Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 197

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

USA > Montana > Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III > Part 197

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Leading a very busy life, Mr. Clark has not thought of rest until recent years, and it is but a few months since he relaxed his efforts and decided to take life more easily. In former years about the only recreation he had was the few weeks he spent at different times in the western mountains, where he hunted big game. Since June, 1880, he has been interested in Montana, that marking his first entry into the state, and during the more than forty years which have since elapsed he has seen so many changes take place that the whole aspect of this region has changed. Looking back over these years he realizes what a wonderful development has come to his beloved state, and is proud of the part he has been permitted to take in the work, and grateful for the chance which brought him here, for he realizes that his abilities were singularly fitted for the life work he took up, and that in it he achieved a pros- perity that might not have been his had he turned them into another channel. All over this region Mr. Clark is known as one of the pioneer cattlemen, and is held in the highest esteem by all his fellow citizens.

CAPT. WADE GOBLE. There is no member of the Montana bar who is held in higher esteem than Capt. Wade Goble of Baker, who has been connected with the jurisprudence of this region since 1915, and has lived in the state since 1911. He was born in Madison County, Nebraska, on July 15, 1889. His boyhood was spent in the vicinity of Norfolk, that state, and he was graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1911, with the degree of Bachelor of Arts.

Being thus prepared by a liberal education to take part in the work of his generation, Mr. Goble decided to commence his career as a homesteader, and con- sequently came into Montana and entered a half sec- tion seven miles north of Baker, on which he erected a regular house instead of the usual "claim shack" of the settler, broke a portion of his land, fenced his claim and lived on it until 1914, making it into a valuable property. He is not inclined to think it suit- able for raising crops, although the three successive experiments he made were productive of excellent results, but as the outlay was heavy to secure these

he believes the costs would practically wipe out the profit.

Leaving his farm in 1914, Captain Goble came to Baker and prepared himself for the practice of law in his father's law office, and was admitted to the bar before the Supreme Court of Montana at Helena, Montana, on June 30, 1915, although he tried his first cases in a justice court prior to that date. Follow- ing his admission to the bar Captain Goble was taken into partnership with his father, the firm being Goble & Goble.

Captain Goble became identified with the Montana National Guard in 1913, when he joined Company E at Miles City on April Ist of that year, and rose to the rank of first lieutenant. On May 3, 1915, he organized Company I at Baker, and was elected its captain. This company was mobilized for service on the Mexican border on June 19, 1916, and was the first company in the state to be mustered into the Federal service. It continued on the border from July 7th until October 9th, and was mustered out of the United States service on November 3d of that year, resuming its status as part of the National Guard.

When the United States entered the World con- flict Company I was ordered mobilized on March 26, 1917, at Fort William Henry Harrison, Montana, and during that summer did duty as bridge and tunnel guards in the state. Subsequently it was sent to Charlotte, North Carolina, at the rendezvous of the Forty-first Division, and embarked for France at Hoboken, New Jersey, on December 14, 1917, on the United States steamer Leviathan. The command reached England on December 23d, and after a short stop in England went on to France, reaching that country on December 3Ist. From LeHavre the com- mand was sent to various places, and about March 12, 1918, the Forty-first was designated as a replace- ment organization, and Company I, with other units of the same division, was broken up to provide men for the combat divisions.

Captain Goble was sent to the Twenty-third In- fantry and was assigned to the command of Com- pany F of that regiment, which was a part of the Second Division of the regular army. After some time spent in the trenches, Captain Goble's first en- gagement was at Saint Mihiel, where he was in the assault wave for twelve kilometers, between six and seven miles. The prisoners taken by this regiment were of the Four Hundred and Fifty-ninth German Landwehr. Company F took 363 prisoners out of the 3,000 captured. The regiment started its assault at 5:30 A. M. and reached its objective about 11:30 A. M., and was relieved by the Marine Brigade.

