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 85
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 85
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 85
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 85
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 85
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 85
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 85
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became the sole proprietor of seven hack lines, and could collect accounts at the fort.
In the construction of the Burlington rail- road he was employed in 1892, and also did some freighting. Following this one summer he freighted and trapped during the hard times of 1893, and in the fall of 1894 he found himself in Big Horn, Wyoming, where he passed the winter. In the spring of 1895 he rented a ranch on Tongue river, Wyoming. fifteen miles northeast of Sheridan, and passed two years on it, thence moving to his present place. This was the year following its open- ing for settlement. Of his 160 acres he pur- chased 120. He had disposed of his stock in Wyoming, intending to remove to Idaho. Here he started with a few horses and $2 in cash. It was uphill business, working eighteen hours a day, but indomitable energy counted, and at present Mr. Pierce has a fine band of cattle and is quite prosperous in every way. He is breeding to Durham stock.
The wife of our subject was Anna Scott, a native of Ohio. Her parents came to Mon- tana in 1895. Her mother is dead; her father at present resides with J. N. Scott, a next- door neighbor. Mr. and Mrs. Pierce have three children : Leonard W., married and liv- ing at Columbus, Montana ; Frank and Hazel. A little girl baby, a twin to Hazel, was called home by death when ten months old.
Fraternally our subject is a charter mem- ber of Morris Homestead, No. 1027, as is Mrs. Pierce. Politically he is an ardent Republi- can, and active in party affairs. Locally however, he votes for the best man. He has served as a delegate to every Republican con- vention since locating in the county.
In 1891, when there occurred the Indian outbreak in the Pine Ridge agency, Mr. Pierce served through the entire campaign, and dur- ing his cowboy life he has had many a skirm- ish with the redskins, and carries a scar as an unpleasant memento of Indian markmanship.
PHILIP BOTTLER enjoys the pleasant distinction of having located the first ranch within the present confines of Park county. A continuous residence here since entitles him to be classed among the leading pioneers of the state of Montana and on account of his labors and successes here cannot but prove very interesting to every lover of Montana. His present place lies three miles south of Chico and consists of two thousand acres of valuable land supplied with the water needed for irrigation and stock purposes. It is an ideal stock ranch and Mr. Bottler knows how to produce the best results.
In Summit county, Ohio, on December 25. 1840, Philip Bottler was born, the son of Ernest and Catherine (Sharr) Bottler, na- tives of Germany and emigrants to the United States in 1838. After they had spent a little while in New York, they moved on to Ohio with their three children, who had been born in the old country. Our subject was reared and educated in Ohio and Indiana and in 1860 left home for a tour in the south. He was in Louisiana when the war broke out and im- mediately returned to his home in Iowa. Here he enlisted in the Ninth Iowa and served three months and five days, receiving an honorable discharge because of a wound inflicted the 7th of March, 1862. In April 1865, Mr. Bottler turned to the west and crossed the plains to the famous Gallatin valley. He took up a ranch and followed farming there for four years, then sold out and with his brother Fred, crossed the range into the Yellowstone valley and located the first ranch in Park county. For nine years these hardy pioneers followed the cattle business and then dissolved partnership. Mr. Bottler crossed the river from the old place and settled where we now find him. He at once began the sheep busi- ness and from that time until the present has been one continual line of success with him in this enterprise. In 1891, he purchased a
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flock of two hundred and sixty-four Angora goats but he soon tired of them and sold them. In 1903, he bought out the government herd of Persian fat sheep. The pelts of the lambs of these animals are what the famous Persian capes and coats are manufactured from. Mr. Bottler owns the largest flock of these ani- mals in America and is very successful with them. He handles about twenty-five hundred head of sheep, half of which at least are thor- oughbred and grade Persians, being very valu- able. In the sheep industry, Mr. Bottler is a thorough success as well as in farming, this being one line of enterprise he has followed for many years. However, he is a well in- formed man, up-to-date in all questions and takes a keen interest in the development and upbuilding of the country.
In November, 1888. Mr. Bottler married Ida Melburn, a native of Michigan. On the 4th of April, 1902, occurred the death of Mrs. Bottler and she left besides her husband, four children, Philip G., born August 18, 1889, Ernest A., May 3. 1893: Ruth F., February 17, 1894, and Ester H., November 4. 1897.
Mr. Bottler is an Adventist and takes much delight in church work. He is a progressive, up-to-date man and one of the well to do citi- zens of this portion of Montana.
