Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (2025)

Table of Contents
TXT MD References

TXT

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (1)[...]I 985

The brands on the front cover represent the four original brands of,
rhe ranches rhat homesteadea rgB$S{.e;r:i.J lil:1 1i Lif[...]Jfl I 'Ji I'r l ii'4
Printed by Central Montana P[...]- i0\\ ri, l'1 T 59{

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (2)[...]ll s&\{,5 T€.n p I J &&/[...].i (
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Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (3)[...]&* i* tt rl t{,,[...]6nili".;

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Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (4) Dedication

This book of Forest Grove and the area bor-

dering is dedicat[...]We the committee have searched far and

wide for stories of this area. You, the people

have so gracio[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (5)[...]P: se
Tn**^.1,.-+.i
+tr!! VqUL !trUll^- a i a a a a a a a a t t I a l a a t , a t a a a a,[...]JlvtrllHltr -' r a a, I o a a r. r.r r... r. a[...]+h at t ar t at t at | | t I t t | | | aat t t r t t a[...]D-'1 ..l.
!vrr6r1Lo4l"'rr
^n- I aoI r t , r t ar a, . t at at t r r at I t , r a| | t
OtlHara, Bessie ,,,,,,,[...]I[...]rrrattrttll
A,pple, Thornasrl'{argaretrHarvey ,,, I r, r. ! r r,[...]32
rvii n-i
rrlrrrr+9n, ^1. T ^r,.i
!VS4DO ^^ , i t a a a t,, a, , i a t I r a a,, a t a I t a
fledgepeth, Al-ice M ,,...r.,,,r. I t,,, rr,,r.,
Roa ng , A lex . . rr r . o. . . , , | , I r . . . , , , . . r, ,, . . .
Hrtrcn[...]een, A.B. . r r r r . . r , r t | , | , . , , | . I t , . , , r | ,[...]/,Q
Ernison, Ha]- r.r'r.|.r,i,,...rr|.,,..Ir|.i[...],r.,,,rr,,,..,r
PI AFNO HA I I
a t a t I I t a I t a t t |,, |,,,l ! t a a,I l a a )LV
James, Ilarry and Nettie[...]r.rrr....rrrr
,aclus Recollections- Duffner Homer i r.,,
Foran Fanrily r r. r rr, I r. rr. r r., r,,,,. r' i t. r r.[...]r,..rr
Fritz, PauI rr.rr.rr..rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.i
Bowrnan, Hugh .rr r...,, r,., rr r.r r t,,.r..,t,,
Forest Grove Postmasters .rt.i.rr,,rtrrr.r,
Bgrsughts Chas . i r r r. r,,. r. |,,,,, r t,., !, ,..r[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (6)[...].....,..1.. r.. r | 97
Memories of Forest Grove- Cox,Isabel .....[...]nd .. r.. ............ a.......... I09
GrenstenrFamily re................r, e1[...]L22
Bowmantlfar]-ow . ........... r r... r... I a r. G.r L25
Thg Dinngr That Was . . .. . .......... ... .... f,[...]L37
Damschen, Floyd .. ... . ... ..... .. ... i ...... ]J+1
YoungrC.T. ........f ....[...]Fai-rview School..................... i..... 168
Fairview Distriet #II7 ..........'r[...]School D:.st,.# 2)..,.........r I73
Falrview Community CIub . .................[...]hy r...........'............t I87
Isaacs, Paul . ..............r .........[...]awrence ..r.................... I95
f
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (7)[...]L99
Johnson Family r r I r r o. r. .. t. ... ..... '...[...]t 279
Inci-dents of Interest-,Se1ma Morrieotrtrr r r r[...]"...... 32I
Anclent Pictgraphs .o | '. | ' ' ' ..... ' f. '..[...]";'Z
I '''?.a.1-{ C;< z-'<" L[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (8)[...]IulcCarbney Springs

Bradley is the Grandson of
Amos and lday Charbonneau

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (9)BRANDS OF THE AREA

THEN AND NOW

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (10)[...]AI
A Pgron (Bee)Gregory 'I LJ SwenC R.Holland.
TP Myron Gregory[...]in T Rhonda Dvorak

M_ I4arilynn Laughrey ft3 Carl sande[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (11)[...]w
G)
Y .Nate I'iccauley
'-\rovr tanley Ranch )[...]lriatt vlastetic aw ,'i agner
IJ[...]F John T. Stanley tt-, I Jim tsreeden
\,/
2 A- . r ver i{egsen
(i{ow Dale Cox's ) OD llar[...]Fhonda Duorak
/tugust i^/estvelt RD
N
)12[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (12)[...]nd nor*"

,. It the earliest recollection of Forest Gro-
seems
,ve history begins with a rren named McDonald, who nay
/alao be the r&ma-sake of the creek that ryns through
Forest Grove. l'Ic Donald was trapping in the a,roa when
he was at,ta.cked by a snall" group of renegade Indians.
He held them off, for a time with his rifle until he
waa rescued by a g[...]e
in the &F€&r
This all took ptace in the I8|Ots. Ia.terraround
1882, the fj-ret settlers arr[...]a bonnet on ard children
dangling their feet out of the tail gater with naybe
a milk cow or goat or a[...]n and clained their
Land and as the concentration of people j.n this &rea
increased, some people saw the need for some oFg&rl-
ized neligion. This need was answere[...]he
circuit in these parts around 1887"
trn I9O?r the people got together and decided to
const[...]e famj-l'ies played \rdtal
'parts in the building of the church.
L9I3 brought railroad servi-ce to the small town,
r+i[...]A,nd, the.'rail-
road stockyards made it posolble for cattle t'o be
shipped to narket instead of being drj-ven for days or
weeks.
The pa,ssenger service nade it easier for people
from.nearby corumnitics to cone to the narry-danc_es
and picnics that Forest Grove ha$ a.reprtation for.
'lht-s'brings up tne stolT of the train crew Hho were
ataying over-night in Gress Range and decided, ef!9r
a few rounds of tthootchrt thab it wsuld be a good idea
to go tc Forest Grove for a saturdAy nisht dance. When[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (13)Mr, Peterson at the Forest Grove depot saw the lights
of the train coming thet wasntt on his sched.ule, he
wired tewistown for inforrnation sn the unsched,uLed
train. The crew had a good time, but come I'londay,
they were alL looking for new jobs.
The l920ts brought rnechanized f,arming in the foni.
of tractors that could out.+lork the old horee and plowt
Automsbil[...]h needed it often' So,
Piercetc Garage was opened for busin€rlgo
The 20ts were also the boom ye[...]n was around seventJr-five and it served an a,rea
of near\r one thsusandn These people participated in[...]Cossnunity CIub' The picnics were
often the scene of nany speeches. A person famous
for glving qrite a few of, these tras known as trThe
Sweet C lsver Kingtt, Albert Bauer" He could someti.nes
be found pract,icing for the weekerrd while at work in
the flelds.
This was also a time for rodeos and, men were thel
as alwavs. proud of their horses. Thiq pride $o-Bp--
limeJ staitba an[...]and droughtr which
caused nany faurilies to leave for vrhat they thought
were better parts. The poputatlon dropped serious\r.i\
Ti-ures were hard untll around 1937 and J8r when[...]offe{
and rnanaging the danG68 r
In 1943 and I944r the l+-H clubs and Womenrs Clubs
were started in the cmrnity .
One of the legends of the area is a man named,
Smokey Lyon, who was a c[...], just work shoes, right up until the day he
died of pner:monia at a ripe old age. He was weII[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (14)[...]ough its nany ehanges. From hav-
ilg a population of seventy-five and having two-year
high school from l92L through L9?2t to lssing a lot
of people to the l.arger ci,ties, The population of
forest Grove j-s now around ten people in the tow[...]friendly air about the con-
nuruity and most all of the fanilies would rather live
here than argnrhere elserbecause of the because of tne
beauty of the Land and helpful cooperatj.veness of the
people. The snall communi-ty keeps Forest Grove the
place it is today and the people seem to like it that
W&Yo
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (15)[...]FOREST C,ROVE

From P.M.sirloway?s History of centrar l,Iontana.[...]kson bro-
therg ar,rd John $cLlers " Later Judge I'Ieagher, who was
the first schsol teacher there and he suggested the
r-rame Forest Grove for the rocarity. Later ranehcrs on
$ler Creek were D.D.IlIerl Sam I. $lerrson of Sanue1
rYrer namied Anna Moshner, d.aughter of Frar,rk Moshner,
ordtime resident of the Lewistown conmunlty. rn 1900,
J.J.Finn and f[...]re, noving from Nebraska
in coverbd wagons; sorc of l'{r. & Mrs. Finn who grew
up in the Forest Grov[...]d and tln
Finn; Daughters wcirerMrs Earr Nimmens of Fife and t
Mrs. Arza Barger of Lewistown. In October I90?, the
cornerstone sf the Splscopal chureh was Laid, those
offielating being Rev. H.G.Wakefield of tewistown,
ar,td I'lrs. Hay.rard of Fsroet Grove. Cument business
conccrns of the oomunity are t Forest Grove Mereantile
Coi ll[...]SeII-
orsr Herman syversone s.L.rhonas. Officers of Fercst
Grove eomunlty e lub were Dan Foranr presider,rt; Ananda
swift- secretary. Officers of the Fairview comnunity
club were Albert Bauerrpre[...]EXCERPT FROM FERGUS COUHIY ARGUS- Jan.II, I90i
Last $aturday evenir,rg, ltiss Ellzabeth Johas of &rtte
OityrMontana, was un:lted in rnariage to Mr.Lyut llar-
Ian of Forest Grove, Montana at Lcwistown. The bride
is a young lady of Brtte who has bcen teaching sehool
et Forcst Grsve. Thc groon is a proninent young r!:rn
of Forest Grove and has a hoEt of friends in that part,

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (16)of the eountry, The bnide was attended by l{iss Canrie
Fnost of Forest Gnover ad the gnoon was at,t,ended by
Mtr, CanI Enickson of Ponest Gnsve.

',I FOREST GROVE --'50M8 trNTERBSTING FA0T5 ,A'BOU[...]ces
l^and dnaj-ned by t,he nont"h and south fonks of MeDonal-d
Creek, nlJ-en Creak, Duncaru CneekrSutr[...]the
abone narned Creeks "
It j-s a counbry that has always been noted. as a.
good stock country a[...]ssured, a good
ctrop,
Forest Grove j-s one of the oldo,st tswns in Fergus
CounLy, It was[...]1882, In the sprlng
of thab year J.E.Frye setbl-ed ab the rnouth of Surenuff
Cneek"
trn Oetober of that sarne yean N"M,McCau)-eyn A.T,
Westveldt,[...]A,mos
came, Mtr, Frost settled at, the point that ls nsw For-
est Grove" They brougkr-t ttreir outf,it overland from
Hel-ena by ox tnain, taking six weeks for the tnip'
Ttre trading point at that tinre was at, Font l4aginris
and that 1883 wl-nten ftrre prt the traden out of bus-
inees and supplies were conseqrrently highr[...]ater.
The late Judge Meagher gave the town i_ts name,
!e being the first schoor teacher at th[...]is point to forlow stock-
raising as a busi-ness, That their Judgement was good.
is attesbed by the fact that the firsi beef steeis
shipped from the u.s. to Eu[...], were from this range and had never had a
p_ound of grain.
5

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (17) This fact tho cattle feeders of lllinois and
Iowa would not believe until shorn t[...]c0auley erd Amos Sr,l;rder.
Since the coning of the railroad in I913r a grq
ehange has cone ar,ui where the[...]es till one wonCers how
there Loer could, be room for so ma,nJr settlers.
We ean see that i-n a (Ew years the new settlers
are to have sone etock on thein farns to eat up the
grass that grolrs sn the lard that cannot be plowed
ard that eventually there ls going to be more and
better s[...]prosperous and thriving community.
A number of eettlers are prtting dalry cows on
their p1aees and, wtth the addition of hogsr iL is
bound to take a prominent Frt in the deveJ-oprnent of
,the country, as a better dairy section doesntt e[...]ng welt supplied with grass, hay and
,(1J. ki-nds of grain a8 well as shade and water for thr
etock.
Besides fanning, dallying ard sto[...]un
ny surrounding Forest Grove as eould be wished for.
The tor*n hae a good schoolhouse, a very pretty[...]Led hay was6
shipped from this point, eome of it" going as far r*es\
as Seattllr Washing[...]a house-warming in his new
house. A large number of settlers attended and a verl
i"iolr.Ufe time rtas spent. Dancing was kept up unt[...]. -.4:_.
about 30 head of heifers
Frar,rk Lyon has bought
fron[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (18)[...]it, more convenienb, l{e a)-so put
in a sLock of grocenies. *r,
, The Pioneer H,obel" is neari[...]eat improvement ov'er the o1d hoieL,
Mrs" Fnost, i-s to be compJ".i:nented upon her enterpni-se
in r.rndertak5-ng su.ch an i-mprovernent,.

county A,ssesso" niao:Tn*" p$chased the hay and
st,naw on the Sel"l-ens I pla,ce and has moved 300 head of
cows and heifers ovenlard fnom his rancia nea[...]"l-ers brothers ane going to f,eed and
catre for them"

John E. Lyons i, *ffiot t,o his f,arm Just
soubh of bown"
The spelling nat,ch cane off Last Fri[...]ed by t,hreir parent,s
and frienCs to the number of 40 or 50,
The fi-rst[...]rs Forest Gnove, Tlaey with-
stood a rapid fine of wonds, pronounaed. fon thern by
l,liss ,Al,ice ?eaganden, teacher of the Great Div:lde
school, for about lO minutes, at that tine it looked
dangerous for Fonest, Gnove as thene were six of, the
Great Divide scholars up to Just one for Forest
Grove, Inga Westvaldt, be5-ng the o$sr S[...]'their seats, one by one, It was a great feat for her
and she has reason to feel pnoud as she meL[...]s, next, Sun-
day- a musical program is a feature of the exersj-ges,

MERRY[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (19)[...]in
need of a good general
very rnrch
store. It i.s surprising that a town that can support
two saloons, one hotel, two restauran[...]aantb get some p,rty interested ln a proposition
of this sort. I?ris v*iLl stand investigation. What is
the ma'ct,en with oun boand of trade? Wake up!
Ttre wrlter has befoil*fu-
toou clippings of grain
quof,ations, one from the Hei-ena Record of Febuary 17t
and the other from the Democrab Ner*s of Ler*istor,m of
the same datel Helena Record quotations furnished[...]t Ner+s
quotations furnished by Lewistown chamber of commerce
for the EE}'IEFIT OF FARMER,S of, Fergus Countyr$J-"lO per
cwt. Why the difference?It is up to s,omeone to expJai:
Satunday was hog day i,n Foreet Grove, John E"Ly-
sns and s.w.$ler purchased. the hogs for Dowd. produce
Cor of Seattle. The-' qecured enou6h to load twq qars
an[...]s sure a busy plaee" Abaut $2,000"00
was paid out for the hogs. This money had to be spent.
Why not i[...]q..r\^-_\
The farnens of, the Fa'irview school district have
been having some exciting debates at, Lhe sehoolhouse
this winter. I?rey are a trive, up-to-date elass of
peopJ,e. February lSth bhe Bachelors gave a suppe[...]y were not
married" This brought out a great deal of meruiment
and wit. The prize for the best reason was voted to
Mf'Baugrf'\zr'arrzr-[...]e fhon the penitentiary. Spangler was convict-
ed of killing Lawrence Bolard at the foruerrs ranch
on McDonald, Creek on Janua,ry I0'I9I0. He wae tried
ard sent,enced to tr*enty-*ive yea.rs in the penitentia,r
for murder in the second degrEe- Strong petitions t
signed by repnesentative citizens of Fergus County hav
been presented to the Governor, with the reeult that
his eentnnce was conmuted to ten years. &rd credit for
eood bEhavior entitled hirn to a- pres6nt diseharge.
He is near 6tr years of age and will retire to hj-s ranc[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (20)[...]s kiltred Ln L9lb, rvhile worklng
Ln coal- mine that he ard hig brother and the Apple
a
crothers[...]im to death, the
rther tr*o bare\r escaping, Ihey i-mediately set to
*ork to regcue Lern bub when Lhe[...]king boy" He was bonn in Chestnut Mourrl, Tenn,.
?I years Egoo He leaves his parents, three sistcrs
r[...]thr at the ehurch in
Jorest Grove. The Bev, Brann of, Grass fiange condueted
bhe services, which were very impressive. .A large
lu.Erber of friends ard nei.ghbons attended the funeral.
[nterment was srade i.n the cemetory adJoining the Chu-
:ch.
Forest Gnove ncur boasts of a first-elass stri.ng,-
rd orchestra, ConstabLe Peterson of Grasg Hange being
bhe Leader. It uras orga[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (21) I{]STORY OF SAINT PAUL'S EPISCOPAL CHURC}i
FOREST GROVE FROM ITTS BEG][...]BY John R. $ellers, Warden

I have been asked to give an aceount of the
foundlng of thrs Episcopal ehurch at Forest Grsve. n
wltr} say that it, g5.ves ne gneat pleasure to addrese
thiE gathening on bhie eubJeet. For what I have to ea;
is a mernonial to the dead and living of this cofitnun-
ity who have had to do with the establishing of, an
Epioeopal church at bhie placen and of keeping same
in good condition". Ib seerne to me Lhat bhie is a ver.
appnopriat,e tj-rne ard plaae to speak of the fourding
of t"hi-s ahurch and cemeteny. As we assemble in a placr
of' this kind our thoughte naturally take a dif,ferent
trend th[...]athening hene at this chuneh and rrGodts
A,erefr, I qannot" help but quot,e frorn that subtrjme poem
of Thomae Gnayrs tEJ-egr written in a Country Chureh
Yardtr.
rtllank no,n Lhe sacned qalm that, broode around
Bide every fierce, tumultous passion cease
trn sti}I srnal"l" aceents l*hieperS-ng from the gr.[...]ound,,
A gratefuJ-, earneet of, eternaL pe&ce"rr

To a gneat rnarty it hae been a source of wonder
how euch a pneLty church and panticularly[...]rese
things do not, happen by thenselves. Someone oF Soltr@-
th5.ng has Lo be behind Lhern. We nust go[...]ng. About 1881 the $ler fam-
ily left thab ptrace for CJ"ancy, Montana. I folloiled
about a ycar Later. I think thatl in the Jrear 1884 thr
XYl,er fanil;rr &s some of you know, eettled on land
Just up the cneek frorn[...]ln Helenar Cottonwoodt
and Utiea from about L891r I located and msved nry
f,ami.Iy from Utiea, Montatra to the place upon uhich I
new live. Auntie ltayward and her nsther eonlng to
live r*lth ust & year laLer" Al-l of ua were menbers of
l0

