Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 119

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144

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On August 4. 1908, C. Earl Varco was united in marriage with Miss Antoinette Griffith Belden at

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Austin, Minnesota. She is a graduate of the Austin High School and the University of Minnesota, and for a year prior to her marriage was a teacher in the public schools. She is the only child of her · parents, and a most charming and cultivated lady, who presides over her beautiful home with delightful efficiency. She and Mr. Varco have three children, namely : Kathryn, Charles B. and Winifred.

During the years Mr. Varco has been in business at Sidney he has seen many changes, not only in his own enterprise, but the community and surrounding district. Montana is one of the younger states. In spite of the fact that it is one of the richest in min- eral wealth, and possessing untold possibilities along almost every line, settlers did not flock into its confines as soon as they did in some other parts of the country, so that the past fourteen years have been ones of great development. The state has been spared much of the evils arising out of periods of stagnation coming of too early settlement, and the various projects inaugurated and fostered, by its men of initiative and capital have received immediate sup- port and been carried to ultimate completion in rec- ord time. Mr. Varco has grown with his community, and also aided very materially in its development. His large and flourishing business is typical of the man and his city, and the people are proud of the fact that they have in their midst a mercantile house which compares very favorably with similar establishments in the great centers of industry both East and West, and give to it a support which is not only remunerative but gratifying as well, for it spells in no uncertain terms a complete confidence which is a rich reward for any man.

LUDVIG HORNTVEDT made no mistake when he se- lected Northern Montana as his home. He came here from' North Dakota, where he spent three years after landing from Norway, in which country he was born, a son of Hanson and Bertha Horntvedt.

As a youth he heard of the opportunities of America, and at the age of twenty determined to cast his lot with this land. He reached New York and then went on to North Dakota, and from there came to the Flathead District and filed on a home- stead of 160 acres north of Kalispell. His thrift and industry in those early years had due reward, and at the present time he can look over an estate of 840 acres. He also built a comfortable home on an eminence overlooking a wide stretch of coun- try. He specializes in the Red Polled cattle, hav- ing some registered pure-bred sires.

He married Miss Hilda Holst, a native of Chip- pewa County, Wisconsin, and a daughter of Andrew and Anna Holst. Their two children are Anna and Helen, the former in her third year of the Kalispell High School.

Mr. and Mrs. Horntvedt are members of the Norwegian Lutheran Church, of which he is a trus- tee. Politically he supports the principles of the republican party. He is regarded as one of the most progressive farmers and stockmen in the Flathead Valley, and his estate is ample proof of his industry and success.

HENRY LOWNDES MAURY is a graduate of the University of Virginia, has been a resident of Butte for a quarter of a century, and during the greater part of that time has enjoyed an enviable standing as a member of the Butte bar.

Mr. Maury was born at Charlottesville, Virginia, November 20, 1875, son of Matthew Fontaine and Lydia Ann (Maury) Maury.

He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1894, and soon afterward came to Butte. For six

years he was connected with the law office of Corbett & Wellcome as a clerk and law student, and after his admission to the bar practiced four years with the distinguished Judge W. Y. Pemberton as a partner. During the past twenty years the work of Mr. Maury has been of the very highest merit and has brought him a practice of that volume and character that satisfies the ambitions of a true de- votee of the profession.

Mr. Maury served as president of the Silver Bow Bar Association in 1907. In 1911 he was appointed city attorney of Butte. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias, the Silver Bow Club of Butte, the Montana Club of Helena, and is a member of the Episcopal Church. Among his friends he is known as one of the most skillful chess players in the Northwest.

At Charlottesville, Virginia, November 22, 1898, Mr. Maury married Miss Ann Perkins, daughter of George and Lizzie (Watson) Perkins. To their marriage were born seven children: Reuben, on September 2, 1899; George, December 24, 1901 ; Lesse Lewis, October 23, 1903; Lydia, December 12, 1906; Eliza, October 2, 1908; Henry L., Jr., July 9, 1911 ; and Josephine, May 7, 1918.

C. P. COWMAN is associated with his mother, Mrs. M. J. Cowman, as joint editor and owner of the Flathead Courier, one of the valued and ably edited weekly publications in the Flathead district.