JOHN MARSHALL STAFFORD re- sides at Ashland, where he is engaged in ranching and stock raising, being one of the men who came into Montana over the cattle trail from Texas, and who has conserved the interest of the state by building up and im- proving as he has had opportunity since his advent here. He is one of the pioneers of Cus- ter county and has resided here for over a quarter of a century and is thus entitled to be classed with the pathfinders of Montana. The birth of our subject occurred in Marshall- town, Iowa, on January 19, 1863, and his par- ents, Robert and Margaret ( Marshall) Staf-
ford, were born in Indiana and Illinois, re- spectively. When a young man the father came west to Iowa and there followed draying for a time, and in 1870 removed to Kansas, where he engaged in farming and followed the same steadily until his death, in 1877. The mother is still living in Derby. From a short start in the schools in Marshalltown, our sub- ject continued his studies in the public schools of Kansas and as early as fifteen went out into the world for himself. He first found himself in the great mecca of the west, then Leadville, and after spending some time in the mines, he was attracted by the alluring occupation of prospecting and later was en- gaged in freighting, in which capacity he vis- ited Canyon. New Mexico, Alamosa, Lake City, Durango, and many other places. Also he spent some time in work on the various railroads then building in the Centennial State. After this, we find Mr. Stafford engaged in riding the range and in 1881, he came on north over the trail with cattle and since then he has cast his lot with Montana. From the foregoing it is evident that Mr. Stafford is a man of energy and aggressiveness and has made the most of the days of frontier life. As soon as he came to Montana he decided that he would give his attention to stock raising and so began to prepare for that business. He located a ranch got a band of cattle and has continued in the occupation with reasonable success since.
In 1888 occurred the marriage of Mr. Stafford and Miss Emma Snyder, a native of Illinois. Her parents, Levi and Catherine (Penticoff) Snyder, were natives of Pennsyl- vania, came west to Illinois when young and later settled in Nebraska, where Mr. Snyder died, but where his widow still lives.
ALBERT JOHNSON, born in Trondh- jem, Norway, July 23, 1871, is at present a leading and enterprising ranchman and stock-
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raiser in the Yellowstone valley, residing two miles west of Absarokee, Montana. His fa- ther, John, a farmer, lived and died in Nor- way. His decease was in 1901, at the age of sixty-two years. His mother, Johanna (Haxstad), died in 1879. aged forty.
Our subject is the second of five children, the youngest of whom died when five years of age. Two sisters still live in Norway. He has one brother, John, living near Fishtail, Carbon county.
Mr. Johnson was reared and educated in Norway, leaving school at the age of fourteen. He has made his own way since he was eight years old. At the age of nineteen he faced the west, coming to Ashland, Wisconsin, where he worked in the iron mines fifteen months. He the came to Meagher county, Montana, and for seven years was in the employ of the Grandy Brothers. At the termination of that period, in 1887, he removed to his present place, where he purchased a squatter's right of 160 acres. He had then laid up about $1,800, but when he was fairly settled most of this was gone. Here he has resided since. He reared stock and now figures himself worth $10,000. He makes a specialty of Hereford stock and has about 160 head of graded stock, besides horses. He has led a very industrious life, but has suffered no particular set-backs, and con- siders himself in the best portion of Montana.
June 15, 1898, our subject was united in marriage to Irene Erickson, a native of Nor- way, who came to the state alone. On a farm in Norway her father still lives. Her mother is dead. She has three children : Ingwald J., born October 19. 1899: Isabel J., April 23, 1902, and Grace L., July 27, 1904. Politically he is a Republican. He is a member of the Lutheran church.
M. S. BALLINGER, one of the pro- minent men among the early settlers of the Yellowstone valley, is now residing in Living-
stone, having retired from his farm which is a fine estate of one thousand acres lying ten miles west of town. He was born in the country thirty miles south from Lexington, Kentucky, on July 20, 1821, his father being Henry Ballinger, a native of Virginia. Henry Ballinger came to Kentucky in 1790 with his father, Achilees Ballinger, also a native of Virginia and when he became of age, pur- chased a farm close to his father's and married Lucy Jeffries. She was born in Kentucky, while her father was a native of Pennsylvania. Henry Ballinger died in 1870 after a long ill- ness of pneumonia. His father had died in 1842. Our subject received his education from private schools and remained with his father on the old homestead until 1839, when all journeyed to Illinois. They went thence to Missouri and in 1880 moved to Montana lo- cating upon the upper Yellowstone river, ten miles above Livingston. He gave his atten- tion to farming and stock raising until 1904, when he leased his farm and moved into Liv- ingston. During all of these years, Mr. Ball- inger labored industriously and was rewarded with splendid success and is consequently one of the well to do men of the country today.