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (22) b, Pau1ts Episcopal church of PatersonrN,J. Hencs
he name of thie church.
While the Illers were i-n Clancy, Blshop hewer
f the Episcopal diocoee of l{ontana used to visit then
nd rrhen they moved[...]al
isits ard hoLd serv:lces at this point. Most of the
i-ne the servlces were held in the old schoolhouse, a
og building located between the corn€r of the PIen-
ng fence and the elevator, and, some tj-mes at the
ome of Mrs. Matry E" Frost sr other homes. These
ervices were the first rcligious servlceE of any
ort held on McDsnald Creekr ad they were always weLl
tteaded and appreci.ated by the residents of this part
,f the country, regardless of thelr religioue affili-
tionen
In L892 D,B.[...]n the old Dan lYler
'anch. Mrg. Brirns, nother of Auntie HaSn*ard, died in
.895 and is buried on[...]y and nad,o nany f,rie-
tds anong the residente of thi-s conmun:ity, About this
;j-ne the ladies of this vicinity got together and, forll-
aed an assocla,tion that in the yoerp 1906 becane the
fst. Paults Guild.tr It ia lnpossi-b1e to opeak of this
:hurchrs history without taking in concideration the
{ork doae by the Guild fron the tine of j.ts organ-
lzation inI9O6 up to the presenb tine, ABd, I wanL to
say that while iL waa organi-zed under the leadcrehip
of bhe conmunicants of the Epioeopal church and, so
contlnuos, its nenbe[...]most aII dcnoninations and has had the good-wi3-l of
bhe residente of thle vicinity ln aL1 itE activittes;
end it hae d[...]ugh Rcvn Wakefieldfs enth-
si.an the posslbili-ty of buildirry a church was gone in+
to by the cornnunicants of the Epi-aeopel church and
when Blshop Bnerer c&E€ in the fal-I of that lcarr he
prornised that he rould personally donate $500.00 and
thought that he could g9t sorae assistance fren his[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (23)[...]r
was ej-rcul-aLedrhea.ded by Lhe Bishopre pledge of $5O0"(
and ln t,irne enough cash and pJ"edges wer[...]nds, sheep herderr
et,e., t* &ssure the buil"ding of the church. ?he amoun'l
subscnibed varied fnorn 50 cents up to the $500.00 of
the Bishopts. The List, of the d,onors is ln a tin box
iJr Lhe aonner stone of the church buiJ.ding, The dsnarr
necognired that the building of a church and influence
that, it, wotrld have in the conrmunit"y was worth while
and t-hey gavre wi}^J.i-ngJ.y. A si.te was secuned fronn bhe
school disbnict frorn land that, had been donated to the
echlool di,streict by ld[...]ceremonies by
the Re\r. Wakef,ield. In Lhe f,all- of n907 j-t wae oom-
pJ.eted and dedicat"ed the foLt[...]l-ater the
C. M. & SL. P. RaiLnoad rall a eurvey for a nailroad
down l"laDonal"d Creek and thein ni-ght,-of,-way nan, a Mr.
Webstcr, came and, got Auguet Wes[...]h as the sunvey ran right through it " lle etated
that they would ptrrchaee a si-te for a chunch and a
cernetery anyw'hene we might selec[...]h we had to the sibe
sel-ected. WiLh Lhe approval of the Rev. Wakefield we
selected the eite upon r+hi[...]he wine fence thai;
enclosee the pIoL and the men of the vicinity prt up
the .fence that encl-oeee the pJ-ot and have kept it in
repalr. I have been asked by some if this eernetery
is an exclusively Episcopal cemetery. In answer I
want to say it ie not,. It is frGodts Acre.tt[...]cL bo be asked 'xha& denominatj,on we belol€ to
i+hen we preeent oureelves above" Neither has there
.f-;iil fn;i-& ir'ryor,t[ iskedthat queetion i+hen they
eome hene to lay awaY their[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (24)lown for Vinginia City and was sueeeeded by the Rev.
leonge Hirst, who is no'* rector of St" Jarnesf parish
rf Lewisbown and St. Paulre l,lissionr Forest Grove.
4ost of' you knor+ l'ln"Hirst and his interest in this
ni[...]e in this cosurn-
LLy. Xt is noL my part ta speak of the pre$ent tirne
ls that speaks f,on ifuself. As for the future, I donrt
(rlowr I ean only hope that you youngen generatj-ont
teeing whab hae been done will carry on, and I think
.ou wi"trl-,
This addness vlas deli.vered in the ehurchyard of
it" PauLt6 Mission, Forest Grove on Memori[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (25)[...]ttlers came one hundred years d1ot
Dnawn to this valley, to Lhe special spot
That today celebrates that beginning of a town and[...]oriesare naryr but vle are few.
Stories were told of what happened before.
We missed the railroad, the[...]trs plaee,
Ever a beacon th draw men to the Grace of God.
The school too, we were glad to see
Holding memorles of teachersr studentsr programs and
garnes,
That, we never guessed would soneday be
A. treasured link to our destiny.
A town that stmggled, a town that diedt
E,.lt so infused us all with prid.e.
Fsr[...]e on our hI&Xr
Our paths will cross with fniends of oldt
Many more tales will be told.
Again in tauch with our past we will bet
l,lay the memories of the things we share
Be sunned up in this[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (26)[...]s and
Jbessa
'Bonnle)Johnson who homesLeaded east of Tfler. Norman
married Katherine BgeJand, daughter of Gust
,nd }4aria Egelund. fotrmer Fonest Grove res[...]se
he team and sled. The car was lef,t at Lhe top of the
ill among t.he trees. Gtrocenies vrere juggte[...]n the hill to the house. The school was
ie eenten of onganized social activities. The teacher
nd prp,i[...]in and Aldona lankut.is lived on the old Syverson
i..ace, IsabelLe & Archie Cox & famiJ,y , John & Cl[...]stop by and visit. There was always
rveral games of cards nd a lot of visiting before
rs evening cane to a close[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (27)the early houns of the mCIrning. While at Fairview,
Bonnie plrt up hay, naised yearling cattle, did sorne
farm.i-ng, broke some hcnses, rii-lked cows and sold ctr[...]Lhe (

other. The milking nrachlne was used for rnost of the
othensr a proJect Bonnie anC KaLheri-ne eithe[...]alone depending on the circumst&Dc€sr
With all that skim milk it r,qas inevitable that the
Johnson?s fed calves, and raised pigs and chi[...]pot, on the Swi-ft-Heggen place was idealn
Plenty of spring waten -for inrigation and richrblack
soil . The satisfaction of working and putting htrnd-
reds of jars of canned food on the cellar shelves was
vrery memor[...]Grass Range in L967, and they have two
of
daughters;- AngeJ-c Gaye, born in I97Ir and Sand.i Lynn,
born tn L973. Carol nrarried Rodney Sehaffer of Bi)-linga
tn L975. Rod is a building inspector fon Lhe city of
Billings. Both families live in Billings at this[...]i"
K;!i4
' E!-v- ^;*t"[...]{ ,qqu

I6

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (28)[...]oved. to the Forest Grove
,eommunity in the sping of LJ28, & left in the fal] of
L935 . Gust had came from Norvray in L922, He sent for
ldaria tn L925r &d they were marri.ed May 6thrtha[...]at the Remiltard place (now Charbonneauts) south
of Forest Grove. The Egelands had a farm and a coal
mine on the hilt north of the old Jaclcnan place {aow
Gregoryrs). After l{a[...]Forest Grove duri,ng the wint€rsr They lived
in I'lre Drake ts house across from the sehsolhouse and.
i-n a house of Hansonle across from Ms 0rHarals. A lot
of time and hard work went into the buildings & the
i-mprovements on the farm. Shortly after they sloved ,
]us conbined two houses and nrade a home for the fanily.
]us built a barn of native logs that he had cutrpeeled
rnd hand hewn. A new bunkhouse was built, for the n-iners
*hen Gus opened the new mine. Numerous out-buildings
dere added, several of these Here built of railroad
bies. Arnong them was the miLk house, wh[...]il.ding under the trees with its thick walls rade of
bies, kept the cream unt,il- it was baken to Mrs[...]ove, Water was always a
croblem. The rusty stream that ran frorn the opening
>f the old Jackrnan mine wa[...]r supplJ ttil
ius dug and rocked up a spring east of the buildings
/,at,en, The deep well that Gus hand dug was dry. He &
{aria used a tripodrpul}eyr& bucket to get the rocks
rnd dirt out of the hole. I was a sad di.ssappointment,
lI1 that work and no water. The rnajor building and
levelo[...]ly the new coal
tine. Gus opened a new mine west of the buildings. He
tad sweral men helping hfu, Iaurence Sala , and Victor
laponerwere two of the il€rrr Mi-ning coal in a srnall
"ural comn[...]water seeped int
,nd there was always the threat of a cav€-in unless
,he tunnel was adequat[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (29)exhausting hours. They d,ug coal. an,d toaded it i-nt',o the
coaL ears. Tons of eoal a day. Qy dayts end the eoal
dust hard been[...]bodies inside and out" Ski-n, their nostrils and I
lungs, Maria cooked f,or bhe rniners and did thene washr-\
ing The black ground i-n dirt had to be scrubbed ou1t, of
the clothes by using }ye water and the old rvash board '
the old msty waber fron the old Jackman m'i.ne shaf,t in
below the house had to be packed or[...]e frozen part,ially dry on the
Iine, then brought i-n and scattered around. the house
to finish dryin[...], raised chickens & sold eggs
and raised a garden that provided fnesh green veget-
ables during the sumr[...]back into the hi.ll near the
trees, held shelves of filled jars and bins of fresh
vegetables that lasted through the long winter months'
CoaI minin[...]sonal Job and Gus someti.mes worked
from the farm for part of the )r€&rr He worked on he
section crew for the Milwakee Railroad at one tirne'
Tkris crew repaired tracks and. reptraced ties on the
railroad li-ne that ran from Lewistown throtrgh Fol"est
Grove and on[...]were in Forest Grover(Jewarts staJred at the farm
that winter), Gus herd.ed sheep for Charl-ie Baer at,
Martinsdale. The Egelands neare[...]Eikes on the bench eastr Clavers then
Iived west of us, To the northvsest lived the John Bergs
and lh[...]llands. Schoo1 and church activities were the hub of
social life in the connnurt.i"ty. While in Forest Grove
Maria was an active member of the Lutheran Church and
Ladies Aide. Katherine st[...]s
Amanda Swift was the teacher and remajned there for 3
yearsr. Ivliss Swift was a dedicated teacherrsh[...]rom tB to 25 pupils, eight gradesr& aII baught in I
roollre Every holiday was eelebrated wi-th a program that
included plays, recitatj-ons, singing and[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (30)[...]e
everyone was welcome to stop by and share a cup of
coffee and visit with Gus and ltlaria. While living in
Forest Grove, nrany of you shared lrlariafs friendship
and hospitality over a cup of coffee before youtd go
pick up the nail and the groceries and head home.
Gue and l,faria spent the most of their livee in the
Central Montana area. Maria pa[...]ides in Lewj-stown, where his vifality, and
senae of hum.or, despite a stroke inL959, has seen[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (31) ly of Earl $heldon

by Ear[...]o l"lontana
J-ooking for work and for
adwenturer in the old west
He farmed southr*est of
Foresb Grove and lat[...]ride, They
were rnamied in Forcst Grove, the 3nd of, Augustlgz9.
He wrote his brother in Nebraska to come out wesb &
find himself a cowgirl like he did. He continued to
workp,t uhat ever he could find to support his fanily,
I was born July 4th, L929 and Vivian, August 25th i[...]t,ry to catch a Lraj-n
bo Winnett where he heard of a job opening, A.s he
went to jump aboard the sl[...]February L9 rL932. He was bunied at Forest Grove, I\ty
Mother later marri-ed Ted Fisher & moved to Wi-nnett.
I stayed with my Grandparents duri-ng the surnmer a[...]ne,nths.We
moved to the Fairfield Bench Ln L937, I now live 2
niles from the original honestead" I try to come fo
Fonest Grove each year to fix my Fatherrs graver so (

that is how I got reacquainted with people around
Foreet Grorr[...]by Betty Hoover
Alr r remember of Forest Grove is a hailstorm. rt
cane through the roof of the kitchen of the Arnord
place where we rived.. seenned like basebarr sized
stones to merbut r was onry {. Ars[...]brotherrBill was born May Srt92}rthere was a lot of
srlowe Dr Dunn couldntt get thererso Mrs E[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (32)[...]st j rLg37 j-n Lewistown,
rntana , the second son of Myron and Martha Gregory"
e U-ved his firsL 4 yea[...]here, then he drove to Grass Range
:r his 4 years of Hi school, He went to college in
)zeman, l4ontana[...]lyron jr, moved to Seatble ,
rshington and wonked for Boeing Air Craff, where he
rt, landing gears on 7[...]pent 6 years
1n the Seattle atrea and was working for highway con-
bruction when he teft tn lg72, {yron Jr, is married
> Jane WiLbuf of Buf,falo, Montana, We moved back Lo
rnesb Grove f[...]&n-
:gency Medical- Technician, and aLso a member of the
trgus county sheriffts Reserve.' {yron[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (33)[...]-- FOREST GROVE CEI{TENNIAL SONG -- I98I-
B[...]by
Out west they cane a lookinr for a ]and they could[...]llers rl''Ic0auleys and Westveldts I

JacknalrlyonrFrost and FrYs.
WelI, on the south fork of MaDonald 0reek, there the;
settled down to etay,
And built their homes of J-og and sod and they r aised
their fa&i.lies.
CHORUS:
fn old l'lontana near the Big Snowy[...]ee their old homes and visit ol-d frienc
And talk of bj-nee gone by in the days when they were[...]young.

Forest Grove has survived the passing of time,
Though not as big today.
WeIl, the nailroad?s gone, Iike most of' the stores,
But the oLd church beII etil}[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (34) :188.1 - 198'i Cennterini.a"l (lell.ebr.'cr,bi.on[...]Fr:rest, C::'ove r:ell.ebra,t,e.rJ, tne.i.r :100 LLi ye;,r'
anj.,rersa.r,y, l"f.ary 9r'i.gina) homectea,dt')r':; aNtenrlecl, :It,
i,,ras a. 2 da,y ertent rvi.bhi a, SaLurcj.alr ni-f[...]fart,hest, deseand-
a,nt ca,me frorn Beigj.ngrCli.i.na, a,nd Argenfi.na,, pl-trs from
ri,a,nri[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (35)[...]est Grove. She came to the area with her I