C. P. Cowman was born in Iowa, son of Mr. and Mrs. William P. Cowman. He attended the public schools of his native state and also Drake Univer- _sity at Des Moines. He married Miss Mame Cady. They had one daughter, Clara Josephine, now' twelve years of age. Mr. Cowman came to Montana and settled at Polson in 1909, and established the Flat- head Courier. Mrs. Cowman is now deceased, and the daughter is a student in the public schools of Polson. Mrs. C. P. Cowman was an earnest, Chris- tian woman and during her residence at Polson had earned the love and respect of the entire community.

Mr. Cowman many years ago when a young man was a soldier, being a member of the Fifty-First Iowa Volunteer Regiment. He was 31/2 years in the Philippines and helped put down the insurrec- tion in those islands. Fraternally he is affiliated with the Masons, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias, and is a stanch republican in politics.

His mother, Mrs. M. J. Cowman, has a gifted mind and a sincere interest in the people and affairs of her community that have made her an able ally in promoting the success of the Courier. She is a member of the Presbyterian Church, having been one of the charter members of that society, and through her church her duties as a newspaper woman, and in various other organizations has worked un- ceasingly in a spirit of social helpfulness and charity. She was chairman of the Red Cross Chapter at Polson, which distinguished itself among similar or- ganizations of the state for the great volume of prac- tical work carried out. Mrs. Cowman is also presi- dent . of the Civic League of Polson, and is a real community mother, a constant source of helpfulness in every direction where help is most needed.

PATRICK E. BURKE, former editor and publisher of the Scobey Sentinel and later of the Scobey Citizen, and now assistant postmaster of Scobey, spent most of his years in the printing and newspaper business and is also a well known and influential figure in democratic politics in Northeastern Montana.

Mr. Burke was born at Crystal, North Dakota, March 30, 1888. His grandparents were John and

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Mary Burke, and the former on leaving Ireland set- tled near Barry, Ontario, where he lost his life acci- dentally while clearing timber. He was the father of two children, Bridget and Patrick M. His widow later married John Burke's brother and became the mother of the following children: John; James; Catherine, whose first husband was L. J. Dobey and second Dick Moran; Ellen, who became the wife of John Burns; Mary Ann, who married Doctor Nu- gent; Richard; and Johanna, who married Levi Beetchel.

The father of the Scobey newspaper man was Patrick M. Burke, who was born near Barry, On- tario, in 1855, and as a young man went to North Dakota and took up a homestead near Crystal. He was one of the first settlers in the country, and in order to earn money to enable him to stay on his claim he worked on the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway, then in process of building west from Winnipeg. This road provided many of the pioneers of North Dakota with an opportunity to earn the needed dollars to support them in the crisis of their careers. ' He remained identified with the farming activity of that locality for many years, de- veloped an extensive stock and grain farm along the north fork of Park River, and lived there until his retirement and removal to Southern California. He took an active interest in local and state affairs, but disliked political fame, as he said, "because of its hypocrisy," though he has voted and supported the democratic party for more than forty years. A feature of his political record is that he three times voted for Mr. Cleveland for president and three times was a supporter of Mr. Bryan. He is a man of keen intelligence, and while never able to acquire a college education himself, he did what he could to afford his children such advantages.

Patrick M. Burke married Sophia C. Stokes. Her father was an aristocratic Irishman, though not a man of wealth, who emigrated from Ireland to Canada and was a farmer and carpenter. He edu- cated his children liberally and Mrs. Sophia Burke was a teacher until her marriage. She was born in Muskoka, Canada, the youngest of nine children. Her own children are: Edward W., an attorney at Minneapolis; Sophia C., wife of J. J. Nys, a lawyer in Oregon; Patrick E .; Mary, wife of George E. Langeland, of Buford, North Dakota ; Nellie, wife of Donat Trudel, a wealthy farmer at Pembina, North Dakota; Frances and Florence, twins, the former dying in 1917 and the latter engaged in com- mercial work at Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Patrick E. Burke spent his boyhood days around Crystal, North Dakota, attended a district school through the eighth grade, and with an ambition at that time for a commercial career entered the Uni- versity of North Dakota. He soon left college and began setting type in a country newspaper office at Edinburg, North Dakota, and worked for several newspaper offices until he again returned to his home town, and for a year was printer and editor on the Crystal Call. About that time he determined to finish his education, and the next four years he was a diligent student in St. Boniface College at Winni- peg, from which he was graduated with the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1910.