On July 13, 1852, Mr. Ballinger married Jane E. Hardcastle, daughter of Edward and Eliza (Reed) Hardcastle. The father was born on the eastern shore of Maryland. Later moved to Baltimore and learned the cabinet maker's trade. In 1822 he went to Carrollton, Illinois. His wife's father was Isaac Reed, a tanner and farmer, native of West Virginia. Mrs. Ballinger was born at Carrollton, Illinois, February 12, 1832. Our subject and his wife have eight children, six of whom are living,
- Burnett ; Julia, married to Judge Frank Henry, of Livingston; Joseph E. is married and is now in business in Tacoma; Eliza, the wife of E. H. Talcott, a banker in Livingston; Lula B. the wife of W. S. Davidson, a banker in Bozeman: Florence N. teaches in the Ag- ricultural College at Bozeman, this state.
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Both Mr. and Mrs. Ballinger are active members of the Christian church.
Mr. Ballinger gave considerable study to political questions at the time Abraham Lin- coln was first nominated and finally voted for that celebrity. Since then, he has not been active in politics but has always remained a Republican.
Mr. Ballinger's son taught the first dis- trict school in Park county, his daughter, Bur- nett, was the first county superintendent of Park county. The family is very prominently identified and a long residence of more than a quarter of a century entitles them to repre- sentation among the earliest pioneers of this valley, while their labors and integrity have given them a standing of the very best.
NELS A. NELSON, deceased. The sub- ject of this biographical memoir was born in Norway. He was by trade a stonemason, and when a young man came to the United States and settled on a farm in Polk county, Minne- sota. He remained there until 1884, when he moved on to Montana, and here he located on the Musselshell river, in Meagher county, where he engaged in the stock business and ranching, successfully, until his death in 1897.
He married a native daughter of Nor- way. Antone J. Nelson, the oldest of the chil- dren, was born in Polk county, Minnesota, June 18, 1880. He came to Meagher county with his parents when he was five years of age. Here he was reared and educated in the public schools. Following the death of his father he became the responsible head of the family. He came with his mother, brothers and one sister to Carbon county in 1891, and they located on the Rosebud river, two miles from Roscoe, the nearest postoffice. He pur- chased the improvements and took this place as a homestead. The brothers are , O., Willie and George. His sisters are Inga,
wife of Ole C. Olson, living in Meagher county ; Clara, wife of Albert Johnson, living in Livingston, Montana, and Nanie, at home.
GEORGE W. REED, SR., a prosperous Yellowstone valley, stockman, now retired, re- sides at Billings, Yellowstone county. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, June 10, 1829, the son of John S. and Emily ( Allen) Reed. The father was, also, a native of Bos- ton, removing to Dover, New Hampshire, when subject was ten years of age. He re- mained in that state until his death which oc- curred soon after his arrival. He was a shoe- maker by trade.
The mother was a native of New Bruns- wick, Maine, and following the death of her husband to her was left the care of the children of whom there were eleven.
It was hard, laborious lines for all of them, including the subject of our sketch, and con- sequently he had but little opportunity to ac- quire a very liberal education. In his sixteenth year he left home and enlisted in a rifle regi- ment for service in the Mexican War, under Colonel Loren. His enlistment was for a per- iod of five years, and he was compelled to serve out his time long after the close of the struggle. Following the declaration of peace his regi- ment was ordered across the plains to California. During the first summer they passed over into Oregon and built the bar- racks at Fort Vancouver. The rifle regiment was disbanded and he was transferred to the dragoons, General Phil Kearny command- ing. The dragoons made a pretty extensive tour of California, visiting nearly all the prin- cipal points. Our subject also assisted in build- ing Fort Kearney, Fort Laramie and Fort Hall. After being mustered out of the serv- ice he returned to Fort Vancouver where he located a donation claim, but did not remain long enough to perfect the title. For a period
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he followed mining and was for two years at Yreka. This was in 1855, and from there he went to Arkansas Dam, on Trinity river, where he mined two years more. In 1859 he crossed the mountains to Humboldt county, and en- gaged in farming. Here he remained twenty- three years, and engaged in raising sheep. cattle, hogs, etc., and this to quite a profitable degree. Here were his children reared and educated. Owing to ill health he removed from this locality, May 26, 1880, and came overland by teams to within three miles of where Billings now stands. This trip occupied three months and fourteen days. Here he bought a squatter's right and began ranching remaining there thirteen years. At the open- ing of the Crow reservation Mr. Reed with his son located on Five-mile creek, another ranch on which he remained until 1902, when he came to Billings. Since coming to Montana subject has been engaged in the sheep and cattle business the greater portion of the time.