The next engagement in which Company F par- ticipated was in the Champaigne District with the French Fourth Army, and it was assigned to take an especially difficult ridge, one which the French had themselves attacked three times and been repulsed. The men were facing the third line of the famous "Hindenburg Line," the first two having been taken. The third line offered difficulties which seemed al- most unsurmountable, but the regiment attacked the ridge, Blanc Mont, at about 5:30 A. M., and reached its objective, the crest of the ridge, about noon. In this assault Captain Goble was in command of the Second Battalion of the Twenty-third Division, and the casualties were not heavy. At 5:30 P. M. an- other attack was ordered against the same troops, and they were under a more intense fire and gained a mile and a half before darkness ended the advance, although they were still under fire. The next morn- ing they made an attempt to advance, but were driven back and the Germans counter-attacked that night. The enemy lost about 300 men and 60 machine guns

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and were unsuccessful. The following afternoon an- other advance, partially successful, was made by Captain Goble's brigade, and during the struggle he was hit with the fragment of a shell and rendered incapable of further service. The shell exploded almost at his feet and fragments of it went into his face, under his arms and over other parts of his body, but the one which rendered him unfit was the head wound. He was removed to base American Red Cross Hospital No. I, Paris, France. After spending three weeks in the hospital Captain Goble rejoined his regiment and took part in the last battles of the campaign in the Argonne sector. He was in that fighting from November Ist to November 11th, when the armistice was signed, following which he accompanied the Army of Occupation, either in com- mand of his company or the battalion, to the Rhine at Valendar, about two miles from Coblenz. Captain Goble remained there until the middle of February, 1919, when he was ordered to the judge advocate's department at Paris, and remained on duty there until relieved on July 10th, when he embarked aboard the steamship Northern Pacific at Brest, France, and reached New York City on August 12th. He was discharged at Camp Lewis, Washington, on August 25th, following, and reached Baker on September 12th, at which time he resumed his law practice.

Captain Goble is unmarried. He cast his first presidential vote for William Howard Taft in 1908, and has continued to support the republican prin- ciples and candidates ever since. A firm believer in the necessity of making the organization of veterans of the great war a strong one, he was one of the original applicants for the Legion charter for Baker and belongs to Fallon Post No. 35. It will be a long time before the deeds of the American Expeditionary Forces fade in the memory of the American people, or the world. No matter what expediency may dic- tate with reference to temporary statements on the part of foreign powers, it is an accepted fact that from the entry of the American troops into the front line the tide turned, and the end was inevitable. All are forced to admit that this end came much sooner than the most sanguine hoped for because of the un- exampled bravery and heroism of these young men in the American uniform, and future historians will pay them the tribute they have won.

Captain Goble is a son of Webster A. Goble, who has been identified with Baker since 1914, when he entered upon a general law practice, but prior to that he had entered and proved up a claim in Fallon County. Webster A. Goble was born in Henry County, Illinois, on January 28, 1861, a son of Jesse Goble, also born in Illinois and a farmer by occupa- tion. The family originated in Wales, representa- tives of it coming to this country many years ago and locating in Pennsylvania, from whence a migra- tion was made to Illinois. Jesse Goble married Ervilla Dilts, and they had two sons and one daugh- ter, of whom Webster A. Goble is the second in order of birth.

When a child Webster A. Goble was taken by his parents to Boone County, Iowa, where he was reared amid rural surroundings and taught the dignity of honorable industry and legitimate saving. Leaving home after he attained his majority, he went to Ne- braska, and deciding upon a legal career, read law at Beatrice, that state, with a Mr. Brady, and was admitted to the bar, following which he established himself in a general practice at Norfolk, Boyd County, Nebraska. After his son, Captain Goble, came to Montana and took up a claim here, Mr. Goble decided to follow his example, and then, find- ing conditions favorable, he later entered into prac- tice at Baker, where he still remains. Since the

return of Captain Goble from the army the father and son have been engaged in some very important litigation and are recognized as being one of the strongest associations in this part of the state. While still in Iowa Mr. Goble was united in marriage with Miss Fannie Utter, a daughter of John and Anna (Cousins) Utter. They have two sons, namely : Captain Wade and Ward, the latter being engaged in the practice of law at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

WILLIAM H. YOUNG, M. D. The substantial results of years of effort intelligently directed by a trained mind are gratifying to one who has devoted his life to carrying out the highest ideals of a certain calling. No man can be greater than his appreciation of the debt he owes the world, and the professional men who rise to the highest positions in the confidence and esteem of their associates and fellow citizens are those who endeavor to aid humanity without undue thought to material prosperity. One of the dis- tinguished medical men of Fallon County, whose career shows marked capability and whose com- panions in his profession admire and revere him, is Dr. William H. Young of Baker.