Newspaper work had made a strong hold on his inclination and from college he became a reporter on the Winnipeg Telegram, later on the Free Press of the same city, and in 1911 went West to Seattle. That city he found overrun with printers, and in order to get back home he worked in a freight house. Following that he spent another year with the Winnipeg Telegram, and then identified himself with Montana, establishing the St. Ignatius Post on .

the Flathead Reservation. He conducted his paper there for a year and then sold out and moved to the Scobey locality in July, 1913. For three years Mr. Burke was publisher and editor of the Scobey Sentinel, and while thus engaged was appointed post- master of Scobey. A year later he sold his paper, and continued his duties as postmaster until 1916, when he resigned the office in favor of Mrs. Burke, and has since continued as assistant postmaster.

Mr. Burke has acknowledged only one political party affiliation, as a democrat since he reached his majority. He voted for Mr. Wilson in 1912 and 1916, and in 1916 was a delegate to the Democratic Na- tional Convention, receiving the second highest vote over the state in the contest for delegate. That fall he was also a candidate for representative of Sheri- dan County, being defeated in a republican county by only three votes. During 1918 he was a candidate by petition for Congress, but discovering that his petition lacked a sufficient number of signatures, he withdrew in favor of H. B. Mitchell. In 1920 he was again elected as one of Montana's delegates to the Democratic National Convention at San Fran- cisco. Mr. Burke is a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, and is affiliated with Williston Lodge of Elks No. 1214.

At Scobey, July 30, 1914, he married Miss Mary Rose Laux. Mrs. Burke, who is a woman of very interesting personality and much business ability, was born at Aurora, Illinois, December 23, 1882. Her father, Jean Laux, a native of Luxemburg, came to the United States about 1880, locating at Chicago, where soon afterward he married a girl whom he had met on the ship crossing the ocean. For a time he was in the grain business at Aurora, and on selling out moved to Phillips, Wisconsin, where he resumed the same business and where he died in 1915. His children comprise Mrs. Mary Rose Burke; Catherine, wife of James Bodoh, of Wake- field, Michigan; Magdalene M., wife of Patrick B. Murphy, of Scobey, Montana; and Eugene and Mar- tin, both in the United States Navy. Mrs. Burke was educated in public schools, graduated from the high school at Phillips, Wisconsin, at the age of sixteen, and the following seven years she was em- ployed in the Phillips Post Office. In 1914 she came to Scobey on a visit to Mrs. Murphy, her sister. Her thorough knowledge of handling the affairs of a postoffice brought about her appointment as assistant postmistress under Mr. Burke. She was assistant postmistress while he had charge of the office, and her own appointment was January 13, 1917. Mr. and Mrs. Burke have three children: John Patrick, horn May 26, 1915; Mary Stokes, born April 1, 1917; and Eugenia, born April 2, 1919.

OLIVER AND OLE G. FREDERICK. The history of Montana is not a very old one. It is the record of the steady growth of a community planted in the wilderness during the later decades of the nine- teenth century, and has reached its magnitude of today without other means than those of agricul- ture and industry. The people who redeemed its wilderness fastnesses were strong-armed, hardy sons of the soil who hesitated at no difficulty and for whom hardships had little to appal. There was also other work to be done, work of various kinds. Their efficient efforts have been fully appreciated by those who came at a later period and builded on the foundation which they laid so broad and deep. Among the latter class are Oliver and Ole G. Fred- erick, the genial and popular owners of the Hotel Norden at Kalispell. While their arrival was not as early as some, yet they came in the formative period and have done much toward the general up-

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building of the country which now occupies a proud position among the most progressive and enlight- ened sections of the great Northwest.