husband-, George in 19I!r when they took up the_ir hqgie
st,ead and has r[...]Ihey ate lunch at Casey Bromel,tsrr at, the f,oot of the
Kizer hiII. The on\y road was a slj:n trail. Mrs Isaacs
remembers thoserttlong horn steersrt, that roamed all
ov€r; ae bhere were no fences. She h[...]er
life ,and her home, where they raised a fani}y of sj-x
boys ard, one gi.rl. She hauled her own wash[...]who visit the
ranch frequenLly. Mrs Isaacs is one of three original
hornesteadens who stil-I }i-ve in the area. The others
are, L.H.!{iLlerr& Els[...]called Sure-Enuf Creek"
or at least cLose enough for their three children ,-
Henry F.rBernice E. and p[...]Sure-Enuf School. The tirning is vaglre to me as I only
heard a few st,orj.es about their stay in Montanar 88
a small boy. The only name I heard of was that of the
Daniels fan:Lly and I assume they were close neighbors.
When hrth and I visited the Centennial, we met a l4r
Coxr& Jessie[...]they identified the
Daniels girls in ny picture. I would like to meet
agaln with them and others who night know of ny
Grandparents, hlFh and Edna Long. Berni[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (36)[...]school with and was a friend of Jessie
Johnson, The only one living, is the y[...]ter an extended illnessr or Jauuary 4th 1981.
I'ls OtHara r*as born July 26rLB82 on a,farm in Was[...]ty, near .Ann Arbor, Flichigan, the daught{L?
of Mr and lt{rs Micheal OrHara . She moved to Chicag[...]1 until her retirement in 1966.
she was secretary for the Fergus County Health Dept.
Since her retireme[...]ke her
home in Lewistown. Ms O?Flara was a member of Dhersen
Circle of the ladiesof the Grand Arrny of the Reprblic.
Shers survived by one daughter, Firs Leo J I'llller(Mary
June) of Lewistown, and three grandchildren, She' wag
prec[...]h by her parents and a sister" F\rneraL
servj-ces for Ms Otllana were from the C3.oyd Chapel at
2p.m, tuesday.Rev, Ed Pangburn of the First Cristian
Church officiated, with intern[...]0tHarar98, passed. away on January l+ 1981. She
I"" born June 26rL882 at Ann Arbor Mlchigan" In I9O7
She moved to bhe Forest Grove area & filed on[...]Mr& l"lrs l,{j-cheal-
OtHara also homesteaded in that area, later molt'ing to
the town of Forest Grove, Al-1 are buried in the Fores[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (37) El len Leffer:t,sr Fa-'n:i-1y
Dy[...]efferts, mt Mother came to the Piper
area to cook for pheep sheanens, in about }?06. She
then fil,ed on a homestead. She l.ived the rest of her
.life -i.n the Piper iitre&, r:ntil about il or ! years be[...]homesLead eabin was J"2 by
LZ feet. She had 6 eh:i"ld::en. AIl the chilt1::en r{ere
gone from hcme except Janer(Mr* Alrra Stevens). These
are Lhe chj.Id::en o.f'Wil-Iiarn & Ellen Leffert i-
Charl.es, Bitf -( Dutcl"r), Peter, John, Lydl,a Leff ert,s
l{i}son, Jane Lef f eri;s; ,Stevens, & Tom Lef,f ert,[...](
I.,effer'l"s
erl"s
I.,ef f Storie rs
We}}, I donrt know how to start herer but what I
might say is, Bert and ILar,eL Claver lived up the val
Ley above us abouL to the head of the valley' They
were t'h.ere in about 1906 or" sornething like that. Then
they moved -fronrthere over southeast o-f the OId Ben
Hilt place up there in that high tinrber a.re&. I'{y dear
I'tother usecl to teII a story about Hazel. She sald,
that they[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (38)had for dogs. Four big dogs and she said about all the
li[...]he 2 fqrtng pans
rnd the 2 pJates and set it down for the dogs to eat
out of. The dogs would lick theur out nice ard clean
ind they r+ould prt then away, WeIl, I thought the
.itory was a 11ttle fantastic when I was younger, but
bhe older I got and the more acqrainted I got the less
I doubted ry Motherts story . Ben Hilt had a big dog
r big old sheppard dog that was getting old and he was
lown with rheurnatism I think" John Berg eai4 this more
bo hamase liazel[...].tt Boyt she blew her top there, she
rvouldntt go for that. So it wasntt to long after that
that Benny come to school- and said ol-e Fritz died.
H[...]l & Bert Claver
moved up r set up in this timber, kind of south & east
of the Ben HiIi- place, and they built a 1og house. I
hed a teaeher by the name of Katherine Ad.an. Taught
Ln L922 and 1923. I know she taught in 23. She taught
2 years and rod[...]all it the Casey Runnrel place. A
guy by the name of Flatha\tdy t that is who she was ts
board with. This place was just about straight south
of the Ben HilI buildings, kjnd of on the south edge
of that rim up there. We3-1, one day she told us that
she was going to Clavers to get her horse shod. WeLL
Benny ard I thought we would do something on Saturday
so we g[...]was al-ready. He was already at
*brk on thE horse"I?re buildlng was a 2 room, there
house was Just a[...]then you could
go out through the buggy shed, out of the other sid,e,
and you could go into the horse[...]e back where you could go
into the chicken house. I donrt know, I was Just a kid
and I didn t notice to nuch' I did notice that much
about it. WelI llazel was always verT friendly, oh she
wanted us to come in. tt 0h you tve got to come i.nrtrshe
saidyso we was going to go in the[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (39)[...]use ever;rtime we would move they
wourd bank. so I'inarly she stomped her f,oot reaL hand
and ehe cuesed and they alL went unden Llre bed & shut
uF. I dontt know neally what happened after that. We t
probably didntt stay J.ong. Katherine had hen horse \
abouL shed when we got the:re I Lhink, so we alL node
aII the way with hen" f,t,[...]. One wor"ild lead. Thon
usuaJ"\y Lead, and Bert kind of seeond. WeLL, IlLL
LetrI you another story, One t"irne when I was a kid of
It or 12 years old, ny Dad eame horne and he was[...]didntt give me a saek to put the bananas- in ,aJ-I
I had was & paper sack the etorekeeper ga\re me. Ir[...]guy came aLong and, said
he wot-lld, race rne. So I took rrim on for a race, bu.t he
ran off and lefb ne, but tr also left the bananas lay-
ing in the niddle of the road. Well, I didntt have a
sack so aII I could do was sbick them in ntr pockeLs"
I tried to do the best I aouLd" I Jusb ki.rnd of mosied
aLong d,aydreaming 1-ike a kid does" I stopped at the
Warner place for a LittLe biL and went orrr By the tirne
I got home tr had aII the bananas ate up, but I still-
say that it was thene fault, they shorrLd of furnished
fire a. s&ck.. Yup I ate thern all- bef,ore I got home. 4y
Mother ard Dad klad kirda s ilPerated about the time I
was born I guess, even before thab they had kinda
nevetr cor[...]Gil-t Fxlge t
,and she had come over and a_pplied for a cook for the \-
sheep sheanens. The;r used to come thene t[...]t,o shean thej-n sheepl and she come oven to cook
for ti'le sheep sheanens. Thene was 20C acnes of stone
and tj-rnben clai-m up thene nonLh of his plaeer eo she
fj.Ied on that, but they wouldnit gave her title to ii
because she was a rnarnied wornan. And so she had to go
apply for a d,ivoree & Lhen as soon as she did they
gave he[...],. She nevcr did get a divorae, & she
lived thene for bhe rest of her l-ife. She had to build
her homestead cabi-n & we walked. I waLked to Forest,
Gnove nu,ny tlnes when I wae pnetty smaLl. Go thererbuy
gnoeeries & catch the tra.in for home.' Well yes t
2a
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (40)[...]r, ss j-t was
to
a little bit of a problem to get, groceries. You
couLdnrt get l"[...]heavy t,o carry. Thene was an old ryan up there
that nun t,he post office at Piper. {y Mother always
)said that he built the cabin flr her. So tr[...]etty
simple. They didntt have much naterial, and I m:ight
t,ell you about 0his old Jinmy. Him and Mother got i-n
& fuss one ti:ne. I donrt know what it was abouL. She
was prone bo pick arguments. An;n+ay she was that kind
of a p€FSone Ihe Post office at that, time used to sit
on the south side of the nailrosd track right where
you go up the south side of the track and then you go
curve & go over where it set right there in that
spot.This was one of these cook houses. l4y Mother
went up there and t[...]ed out
on t'he noad and eaidrft Shoot you ole Son of a !--,
IriJ eaL your bulletsr[ She stood right th[...]her. Later on when we walked on
home she saj.drfr That oLe eon of a bldidnlt think he
was going t,o scare me wiLh that gurrr It Thats the
t'ype of a person she was.This Unc1e Jinuqr, he had a
bad[...]cerated toothe and it bothered him
and finalJ.y I guess he had cancer in his head and
it ate his head off. &rL she cussed hiru and she said,
rr tr hope that tooth kills you.tr He got norse and he
{ina1ly died. Ann Keeler said that she sat up with
,{im and that he smelled so bad that you could hard}y
stay in the room with him[...]ng right up the railroad
tracks, juet going along like he was tracking Boltr€-
thing. ldy Ivlother saidrUncle Jj-nmy is dead and that
coyote smells hj$. Sure enough he was. Of course you
could see the probability of the odor comi.ng right
down the valley. Never forgot that. He must of cross-
ed the tressle I guess. &Dd he was trotting right up
them railroad traeks. I started to tell about Thor
Nelson. His sister, he[...]on quite a
Iarger room on to this homestead cabin that was there.
29
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (41)that he was originally U-ving in, So r'rhen he gob it[...]rhood came and brought a
cake, There was several of us boys out in this kitch-
en part. I was the youngest one of the bunch. She was
going around passing out this cake, fi nobody would t
take ary of, it, so she saidrrf I know Tommy witl eat \

some o-f, ib.rr eo she gave me a pieee of it. WeII I did
eat bhe cake, but I coutrdntt eaL the frosbing. It
tasted like it had been seasoned with linirnent or
somethlng. I Just couLd.ntt handle it. later on, it
was sornetime later she adnitted that she had gotten
it urrong. I suppose because when she cane back in
there there was some part of her cake gone. Some of
the peopJ.e had taken some of it, so I suppose she
adn:Ltted that ehe got the rrnong flavor. Was lininent
instoad of Vanilla. lvly Mother cane from GiIt Edge ts
cook for the sheep shearers . I guess I told this
story once. WhlLe she was there, this 200 acres of
tfunber ans stone claim that she filed otr but could-
nt get a title to becaus[...]ded she would have to get a divorce, so she
filed for a d.ivorce. They gave her the title to the
land,[...]ever
divorced hirn.She got title t,o the land and that was
all she wanted.All the children, I had 3 brothers in
kJor1d War I. Ore of my brothers I never did s€Bo He
left from somer,{here clse, a[...]nver and w&s tnspf-
ied. His widow is stlll alive I guess, but I never
san him. The other 2, Pete and Charlie, they cane on
home oncc in a while. Some of their old bores of stuff
here I see. Pete and Charlie both wrote letters home
so[...]Noth-
ing frsn Dutch . Therc was no corme,4tion. I donlt
know whyr but rqy sister kind of gave me a clue wtryrso
thatts how it happened.. AtI the years that I went to
school at Piper, I walked up that long hill. A good
nile long , to go to school and after I went to live
wlth ny Uncle when I was in the 7th &8th grades. About
that time they moved, the schoor down there in the d.oor
yard. I wish it would have heen there when I was golng
30

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (42)to school. I '*alked up that hil} one time in a foot
and a half of snow. I went, to school and they closed
school down, and[...]re the
Snly tnacks were Lhe onJ-y tnacks going up that road"
I remember it yet.[...]ment had been rnacie with
the Firct National Bank of Grass Range to bqf the
plaeenThe teachen at the school in Becket was a Ms
I4angaret Westveltn Josephine wae in the sixth grad[...]lived at Becket"
When the finaneial crash cane tn I929t the First Na-
Lional Bank of Grass Range was forced to close and
payment on th[...]+as able to get
private financing to pay the bank for what he or*ed
on his recenL purchase of a small band of sheep, but
he could not raise enough money to finish paying for
the property so he moved to a rented ranch north of
Gnass Range" Some of the children attending the Becket
school were;= W[...]r and Bea Foster.
We all a Ecare in the fall of 1928 when one of the
had
students, fot either polio or[...]each day. It ineluded a pessenger car at the end of,
the train. Families sent cream in bie cans to th[...]e back the check was inside it," It' wasnrt
usual for more than one member of a f,anily togo to
town, stay overnj,ght, a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (43)[...]LgS6 and
1S79 i968, homeoLeaded near the present Act<fey[...]il they ret:-red and moved to Grass
Iiange in mid i9a{1, ?hey_r'aised one daughterrMatLie"
i4argaret Apple , l8l7 - /?SL took uf, a hanestead[...]ora?s homestead, laLer seII-
ing it to Bert sulk. I4argaret Appre made her hone with
?om and Lcna Apple i-n Grass Range af,ter the sare of her
prcperty. Harvey Apple (Thonas Apprle?s brother) and
Mary also l.i'red 1n Forest Grove area for a period of
tinre. They retired to Harlovrtown, Montar:a,
Eob anC lfatfie Smith, l-i.red on fhe North Bench
near Forest Gnove tn \933,[...]wn as the EarI
and Pat Terry P,anch in the center of Forest Grove,
They neared 5 chitdrenrBobbierBud"rDickrshirley, and
Loraree. Arr of whom ]ive in the cenfral l,rontana area
except Bod who resides irl Wyorning. Mattie SrniLh fa ste <i
away JuIy L963 and is buried in the Forest[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (44)[...].
She went to the Dickson ranch s few niles south of
Becket, to keep house for her 2 Brothers, Warrl and
Wallace, Helen and Alic[...]tJermain and moved to his
ranch on the South Fork of the Flatwillow Creek. "A.lice
stayed at the Jacknran ranch ,worki-ng for room and her
boand, vrhile she attended the ?th &[...]he 8th
gnade she went to Norrnal school in Dillon for 2 years,
bo get a teaching certj-ficate. In 1906[...]ier at Sand Springs and Allee taught
ichool there that term. In February L}LT while still
at the Dickson ranch, Louisa Minnich died after a
ihort illness. I was born in May of that eame yearr &
'or the nort 5 or 6 years Dad tried[...]. My brothers,
larx and RrsseII were born during that tine. When I
ras 5 we moved back to Central I'Iontanarto a litt,le
'am on BaId B.rtte. Our nes[...]ghbore. My sister Verone wag
orn there in 1923. That faII I moved in with Lloyd &
,ou Thonas, who }ived near Forest Grove, so I could go
o school there. The next year Dad move[...]view school and the Aiken ranch. Dad then
orked for Jirn Aiken and again tryed farning. He had
Iso vrorked at logglng, and as a linenan for the tele
hone Co. So after a year at the Aikens we moved to
rrtinsdale where Dad began working for the Milwaulaee
rilroad. Wh.en I was 9 or I0 we moved again. Tlrj.s time
lettling in Lewistown. That winter brother Russell
led of Scarlet Fever & pneuuronia at age /a. Dad got a[...]and Mom went to Fergus
Lgh to earn more credits for teachirtg and taught for
couple terms in country schools. We sta[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (45)Lewist,own, with the 3 of us finishing school there.
Marx, Verone, and Myse[...]-t,he years we took
in rnany events ab Beckeb, an<i Forest Gnove" This was
where Monrs roots were & v[...]ether , & wene teachers at
the same tj-rne" Mar\y of our sunmer vacaLions were spe-
nt on these ranche[...]ex Roane & tr were married
ue lived on South Fork of Flatwillow for over a year
Keibh our oldest ssn was born during our stay there,
It was March & one sf Lhe r*orst winters I ean remembe
and the roads were bad" AIex carnied the rnail on foot
for 3 weeks, He sure eould have used a long legged
horse. No nabter i-f he was sick or what the weather
was, he some how got the ns,il through, In November of
the sane year Mom gave birth to rly youngest sist[...]lder than my oldest boy,
Vivian has fond memories of going with I'Iom while she
taught school ab Fishburns and when Mom cooked. for
the threshers at Steeles and took her along, She[...]nd enJoyed the country dances to,
Marx, Verone, & I also have fond memories of those
picnice, dancesr{th of July celebrations and sunmer
vacations in that area. Vivian r,qho is rnuch youngen
than the rest of us, has some good memories of comj-ng
to see us and visits to the Isaacs ranch, and riding
the train to Forest Grove, I?m sure nry oldesb 3 child
ren have the same good[...]na started school there, naki-ng it 3 generations
that attended school at Foresb Grove, After AIocrs
nai[...]ted to
haul grain, coal, and livestock. In August of 1943 ,
Mom, Dad, & Vivian now 7 rnoved to Portland, Oregon"
That s€uae fall we moved to Lewistown, vrhere Alex went
to work for Ra1ph Merry as a mechanj-c' Seems we were
always[...]sit thab
would last untill the next year. Some of the tirnes we
34
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (46)would go to South Fork or North Pork oF Flatwill-ow to
canp and fish for a week-end, I wi-sh I could r*rite
more aboub ny Grardmother Minnichr &e she was a part
of the corurmnj.ty for over 20 years but I never knew
hern However I do have good menories of the ranch &
our Uncles, Ward and Wallace. I want to add a litble
about Alexts family, AI and[...]to Lewistown in1936, where Al died in Nov-
ember of L937. His wife Jessie lived until 1958, AIex
passed away very sudden\r in December of 1975, in
Portland, Oregon. Fred Hedgpeth passed away in June
I958r after fighting Parkinsons diseaee for narry years
and Alice survived a debilitating stroke in 1978, and
lived to be 9I| years old, passing away in April 1981,
Vivian and I now live in Portland" Verone lives just
out,side of Portland and Marx is back in Montana where
our he[...]er , Afice was born in Aspen, ColoradorDecember
I889r to Willard and Louisa Minnich. When Alice was[...]r brothers ranch. Ward and Wallace Dickson south
of Becket and there they lived until the girls grevt[...]e 6th or fth grade, she worked at the Jacknrants
for room and board and went to school in Forest Grove,
During these early ye&rs Mom had many freinds. The
ones that stand out the most were- Addie FrTo Harry
and Alfred Sellars, and their sister Louise. She &
I'lom were-tt Best Friendsrt aII their lives, in fa[...]fanllies. After the 8th
grade Mom went to 2 years of Nornal School in DiIIon
and became a teacher. She taught vari.ous schoolg in
the area until in June I9I5, when she married Fred[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (47)[...]and farming and the farflIy moved back
to central I'lontana, I went to rV first yean of schooL (
at Forest Grove, Margaret WestveLt was my teacher,
Finally after I more baby, a year in l,lar,tinsdale at
work on the railroadr w€ moved back to Lewistown, Dad
went, bo work for the BeII Telephone Co, Our first win-
ter in Lewi[...]our Grandmother l'linn'ich who had passed away in I9I7r
before I was born" This was L mone t tief to Forest
Grove, We nrade nBr\y trips out that way for picnicsrto
visit our friends and to decorate graves, so it is
really I our litt1e townt" After Marx, Verone & I
Ieft home Ln L942t Mom and Dad & our }ittle siste[...]in 1960 at age 70,She loved Oregon
but requested that she be laid to rest by her Mothen
and sonr In Apri} I98I she was buried in the Forest
Grove Cemetary with[...]in June L959, She
has 4 remaining children;- Marx of Grass Range and
Lewistown, Verone Hoyle presently of Los Gatos, Calif,
Vivian Bernhardt and nyself (Bernice Roane) of Portl-
and ,0regon. AIso 17 grard-childrenr J2 great, grard t
children, and I greatrgreatrgrand-child" \[...]as 5 or 6 years old and settled in the foot hills of
the Snowie lrlountains. Because his Father[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (48)[...]e residents"A,Iex camied the mail f,aithf\r-
lly i-n aLl kinds of weather and road corrditions f,or 9
years" I tremember one very bad stretch of weather in
February of l,larch at L936 when he carried it on foot
naking[...]J.y. Keith
and Luana started their school years i-n Forest Gnove
with Netta Hansen as luanats first[...]there and lry Mother had atten-
ded the 7 fh and I th grades. In the slum.er of 19J+2
Alex gave up the nail rotrte and tried his[...]r*e moved Lo Lewis-
town where AIex lrent to work for Ralph Merryts garage
maintainS-ng his own cars ard Lnucks2 he hed had a lot
of practical experience" We made our home in Lewist[...]re the childreh grew up and went to school,
Jhree of them graduatirg from Fergus High School. In
JAugt-rpt',of ,1950 AIex , our 3'youngest boys and I all
rnoved. to PortLand, Oregon, Alex worked as a mechan:ic
tempnoarily, then for ihe A.nerican Pipe Construction
Co for I years. He lived in Portland until his death
in December L975, at, age 67. He is survj-ved, by aI3- of
his 7 childrer-r Keith of Stanford; Iuana Hartford of
Lewistown; Don of Grante, New Mexicor; and Geny,
Jemy, andJessie LeRoy aII of PortlandrOregon; and
Il grandchlldren.
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (49)[...]Sorn near Ranfels, a small hanlet in the State
of Bavaria in southern Gernarty on Jarnrary 5, 1880t[...]up the milling trade, and at age 17 t left home(
for good to operate on his own.
Bauer, a restless 'visionary lured by the proni se
of the new western horizonr secured a steerage ticke[...]Ju].y 2J, 1904.
Arriving with only a nickle i-n his pockets--
hungry and unable to converse in the English language
-- he parlayed the knowledge of his trade to secure
passage by train to the great milling center of Minn-
eapolis, to work at Consolidated Mills.[...]rated on Er:.g1ishr developing an
enviabLe letrel of understanding after a few years.
Doing photograph[...]sccutn-
ulated sufficient cash to purchase a team of horses.
He was ready to homestead and to realize his life-
tine ambition of owning his farm.
In 1911 he staked clain to 150 acres of ttnice
rrirgin fandrr five oiles southeast of Forest Gro'vet
which he later increased to J2O, r[...]orr June 18th, 19ft7, he.
had received his papers of natr:.ralizatton as an Ame{
ican citizen. Albert Sauer took his new citizenship
seriously. A student of history and ci'vi.cs, he be-
canne a leader in his communi-tyr attaining an uncomm-
on grasp of the importance of strong communities in
the business of the nation. Mindful of his own lack
of forrnal education, he was determined that his chil-
dren would be afforded the opportunity for sehooling.
He donated an aere of land on the bench on the west
side of his property and was instnrmental in na^ni[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (50)[...]traveled to the State Capitol in
iielena to lobby for issues "r
that affected the ranche::s
in Fersus Cor'*+"[...]D "^1
wsJr ?s the rest of lvlontaf,ra.
In 1!18 he met I'lorence C. llooper, a city gi-r'l
from lt{il-w[...]i.n, who had ccme west with
her mother to work for the ranchers. She was born in
/' ^.
Platteviller of German parentsr learning some German
in hi6h schooL, whi.ch she attended for two years.
Florence, the eldest of the girls in a family of three
boys and three girls, was depended upon[...]sisters tc complete high
school, Two brothers, i{arvey and Lester al-so came
west, working as b[...]to ride an rroutl-awrr horse. Lester, youngest
of the f;rmily, was kicked to death while tending ho[...]Florence maruied him in December, 1919. FIe tells of
,the night the wind blew the door of the chj-cken house
open a.nd a coyote got six of his laying hens.
Tom Lovas, homesteader directly to the south of
the Bauer ranch, helped build the ranch house and the
barn, and later when the Lo.vas I mo ved out, Albert pur-
chased their homestead,[...]aces, where he was able
'to graze about BO head of cattle during the summers.
With the rich bottom land of Canyon Gulch pro-
viding alfalfa hay for the livestock, and plenty of
vegetables for the family, Albert and Florence reared
four sons[...]born on Thanksgivirrg Day
in 1921. fn those days of no roads and no doctors
closer than Lewistown, h[...]s, after a jostling bug-
gy ride with the intent of reaching Lewistown. When
it was tine for Eugene, the parents decided there
was les[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (51)[...]e day well - they had chicken - a
Bpecial treat - for breakfast.
With the hard work of the farm bearing down on
her, Florencers prayers for a daughter were answered
on Septenber 17, 192r, w[...]ityschoolr taking specia.
examinations to qualify for high school entrance,
since Fairview was a nonaec[...]n those
days, with all elasses taklng their turns for recit-
ation at the front bench. Evelyn, A1bert,[...]ere forced to intermpt their schooling at
the end of the term in 1 915, when Albert decided that
Montana eould not support the family or prouide the
opportunities he felt necessary for their education
beyond grade school.
Witlr h[...]5, Albert Bauer hung up his old 2f
branding irons for goodt loaded his family and rernain-
ing possessi[...]e al1 the way to the Pacific Co-
ast in the State of Washington. left behind in the
custody of Mr. Robert Meadorsr was the Mountain Home i
Ranch, where they had begun nearly 20 years before.
fn that transaction, only $J0O.00 in cash chang-
ed hands - payment in ful1 for all the machinery, tool
hay, grain in the fieldsl[...]rdens. An a€reement was written
on a half sheet of paper to sell the land and ranch
buildings for $41200.00, slightly more than $1J per
acre, with all the buildings thrown in for nothing.
The principal would be canied indefinite[...], Washington, located
in the south-western corner of the state. Alvin and
E\rgene milked cows a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (52)[...]k up agricultural economics at the
state college of washington at Rrllman, and Etrgene
lwent to the university of lr/ashington to str.rdy engineer-
ingr the farm load fell on the should.ers of Evelyn,
Al-bert, Jr. and Ralrmond, and of course more heavily
on Albert Sr. and Florence.[...]ngton.
l/orld war rr o'vertook the rives of Alvin and
Eugene before they could finish colle[...]France as they
swept to the Rhine in the spring of 1945. Eugene ser-
ved with the Tenth Army in the pacific, landing on
Okinawa, j.n the summer of 1945 and remaining untit the
spring of 1946, when he was diseharged as a Staff
Sergean[...]rds, and settled in oregon, They reared. a family of
three sons and three daughters. After a ca.reer[...]r in portland., oregon, Alvin went into
business for hinself, first in silem and. later in Bend..
The family assured the f\rtr:re of the Bauer name with
the magiage of one of their twin boys and. the birth
iof two sons, great grandchild.ren of Arbert and Fror-
,'encg.
Eugene continued[...]niversity dn rnternational
Business, receiving an I{BA in l).11. Thereafter he
joined the internatio[...]ng
and sold commercial airplanes in south America for
five years. In 1978, he noved. to Custoner Support,
and in 1!80 accepted the position as narrager of the
Boeing Custoner Support 0ffice in Beij[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (53)iiepublic of China. lle miirried Dorothy 0]ark in 1947
a[...]Evelyn completed two years at tite State College
of r,{ashington in Fu}Iman, met John Booton, a shoe
sal.esman from lowa, and they were married in the fall
of 1941. Bearing two daughterst as well as urorking i
full time, Evelyn was a vietim of a surgeonrs mal--
practicer md died from complications in 1961, leav-
ing the rearing of Deanna and Dixie, ages 11 and ),
to John.[...]olitics, successfully gaining a seat
in the State of !/ashington House of Representatives
on his first attempt in 1970. After being re-elected
four times, he ran for the State Senate in 1980 and
was eLected by a lar[...]aynoond passed away in 1950 at,
age of 20. {

