he carried with him a capital of $80,000, all of which he lost during his four years of "fighting grasshoppers."
ROBERT B. ROWLAND resides sixteen miles below Gardiner and follows general farming. He was born March 26, 1839, at Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His father, John Rowland, was born in Chester county, Penn- sylvania, in 1778 and followed farming. He was the son of John Rowland, who was a vet- eran of the Revolutionary War. Our sub- ject's mother Marinda (Buchanan ) Rowland, was also born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, and came of Scotch extraction. She was mar- ried in 1838 and became the mother of three children, our subject being the eldest and the only one living. Robert B. attended the public schools until twelve years of age and then com- menced life's activities for himself. His first work was on the farm, after which he went to Harrisburg. Pennsylvania, and in 1862, he en-
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listed in the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers, being the Second Di- vision, Second Corps and Third Brigade. He served throughout the war and in 1866 en- listed in Company A, Sixteenth U. S. Regu- lars. In 1870, he was ordered from Salt Lake to Fort Ellis, marching all of the way, being in Company A, Seventh U. S. Infantry. He remained at Fort Ellis until his discharge in 1874 and Montana has been his home since. After leaving the army, he did hunting and trapping until 1876, then located mining claims at Cook City. In 1877, he enlisted as a scout under General Howard and was one of the active followers of Chief Joseph on his famous retreat. After Joseph surrendered he returned to Cook City and from 1877 to 1892 he conducted a pack train and took tourists through the Park. In 1892 he located his present place and has been engaged in the stock business and farming ever since. He has eight hundred acres under fence and is prosperous.
Mr. Rowland takes an active part in poli- tics, being a Republican, while in fraternal affiliations he is an Odd Fellow.
IVER THOMPSON, well and favorably known as a progressive rancher residing five miles west of Absarokee, Carbon county, was born in the central part of Norway, May 10. 1862. His father, Claus, was born and died in Norway, the latter event occurring March 17. 1905, at the age of sixty-eight years. The mother, Alata ( Ingbrightsen) Thompson, is still living in the old country at the age of sev- enty-seven.
Our subject is the third of six children. all of whom with the exception of himself are in Norway. Until he was nine years of age he attended the public schools in Norway, and he then began work as a herd boy, still at- tending school winters until he was fifteen. Since that date he has continued to take a
man's part in life. Until he was twenty years old he followed farming, and then he began logging. He came to the United States in 1889, arriving in New York and going thence to Minneapolis, arriving there June 4th of the same year. There he began work in a lumber yard during the summer months, and in winter he resorted to the woods. The following spring he came to Livingston, Montana, leav- ing soon for the Yellowstone Park, remain- ing there one summer. In the fall he removed to Castle, then a "boom" mining camp. Three years subsequently he returned to Minneapo- lis, remaining eighteen months, still working in lumber yards and the woods. In the spring of 1896 he came back to Livingston, and passed the summer in the Park, cutting bridge material for the government. Then he re- turned to Castle.
During the time he spent in Castle he worked a year in a saw mill, but became finan- cially embarrassed in the panic, and lost every cent of his hard-earned capital, and then he re- turned to Castle. He worked in the mills dur- ing the winter, and then went to the Mussel- shell valley, where he secured employment on a sheep ranch for a season.
July 23, 1897, Mr. Thompson was married to Olivia Wester, also native of Norway, com- ing to the United States in 1896. Her parents are still in Norway. She had a brother drowned at Stanwood, Washington, July 4, 1905. His name was Joleff. The rest of the family are in Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Thomp- son have three children, Alma, Hilda and Cora, all born in Montana.
Following his marriage Mr. Thompson de- cided to found a home. The same fall he pur- chased seventy head of cattle and ranged them in the valley. The following spring he pur- chased a farm on Cottonwood Creek which he held eighteen months, disposing of the same in 1901, and then coming to his present loca- tion, purchasing a "squatter's right." There was nothing then save a cabin and raw land.
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Here he has made one of the best homes in Carbon county. He has 80 acres now under irrigation, and is raising alfalfa and stock. He has 50 head of fine cattle and proposes to en- gage in the sheep business and dairying.
Politically Mr. Thompson is a Republican, and takes active interest in the party cam- paigns, although by no means a partisan office- seeker. Himself and wife belong to the Lu- theran church.