Oliver and Ole G. Frederick are Scandinavians by birth, having been born in Norway, and they are the sons of Gunder and Lena Frederick. In 1870 these parents, with their eight children, immigrated to the United States and settled on a farm in Wis- consin, where the children were reared and where they attended school. Eventually Oliver and Ole G. came to Montana, settling at Helena, where for a number of years they were engaged in business. Later they came to the Flathead Valley and located at Kalispell, where they engaged in business. Their first real estate acquisition was a homestead on which they filed, and they purchased other lands adjoin- ing, so that their fine ranch at the head of Swan Lake now comprises 480 acres of splendid land. They also have other lands in this vicinity, their entire holdings in this state amounting to 720 acres. They also own 20 acres of hay and timber land in Canada. From the beginning of their lives in the Flathead country the Frederick brothers have been character- ized by indefatigable industry and sound judgment, so that they have advanced year after year until today they are numbered among the representative men of their section of the state. For about a dozen years they have conducted the Hotel Norden, the well known and popular hotel at Kalispell, and they have made a signal success of this venture. From their ranch at Swan Lake they bring everything in the vegetable line, fresh and of endless variety, be- sides eggs, cream and milk and other farm prod- ucts. A first-class chef presides over the culinary department, the quality of which has given the Nor- den a widespread reputation throughout this part of the country. The hotel can accommodate 150 guests, and it has become a very popular stopping place for those seeking rest amid all the comforts and con- veniences of home. The Swan Lake ranch of the Frederick brothers is one of the most attractive spots in the Flathead country. The ranch itself is given a beautiful setting by natural surroundings, Swan River flowing peacefully along within 100 feet of the front of the home, in front of which the land slopes gracefully down to the water's edge. This is an ideal spot for sportsmen, for fishing and hunt- ing are found here at hand and the entertainment at the ranch house is of a royal character. Boats and launches are provided for the convenience of the guests. There are a number of other beautiful residences on Swan Lake which help to make the scene one of appealing beauty.

Both of the Frederick brothers are married. Oliver was married to Marie Johnson, who died within seven months after their marriage. On the Ist of March, 1920, he married for his second wife Gertie Eckle, from North Dakota. Ole was married to Lottie Anderson, of Helena. Politically the brothers are both nominal supporters of the republican party, though they generally assume an independent atti- tude, preferring to give their support to such men and measures as most nearly meet their approval. Fraternally they are members of the Fraternal Or- der of Eagles. Their religious belief is that of the Lutheran Church, of which their parents were faith- ful members. The subjects of this review, whose life history has thus been briefly delineated, are worthy representatives of that class from which the true noblemen of the republic spring; but they have made no effort to be leaders of men, being content to lead honest, industrious and conservative lives, desiring no other title than that of good citizens. Be- cause of their success and their fine personal quali- ties they enjoy the confidence and esteem of all.

EDON A. AMUNDSON has had a career of striking interest both from the standpoint of experience and achievement. His business service has entered as a factor of value into the history of the new Town of Scobey. He has some distinctive relations with that community. He was on the ground when the new town was formed, built the third house on the town- site, and one of his children is the first native daugh- ter of Scobey.

Mr. Amundson is a comparatively young man for all his varied experiences. He was born November 14, 1875, in Worth County, Iowa. His father, Anton L. Amundson, was born at Christiana, Norway, and in early life his experience was that of an office man and clerk. He married, in Norway, Martha Marie Honsedalen, whose father was a landsman or sheriff of his Norwegian district. On coming to the United States Anton Amundson established his first home at Stoughton, Wisconsin, where he and his wife were employed for a time, later removing to Worth County, Iowa, where he bought land and became a farmer and followed that occupation until his death in 1910, his wife surviving him until 1912. Anton Amundson, who was born in 1842, had a liberal education, acquired naturalization in America as soon as possible, and was a stanch republican. At one time he was honored with the office of county com- missioner. He and his wife were Lutherans, and of their children only two survive, Edon A. and Mrs. Thea Smedsrud of St. Ansgar, Iowa.

Edon A. Amundson spent his boyhood days near Lake Mills, Iowa, and pursued his advanced studies in the Luther Academy at Albert Lea, Minnesota, and in Valer College at Decorah, Iowa. His prac- tical business career began at the age of eighteen with an experience in the creamery business at Joyce, Iowa. He was next with the Northwood Banking Company as bookkeeper in their bank at Kensett, Iowa, and the four following years he was bookkeeper and then assistant cashier in the Buffalo State Bank. For some reason the bank management took over the affairs of the local postoffice and he continued as deputy postmaster one year.