A1bert Bauerr Sr. died of natural causes on his
Vancouver farm in 195, at the age of 85. He w&S oc-
tirre until the 1ast, chopping woo[...]have wished - and expected, He knew what
it takes for a democraey - his adopted eountry - to
firrrn*i
5 *lM!Vf nnra
Florence Bauer passed away err Jarruary 2J, 1984,
at the age of p0. She was believed to be the last
of the Forest Grove homesteaders. With her death,
the last page of a bright chapter in the history of
American communities, was turned.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (54)[...]1913r ia llenanna, IIl.
F @ane to Montana around I93I, vrhen I was ebsut 18 yre
old. I wsrked on ranehos rhcro Gver I eould lay ny
hat. Wages at tha,t tlne wore about $l.OO to $I.25 a
dayr for a dayc werk arrl board. I fLnally rent ta
work ln the nLnes at Ncihart, l{o[...]gold and,
sllver. lfagee at the mine ilere $t*.75 for a d,atrs ronkl
whleh r*as good at that tlnen I net aruel narried
Virglnia Plovanieh in 1938. At[...]raigod
at Cheadle. llfontena, about 12 nllcg east of Leristotrn.
Tho elstero are all alive, btrt the brothcre havo all
passed &Ha,[o In 1940 I ras in a sl,ne aeeident at Nel-
hart2 so left the[...]sold the littl.e plaec ard noved ts Lerri-st@ra. I norked
at the Msntana Pswcr Cs. for 4 Jrcars ard at the Eaglcc
CIub for nine years, until ry rettrGnonto tfc had one
girl, Beverly, I year old at thc tlne re msved, t@
Forest Grovo, and I boy aftcr wo movcd to Itgistorn,
Hontana.Baver\y[...]and Lhe
bsyr Dennis Jr., }lves in Celiforr,rLa. I had 6 brothers
ard I sistcr. $ l{othcr arxi 4 brothcrs havc p,sscd
)ar*ay r ad Fathcr is sttll allvc at thc agc of 94 &
I:lves ltr lbeson, Arizona; wlth .ry sistcr. Src va[...]the people rc
ueed, to know. It ls sad nhca nbst of thcu hava pased
@Br Hc rrllL never forgct, thcm.[...]Srrrs Eange
ani, back to Ierlstorn. Vlrglnta and I arc ratJ*FGd B@rrr
Flshlng and huntlng onee ln a r*rlle nhcn we fcel }:tku
lt.
rhought- r'o'of sJ "r.crt[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (55)[...]JT

Auguet Thomas Westvelt wae bsrn Sept. 6, I854r
Reer Oslo, Non*ay* Ihe youngest of a large family"
liie father died when he r*as abo[...]oy
on a eailing ship" He stayed on the ocean nost of the
tinne for bhe next, four years, then in 1872, hs said,
ttGo[...]e Lo his Mother.r Brothers
and $isters ard aailed for Q:ebec, Canada. He was then
onJy eighteen years o[...]m
Flinnesota to Bismarck and the BLack HiILs area of the
Dakotas, where he stayed for two years. In his early
twenties he came up the l[...]ining towns. In 1882, he left Helena with a group of
early settlers headed f,or Lhe Judith Basi.n area[...]to McDonald Cneek and each select,ed an
aenea,ge that pleaoed Lhem along the cncek. There
were Fned Lyo[...]therc was good grass in (
the hills ae pasture for Livestock. During theee oE!-
IJr years A,ugust al[...]m
Custer Junetj-onron the lellor*stone River east of
Biliings, Lo Fort McGinnie and Maiden. Iie nas th[...]cattle" Hie brands were thc Box X on the ehoulder for
horses and AT on the ribs for eattle" 0f eouree the
threc bschelors married. In[...]a Jarger houee wae built. Minnie was
the daughter of wilrlam Dorman Jaeksonrwho sebtred[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (56) on the east fork of Spring Creek, in the foothills of
the tnorry l'{ountai-ns, ssutheast of Lewistown. Amos
Snyder narried Chilla Frost and Nate McCau1ey rnamied
a young wonan from Chicago, a sister of Jaek Flening,
)l*ho later settled i.n Forest Grove. August was always
very intereet[...]the present railroad tra-
cks, where the remains of a grain elenator nou stand.
When the railroad wa[...]rd Dan
tller fanilies. The church has been cared for ard
restored by a great conmrnity effort, and is[...]Minnie and August Westvelt were the parents of
Dormanrwho died at age 5 t Mrs. Adele frirn, Iaur[...]to Lewistown around L935. August died
in Deeenber of L935r at age 81, and llirurie died in
June of L956. They are both buried in the Fsrest G[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (57)[...]s far as M:l1es City.
The roads were closed west of there so He stored the
car ar'rd boarded the tra[...]y
afternoon. The sun wae brirria,nt aad a warm r*i:rd rrae
blowing. }{c had nevor heard of a chinoekt The snow
r+as nerting and everyr*here we rooked there waa mud,.
Delbert Moe, who had worked for us in S.D.e met us
with a team ar,rd wagon. Derbert amived earu-er in the
rairroad boxear that brought arr our worLdr.y berong-
ings, whick incl[...]Dadts saddle horee,
Dan, Jack ard Jcnrqr - a teem of m,rles, aII of our
furniture, toolsretc.
It wag a nuddy[...]ew homer &D old tog
four-room cabin, 3 nileswest of Forcst Grovc. Ttds
Has carled the fldontgonerytt[...]rn and where we all grew llp. rlJ-er Oreek, runed for
$am Tfler, runs thru the raneh and we used to figh fu,I
it ard swim in the ttcwinnlng holett behlnd the barn.
Lots of nenories - f,un ar'd trarrel rork too.The Grcat
D[...]we kide and our frie-
nde nere pooling our n@ney for a coupre of garrons of(
gea. The entlre eormunlty shared - Joye and, sor[...]Ln Graes Ranga. lrlr.shoenaker steppcd :in
front of Dan during the raee on ALaeka Beneh. Den ren
qight over hin and broke ldr. Shocnekcrs I lcg.
I'{oet of the eonnunity ftrnctiona woro Uifa in tho
sehoorhousc in Forcgt Grovc. sc attcnded neet of th*,
Plays (our Dad was i.n onc, along wltle John FlnnrOoear
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (58)[...]p
and he sangr tfBrtton Up Your Overcoattt. Ssme of the
)teachers we remember are I'Iiss Bran:Lff, l{lss Talbot,
Miss Swlft anC the l,liss H:ickeys. One of the MiEs
Hickeys gave Roger a rtbeatingfr r*j-th[...]rcard Fart6 at, the sehoolhous€r Lj.ll-
ian and I were noved up to the next higher table where
Iver H€gen and, Mr. Thonpson wore r*aitlng. I saidrtlDubs
oD Mr. Ihompsontrr I played with hi-n. Mr. Hegen yr&a a
rrProtr at the[...]ok evory point
Ieavlng ry partner r*ith a zero at that table.
When Martin Nickols married Nettio C[...]building in tonn. It
scemed to be always ia necd of repair btrt had epaei-
.bo" living qrrartere. Ste[...]d. bake lt.
Ono year we pasturcd l+00 hesd of steers ard 600
cows the follor*ing f€arr Tro coYrboXSr hlred by the
Har'rsen Packing Co. of Ertte, cane with them. One of
then Noble Samtrels, beeane a llfe long frlcnd of ourE.
He took the boys with hln on r"ldes and taught then a
few tttrl.ckE of the tradett. Ho shswed LlII:Lan and I
how to tie a rffoolts knotrf, then swor€ ue to[...]daYt
Ide movcd to the Flatwillow country in I93I and
47
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (59)lived on the rtKirktt place about five miles oast of
surenuff hill. some years ]ater we mo\red to the[...]h armiversity Feb. 195r.
Mrs- Bohreen passed away that farl on Oct. roth. Mr.
Bohreen conti-nued to rais[...]and tractor. He passed away
July L2rL976 at age 9I. Sonryr, Roger and Brd are itfff
ranching[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (60) John Le Roy Brown

I recall school days at Forest Grove. My fslks[...]a najor
undertaking, as it was about 7 niles as I recollect
and when it rained the road was C,tim[...]Ford Ferguson
tractor on which Dad built a box for us to ride in.
Tal.L about a mud throwing trj-p. I recall a few times
we ended up walking too. At sehool I seem to recall
a Mrs Mitchellr &s nqy first t[...]into returning to the
teaehing'profcesion.While I best recall her ae our
storekeep€rr I know that as bad as the gunbo roads
were I didrtt want to niss a day, when each morting
she was reading a chapter of trSnilin Jacktf to us and
I kept hop{,ng he was going to escape from captivity.
At recess I remember we pl"ayed a came called, Steal
sticks and Elrlc Elke was the fastest kid in bib over
,a11s. I recall other students being the Kochs, Cox,
Charbonneau, Duffner, Stnrnks, Stanleysretc. I recall
one evening and rgr folks had bought a horse from John
Stanleyr in foal or one of the nearby Forest Grove
ranches and they were le[...]indow. Stopped by the schoolhouse and asked
me if I wanted to ride Star home, but could not run
her[...]ot as she could loose the colt
she was carrylng. I was a real dude then and I got on
Star, she had a lot of raclngblood in her but she po-
ked pretty much a[...]h me Just
hangi:rg onto the rei-ns, lots o6 slack I imagine.Well
.... it was slow and 7 niles horne. I was about up to
the Koch place, when Star heard the sound of horse
beats behind and she took off so fast I was lucky to
49

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (61)[...]horse had knocked down his saddre and it was arr i
covered with that stuff ycu call rrused haytt, so he
had to scrape[...]had-been rln
ning star, mueh as she was covered w,i.th d,ry foan-seat
& r saidr trNot muchtt, and tha[...]ications. Hswever star d.ied. in ]ater
years when i-n la,bor with a colt near a fence. she was
fatarl[...]& seems Alice was the otdest, more near my
&g€o I donrt think it was a 4-H proJeat, Uut just a
good[...]ae known as Leroy,
rqy middle name, whereas now I am known as-John.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (62)[...]The ]tmi eon family came to Fsrest Grove ln about I9IL
The fanl\y included Sanford and Ev[...]t an ealier d.ater and they lived a non-
th or Eo i-n an old log cabln. l{hen the Hotel ilaa
ready th[...]strutrentel ln fourdirg the town. HaI
had 2 years of school in Hyssa whieh would nake hi.n
I ln I9I1. He attended granner sehsol in Ferest Orover
The[...]across the ereek toward the depoL
There was a lot of snow in the winter. He renenbers
the teacher, a l[...]rove was the
Frost fanilyr livirg on the rernains of a once Ftrog-
p€rous ranch. The founder of the Frost fanily raa
Iong dead when we arrived an[...]o1d. There wae one eon ,
Sedrick and a Daughter. I{aI sterted High school in
Lerietown, his sister B[...]d.fulg
to record,e Sanford nas Postnaster in 1914 for 3 or 4
_fears. He was t{heat adrlrin:istrator for the State. When
his Mother died in Oregon, he ven[...]rkey-red wheat on the nesa. Had such
good resulte that they won first pnize at the fair i-n
Lewistown, t the ptrize- a l{odel T Ford. this reminded
llal of an lncj.dcnt with this cEro His Dad wao goirg
to[...]tial uent ou,t. A, rancher towed, then to the
top of the hill that ran elong the Besa back of the
hotel. Slnce the rancher didnrt rant t[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (63)he cut loose at the top of the hiII" The energency
brake went outra third of the way down, He tryed to
slow the car d,own, by[...]own they went" The
road was straight from the top of a 2* fl grade for (

3 niles to the botton, where it nade a right turn
back of the hotel. ltre approach to the bridge was a
bank[...]own below nhere
the creek nade a turn was & patch of willowso One
clump was abouf 25 feet tall, 4 feet[...]g down the hill"
When they took off over the edge of the road they
gained about 12 feet off the ground and landed on the
clunp of willows. The willor+s bent, over and t,he car
rs][...]lId and would nake wonderfirl Jan.
It needed lots of sugar. The Gerrnan cook was a meat &
potato uith vegetables from the garden cookn tials Dad
ralsed a big I acre garden and had a pet sow that wo-
uld like to eat rattlesnakes. He raised }ots of spudsl
and corno The boys had bikes arxC, I time rode them to
Grass Rangerlg nlles and though[...]mg if
the dnrnner wanted, to dance. When HaI rras I7 the
fani\y noved to Ennis, Montana where he finished High
school. None of the fanily ever went back.
#
Frown--- At least you will get credit, for thinking.
Snile- It wiII nake others wond.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (64)[...]abes in
h"ggl, and fuhey seLtled five mlLes north of the N-Ban
nanch. He went to Surenuff Schook Dj-st[...]tired af,t,er thirty years. They Li-ved in south i,ewis-
tovsn unbil L956, whett ttrey moved to 2J.O[...]ild-
ren were: Sedonia Schul".er, &d Servj-ceoJr. of Lewis-
town, and Lonraine Eogner' She passed away[...]ce passed
away on December L5r L97l+, at, the age of, 84" Lydia
l"ives at the Sagl"es Manor in Lewj-st[...]huler Corstenic, who has
tr*o sono, Greg and Brad of, Bj.LLing$; Ron Schul-er of
Lewis,town, Lonetta Schu,Ler of Havne arrd Maryarun Bogner
Of ScottsdaLerArS-zone. He llad. three sist,ers I l4ary Day
of Great FAl,l"e, who has paosed away; and. Rose Du.rneu
of Cody, Wyoming"

ROEERT & EVA,[...]Fleharty
Robert, (nou) nLetrnntyronly son of Jake and G3-adys
Flehantyrgnew up in the Porestb[...]e H5.gh $chool in l-941' Bob
'rnamied Sva Johnson i.n 19L8, Thry l-ived in the Kinn-
eck area until[...]he Jake and
Gladys Fleharby ranch,one mj-Ie eaet of the town of,
Becket. Tho sons were born to this rnanniage" M[...]uated from Grass Range High Sch6ol and
Northern I'fontana College in Havre. In L97L Mike Inar-
ried Vonnie Oleon, three children were bsrn to that
rnariage. Irratie in I974r Tani in 1975, and .Ioey in
L982. Mike and Vonnie live sn the B]aine l{oodard p}ace
one sdle vrest of Grass Range. Monty narrled Krls
Fastenau in 1979. Two childrea were born to this
namiage. Mitch in I98I and Iacy in 1984. l,{onty and[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (65)Ikis live on the home ranch fl"ve niles west of Grass
Rar,rge. The boys are now nanching with the[...]ching profess-
ion in 1981, having taught a total of thirty years i.,
Central Montana. I

A.W. ( grLL) PTSRCE[...]Lewistown, as nea.r as
I can figure, in 1907, with his wiferleona and thre[...]ive total, filed on adJoining
l.arilal. (Juae and I went to the Becsrders Office i-rr
LewiEtownrour first sutrrner L978t and went th[...]d found lard grants dating from
1908 through 1916 for almoet all of the watershed of
Hc0artney Creeke radc sut to Perryts and Piercets[...]nd, namied my FatherrHarrXr in 19IO.
They filed for their 160 actres in 19lI (naO TI2-I3)
adJoining Errrin Perry on Lyon Brtfe. Gramp Pj-[...]ed my Uncle Dean.l
Itts a funrry thingrwhcrn I r'ras growing up ln Cali-
fornia ard lister'dng t[...]t Msntana and the early days. They on\y nentioned I
the happy tlmes, never mueh about the rough ti-mes and
the hard Llfen whieh I guess were pretty grim.