LOUIS H. SHAFER resides three miles north of Fridley and follows general farming. having a fine ranch of about two hundred and sixty acres. He was born in Lawrence county, Ohio, December 22, 1837, the son of Philip J. and Mary L. (Stajerman) Shafer, who were married in Cincinnati. The father was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1811, came to America about 1830, settling in Cincinnati when it was but a village, having only fourteen brick buildings in the entire place. Being a butcher, he opened a shop and continued there in business. The mother was born in New Bremen in 1820. They were the parents of twelve children, seven boys and five girls, three of whom besides our subject are living. Fred WV. in Cincinnati; Louisa Martin in Jackson. Ohio, and Christena Smedley in Huntington county. West Virginia. After completing a common school education, Louis H. finished at the Bryant & Stratton College in Cincinnati and in 1864 he started out for himself. He soon came west and in September. 1867. took a position in the quartermaster's department at Fort Leavenworth, where he remained un- til March, 1868. Then he took another trip. visited the Mosier river and various places in
2 Idaho. He then went to White Pine, Nevada. In July, 1873, he left there for Montana, ar- riving at Bozeman in August. The following winter was spent at Bear Gulch and in July, 1874. he came to the vicinity of Emigrant.
1
Since that time he has been mining, stock rais- ing and ranching in various places. On April I, 1897, he secured his present property. It is a fine bottom ranch, well watered and very valuable. He gave his attention to stock rais- ing and farming until recently, having now sold most of his stock.
On December 11, 1882, Mr. Shafer mar- ried Mrs. Mary Swan, who was born in Indiana on August 23, 1838, the daughter of Benja- min and Margaret (Trimble) Jones. The fa- ther was a native of Georgia.
Mr. Shafer is a Republican in politics and has frequently been at the county conventions.
JAMES E. REA. From the earliest days the business of handling and raising stock of various kinds has occupied a most prominent position in the economy of human industry and from the days when Abel's flocks furn- ished their first quota till the present time it has always held rank among the most substan- tial and honorable of human callings. The wonderful advancements that have been made in many lines of this work by bringing to a more nearly perfect state the various domestic animals are worthy the study and investiga- tions of all who are interested in advancement. The boundless west has furnished most ex- cellent opportunities in many lines for stock raising and Montana is by no means least in the advantages she has held out to the wise and progressive stockman. Many of the most substantial citizens of this state are numbered with the stock breeders and the gentleman whose name is at the head of this page ranks among the leaders in this important industry at this time. Having also been one who has spent the major portion of his life in Montana he is entitled to a place in her history with those who have made the state.
On June 27. 1879, in Ontario, Canada, James E. Rea was born to William and Helen
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(Davidson) Rea, natives of Scotland and Og- densburg, New York, respectively, and of Scotch ancestrage. The father had held the position of shepherd on the estate of Lord Polwarth in Scotland and there remained un- til nineteen when he migrated to Ontario, Can- ada, and engaged in farming and sheep rais- ing. In 1872 he moved west to Fargo, now in North Dakota, being about the earliest settler there, and followed farming. Ten years later he settled near Miles City and took up sheep- raising in connection with the farm at Fargo.
The winter of 1886-7 reduced his flocks from six thousand to one thousand five hun- dred and then he began to buy sheep and feed for the Chicago markets. In company with his sons, the firm being known as Rea & Sons, he continued in this business till his death in 1898. He started in America without capital and despite the reverses he met he became one of the wealthy men of Montana. His wife preceded him some years in death and they both lie buried on the old home farm near Fargo, which his sons still retain.
James E. was educated primarily in the first schools of Fargo and in 1899 entered the University of Minnesota where he was gradu- ated in due time with the degree of LL. B. After this he spent some time in the law office of Childs, Egerton & Wickwise and then returned to the sheep business. All the time he has followed this business he has been in partnership with his three brothers, William, John and David, the former of whom is now in Billings. John died in 1905. Until 1903 they were extensively engaged in buying and feeding sheep, many of their feeding stables being near Chicago, and they were rated one of the very largest firms in this business in the entire country. At the date last mentioned the brothers purchased the Cold Springs Ranch, situated just one mile north of For- syth, then owned by the Gould Brothers. It was one of the oldest and best known ranch-
es in the state and consisted of twelve thou- sand acres of land. Since purchasing this they have added much more land and have about six hundred acres under the ditch, with a large proportion in alfalfa. It is one of the most complete and well ordered sheep ranches in the west and is a land mark as well as a pride to this portion of the state.