Doctor Young was born at Eldora, Iowa, on Jan- uary 19, 1878, a son of Samuel Young, a retired farmer now residing at Los Angeles, California. Samuel Young was born in County Cork, Ireland, and came to the United States in young manhood. After doing common labor for a time he took up land in Iowa, and also at a later date in North Dakota, completing his active career as a farmer in the last named state. He was married to Ann Hut- ton, born at Edinburgh, Scotland, who died at Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1000. Their children were as follows : George W., who lives at Park River, North Dakota; James T., who lives at Hydro, Oklahoma; Samuel, who lives at Los Angeles, California; Annie E., who is the wife of R. O. Schroeder, of Los Angeles, California; and Dr. William H., who was the youngest born.

Doctor Young had only the usual country school advantages prior to his entrance at the State Uni- versity of Grand Forks, North Dakota, but there he took a four years' course and completed his literary training in the university at Salt Lake City, where the family lived for a year. By this time he had decided upon the medical profession, and, going back East, entered the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Chicago, Illinois, where he took the regulation four years' course and was graduated therefrom in June, 1904, with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. At the same time he was attending college Doctor Young acted as intern of St. Mary's Hospital of Chicago. Following his graduation he located at Munich, North Dakota, where he was engaged in a general practice until October, 1900, when he came to the new Town of Baker, and at that time was the only physician, not only of Baker, but the country lying between .Terry and the Dakota line. The prospect was not at all alluring when Doctor Young came to Baker, but ·he did not allow himself to be- come discouraged. As a beginning he homesteaded in the vicinity of Baker, engaged in what practice there was, and dealt in drugs and druggists' sup- plies, his business gradually developing into a regular drug store, which was first conducted as the Baker Drug Company, but is now the Hight Drug Company. With the development of Baker Doctor Young's practice and prestige grew, and his skill and experi- ence has received recognition by his appointment to the offices of county physician and health officer of Baker, which he held for five years.

On February 2, 1907, Doctor Young was married at Munich, North Dakota, to Miss Catherine Friesen,

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born at Manitoba, Canada, on July 3, 1889. There were two children in the Friesen family, Mrs. Young's elder sister being Mrs. Cornelius Epp, of Munich, North Dakota. Doctor and Mrs. Young have the following children : Gloria, Howard, Byron and Creighton. The Young residence on First Street, West, in the Fourth Addition to Baker, is a modern one of Doctor Young's own planning and construction.

Doctor Young is essentially a product of the West, for he was only three months old when his parents moved from Iowa to what was then Dakota, but is now North Dakota, making the trip in approved pioneer fashion, in a covered wagon. The hardships of the wearisome journey were multiplied by his be- ing stricken with scarlet fever, but fortunately he recovered and the little party located in Pembina County at a time when that part of the country was a wilderness, and not only we're there no railroads, but the prospect of their being built was but a vague hope. On this pioneer farm, away from city in- fluences, the embryo physician grew up, spending his spare moments until he was eighteen helping his father in the routine work of conducting the home- stead. In those early days Doctor Young learned many lessons not taught in any university, and be- came industrious, thrifty and compassionate, and imbued with a love of home and family. He lays much of his subsequent success to the homely virtues instilled in his youthful mind by his excellent parents, who sought to bring up their children to be useful and desirable citizens of the land their forebears had adopted.

VICTOR S. HIMSL. The "Father of Plevna" is a title which has been bestowed upon Victor S. Himsl as the result of the interest he has manifested in its upbuilding and growth and the leading part he has taken in its industrial activities. He located in the embryo city in 1913. He was a banker at the time, and sought this locality as a proper point in which to resume the business. The little town con- tained at that time perhaps twenty-five people and three houses, and his initial act was the organization of the First State Bank.