HA.RBY AI[...]r" r**l:J"trtlt iffi"lulT?or*
years, with a'tesn of hsrses ar,Id a wagon, coning from
the Bosenan area through the Bridger Pasg. At the age
of 2I he fited. homestead papers around the Piper &reat[...]fees then nere $lO.Oorplus original oon-
nlssion of $6.00 and test fees of $1"50. Ttre record.s[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (66)[...]uII pn;znent.
Patent was granted on ApriJ- l+, I9I4, He had a house
built on the Land February J[...]Forest Grove Cornmunlty. All hav€ n€o-
ories of a happy chil-dhood and loving parents, pfu,rs
goo[...]ettb,ie was born in lrlinn-
esots. and spent some of her chj-Ldhood on Alaska Bench
with pioneer paren[...]L, Schwab
'John and Minnie Schwab homesteaded i-n the Snowy
Mountaj-ns in the spring of lglorin }4arch, with their
chirdren' Her husband[...]ys were
born. The schoolhouse was built in about I9lA, Not
lmore than twelve children att€nded any[...]t
first they onlif went three nonths a telnr, and that
was during the sunmer months, The sch6ol- usuaJ,\y had
pmctice teachers for the surnmer. The closest neigh-
bors were[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (67)[...]by Homer Duffner
Far as I know, I was born around pine Grove on
the South Fork of Flatwillow Creek, but ay firsL n€n-
ories are of a place south of Forest Grove on McDonald
Creek neighboring CarJ-[...]ickson school ard thatts where my troubles began. I
wanted to go to school with ry brotherrEugene, but I
rasntt old enough and the snow was deep, however I saw
qy ehance and started out after him one day, without
overehoes or cap, ar,rd I d,idnit get out of the yard. be-
fone I feII down in the snow and got all wet and cold
an[...]and rescued me.
ltrj.e is nF fj.rst memoty. Later I did go to school in
thab echoolhouse though.[...]Lived in thab are&, the r*intens were
tough, Iots of snor+ and coyoteg. {y Dad was cor.ring
home from Fonest Grove wibh f,our horsee plXling a big
sled,-Load of eoal and groceries, when a coyot€ crose-
ed, the noad ahead of, hj.n. The anow was Eo deep the
coyote could handly tnavel and we saw ny Dad etop and
he unhooked sne of' the honses, got a club and Jumped
on this horse[...]Another time, a horse had died on a hill west of
our house. The coyotes were sure bhick, and I cantt
remember but I think my Mother got a trap set by thie
dead horse[...]tock nearby and Hother got hin to kiIL the coyote for
her rwhich he did and brought the coyote to our housc.
{y nother skinned thie coyot,e Just like a beef and
cut off the head. When they sold the hide the IUr Co.-
npany eaid lt was a Number I wolf. She got $IB.0O for
the hide and $2.00 bounty.
In the $amc arca, my Dad and tr were going hone
wlth a big load of hay when a big wolf came otrt of a
couLee and headed north toward Ioco Ridg[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (68)crossed before he got there and, r*as in heavy timber.
I think that was the last wolf socn ln that country,
In 1928 we noved down to the MusselsheLl R:Lver
on sone big ttget rich qulckrt deal that turned out to
..be a pipe dream.
tln t929 ury Dad and I noved a steam engine from Foreet
Grove area to th[...]t ti-ne so we traveled
on dirt roads at top speod of three n:iles pcr hour.
In the fall of L929 we tsok a big tnail-herd fron
the nouth of the ltissouri River to Meletone, Montama
ts the main line of the M:llwaukee Railroad. He had
over tws thousand head of eattle Loaded in eatt1e calgo
l{e got our horses[...]ard headed home- A
Cowboyts Dream come truett I was thirteen.
l{e went beJ.Iy-up about l.93O and ny folks moved to
south of Forest Grove into the Surenuff are&. I dldnrt
stay around, hos,e uruch after that but worked at, diffor-
ent ranches around Forest Grove ard Grass Rangc &tGBBo
Worked for Martin Elan, BiIIie Mcadors, Jolm $tanley
and Lil[...]own, but grasshoppers ad. one thlr€ @r
another i-nterfered aruil ia the Lg39ts I nas so broke I
bad to get out of the arca, so.' I grabbad a handf,ul of
box-cars and headed west. C.ot into Butte one mon[...]r-tend€,h. He wanted, me to have a d,rl-
nk but I told hle I didntt have a dixe, I was so broke
I couldnrt buy anythiag and I sure wanted a Job. Hcll,
I stayed at the bar untll he got his paper and wG
$ooked in the HeIp Wanted Col:nn. there r*ae one ad
for a tnactor d,rlver and the bar-tender told ne how to
get to the address, but when I got cLoEe thsrc $crc
people lined up for two blocks waiting to appl.y for it.
So I went back to the bar and. told ry friertde the ba[...]i-n thst would, be
golng to Sheridan, Montana and I &ight get work there.
So I was starding behind a big poct so the Yard, BrIL[...]r me and, roached
around the post and grabbed ne. I tdld hlm whero I
was headlng and that I waE looklng for work. He said
I should have come to hi:a and he td have go[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (69)[...]give **-" rLd,
wel-l a car eame along and stopped for me and as we
werq niding down the road tr tord him r was rooking
for wonk and he asked me if r aourd drive hotrses. r[...]hie brothen suno needed aomeone to haul J-ogs and that
he was going right, by ttrene. WeJ-I, by golly, I got
the Job at $2.00 a day and board. I mear, to say, I
never saw so much money and such a fine place to[...]came back to Hanror+town and work hene Lrad sori-
of opened up and I got a Job on the Milwaukee nail-
road.
tr worked there fon awhile, but couldntt get
ranching out of'qy blood, so tr left there and went
working on ranches again. went from ranches to cer-
penter work and in I95O tr went to the B[g Sandy atrea
building eJ-evators, affr?l(eg and grain bins. Ttren I
worked, j-n the eLevator buying grai-n for awhile, but
ebill had that farrruing bug, so in 1.953 we bought a
srnalL place al'oee t,o Chinook, Montana and ran a dairl
for a fer* yeane, until the big daj-ries and Governrnent
Regul,ations made it ss expenoive that r*e soLd out and
I went back to working out again. Sorne elerrator c[...]nt to wonk as Und,er-*$heriff and Stocl
Inspecton for Blaine County for ten and one-half yearl
then my boss, the Sheriff, died of eancer and I ran fr_
Sheniff and won big, only te have a heart[...]ne.
We came baek to Lewistsnn shortly after that in
f98O and after still anothen heart atta[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (70) fi{E FOR.AN FAMILY $AGA[...]chrour
iFather, Chprles J. Foran, in the compaqr of his fri-
'end, HarrT Shepherd, Ieft Sioux City, I[...]flrther dorn on Mc
Donald Creek. He worked there that spring ar'ri later
worked for l,Irs. Dovenpeck on EIk Creok. BveatualJy he
went ts work for Don Bean rvho ranched firrther up thc
South Fsrk of Elk Creek. There he first met, our Ms-
ther rrho was about twelve at the tine. He also worked
for the N-Bar. Lyorls and Ccoree Wrieht. Sometine 1n[...]ve up on the North Bench. There he found ple-
nty of dry woodr &s the ti-nber had been legged off .
He[...]a&t looking around, found a nlcerflo-
wing spring of eoft water. Herd Just enme off a round-
up dowa on the blg dry, that hed bad nater. He flled
cLain th that 160 acres. 1\ro years later Dad ard Mon
were rnarri-ed and set up housekeeping. Dad di.d, a lst
of freightirg until the reilrsad came. Ihen a lot of
county road work. When HorJd War I cane, he began
wheat farning. He lived on that old honestead until
phe faII of 1939. Then they noved. to !{eEt of Forest
Grove, where they lived a good rrrany year[...]ended and graduated fron the Forest Grove Sehool.
I could add how hard the tines were, but ne learned
to nake d,o. Aetually they rerenf t al-l that bad. We
sure had a lot of fun together. Things were always
kept pretty live\y. Sonebo{y wae al*aya popping off.
A,s I look back I love then all.
The Foran Famlly
Firet came Annarweak and enall
A child born of love.
We buried her that fa1l,
God took her home.our Dove.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (71) Next came Dan, a honely nite,
Ful,I of howls and squeaJ.s,
Weakp but fuLL of f,ight,,
Always there at meals"
N[...]t long to surwive.
She atrways had a lot, of, class.
Then who cane in the eanly spring[...]hers, s5.sters, cousins tso"
tr irn proud of, them ae c&n be,
In fact, theytre by the[...],
Much gone of, wh,t*h you I
YeL the faniJ.y sure is gnown.
AS I REI4EI'{BER CHARLES
A.s a blustening J"ittl-e[...]back to marny and raise a familJ,
A stubborn nan of force, to follsw through, to stay
Tour[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (72)[...]linerup in heaven?tl
And Harry ShepFardr a little of this and a little of
that,
Ts paint a houser or lick a lamb,
He di-d his be[...]I€V]-QWo
Tj-ne has prt fnost upon our locksrwe[...]rrder.
tr wotrld return to yesterTrear, but I know that can not[...]old frierds I see"[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (73)[...]by Dan Foran
Thie rhyme r nust terr, of a cute rlttte bugger naned,[...]h heaven r*ith all his nuight.
Now brother and I were hired by this guy
To help thnesh his oats and rye.
Now the thneshing rnaehine was the last of lts kind,
An old hand feed nrade of stee}.
The power plant was an old Case deal.
An oLd Model T drove him out of his mind.
0harl-ey and I were having a bcll,
Nor+.
The nost fun wefd had th&t fall.
We went to the field and loaded up aome of the oats,
I pulled up to the threshing platforrn, and you sho[...]up a storm,
As he explalned, he was in good form
Like a cricket on hellts hot griddle.
AII we tacked wa[...]"pyli$jT1k"y ,
Charley and I wanted to ilrm, but heldt:":::t:::l;[...]slopi-ng bed..
At the end of the day said Andyrnltts tj-rne to retire.fl
No sleep would come to 0lrarley and I.
Our feet too low, our head,s too high. i
When Andy saw this he declaredrttoutro teched ln the I'
head,
Ioutre sleeping with your feet at the head of the bed..
Now we to tell this man named Betl
hated
That hls house was loaning over the creek named HeII.[...]urong
Hold klck up a lup,doo.
IIIL never forget that dark littte guy
With a tongue like a clapper
He was cnappy end dapperr
hJef ll always rmember that Llttle - BoII.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (74)[...]by Dan Foran
During the swnmer of L933 and I934r w€ organlzed
a baseball team at Forest Grov[...]and also a few gloves,
ae some had their ownG As I remenber, the fellows who
played were: Marvin arx[...]ltrere
were a few others from tjrne to time, but I have for-
gotten their names" The shoes also helped as we[...]a cow m,sture.
},IA GOES AII{I'NTING

ldany years ago on an early day in sp[...]was dusting with an old goose wing
When all of, a sudden the chickens began to squawkt
l,la rushed out a looking for a hawk.
Coming out of the bmsh instead
A big gray cat with a tassl[...]aimed her pistol, steady and true,
And bler* that Lyrx to Tj.mbucktoo"
Ma thoughtrrrlrd better[...]Walked up close ard blew off a tse
Instead of his head.
RTDE FOR A IJFS
Now listen my children and yo[...]is dying.rt
So out of the yard went Ctrarley af flying,
Astrlde of a favorite mount
To get the good Doct[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (75)[...]ttCornparqr pl,acentl
And he hitched up a coupre of wild eyed. steeds,
We do what we must, when dojng[...]r demurred, ard stood. in his waye
Now never mind that, OJ-d George wilt pay.
At a sharp tnot o\rer the divide,
Shis had the nakings of a real wild ride.
Nswt Itts down hill all- the wd[...]trSurerltd drive through Had.es al1 night
To save that little girl for old nan Hright.rt
Now, Doets team was hard and fa[...]nany a ninute they shortened the trip
To the tune of the Brggy l{hip,
And so the good Doc arrived j_n time
To lengthen that little girlsr tj_ne.
To show Itm no[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (76) FOUIITF,H\I YEARS Oi.T Til}] Bi,}IO}i
The Homestead of Thomas
and CJara Foster at Forest
Gro ve , I\iontana
by
John R. Foster
I f"o* information supplied[...]r
The Foster family a.rriued j-n one of the popular
railroad boxcars in 1912. They came all the v/ay from
Kalol lowa, with a dream. Like thousands who had
come west before them, their dream was l-and of their
o\^/n - a homestead" One hundred and si[...]rrsuccessfullyil on free gov-
ernment l-and. I'iost of the remaining unclaimed land
was filling up fast. It was 1912. And it was time
to get a piece of what was l-eft now.
Father Thomas Foster and his friend Ben -u--verett
left Kalo in April of 191'2 for lvlontanars .li-orest Grove
courrtry, and l-ocated homesteads side by side on the
bench just west of Beckett. fn June of 1912 the wives
and children of both families, and all animals and
posessions, l[...]rhomestead special'l
boxcar iria tickets sold at I'special reduced ratesrrr
destined for Lewistown, Montana.
Both families and al-l of their earthly belongings
were ticketed in one boxcar. Ivlother Clara. I,'oster and
her seven children: Gladys, age 15t G[...]Norman, ag'e 7, Howardt
age 4, and Ivanr ?B€ 2i were accomparlied by Mother
E'verett and her two[...]amil-y membe:'s was the Foster Fam-
ily workhorE I'Prince rrr plus the chickens, and all
the furniture and family posessions of both family
units. The car was full! Any availab[...], the
train passed into Montana in the middle of the night,
and in the boxcar the lJueretts an[...]tement. They were in their new |thome
staterl of Montana for the first tirne, and a whole new
life lay akread on land of their own near Forest Grove.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (77)[...]l-d be all their ! s after just three short
years of t'proving up." Imagine the opporturrity!
Sleep was not forthcoming as vj sions of the rlream con
tinued to be visualiz,ed and talked arboui o ver the
"clickety-clackrr of the moving tra;,in'
So in June of 1912 i;he train unloaded a,t the
raiLhead at Lewistownp i{ontane-, a,rrd bot'h iarnilies
traveled by r,,rag[...]el h ,d l,iired Link rijalker to
have a d,relling i:oilse built and rea;dy for his family,
and tney wele to b'-i-i.ld I roo4; cell:,ir that summer.
There were fiel.is tr, i.'icw an<l plant and a garden to
fend to. Adoliion[...]l sitr-t;iion did not "prove uprr to be
the lif'e of rural. prosperity and splendor that the
rail-road, lromesteaCin.3 ;rd rrerLisements h[...]d to death.rt
The Everetts were to stay at I'orest Grove for
10 years. After loosing one son in VJorld iriar I[...]oved back to Kalo,
fowa. The Fosters were to stay for 14 years, selling
out in 926. They were never to return to Kalo.
1

Today only the foundation of the !'oster homesteac
cabin remains, surrourrded by a new growth of Pine
trees. The caued in root cell-ar made of stone beckons
from a nearby side hill, The outbuildings are untra-
ceable now, and only from the mernory of those who t
lived there can thei[...]But farning had not been the principal occupatior
of Thomas Foster in his native Iowa. Kal-o was a, cr[...]tion. As such, he lost no time discovering a
vein of l-ow grade coal on the north rid.ge of his home-
stead land, and through the years he developed. a coal
mi-ne that was to suppliment the |tsl-im pickinsil that
homesteading produeed. Tom sold and traded coal t[...]m their hou-
ses on cold winter nights. The nrins of the Foster
66