About that time Mr. Amundson abandoned Iowa and went in search of adventure and fortune in a country entirely foreign to him. He was led into the Klondike country of Alaska, where he expected to engage in mining. He went out to Seattle, where he embarked on the sailing schooner Swan, which thirty-one days later reached its destination at Port Valdez. He was traveling with a little party of six men and they reached Valdez, a town of a few tents, January 1, 1896. There they made the neces- sary preparations, each man getting his provisions ready and packed on his own sled, and then started off hauling their sleds toward the Copper River coun- try. It required three weeks to transport themselves and their goods over the Port Valdez Glacier, thirty- six miles wide, with its summit more than 4,200 feet above sea level. They went by Klatina Lake and on to the river of that name, where they sawed down trees and made a scow and dory, by which they passed down the river, shooting its rapids, to Copper River, where now Copper Center is situated at the mouth of the Klatina River. Here they cached their stuff, left a man to watch it and fish during the summer, while the others with a light boat pro- ceeded up Copper River, passing Teslina, Chestatina and Slona Rivers and up the latter to the head- waters of the divide between the Copper and Tenana Rivers. As gold seekers they did their prospecting in that locality, staked out some promising claims and camped about in the snow, killing some of the big game of the region. With the approach of fall they dropped back to their cache, after an absence

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of almost four months. The man left behind had caught and dried some salmon for food preparatory for another winter, but Mr. Amundson and three others, signifying that they were satisfied with their adventure, pulled back over the great glacier for Port Valdez, reaching that town at the beginning of winter. The steamer Excelsior carried them to Juneau, and they went down the coast to Seattle on the ship Dora. After a brief time looking over the Coast country the party divided and Mr. Amundson and his partner, A. H. Dahl, returned to Iowa.

Once more in his native state, Mr. Amundson re- sumed his association with the bank at Buffalo Cen- ter, taking charge of the farm loan department. The next summer he moved to Minnesota and en- gaged in the real estate business at Fulton. He was also chief of the Amundson Land Company, selling Red River lands for several years. Inci- dentally he also promoted some oil companies at Beaumont, Texas. On leaving Fulton he went to Garrison, North Dakota, where he was interested in merchandising. The next important stage in his business career was with headquarters at Dickinson, North Dakota, and he engaged in locating home- steaders on claims and during the next 31/2 years found places for more than 800 settlers.

Mr. Amundson came to Montana as early as 1910, and for three years was traveling representative for the Rumely Threshing Machine Company, selling threshing machines, tractors and other heavy farm machinery. His first home was at Plentywood, after which he returned to Williston, North Dakota, and in October, 1913, he came into the vicinity of Scobey for the purpose of locating, having a general knowl- edge of this community through his previous experi- ences as a traveling salesman

Mr. Amundson is well remembered as a landlord at Scobey, where he erected the Hotel Tallman, the second hotel in the town, and was its popular proprietor for two years. Since then he has been actively engaged in the farm loan business, a busi- ness for which his long training and experience give him undoubted qualifications.

He has made his business a means of promoting the welfare of the community, and in a quiet way has also interested himself in other local affairs. Like his father, he began voting the republican ticket, casting his first presidential ballot for Major Mc- Kinley .. At the present time he is serving as police magistrate and justice of the peace at Scobey. Mr. Amundson took his early degrees in Masonry at Ada, Minnesota, and retains his affiliation with Nor- man Lodge No. 154 in that town.

At Fulton, Minnesota, June 14, 1900, he married Miss Nora Caroline Erickson, daughter of John and Anna (Larsen) Erickson, the former a native of Sweden while her mother was reared at Red Wing, Minnesota. Mrs. Amundson is the second in a family of five, the others being Gustav, Edward and Albert, all of Moorhead, Minnesota; and Elna Mae, a nurse at St. Barnabas Hospital, Minneapolis. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Amundson are Carroll, Alice, Elsworth, Eva Marie and Helen. The distinction of being the first native daughter of Scobey belongs to Eva Marie Amundson, who was born in the metropolis of what is now Sheridan County, February 3, 1913.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 119

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed Publication date: 1921 Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society Number of Pages: 1144

Author: Stout, Tom, 1879- ed
Publication date: 1921
Publisher: Chicago, American Historical Society
Number of Pages: 1144