This institution opened for business on the 26th of June, 1914, but from the second day after his arrival Mr. Himsl had been making loans, and he conse- quently had about $300,000 worth of loans made be- fore the bank opened its doors to the public. The institution was capitalized at $20,000, and it has today a surplus of half the capital stock and it paid 10 per cent dividends the first year, the second year 20 per cent, the following year and each succeeding year 50 per cent, and is therefore regarded as one of the most prosperous banking houses of the state. Its officers contain the following well known names: P. A. Hilbert, of Melrose, Minnesota, president; A. C. Mikalso, of Plevna, vice president ; Victor S. Himsl, cashier, and in addition to these officers its board of directors also include Miss A. M. Engels. Mr. Himsl is also a stockholder in the First Na- tional Bank of Plevna, the Ekalaka State Bank, and is a stockholder in the West Building and Loan Association of Salt Lake, Utah, in the Midland Trust and Savings Bank of St. Paul and in the Bankers Loan and Mortgage Company of Billings, Montana.

Mr. Himsl was born in far off Austria, at Figen, July 27, 1877, and was brought to the United States by his parents when eight years of age. His father purchased land in Stearns County, Minnesota, in the Township of Avon, and there the Himsl children grew to years of maturity. The head of the family was Alois Himsl, who passed his last years as a farmer, but in his native land was a brewer. The

grandfather of Victor S. was Simon Himsl, who served thirty-one years of his life in the army of Austria, participating during that time in the wars of 1848, 1865-6, and died a soldier. His son Alois also performed his military duty to his country, but not as a soldier. He was the only one of his parents' nine children to come to the United States, and he came to this country a broken man financially, and to be- gin life anew he purchased a small forty-acre farm. In order to provide for his family he worked at the mason's trade while his wife and children grubbed and cleared the little homestead. He in time ac- quired title to 160 acres, and he then gave up the work of his trade to give his entire time to the farm. During his life there was never a dollar bor- rowed on the land or on the stock, and at his death Alois Himsl was in comfortable circumstances. He was called to his final reward in 1912, after an in- dustrions and fruitful life of seventy-two years. His family comprised nine sous and six daughters, and those who grew to mature years are: Joseph B., judge of the Probate Court of Stearns County, Min- nesota; Louise, who became the wife of Gabriel Garnitchnig, an electrical engineer of St. Joseph, Minnesota; Victor S., the Montana banker; Mary, wife of Michael Zimmer, a farmer in the vicinity of St. Joseph, Minnesota ; Hattie, who married John P. Goetten, of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Agnes, the wife of John Zimmer, of St. Joseph; Frank, the owner of the old family homestead in Stearns County; Fred, of Bethune, Saskatchewan, Canada; and Rudolph, a farmer at Bethune.

Victor S. Himsl earned his first money as a school teacher, and the capital thus acquired enabled him to enter St. John's University at Collegeville, Minnesota, where he graduated in the commercial course. From 1899 until 1900 he was bookkeeper for the Preiss & Wimmer Brewing Company in St. Cloud, Minnesota. In 1901 he became cashier of the Bank of Royalton in Morrison County, Minnesota, continuing his resi- dence at that place for five years. In 1905 he had organized the Avon State Bank, near Holdingfort, with which he is still affiliated. In 1907 he organ- ized the Farmers State Bank of Holdingfort. Mr. Himsl went from Holdingfort to Bethune, Saskatche- wan, Canada, where during three years he bought and sold lands as a broker and also made loans, and from Bethune he made his way to Montana. Here his name has become prominently linked with the in- dustrial life of the town which he aided so materially in founding, and he has also contributed toward the farming development of this community.

Mr. Himsl erected his home in Plevna, also the building in which he is engaged in banking, has built several other residences in the town and is the owner of other property. But he has kept away from official service, leaving himself free to sympathize and assist with every worthy cause inaugurated for the benefit of the community. He has become one of the large land owners of the region, and has de- veloped and made productive a large estate. He is also the owner of land in Saskatchewan, which is improved and yielding profitable returns.

Although reared under democratic influences at home Mr. Himsl esponsed the cause of the republican party, and among his own people is called the "politi- cal black sheep of the family." He cast his first presi- dential vote for Major Mckinley, and has never since missed a vote or a good roads meeting, and has never attached his signature to a real estate mortgage. He was reared a Catholic and still maintains that relig- ious faith. He is a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters, a mutual insurance organization, and of the St. Joseph Society, another insurance society. He is a firm believer in life insurance and carries a

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large policy in an old-line company. During twenty years of a strenuous banking career he never in- dulged in a vacation, but during more recent years has occasionally devoted a week or so to hunting the big game in the mountains of Montana, and has be- come quite a success with the gun.