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (78) most visible vestige of
coal mine remain today as therron
the Foster Familyrs 1{ years the banchf' near For-
est Gro've.
Thomas Foster was born in Eng[...]ates.
Tom married Clara Johnson, a natj-ve of Kalot
nihose parents had imigrated from Sweden,[...]the KaJo coal-
mi-nes until his move to ]vlontana i-n 1912, where they
were to trown their own land.r[...]in KaJo organi'aed and directed tha City 3and. In
I{ontana he continued to entertain his f;rllow horn[...]herings. His rmrsic prco-
vided a cheer to a way of life that was not as cheer-
ful as many had imagined it wou[...]eorge supplimented the family income in the fal-1 of
1912 and spring and summer of 1911 by driving a wagon
for the grade contractor at i82 per day. The Chinese
Cook, he reca11ed, provided excellent food for the
crew. By late summer of 1911 the track was fini.shed,
and Forest Grove an[...]wo. Beatriee was
born in 1914, and Ralph a couple of years later.
Ralph died in infancy. Hi.s gravesto[...]ve cenetary remains the only written public test-
i-mony of the tr'oster Families 1{ years in the commun-
ity[...]926 at age 21. As
ldorman
ln electrician for the power company, he was electro-
:uted in a fa[...]and coal mine near
rorest Grove were sold. None of the other livir€ chi]-
lren were hinting that they might like to irrherit it
lrom their parents. Most[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (79)[...]ral llontana - to other occupatj.ons and
new ways of l-ife, lio one was clamoring to return
and rrtake[...]he ran
a dairy herd on rented land near Lewistown for two
years, and then served- as caretaker for tLre El-ks cour
try Club golf course in l_,ewist[...]n 195(
and Cl-ara in 196J.
To the ol-dest of the l;'oster ciiild_r:en; to Gladys,
George, and[...]emories remaj.n-
ed in iowa. Only -rhe turilight of their aclolescence
was finished on tLre hornestea[...]es spanned both rowa ancl Montana
with the coming of adulthood on the ranch at Forest
Grove. Ilary became a beauticia.n, and later 1ived for
many years in ;\laska,
To the younger Foste[...]who were yery young upon arrival from lowa, anrl
of course to Seatrice, who was born on the homestead[...]at the coal mine. There was schooling up I

through the eighth grade, /rncl Beatrice a.lway[...]n a wagon to pfay at church ser
uices.
Life for the !'oster chil_dren was really no d"iff-
erent than for any other homestead children in the
area". rt was by no means an environment of riches.
It was only survival; and they grew up, w[...]ccessful- busi.ness wo-
man, despite the handicap of polio,
The brilliant research of Ray Lundin and. the For,
est Grove centenial- Oonmittee in 19gz we[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (80)the situation of the Foster Famil-y and their 1{ years
on the benc[...]l over 100 families settled on
homesteads ccmpris"i.ng the l-orest Grove Community. To-
day tfrere are a.bout 20 families making a living on
the same area of land. Twenty per cent stayed. Eigh-
)tv ner
v[...]rs
c:ime, trled it, fail-ed, and left. The dreams of rur:-
al prosperity on 'l 60 acres in Central Mon[...]cent who came, stayed awhi]e, and then 1eft.
Like the nearly JOr000 people who peaked the
homestead[...]rs left a homestead shack within a fenced
boundry of land, land th;at once held their dreams.
And ther[...]heir r'1{ years on the benchil.
The Fosters, like so many of their fellow home-
ste.ders, were typical in the[...]e, so they tried
something else, and vron!
For the children of Thomas and Clara Foster,
something other than homesteading in Central Montana
brought equality of the American Drean - a sl-ice of
,th" middle class way of life and slr.ccess.
I At the time of this writing, only two family mem-
bers who shared a part of the l'orest Grove homestead
are leftl George and[...]grandchildren,
scattered throughout the Greatness of America, know
that at one time Grandma and Grandpa Foster had a
ranc[...]sometime.
come I
On thebeautifully wooded ridge tfrey will- see
the foundation of the house, the last of the root cel-
lar, and the nrins of Grandpar s coal md.ne. And" they
may stand on the cfiff at the edge of Grandpa and
Grandmars property, looki-ng down into the valley where
69
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (81)[...]dl now abandoned and silent,
once provided a host of human activity. And from
theree only the imaginations of those decendents ob-
serving can limit the drama of what life was like fo:
Thomas, Clara, and the entire Foster Fanily,[...]i

Dan and Sam Tyler l'arnil-i[...]Marian Underwood
Tyler family, members of the St. PauLts Ep-
The
iscopal Church of Paterson, ld.J., moued to Montana ir
1t,0 l.[...]. Samuel had m'arr-
ied Elizabeth S611ers (sister
of John) in Paterson in 1876.
A11 homesteaded[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (82)[...]ather, Frank Moshner, was an original pio-
neer of Lewistown, having arriyed in 1879. He was a
car[...]Clermany and buil-t the first frame buil-
dings i-n Lewistown. He also built the first bridge
acr[...]reek. IIe discovered brick clay and
made bricks for some of the early buildings. He play-
ed bass horn in the 1st band, helped establish mail
, routes and worked for the incorporation of Lewistown.
J Samuel Young ancL Anna first live[...]-
uel Young and Anna homesteaded a few miles east of
Forest Grove. Sam and Mr. CarL Erickson operated a
threshing business. Anna di-d the cooking for the
crews.
Sarmre] Young and Arura had five children in For-
est Grove, Li]lian 1908, contacted polio in 1914[...]1914, and Frances ) 1916.
luring World VJar I, Sarmel joined the Arny and
moved the fami[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (83) Danielr Sr. a.nd Thursa, I'rederic, John, emd Dan-
iel- are buried in the Tl[...], and Ron and Judy Dvorak now
live, Story has it, that locust came in 1915 and
ate e'verything right up to the fence of the Ty1er r

Cemetery.

Tyle[...]rs Episcopal Ohurch, in Forest Groue, in mem-
ory of their three deceased sons in 1908. This cross
is stilL on the alter of the Forest Grove Church.

Buildings Frected[...]and five children, all girls.
We lived there for 2 and a half years. l{e was
a member of the Woodman of the ',n/orld, and Odd !.ellow
Lodger so I think that is how he learned a,bout Lewis-
town, which was a[...]st Thanksgirring lay here with
the Merrills.
I do not remember Papa working that winter which
was a 'uery col-d one. \{e left for the homestead on
72

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (84)[...]19, 1905.
f was only B years old I donrt remember all
As
Papa did, but here are some tha.t I do l<rlow.
Jabez Cox was one of the early stonemasons who
built the Abel Bros[...]eum in Great Fallsr the bank
at Hilger, l-ots of buildings at Kendal and the big
stcne barn that was tore down to make way for Butt-
reys.
Ol[...]Oddessa, Later, when his brother-in-law offered
I him an apprenticeship to learn masonry and brickl[...]When he left Ergland he promised to send for his
ehildhood sweetheart. When his sister and f[...]were nanied March 9, 1891.
lhat year was of depression and not many buildings
were being bu[...]work in Pittsburgh
at the Carnegie Iron Works. I still have the brass-
head poker he made for my mother there.
I was born that yeatt December J1 in Braddock,
near Pittsburgh, In May, 1895r mI mother and I re-
turned to England. We sailed from Philadelphia and
my mother had to hold me m.ost of the w&]rr One day it[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (85)[...]ster was born anrl my fabher retur
ned to Fhgland for serreral years. f irad folrr sis.be-r.s
born.bher[...]r_r]dnr b
f'orget Americ:i ancl re-burned (
in 1900. I{e and a brother came to Great Falls, where
he began to do s'bone and brick work. He sent for hj_s
family in 1902.
Ivly youngest siste[...]uer sa.w her. we liuocl in []r,eat }'alls a coup]
of y,:ars. During this tirne my fir:st brc;ther wias[...]inte
with Ralph lvlerrill and built a stone house for the
Ivlerrills on their ranch north of Lewistc;wn. lle rcrcle
the stage back and forth f[...]loaneC him his; bugg}r and team
to bring the rest of us tcL L€w-j_Stown. Cur trunks,
etc, were brought in a slnglc-horse i^iag()n. We sLru.nt
one nio'ht in Stanford[...]u

on Ross f'ork::.t the home of liir. and Ir1rs, Aclams, where
we chiJ-dren got o[...]en went to schoo1.
in the Hawthcrne sehool.
I didnrt go to school very longr &S I accident-
Iy orrerturned a kettle of boiling water and. scalded
my legs and feet. We a[...]d were to take part in
the Christmas program, but I was unable to go. The (
teachers were very kind and sent me a chirra cup and
saucer, which I still have, arr.d a sack of treats.
Mr. Merrill located a homestead for us and we
mo'ued just after my 11th birthday. The[...]s place to us children, but a most lone-
some one for my citybred mother. lVe arrived January
19, spend[...]earts and were our nieghbors until about the time I
was married. I was in the )th grade when I began to
go to sehool at Cheadle. It was then cal[...]eld in the summer.
fhere were quite a number of children, including[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (86)[...]to an
In the spring of 1912, my mother loaned me hert
i11 neighbor. She helPed me more than I helPed gen-
for I learned to bake bread and helped her in the
)eral[...]ng. He was at Kendall a1f one summert
and. many. of the stone buildings on Main Street in
Lewistown[...]h to live on her homesteadr so
the Hollands sent for me to come and help. Therer I
l-earned to cook Norwegian food. Thj-s stood me in
sood" stead., for I got to lstow the man I later married
it Hollandt= an6 being a Norwegias, he enjoyed the cook-
ing of his national foods. I{rs. Holla;nd was an expert
una we usually had many at the table to pro'vide for.
I was withithem until the fall of 191\ when I
went horne because my nother was il1 and the next tt+o
sisters had left home to help in other familj-es.
That Decemberr my youngest brother and the last of my
mothey's 10 children, was born. I believe he was one
of the largest babies born in Fergus County. He weig[...]unds at birth,
The next Julyr 01e Eike and I were married j-n
Lewistown at the home of WaJ-ter Cox, where the Carter
1Motel now stapds, by Rev. Cress of the Baptist Church.
'At the timer mX fathe[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (87);lrr-i comirlg up fne nr.tlii, shc ,l1nr.rys ltrri lcd g[...]he tr,rpr where she sboppi:d; so ()le drcrye anrl I
ran behj.nd r^rith;l stick'Lo give her a, gor-rd whzck befot
she I d think of s topping. 'I'hi s u sually wcrked uery
well. lile har1 iL lot of f'un, antl scrne ilc, b so funny,
time s wi tlr he r. i
,,n/e started our ]lfe on the homcste[...]':.i

Eike llomestead Buildings - prior to 1 9BO.

Ole continued working for ivlr. liolland until lats.
fall, and agarn the next two years during lambing,
After that we had too much to do to be away for more
than a trip to town.
Our oldest child, a boy, was born j-n the l-ate
spring of 191r, &t noon on a snowy day. That was the
first and only snow we had all winter. We[...]our field and wero tramping
all around the house. I got mad and Tarr them out -
on foot - for nearly a mile.
01e was away. He and his brother had gone to
town for a load of lumber, so I was alone until they
got baek around midni[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (88)[...]il
airnr,st nii;ry::cl J'irs. !v+stvel-t out, si, i I t.,",i;< r ,^,nr-
trlmil .
[)ur-' s,Jn, rid an.J. I was
Osi,::n, was ouer a[...]:t, sii b-r.ng up in be d, wh,:n tire y returned.
I gc.i a gentle scolding and trlrs. westuert tr.ir,k r1/":r
until my fcJ-ks arriveii iate that;rfterni;on. it wns
an 11 mil-e trip, s{r it was[...]the ilcx hr:si*r 4G
l'lrs. {lox wals a midwj.f:. I)r. \^/a}}in .:.-l_so at'Lended u.*a,
'r^/e nearl-y l-r-,st il1esa, ;:na I gct t,iocd pcisonlng, ti(r l.
nea,r'ly ieflt tiris ,,vcr'l-ri tlo. ilhet i.ras in 1i)17 ciur:-ing
the flu epidenic and there was rro j[...]laviclf w?,s born in St. Josephts
iiospital. lid I enjoy tha.t! I was in tor,vn a- r^rhr,}e
month after his clue date anrl when he,iecide<i to crlrT)€r
I had JC minutes tc ejet to the hospital and the kind-
ly help of Sister Richard, for who we have,iur son
his nriddie name. lle was my[...]wood stoves to heat the house. It was
quite cold that day and though I had him wrapped we1l,
the baby caught a cold and[...]so tiny, lavid said he h;:.d rra dried up
potato for a headtr. But the chil-dren thought hin a
doll, even though they had wanted so much to have a
s i ster.
While the children were smallr we worked hard.
I worked in the fields along side 01e, and he helpe[...]system. He built fires and
fixed breakfast while I bathed and fed the children;
then he washed rlishes while I rnilked cows, six to nine[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (89)of them. ''rle usually rnilked only one dur-i-:rg cold wea-
ther for the childrenrs mi_lk.
Summers, 01e was arr early riser and would go to
pasture for horses and co',ls before f wa.s Ltpr I was
aiways the l-ast one to bed after straighteni[...]ing harvest, when r did the rak- i
ing '.rhiIe he cut hay, !/e both staeked it- T ro[...]e d.epression days,
6ut we managed to keep free of debt and educate our
chiirlren,
0sten is a Folytechnic of tsillings grad.uate. Ele
sa attended Montana sta[...]d after a year
the::e, was a bookkeeper at E,idy I s Bakery until her
n:arriage to Jack 1,/right, a[...]ope, rchrrning horne on Thanks-
giuing layt 1945, I{e is unmarried. since my husband.
died in 1911, Osten and I have run the ranch.
lasid served r,;ith the )th Caualry in Japan, the
army Of r:;CCUlation, and l-ater attend.ed business school
in 3i11ings, He marri-ed the former Angeline stendal,
and now li.res in Pocatella, Idaho, where he is with
an i-nsurance fi-rm.
Donalei has been custodian at the Lincoln schoo]
in Lewistolun for several years.
Elric attended a"' aeronaut[...]d as a cadet under the u.s. Observer program,
lio i e D riD^+ain
vstrIr in the[...]vltg Air Force
nft I'\/l_ L/g and is now serrrihq[...]_LD d

his seeond tour of duty in Japan.
ELrie is married to a Japanese girl, Chiyoko, and
I h;lve visited there three tirnes. During my last trip
Elric, Chiyoko, and I joined a group of military per-
sonnel in a tour of southeast Asia.
I also visited Hawaii, the philippinesl Formosa,
and Malaysia, traveling by jet. Altogether I have
flown about 40r000 miles, including t[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (90)[...]ss Range &
then on to the Foran Place just North of Porest Grove
iin l9l*?; Iiving there until L950. PauI put electric
'wiring in moet of, the homes in the Forest Grove atrea,
and al,so[...]Merico in the winter. they
have f,ond memori-es of the Forest Grove area. Bob
Fritz, son of Paul & IaVerna i.s living in NeenahrWis.
Hw went to grade school at Forest Crove, before &ov-
ing to Royr Montana for 4 years, then back to Wiscon-
sj-n, He j-s a Pol[...]mories ,-
incJ-uding his first Job on a hay crew for John Stan -
Iey. His overall learning (How to wo[...]ri -
ence, he found rnany city kids are deprived of, & eome
cf the hurnerous incidents at school (in[...]year Fonest Grove had 7 teachers.)

' i+n/} -A ,?/4/*-
,{;"t- a4./b-i J^"h'- /?et.i /?/{
€""2a..4( >(F,lz*.*j2 i fzqr-,1 W0*X*y[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (91)[...]0ffice
tr'crest Grorre, Fergus Ccuni;rr i{ontana
Established rn July 51[...]July 28, 1921

Mrs. lelma lvl. I{nuth June 1, 19qZ

Ro[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (92)[...]in Kentucky in r8gr, & moved to
Greenwood, I{issouri at the ripe age of ! yrs ord in
a covered $ragon. After he grew to rnanhood, he attended
country schoofe r- h years of generar educati-on, had
not seen the inside of a High school or a correge. rn
laLer ye€rrs was[...]1889. She went to 1ocal schools there, She
was r of 14 chirdren & as time went by 2 children pass
ed away. l,ty Motherrs name was Leona Augusta Mansfield,
of German heri-tage. Mother worked for the u. s.Innd
Office in Lewistown in about, l.9a[...]in construction work, He had many people working for
hin, with teams, scoops, fres&ots and-excavation equip
ment on 5bh avenue. They were ruaruied in I9l2 & th;-
Honey-noon conslsted of going to the ranch & going to
work.lhe ranch wae located 30 niires southast of Lewis-
town, or 9 miles south of Becket. They homestead.ed, on
what turned out to[...]ne, Joined the fani\y. They grew up on the
ranch. I was 4 yrs o1d before I could talk, i" ,y
folks were so. busy on the ranchrranc[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (93)[...]ersuch
The Bersuch ts farmed and raised turkeys for a i-iving
on whatrs ca}tred the Dry Iand Benchr north of, Becket,.
.[Iong abouts ]9]7 or tr8, when tr was a out 17 frs oJ-d,
tr worked for John Sbanley who lj-ve soufhwest of Becke{f
so naturally we visited Becket more offen than Fonest
Grover or Grass Range. One day I headed oven to Becket
to get the rail and then on[...]Lo get ny paX, From half way down the Beaket hj-l-I I
noticed a }ot of men com5.ng out of a work traS-n, that
was on a siding. W the Lime I got fo the crowdr l'lr
Creel, who was the funeral[...]tes after his ar-
rival, four men catrried a body of a murdered. man out
of Lhe work train and loaded him int,o Lhe hearse. M[...]' 0f course from
everyonc talking, ue soon foulnd that the cook of
the work crew had deliberately shot this IIEnr then
head.od for Lhe Beeket hillr and was reported heading
west af[...]ill' After geiting the mail
from the Post Office, I headed out the nain road to-
ward John Stanleyts farm. I had to go by the McCauJ-ey
ranch to get to the Stanley nanch. Affer going south
fron the McCauley ranch I final\y arived at the
Stanley ranch, but was told[...]s
Range to the bank and had not arrived home yet. I then
decided to wait. IL got to be about 5 otcLoc[...]to have supper with them .
They fed ny horse and I decided to stay and eat with
them. As it was getting Late John paid me rV monthrs
salary and I started for home. Affer crossi-ng the i
McCauley ranch I started the climb up the hill north
of the ranch. By this time it was pitch darkr and from
there on I was really frightened. I unbuckled fhe 22
from bhe saddle and caried it, in ry hand. When I gob
to the top of the hill, I could see the lights of the
Tom Foster place and felt safer as I knew I could 8o
to their place if I needed to. Howeve I vrent on down
the north valley, and up the next hitl to hone. To
finJ.sh[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (94)[...]oy
Mervin R. Berkin
i My grandparentsr Joe and SaraLr Collinsl c[...]1. The two boyst
Leslie and George, were part of the consf,:rrction
company with their father.[...]dge builder on
the railroad to Grass Range at that time. That
eonstnrction crew winter camped at the Drinka[...]powder nan when the rail-road grade
was cut out of that rocky ledge abo've the Westvelt
place. For safetyts sake he asked them to leave the
house a[...]county comnissioners didnrt think they should
)be that way. I guess they could not believe anything
would be going fast enough to slide off the road,
even when that black gumbo was wet.
I was born Decenber, 1914 in a little house that
is stil] there - just south of the location of the
old pool hallr saloon. That bui]ding served mar,ry
purposes o'ver the years. The Collins I nanaged the
hotel for several years and I started school- at the
nevr school in 1919. That was the year of the f1u,
etc. and I caught the whooping cough and the flu so
that took eare of my first year of schooling. The
next winter I spent the weekdays with Grandna Frostt[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (95)that school year, The scho<rf had grades from I to 12
so there was quite an age spread' One noon hour a
bunch of the boys were sitti.ng in the sun by the
horseshe[...]the,little guys followed suit' Myrna Fisher i