In 1848 he was married to Miss Emily Porter, a native of Knox county, Ohio. With her parents she crossed the plains to the Wil- lamette valley, Oregon, in 1845, and it was in this vicinity that she was reared and mar- ried. The ceremony occurred at Oregon City. Mrs. Reed was called from earth March 10, 1895. Her parents were among the earliest pioneers in Oregon. Seven children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Reed, viz .: Alfonso, Mary E., George W., Charles A., John S., Lelia and Emily.
Three years of the life of Mr. Reed were passed scouting during the perilous times of the Modoc war. When the Otney family were crossing the Yuma desert, en route across the plains, they were captured by Indians. The parents were killed and the children taken prisoners, including two girls and a boy. Our subject was a member of one of the two com- panies of soldiers dispatched after these hos- tiles. On the desert they underwent terrible hardships; their supplies gave out. In one
skirmish with the redskins they lost five men, but finally rescued one of the girls. The other children, the savages claimed, had died. The rescued girl was tatooed, and quite an inter- esting narrative of her adventures has since been published.
JULIUS SCHAUDEL resides about three and one-half miles south of Ashland, in Rose- bud county, and is engaged in stock-raising. He operates in partnership with his brother, Robert and they handle horses and cattle. Mr. Schaudel has had a long and varied experience in the west and especially in military opera- tions, having been in some of the hard cam- paigns against the Indians, as well as the Span- ish American war.
Julius Schaudel was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 28, 1865, his parents, Mat- thews and Catherine Schaudel, being natives of Germany. The father came to America in 1833 and settled on a farm in Ohio. Later a move was made to Illinois and there he was occupied in farming until his death. The mo- ther came to the United States when a small girl. Our subject was educated in the common schools of Illinois and when of proper age learned the boilermaker's trade, which he fol- lowed until 1886. The following year he en- listed in the regular army, Twenty-second Regiment, and was at first stationed at Fort Keogh. For three and one-half years that was his headquarters and then his command was removed to Colorado. He participated in the campaign against the Sioux Indians and was one of Lieutenant Casey's scouts. Also he did much scout duty in company with the Chey- enne Indian scouts and was of great service to his command in this capacity. After five years of service in the regular army, he en- listed for three years in Rugsbys' rough riders. When the Spanish American war broke out, Mr. Schaudel at once offered his services and
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was enrolled in Company I, Third Regular Regiment, and was promoted to the position of sergeant. In all his military career, Mr. Schaudel was a man of courage and made a splendid record as a soldier and scout. After his honorable discharge he went to Lame Deer, Montana, and took a ranch. Later the government purchased the rights of all the settlers and he sold out and came to his pres- ent place and secured another ranch. Since then he has continued in the work of improv- ings his farm and raising stock and has pros- perered in his labors.
In 1892, Mr. Schaudel married Miss Tillie Pripeno, and to them four children have been born, named as follows : Robert, Edna, Lillie, and Nellie.
R. B. TEESDALE is one of the agricul- turists of Carbon county who has made a good success here and today owns a quarter section of fine irrigated land about one mile north from Bridger, where the family home now is. His land is all under the ditch and is well im- proved and one of the very productive places of the Clarke's Fork valley.
R. B. Teesdale was born in Wayne county, lowa, on February 6, 1866, the son of Ben- jamin and Mary (Hicks) Teesdale. The fa- ther was a native of England and 1836 was the year of his birth. He came to Michigan with his parents when a small lad and later moved to Iowa. He followed painting until later in life when he did farming. From Iowa he went to South Dakota and there remained until his death. His wife was born in Iowa and died in South Dakota. Our subject was educated in the common schools of Iowa and South Da- kota, having gone to the latter place with his parents. Then he embarked in farming and. also, gave attention to stock raising, until the western fever attacked him and he made a trip with team to the Palouse country, Wash-
ington. After one winter there he visited the Grande Ronde valley in Oregon and southern Idaho. Two years were consumed in this tour- ing and then he settled in Carbon county, se- curing in 1897 the place where he now resides. Since then Mr. Teesdale has given his atten- tion to the improvement of his farm with happy results and his is one of the good es; tates of the valley.