In 1904. Mr. Rea married Miss Pansy O'Brien, the daughter of Patrick and Fannie ( Higgins) O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien is assistant postmaster in St. Paul, Minnesota and has been in the office for thirty-five years. Mrs. Rea is a native of St. Paul and was born in 1880. One child, George A., born in St Paul is the fruit of this marriage. Mr. Rea is a member of the M. W. A. and is one of the the prominent young men of this part of the state, being president of the Rosebud county fair commissioners and secretary of the Rea Brothers Sheep Company.
It is of interest to note that in the early days when the Indians were on the war path, the elder Mr. Rea was faced with the problem of leaving the country or fighting it out. With a few others whose courage was equal to the occasion he remained, even in the time of Cus- ter's defeat and never deserted his farm. The Cold Springs place is one of the historic spots of this part of Montana and there still re- mains on it a block house that was built in early days to enable the residents to success- fully cope with the Indians. It is marked with bullet holes and shows signs of the fights that formerly raged here. The place was taken up by a man named Murphy and he erected the block house, which later became a stage sta- tion, and in 1880 was a government station, being on the telegraph line to Fort Buford.
The Cold Springs Ranch is named from the many springs on the land, while in the large spring at the mouth of the tunnel that leads up to the block house flows the finest water in all Rosebud county.
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WILLIAM J. NIX is one of the well known men of Forsyth and he has spent twenty years in the state. At present he is deputy game warden at Forsyth and is also engaged in the commission business handling hides and wool. He is a man well informed in the issues and questions of the day and holds a firm belief in the Democratic platform and is well acquainted with the political economy of the state. On August 1, 1904, he was ap- pointed to the position he still occupies and is an efficient officer. While Mr. Nix is in no sense of the word a politician in the usual ap- plication of that word, still he always takes a keen interest in the campaign as a loyal and patriotic citizen and is a strong worker for his friends and for the principles he stands for in the political world. He has frequently been put forward for various positions of honor but he has never yet allowed his name to be placed on the ticket, although his friends are often urging him to do so.
William J. Nix was born in Osborn, New York, August 26, 1865. His father, Thomas Nix, was born in Ireland and came to New York when a lad of thirteen. He served through the Civil War and carries marks of a severe wound he received in the service of his country. In 1867 he came west to Ben- ton county, Minnesota, and settled on a farm where he still resides. He had married Miss Julia Hogan, a native of Ireland, who came to the United States when a young girl. She died in 1892. Our subject was a small child when he came to Minnesota with his parents and there he grew to manhood and in the schools of Benton county he was educated. When he had reached his majority, he came west and soon entered the employ of the North- ern Pacific at Glendive. He rose steadily un- til in 1899 he occupied the position of road master, which position he continued to fill un- til 1903.
In 1899. Mr. Nix married Miss Maud E. Rozell, the daughter of Joshua Rozell. She
came from North Dakota to Montana. Mr. Nix is one of the prominent men of our county and has taken a great interest in the advance- ment of affairs in all lines. He keenly appre- ciates the necessity of strict adherence to the game laws, and sees that they are enforced in his territory. The importance of preserving the game has been more patent to the people at large and it is hoped this very important branch of legislation will be carefully looked after in the days to come.
GEORGE HERBERT. One of the earl- iest pioneers of the Yellowstone Valley is the subject of this sketch, now residing one mile southwest of Laurel, Yellowstone county. He is a native of the Keystone State, having been born July 3. 1833. in Franklin county.
His father, A. K. Herbert, was a native of Germany, going to Pennsylvania at an early day where he remained until his death. The mother, Sarah Herbert, was also a native of Germany.
The public schools of Pennsylvania af- forded an education to our subject, and at the age of seventeen he went to Kentucky, and subsequently on to Illinois. Following the close of the Civil War he went to Missouri, and in 1867 he went to Utah, but in the fall of the same year came to Virginia City, Montana, (Alder Gulch ). He then worked his way to- ward the Gallatin valley. He was among the first to enter Yellowstone Park in 1869. When he reported what he had seen his story was met with derision by many of the old timers. It was in 1881 that he located on his present property. Since coming here he has been en- gaged in the stock business.
In 1880 Mr. Herbert married Nancy Ellen Seright, a native of Illinois, who had come to Montana with her parents in early days. Her father, Joseph Seright, was born in Indiana, February 7. 1827, and his people were pioneers
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of Decatur county, Indiana. Her mother, Mar- tha A. (Uttinger), was a native of Decatur county, born in 1831.
Six children have blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert : Emma, wife of William Chaffin; George Herbert, at home with his father ; Arthur, at home; Mattie, wife of Louis Webster; Joseph H. and Henry.
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