reported us, and the principal asked ea*h boy if he
hari been swearing" They all. d Qnied it - except me
having been taughi nct to }ie, I answered ttyu"t'
the teacher used me as an ex[...]t with soap before the whole school. 0n
relea.se, I chased M;rrna home and aroun.d the dining
room ta[...]aught and found out the
rea.son. Needless to saXr that teacher had a very
rough time! Grandna Frostr Ste[...]ng her off.o,.,,,
The next two school years I was in Lewistown
staying with Gladys and Harrrey[...]illow Creek,
There are four daughters and one son of Harvey and
Gladys stilL living in the west Oregon[...]t family,
Bery1 (lyon )Fowler is now living i.n Wilsonrrille,
Oregon, south of Portland, Her father was Ivieruin
Lyon Frank and Srnokyts brother, She was born in
March, 1918, I believe at the Co]lins homestead"
Her present add[...]iaray, #110r Wilsonville, Oregon 97470.
Beryl and I went to school at the old N-Bar school
on the north fork of Flatwillowr riding in from
the old Nichols pIace. Then one year we lived i
at, the John Singles place by Becket, The Tom Shaw i

fannily was d,t their old place at that time and Jim
Shaw lived at his homestearl on McDonald Creek east
of Becket. WaIt Gooch had the storer Post offieet
an[...]more Iittle joke - Jack Frost was digging
a hole for the flae pole by the first school build-
ing and made a remark that he didntt think the frost
was 'very deep. Someone, on hearing that staternent
said he didnrt know about thatl beeause he had seen
about six feet of rrtr''rostrr in the ground there,[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (96)[...]Mary Shaw Boyd

lfom fiha"w i]ame to Montana j.n the l-,aie l8lOrs
or ea::l.y l[...]mother were married. in this home April 19, 1899.
i{er n'raj-den name was Erj.na Frostr the third daughter
of Erina Frost. My father:, Thomas Shaw, r^ias the
Sheriff of Fergus County, He had came on the
Chj.sholm Trail[...]ng to come again with another
cattle arj.ve" When I nias a child, Forest Grr-r've was
a booming town, and oommunity, r^rith Grandma Frostt
the owner of most buildings" Namely the hote1,
post office, gr[...]etc. The
ol-d wooden sidewalks ran up both sides of the street,
with thrr:ngs of people corning from the countryside
to celebrate the Fourth of July, I remember riding
one of the Woodrs farnily race horses in a race up
the l{ain Street in a race at a Fourth of July Cele-
bration. Grandpa Frost left Forest Gro[...]fornia,
Amos Snyder carne to MeDonald Creek Valley with
the original groupr which I think were the Frostst
Westveits, Snydern and Fra[...]hed at Becketr when my father was with the
Office of Sheriff. Father and mother morred on to
the ranch[...]Unc1e
Amos in Omahra. They had a fine business. I rem€tn-
ber when the railway tracks for the Milwaukee
rn'ent through Becket. We had our first ride in the
caboose to Grass Range. This is one of my first
rnemories, I must ha've been about { years old.
Later n[...]uren.
What a beautiful, fertile country this part of
Montana was, I{y mother used to teII us of the oId
65

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (97)[...]1og house
Grandpa built with itrs sod roof. Most of her
brothers and sisters were born here, in this[...]horse and kilLed. He was buried
on the east si.de of Forest Grove. I believe one
of the West'velt children is buried at the sane
spot[...]the graves were also noved. Followirrg is
a list of the Frost fanily childrenr Charlosr
Sedwick, Ear1, Chil}a, Nel1, Edna, Car:rie, Stella,
and a boy whom i-s buried in the Forest Grove
Ceonetary', who died as a ehild.

Houe of Tom Shaw near Becket (l9lr).[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (98) Story of the Joe Isaacs Farnily
Joe Isa^acs carne to Lewistownr Montana in the
spring of 1912 from Hillsdaler Indiana, His wifet
Effie, an[...]Company where Joe was BIII-
ployed" In the spring of 191, Joe filed for a home-
stead 'in the Fairyiew Cornrmrnity and hi[...]Boughton,
Alice Minnick was the school teacher at that time.
Later Fairview School was buiJt and Herman[...]Joets cousin, George Isaacs,
In the summer of 1928 they bought the Frost
Place at Forest Grove,[...]d Joe joining
them in the winter, In 195, because of the drought
and depression, they gave up f,arming and returned to
their former home i-n Lewistown.
Mildred married Tony Deutsch of Lewistown,
Berniece married Leonard Elijah of Forest Grove, and
Herman married Loucil}e Perso of Forest Gro've.
In 1942 Joe and Effie[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (99)1947 at the age of J0. Effie moved back to College
Place and was living there when she passed away in
1970 at the age of 85.
Joe and Effie had nine grandchildren and[...]grandchildren. i

Submitted by Loucille Perso Isaacs

o roTl%?il" rffi llf; 'uu ut i,,g
Back row- Mrs Johnson, Margaret Lyons, un[...]nttSellars
and Mrs Joe Isaacs.
In front of the Frost house at Forest Grove[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (100)[...]e lower placergle Flening plaee
rn McDonald Creek for the first sevenal- years. His
p,rents bought the[...]hooLed at Foregt Grove
ichool through their first I years and $ent to Fergus
)ounty High echool j-n L[...]ranch with his father arui bnothers. trn the
lalI of 196I, DaIe moved the house fron the Thonason
?lace on McDonaLd Creek about 6 n:iles west of, Foregt
irove ts the Cox ranch, 3 rutles eouth of Forest Grover
)ale Cox and Shirley Hertel Cox wer[...]b sheep. They bought the lsnd on
bhe Cauley place that was in p.eture and r'rest of the
hi-ghway. DaIe and his fanily noved to Grass Rarrge in
ilanuary 1968 to care for the cattle. In the spring,
r6ter calving and movi[...].e in 1958. Slnce the Fa.{lX
moved to Grass Range for the winter, we 5ut Llnda on
the bus at $tanleys. At that tlme the bus csno to the
Stanley turnoff a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (101)[...]y
and grain thene too" Dale stilL leases the Land for
$ulnmetr paature, We leased pastune and hay groun[...]Cox tn L975. Ken owned the oLd Foran place, west
of Forest Grove. Ken ard his family later moved to
L[...]DaIe
Ieased paeture and hay ground f'rom Leonard I'tiller for
eeveral years thnough the ?Ofe. We have had lots of
fun expeniences and some not so fun, whil-e trail[...]rain or shi-ne, to Al-aska Bench
and Forest Grove for bhe summerrto t'he Foran place
for fall paature and then moving the cows home to the[...]ri:rg the tr950is. DaLe bought some Angus
heifers i-n the early l950ls and went to crossbred cor*s
wi-th Angus base. He sold the last of bhe sheep in 1971
In 1"968 he lea,rned how to A I cattle ard we goL our
f,inet SimentaL calves Ln L969. They were a new breed
of, cattle j.:n Anerica. Simmental semen was importe[...]ngr so He ds-
eided to go fon the Sinnental breed of eattle" We have
been up-bneeding the cat ,Ie siryce that time and have
irad 2 annual btrll sales rlowr T[...]cond yras held at (
the ranch Feb" Tthr 1985. One of the thinge DaIe re&-
J-ly appneciat'.es about oun modenn times is the inven-
tion of the big nourNl baler. He wae one of the first
in the CentnaL Montana area to nake hay[...]y needed hauled from Foreet, Grove to
Grass Range for winten feed. Dale said if he could
haul those big bales on his trtrck, it was a naehine
neceos&txr for his operati.or. We baled our firsb bales
at the Kizer place tn L975. Thst was a great invent-
ion for a rancher with large feedlng operations"
Sh[...]e was rai.sed in the Trout Creek community, south of
lIoore. Max and BErnice Hertel (Ternraat)[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (102)[...]cattle and doing some farnlng along the foothills of
the Snowie lilountaing. Shirley r*as I of 3 students to
graduate fron the 8th grade for the last time out
rof the Trout Creek School. It[...]ley gradrrabed from Moore
High School ard went I year to Montana State CoIIege
in Bozeman. DaIe and I got narried the next fall.
Max and Bernice Te[...]ie area. They were maruj-ed in L935.
Max worked for several years for area ranchers then
had a chance to buy his ranch.e 9 niles south of the
city of Mooren MEtrx graduated from Moore schoolsr but[...]st finished the 8th grade and uorked out
after that. Max is retired now and KarI has taken the
ranch over. Berniee passed away in 1981. Iater I'{ax
narried At-ma Thomas and they live in the[...]Ennna(Gartnan) Teruaat came 'to Lew-
istown ln I9I5 to open a cheese factory on upper Spr-
ing Cr[...]Msnt-. to nake
eheese. The rntlk was waa not, of the same conoistency
in Montana as it vas in Wisconsin, therefore his chee-
se factory never got going for verXr long.Ed bought, a
farn south of lloore in I9t7 and raised his fantily of
3 daughters and I son there. The 3rd dsughterr being
Shirleyfs M[...]o KaIispeII to retire and are buried there. Both, of
itheir parents are of Ger"man deeent and had cane to
t{isconsj-n. The[...]in a horse aceid,ent at BLue l{oundrllllnoisr ilt I91?.
She came to l.lont. to cook for her half brother sho
had came earlier to help[...]ad
sett,Ied in the Rock Creek Connlruityrsouth of Mooren He
rented. sone land at that time" Delta had 3 childreni
2 sonsr&l daughter[...]ar5r years teachilrg sehool
in later yes,rs in that area. Both Tex and Delts are
buried at M[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (103)[...]erand. The HerbeJ- Heritage
cane f,nom Genrnarly i.n L85z and they raised, the faniry
around Spningf[...]Linda got her eoll-egg degree frorn
Harrre SchooL of Nursing and married Tom Barnett in
I98r. Torn was a winneLt boy with a ranching backgn[...]e with friends and nei.ghbors.

B"*-l"R*-- J.,*i
i B"Ir-. K*,n;t
P^-d'A ,-: "[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (104) ,/i"l.11am and Taots Meadors

by Sar[...]borus, Kentuci.;y. He iuas one <lf nine
children of Alfred and Ruth Ciayccmb Mearlcrs.
Aft[...]r:f his father, Meadcrs quit
scho,ri at the age of 12 t* help suppcrt hi* fariiiy
by 'baking c,id j[...]incenf Caraway. Caraway moverl his new famiiy t*
I,lova:ry, Montana, where he operated a g_r;cer.y store
:J.flil. p+et off,ice. Ncrary was i,;,catecl 1j mi3"es
wi:st cf Grass Range *n l{igh[...]i'ue barn in Tlmberl"inen Montana, the
d.aughter of Sarah and Samuel Newman.
fhe Meadorst[...]ars before moving
to the Nate McCauley place far i 0 years" They
then bought the Dixon ranch known as the Cy Spangler
I raneh. This is the piace called the rrhomet! ranc[...]ors were well known in the
Central Montana area for the Becket rodeos given
on labor Day and the ba[...]barn still
stands at Becket, a lonesone reminder of"a once
thri"ving community.
As the f[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (105)[...]lk cow was add.ed to the herd., a
viable resourse for extra cash by selli-ng cream
for elothing and food through the I'tough timesrr.
Money was tightr Do doubt abo[...]started the field on fire. The family fought
fire for hours and. hours. [oots cried after it
was out sa[...]get Xour
fj-re would, The railroaci e,3mpany paid for the
damage Meadors got more for that than what was
left to- be thrashed.
Later as[...]ore cattle,
spring branding was the social e'vent of the ranch.
Toots cooked gall.:ns of food shs always belierred
that there was more help than- cattle. She loved it
though, it was a time of hard work, good friends
gathering, and lots of 'visiting.
The Meadors wele always bringing horne some
poor fellow that had no place to go or nothing to
eat. They always[...]ther. If a
kitten or a puppy was left by the side of the road,
Meadors gathered it up and brought it h[...]dors lo'ved horse racing. He had the rare
quality of being able to judge horse flesh at a.
glance, pos[...]came frorn his Kentuc$
baelcground and the fact that he owned raee horses
all his life. Onee he bought[...]on from a good friend, Kenny Mortag. This was
one of the few times he didnrt come out ahead on a
horse[...]look at
-
the horse named Kenny, and that wa.s the last Meadors
rode it the day[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (106)[...]where different items were donated to raise money
for a charitable organization. Several" of the
buyers wc,uld buy something then donate it baek for
resale" A rocister had been donated several times[...]nd
up wj-th the chicken and tosk it to his trtrck for
the trip horne. Meadors treft the sale, stole the
chicken out of the tnrck and went baek into the sale
until the s[...]hen they gc't to the
trucks, StanLey told Meadors that some so-and-so
had stole his chieken out of the tmek" Several
nights later the Stanley family was in'vited to the
Meadors home for a chicken and noodle supper[...]ots loved the raneh life even with the hard.
work of earrying water, canning crn a wood sto'ue,
and do[...]in a tin ti.r.b" She always had
room at her table for one more. Her grandchildren
]oved to come and stay with rrGrandma Tootsrr, a
lady that never had a bad word to say about or
against anyo[...]; Paseal (fat) Meadors who ranches
12 miLes south of Grass Range; Jean Zappone who
lives in Spokane, Washington. One daughter, Anna-
bel1 Apple died of cancer in 1 975.
Bill and Toots are b[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (107)This is a famiiy reunion picture of all the
Meariors childrenr.ffI?+dchilciren[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (108)[...]Drnald IliirP
Lewis I]i-pp left l{orth Cari:1ina in 18i:? it*u th*:
age of 11 yearg. He wcnt tc Texas uheri: h+ wr;rjr*d i-:Ti
ranches an.d picking cctti:n. 4.e e v*ntuaily ,tr:i f teC
tc Montana and got a job nn the c,iri K+iie[...], daughte.r nf Cha.rles En
and Mary (Uoffy) Smith of Lewistovrn,
The house burnE:cl to the grcun,l i,n irei6, Ii:
was rebuilt and sti-]-i stands torlay, 1981. Three
children were born to them while li,ring at Fo.resL
Grove, Ethel ilipp Guellawee of Los Angeles, l)onala
Hipp of Seattle, Washington, and Lila liipp Kewpper
of /i.uburn. Washington"

Lewis and Mae HiPP on[...]their wedding day in 1915.
iii*rll=ii,i:r'rljilii:, i 'iii:,;,i;

Trailing Cattle to Fonest Grove Stoc[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (109) llemories of Fr::rest Grc-,ve
by[...](

This is a summary of early settlers jn the
Forest Grove area in the[...]ider; Ji.m Shaw, Tom Shaw,
and others, The late:: of these being in the Becket
atea and District, afte[...]oms upstarrs
1917
and a basement, half of whieh was a gyrnnasium with
folding doors at cent[...]urnace roorlo Grades '1 through 8th and two
years of high schooL, The high school not being
aecredited made a poor situation for those who went
elsewhere to graduate from high school, my sister
Clara was one of them. The Forest Grove schooln
after BO years, wa[...]ned by MiI-
waukee Land Conpany"
Main Street of Forest Grove is the county road
now which going s[...]ghr+ay 8J. Other streets and
avenues were na,rned for early settlers such as Frost,
Lyons, Adams, Pierc[...],
Before the town site people felt the need of
a church, the little church was erected under the
title of St. James Episcopal, which through the
yea[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (110)[...]n Missionary started and maintained
Sunday school for many years. The church was built
on the north sid[...]tie) liayward in 1901.
The Frostrs donated a plot of Land for the chureh
and comrnrnity cemetary. The title has[...]est Grove Comnmnity and is maintain-
ed and eared for by the people who have graves of
f amily and friends buried there, cleanr:.p days[...]ry beautiful-.
Forest Grove was a small town that supplied the
many needs of the people. A liverY stable where
those coming from a distance with a load of grain
to the elevator could put horses for the night.
Hotel and meals, different ones operat[...].
Emisorls also had a store - general merchandise for
the area. A blacksmith shop operated by Longe'von[...]d plus other bLacksmith work which
took the place of todayb Machine and Welding Shops.
Also a dance ha[...]ral worked in the
store which carried a full line of groceriesr mat-
erials, sewing needs and notionsr[...]m rope to boltsr nailst
hammers, saws, everything for the times of hand ]abor
and hard work. They bought produce fro[...]made butter, eggs, rhubarb,
eabbage s &ay surplus that was grown and offered to
seIl. Things did not have to be inspected and all
the copyrot of today. One of the highlights of going
to Hansonrs store when I was a child was one or the
other of the women folk would want my mother, Mrs.
Iver Heggen to come upstairs for a lunch before
returnj-ng home about five[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (111)p;L1;i;h.t ,lli.,ilF:-i+s r 2, Ve:r'y Sp.:i: j, le.i dlr:;;:i t, , l'1 :-t ;)/i .'u11,{-
S t e:rrl ,
Thi s (,\ j' coi.].L'$t V/LiS ,?,itsl.' trilt,' l":, i i ,f ,:; ;i; !: ,'t. rlr,rllF)
t,it-i:',Ugh in 1')i 4 r di.llfltl;i t*-'ariE;?'rj wq: j'r:j Ii tli '.r;1" i''\.ri,i t'jr i
'i
60 aeres at thi g tinr*, l:'t)liii, oi' 1,iri' ilrllllt--;:ja,-j:,i.'i:11'1; \

arDund. Fc)]:9st tlr:ov+ r otht,r titar: t:?,1'.1 .)/ ,:., t'e ,i.''':.r's r
w$re loa, S',Irui';:io i,'i':+JrlL'l.rl'ti.Lrir ti::anii i);,i1i.;1 tls;, [.t
ri.rummerr Lu*a arir1 ,ia:lr'.f lielil:;-l'.:;, !-'i:-i-b ;.nri i:'i.'r::rj
;inr.ighton, Corningi, 11;:rl"'y Ii(.)j.il1-.ir; r lt;-i-Li r,t, i- tri,;"r'ar
lviartin, f ostar:, ]iipp, i: iir'::y -,hi,1.i,, r,,, , 'jr.ln vi ri.;ht,
Failon, ]:,iawkirkn S 1;er-';e r !'a;r'ari r l-''-i t:t, , T*eei r ripp).e ,
Zarcn, and. irth$rs" 14cBljil*: i.)r'rl ''';:i,tf:iii a. lrical ilcai-
mineI I{arry (Senattir) jonns,-'n hauJ-,i,j m;i.iJ- fi.'rrm
Forest ve to Pini; Gr"{-) v', anii i;o lJr:'+a-::y ( f c,rme::1y
Gro
called Wint), Pine Grove post cff i'-;u ij-scontj.nuerj-
in 1914, maii was ha.uied wj[...]els were few and sparsley ownecl,
Southeast of Forest Grorre was Fair.view school
District 117. Homesteaders j.n 1909-10 were !.lmerson,
Jim, I'rank and Ed Aiken, llelb and i{ugh Bowmenr Joe
and George Isaaes, Brandt, Lovas,[...]others. L/ith
all these families there was a need for a school,
my brother Joseph Heggen walked to Fore[...]I