In Stearns County, Minnesota, June 18, 1907, Mr. Himsl was married to Miss Clara C. Engels, who was born in Stearns County, Minnesota, November I, 1886, a daughter of Mrs. Mary C. Engels, who was born in Dubuque, Iowa. Mrs. Engels was before marriage Miss Mary Heisler, and when she was ten years of age she removed with her parents to Min- nesota, in which state her children were all born. There were seven children in the Engels family, namely: Mrs. Kate Yeough, of Opheim, Montana; Mrs. Bertha Weber, of Cold Springs, Montana; Frances, the wife of John Redfield, of Opheim; Mrs. Hims1; Miss Anna, of Plevna, a director and the assistant cashier of the Plevna State Bank; Andrew, of St. Cloud, Minnesota; and Matthew, who is foreman in a shingle mill at Edmund, Washington.

The following children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Himsl: Alois, Louisie, Matthias and Theocula, twins, Avitus and Rita. The second child, Louisie, died in childhood at Regina, Canada.

KARL HEPPERLE. A stranger traveling over Mon- tana is certain to be impressed with the agricultural abundance of this part of the country, and in their minds the thought may arise that those owning these large ranches have been favored by fortune. As a matter of fact, however, few of those who came to this region during its formative period attained to any measure of success without passing through some very hard times and undergoing hardships the strange traveler who experiences a feeling of envy over the present prosperity would be incapable of sustaining. The progress in this state has been very rapid during the past few years, a great impetus to development being afforded in Eastern Montana by the building of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, which resulted in the establishment of various stations along its route at which the ranch- ers could market their produce. Before that time, however, conditions were hard, money scarce and markets difficult of access. One of the present pros- perous men of Fallon County, Karl Hepperle, who is now conducting a grain elevator at Plevna, and owns a valuable ranch in the vicinity, appreciates all that can be said with reference to the hardships of pio- neers here, for he has met and conquered them, and they hold no secrets from him.

Karl Hepperle was born in South Russia on Aug- ust 28, 1888, a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Klos) Hepperle, natives of Russia, well-to-do farmers still living in that country. Of their seven sons and two daughters Karl is the only one who came to the United States.

He went from Libau, Russia, to Hull, England, thence to Liverpool, England, where he took passage on the ship Cymric bound for Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, and after landing at that port he made his way to Eureka, South Dakota, without accident. Reaching that point, he hired out for farm work, as he needed work and they needed help, but later he secured employment in the grain elevator at Artas, South Dakota, and while working there he formed the determination to some day own an elevator of his own.

When he landed in this country he knew nothing of the language, but being young and possessing a plastic mind he soon gathered enough of a vocab- ulary to enable him to get along, but he was ambitious and this smattering did not content him, so

he bought a dictionary of German and English and kept it with him so that whenever he came up with a word he did not understand he could look it up and fix it in his mind, and in this way has acquired an excellent working knowledge of English, his per- severance in this particular being typical of the man.

In 1909 Mr. Hepperle came to Montana and worked for a time in the warehouse of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and then squatted on a claim north of Plevna and visited his little 8 by 12 foot shack often enough to comply with the legal requirements. During the time he sold his improve- ments to his cousin and again filed seven miles south of Plevna on 250 acres, which he proved up. He then returned to Arthur, South Dakota, for a few months. He was married there and then returned to his homestead. Having come from a grain grow- ing country, he believed that grain would do well in Montana, and he consequently engaged in growing it. He raised wheat, flax, barley, oats and corn, and harvested a crop of some grain or other every year he has been on the farm. In other words, he "made good" as a farmer, as he has as a business man, and stands sponsor for Montana as a fine locality for an industrious, thrifty farmer. Before he left this farm he purchased a section of railroad land, and this made him a ranch farm that is now fenced, with barns and sheds for stock.

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Montana, its story and biography; a history of aboriginal and territorial Montana and three decades of statehood, Volume III, Part 197

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