In 1891, Mr. Teesdale married Miss Lib- bie Nelson, a native of Minnesota. The wed- ding occurred in South Dakota. Mrs. Tees- dale's father, Peter Nelson, was born in Nor- way, followed carpentering and farming and died in Carbon county, in 1903. He had mar- ried Miss Mary Nelson, also a native of Nor- way and she is still living in Carbon county.
Mr. and Mrs. Teesdale have one child, Robert, and he was born in Meade county, South Dakota, in 1892. Politically, Mr. Tees- dale is a Republican and manifests a good in- terest in this realm.
OLAUS NILSON, deceased. A biogra- phical memoir of the subject whose name forms the caption of the article discloses the fact that he was born in Lennas, Sweden, De- cember 11, 1844. He was the son of Nels Nilson, native of Sweden. His father was a farmer and throughout his life remained in Sweden.
In the public schools of Sweden our sub- ject received a good education, and subse- quently he learned the trade of a carpenter. But at the age of twenty-four, in 1868, he came to the new world, landing in New York where he remained but a brief period. Thence he went to St. Louis where he worked at his trade, as well as in a number of other leading cities in the United States. Finally he drifted on to Billings, Montana. This was about twen- ty-four years ago. Here he contracted for the erection of a number of the buildings in this
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city. In 1891 he returned to his native coun- try for a brief sojourn, returning to Bill- ings the following year. Mr. Nilson was quite enthusiastic in the praise of this attractive city. About nineteen years ago he purchased a good ranch five miles west of the city, and this prop- erty is still owned by his widow.
During his life Mr. Nilson was an indus- trious, thrifty citizen and accumulated con- siderable property. April 20, 1905, he passed from earth, leaving many mourning friends who had learned to appreciate his true worth.
In 1892 he was married to Josephine An- derson, a native of Valon, Sweden. She was born April 6, 1867, and grew to womanhood and was educated in Valon. She came to Bill- ings in 1892. She is the daughter of Andrew Olson, a farmer of Sweden. Her mother was Brittastina (Davidson) Olson, a native of Sweden. Six children survive the death of their father, David V., Paul O., Henry A., Olaus, George W. and Annie J.
JOHN WASTPETER, who resides twelve miles south from Lee, is one of the prosperous stockmen in Rosebud county and has had a long experience, both in the hard side of the stock business and now in that which is more gratifying from a financial standpoint. He was born in Westfalen, Ger- many, September 4. 1863. being the son of Henry and Mary ( Lemer ) Wastpeter, natives also of Germany and still residing on the old farm in Germany. The father served in the wars of his country and is now enjoying a good ripe age amid friends and with his chil- dren. Besides our subject three other children were born to this couple, Henry, Mary and Catherine, all three living in Germany. Our subject was educated and reared in his native country and when twenty-one came to the United States to seek a place for himself. He landed in Nebraska and soon went to work
for wages, and in 1886 came on west to Miles City and there went to work for wages. In 1891 he had sufficient saved to warrant his starting for himself and so he pur- chased a ranch on Little Pumpkin creek and engaged in the cattle business. Later he sold his cattle and bought sheep. He changed just in time to come into the panic of 1893 with a band of sheep and before those hard times were ended, he had been forced to sell all that lie had and apply it on his debts. This left him, after he had paid over all he had, still one thousand dollars in debt. Mr. Wastpeter had no other property and he could easily have avoided paying the balance of his debts, but he was not that kind of a man, and as soon as lie had sold all, he went to work the very next day herding sheep and received his wages reg- ularly to apply on his indebtedness. He con- tinued thus until he had paid every penny he owed in full, and also till he had saved enough additional capital to start him in business again. On June 3, 1905, Mr. Wastpeter bought a quarter section of land under the ditch on the Rosebud, about forty-five miles from the town of Rosebud and again began business for him- self. In the spring of 1906, he rented the well known Baranger ranch on the Tongue river, one of the choicest ranches on this river and here he is now engaged in sheep raising. He has leased the place for five years and has a band of two thousand sheep. In addition he owns horses and mules besides other property and is prospering in his labors. He enjoys the confidence and esteem of the people and is a man respected by all.
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