District 117 is recorded November 17, 1911. A por-
tion of land was donated by Albert Bauerr orr the
ttShale Rock Ridgerr, one of the windiest ridges
there is. I visited the school at times when past
four years old, Billy Ershell told his slster
Louise of rne being the same agas which is five days
betwee[...]so Louise came to visitr we be-
eame the closest of friends. District 117 was 4n-
nexed t[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (112)[...]Iuer Heggen
came to Arnerica when s j-xteen years of age in 1885.
Thea 01son, who took the name Brenden, came to
Itmerica in 1889 at the ag.e of nineteen. Brenden
means worker in Noryr,egian, Th[...]errs
pla.ce, who had already came overseas, where I'rrer was
boarding while working in timber and saw[...]in a plow factory until 1910 when he had enough of
clock punchi-ng and scheduli!, so he calne to Mon[...]girrg the materials which he loaded in the
bottom of an emmigrant tJifro-a-a- ear. Then he bought
tools, a walking plow, a team of horses, a lumber
wagon, and a cow. He rode in the[...]as parked on a siding to unLoad. He took his team
of horses and wagon and hauled the things fi've mil-es
southeast of Forest Groye. This took many trips,
one day to Ir[...]up, one day to
return honer the horses got a day of rest between
trips. This was the spring of 1910.
While breaking sod with the tean and walking
p1ow, one of the horses dropfed dead apparently change
of altitude and work, as I'ver took good ca.re of his
stock. Albert Bauer, a neighbor, Let I'ver use one
of his horses to plow the required acres.
On Labor Day of 1911, Thea left LaOrosse with
the three ch[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (113)[...]il dad
got the house b'uilt. ft was a shack built of green
lumber whieh shrank as it dried leaving wide cr:acks.,
between the boards. Mother told of an October {

storm which blew the snow through the cracks so dad
would shovel snow out of the shack before we got out
of bed. It was cold, mother said she bundled me up
i[...]the teacher and us to schoor with a sred..
Before I could go to school I would take sister
Clarars doll buggy out and wheel it around the hill-
side, but I had to have it back in plaee before she
eame home[...]r hcme.
Joseph Heggen married Aliee Kinnick of Grass I
Range, they ra.nched in the tr'orest Groye area for a
short time after whieh he went back to work for U.S.
Gypsunn until he was electrd.cuted in June of 19rO.
Clara married John Stanley in 1 911, they have
two sons Jim and Jack. John passed away in April of
1951, his sCIns now own the ranch. Clara mamied
B[...]wn but spend.
the winter months in Arizona.
I married Arehie Cox in 1912r we have six sons
Kenneth; IaIe, 8i11, Ray, .Dick, and Gene. Gene
passed away in 1942 at the age of nine months. In
1947, we had a daughter, S[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (114)Kentucky. Archie died in June of 1952,
In 197J, I toured Norway with Sons of Norway
group, I located one first cousin, so in 1976 I
went to Norvay again' r got to meet all- firre of my
first cousins and part of their families. Norway
is a beautiful coun[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (115) thc tJhitc Rabbit of The MC hide Mine
0n ard in the hllls nortlr 6f Fo[...]artsJphillip?s, ard the
l{cbidefs, urder the name of rThe Pine Tree CsaJ- Co.
Itre eoal ras shipped[r train bb Lewistown for delivery[...]sther surrounding touns by teanster
uincrs. I?tc l{chide mine enployed 18 to 22 men from
Lts pcak season in the faII unlil latc sprLng. Whilt
$ome of the non stayd at a hot'el, - others u?re fed at
the eookhsuse. Another anployec of thc nine was the
utrite mlle nanedrnRabbitf She uas a sly old gal; not
vsrJr big, but she handled the Job of prJ-ling the coal
ears fron the insidc of the nine verT woll. the coal
dust from the nine w[...]ines she rould. run s,rtaJr fron the niner &
uhen that happened everything stoppedr so the men could
get[...]n
went back t o ttre coal nine after a trard, day of rench
uork in the hot sun. Ever5day a hen would J[...]st. Xtrc l{ehide nine was operated until
Lgt+z sr I9l+3. Coal ard, wood urere the only sourccs sf
heat for cooking ard hGating until electricity, alo[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (116)[...]Alice }lolland Boclc
The year of 191, I lived on the cld Westuelt
plaee not far from l'or[...]s
a frequent visitor. One morning uhen he stopped i-n
for a chat he was all excited. He +rold me there
was an epidemic of German MeasLes in Forest Grove.
He said, ttltd be[...]Norwegian get the German Measl&s.ft He was
right. I went all around the people with the measle
and ne'uer got them. Maybe the real reason was I
hdd the naeasles when I was four years old.

Mtffi{&}@//-L[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (117)[...]s with Gibson, an early day settler and a
founder of that city. He subsequeratly took Jobs
freighting and w[...]hes.
In 1 911, he took up a homestead ryest of Secket
and south of and ad.joining the Nate Mc0auley ranch,
where he[...]provlng
his land, buildin€; and starting a herd of l{erefords.
In the twenties he leased the Jackman place
*est of Forest Gro'ye, which was a good hay ranch
*ith more pash.rre, building up his herd and a
lrea^n of acquiring more land.
In 1911 , he was unite[...]bhat had been abandonedl building up a nice herd of
:attle and three bands of sheep.
John vas always ci'vic and community[...]them
ln their wo/c
John was the organizer of the Forest Gro've
leeders 4-H Club and leader for narry yea,rs. Clara1
loon after, becarne-leader of the girls I sewing
rnd cooking projeets, whloh she contirmed for 20
rears. She also nade arrangernents w.i th Marion Moline,
iou-nty Extension Agent at that tine, to aeet with
r group of ladies at the scnool house where an
htensl[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (118)[...]John & C1ara StanleY

Descendants of John StanleY-Lg?g
Left to right- JimrMaril[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (119)[...]ame to Qentral Montana in
1891 and worked 2 years for Mons Teigen, before he
took up a hsmestead in a beautiful valley on the No-
rth fork of McDonald creek, eight miles frsm Forest
Grove. He namied Olga Jacobson in 1903. Five child-
ren were born to that union;- Jennie(Jane) Ingvaldson
of Omaha, Nebraska., Jacob, who passed away ab 2! yts
of age, Selnra (Sa1ly)Momison of RounduprMontanarswend
Hollarxtr.flr (Sonny) now living on the ranch, &rd rqy-
self- A1ice Bock of Visalia, California. When I was 5
years old I was given rqy own horse and a new saddle.
The horse was a black mare calledrftBeautytt. I rode i-t
to school for several years. I remember Mary Shea &
I ridj-ng to Foreet Grove after the mail when I was
qrite young. Irm not sure how nrany years we got our
nail at Forest Grove. I do know we got it there from
about 1921 to L935 and off and on before that ti-me.
Sometimes it was 2 or 3 r*eeks before we w[...]ring the wj-nter.Hans
0n Hansen is the posrnaster I remember the most. We
attended school at Cheadle and Lewistown. One day in
July of 1915 as the teacher let us out to go homershe
not[...]cloud rising in the
west and north. She urged all of us to hur:y on home.
Jane, l,{ary Shea, & I were going to school at the tine
and we certain\y didnlt tarry on the way home that
day. We had just prt the horses in the barnr& rea[...]burst stmck in aIL itts
fury.It hailed and rained for a long time. If ve never
seen anything like it since. there were some calves
in a pasture not far from the house that had sense to
run for higher grourd wtren the water started flooding
th[...]f nudged the snaller.ones
across the creek on top of a d,an before going acrosg
himself. When the r*at[...]o
see what would happen to those calves. Everyone of us
was very happy to see then run to sefety. the water
came u,p to the corner of the houge. Orr nen Studebak-
er car, parked Ln the garage, stood tn 2 feet of the
t09
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (120)[...]vari-ous objects and chickens, perched
on pieces of lunber go froating down the creek. when
it was arJ over there wasnrt a bridge reft on that No
rth Fsrk of McDonald creek for j0 nires or more. Our
Dad & the hired men were on one side of the creek, &
Mother, the hired glrl, & we childr[...]as safe at our pJace. We could t
nt go to school for a fdw days, untir the creek went
down. A rnonth later we made i.ce cream and used. ttre
hail that had lodged up against the icehouse to freezq
it.In L928 & L929 SalI and I both worked in the hay
fierd. One day we were p[...]s on the stack and r was driving a stacker team.
I put a load of hay on the stack and to everyones
horror a rattl[...]it. Odjx let out a yetl &
went off the other end of the stack on the double. In
a little while Odin[...]ack. We never
did know where the snake went, but I'II bet that
snake was as scared as we were. sheep ehearing w[...]the shearers would
be at our pLace on the Fourth of JuJ;g. A Ist of the
neighbors and sometirnes friends from town wourd ome
out at that tirne, to spend the day, to watch the sheep
shearers & visit. Many Limes my Mother cooked for 30
or more people for meals at that time. Sacking wool
is no doubt the hottest and dirtiest job connec ed I!
with shearing. I know, Ifve tried it. SaIIy, Sonrqr &
I used to sit on the pole fence and watch the calve[...]Dad always
llked having us around & nade good use of usrkeeping
us busy.When we were teen agers we used to go to the
Forest Grove dances held i-n the baeement of the schsol
and had nany good times there. One birthday party Itll
never forget, wae gi.ven for Mattie Apple. Ivlother eaid
we couldntt go unless I made a cake to take along.
Then she & Dad went off to town that day. I rnade a
Iady Baltimsre cake. In those days[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (121)[...]total flop. WeII, if
we were goi-ng to the party I had to bake a cake, one
we could eat, so f baked another on€r AII three of
the layers. I ground the raisens and nuts and n:ixed
them with the powered sugar fnosting. Ihen I frosted
the whole cake. It was a beauty. Mother was so proud
of me even if I did use 16 eggs aII total. Bert Gra-
ntier ook a v*hole car load of us to the pary. We
danced. until the wee hours of the morning. There was
a young nan around the country at that tirne who kept
calling more & more after every dance. Bert cane up
to me and said he was going to call for ladies choice
& he wanted rne to ask thj-s young rnan aa a partner &
to ask for a square dance. I think Bert caIled every
square dance he knew and.[...]r Just up and walked off the floor in the
middl-e of a getn Bert took his place and we finished
t,he dance. I donrt evetr remember seeing that young
man after that,. I ofLen wonder how rnany more of the
young people Bert had in on the Joke we pla.yed on the
young $&rle I never did know his name. Ihat was one
good tirne I 6ure worked for. I wonder how rnany people
living now remember that party? It r+as sure a big
success. The wint,er of L93l+ & L935 was a eold one
with a lot of sDowr I was living on the old Wesbvelt
place at the time.[...]ay to school at
Forest Grove. We hadnrt seen then for 3 weeks or so
because of the cold weathen. One of the warrner days
tr walked up the hill to see how[...]r they had seen in a
month.rt We had a nice visit for an hour or sorbefore
I started back home. Ihat Forest Grove hill wasnlt[...]wn was some r+hat easier. One day
in the stunmetr of Lg35 I think j.t was, John Stanley
rode into the yarrC. What he came for I dontt remember
but during our conversatj-on he told me about Forest
Grove having several cases of the German Measles. He
saj-d, Itd better not go up there, then in the noct
breath he said, I didn?t have to worry, because how
could a Norwegian get the Gerrnan Measles? I never did
stay homerwent all around them,[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (122) owe a rot to those stout hearted pioneers of a century
&gor I have lived in California now for 45 yars, I0
of them in Fresno, the rest of the time in Visalia.
Iv[y husbard tiarley Bock and I have 4 lots here, about
Zll rds of an &creo I love it here, but I stiil have
fond memories of ry childhood on our nanch, & the
surr[...]and also the people there.

I

i
t
I
:

i
t
t

Mr HolLa[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (123)[...]n
1866. rn the uj.d seventie. the fanrily aaired for the
uni-tes states of America. Ttre voage took 6 reeks.
They settred[...]eter in rdaho. John worked as an operator fsr the
I{ilwaukee Railredr hrt in LggZ deeided to go to Mo[...]is brother Jean took up a ninine cGim at the
town of Enory. A nining canp near Deer Lodge.
Ragn[...]chooli-ng. rn lggg she
cane to Ameriea and rorked for a few years for a Law-
yers faei\y in Chlcago before couring to E[...]en
namled in Brtte and contlnued to live at Emory for
severral yeers unti-l they sold the uinirg proper[...]ounty arn-bok up
a homestead 14 niles eouth-ryest of Leristown. Jean &
Raghnild hed 5 ehildren. Astrid[...]Astrid dted 1916 at Foiesl 6ro"", ,f,itu
working for the san Teagardeh faeily, she contacted
pnemonia.[...]e Great Diutde cemetery.
9rr Mother Raghnild died i. Igrc. Grr Father Joan died
jn Lg27 and both are buried in the Greet Divide ceme-
tery, along slde of our sister Astrid. CarI ran the
Heath- Forest Grove nair route for erqr yearsr. He
paesed auay in 19?o. He is hui€[...],na. ldy rife, Hary took
over ard drove the route for about 12 years. Ray is
riyi.ng Ln south Iewistoun and has been retired f"ot
the lfilwaukee nairroad for sevsral ycars. Arbert and
rlfe Harltr, are livLng[...]d.
a'way at 5 weeks old in 1951 arrl is buried in I;itt1e
4ttg"r. section of the r,eriEtorn city eeneterlr. ltrrfort
(n[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (124)[...]rene }4ae Colenan

I writing this in mem-
an
ory of rry Mother & Father,[...]ndpa had a long beard that
waa to his r*aist[...]osephi-ne was
cared for by our parents,
as[...]t-
/ ?/o - itutions to eare for the
nentally retarded.[...]Josephine never namied, and died around, the age of 50
years old. Grandmother, Racher Ellzabeth woods, at the
age of 14 married John Poursen who was 16 years ord.[...]r was
narried 3 tinaes, the last time at the age of T3 ye€,rc
lld.- Grardmother kept MaryrwilliamrGeorgerand, charres
i{ith her. Marr E. narri-ed and had a son naned Fred
Dlxon" Mary died at the age of 28, when Fred was about
5 years old. MotherrMinn[...]prt out to nake their own way in liFe.
Mother was I and uncre Ed r*as 4. uncre Ed had an Asth-
nat[...]ther worked on farrns ard had fuII
reeponsibility for the care of her brother Ed. she did
chores around the houee, and farm. Mother said she
carried 30 gallons of trslopfr for the hogs tr*i.ce a day,
l"Iother got to the second grade[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (125)[...]arguerita. In Gerrsn
society there were 3 classes of people" The I st
clase were the richegt, The 2nd class was the[...]ay in their own \
cLass or categorlfr the father of any fanl\y was the
head of boss. He would arrs,r€e the mamaige of his
daughters. Nothing was ever wasted in Gernarry. Ttre
forestg were cleaned of dead branches and everything
useflrl was saved, l[...]th & the feathers
and nake feather beds from then for her faniJy to
sleep on ard, to use as covera, Fat[...]ster Marguerj,ta also came to America
ard neither of them ever returned, l{y Grardprenbs
had 2 other c[...]yd Oct. 1895; Viole Pearl 0ct"1898- d,ied
in 1902 of spina]. nenlngitlsl Lloyd Leonard May I9O2
George Wesley Docenber I9O5; anl John Jr Octt 1907, I
In the serly winter of I!IO, Fathor decided to Home '
stead. He traveled to Montana, to a place 18 uilee
south of Forest Grove, cal.ledrttltre Snorvy Mountainstr
ancl Haomesteaded a piece of lanl. Ttre honestead had
a J.og cabin on it, Fath[...]honestead rhich saa a 25 to 35 nile
trip. She prt i-n a garden ard atarted the farn. lry
oldest brother ms about 15 yoars of ege.After the
work was done on ttre farn in lowa Father Gtut€o In
June of I91l hother- Arnold Frederick ras born, arrl
I (Irene Mae was born JuIy of 1913 in the log cabln.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (126)[...]tabl-es,-Mothen al-so nnade cakesopies, &
bread for us, We al-oo raj-sed, tul,rkeys chj.ckens and
geesen In April 1915, Mother had a baby girlo that,
was sbi-Ilborn" Uncle Ed came to be urith l,[...]g-hoLrss ovetr a natural
running prirlg" He dug i-rt, outrF[rt a concrete tube ar.
ound it and a[...]on arul. a J.arge basj_n ttxat iaad
dividers in i-t,., The waten ran ilrnough this and we set
our mj.llc, cre&mrand butter on thj-s, The water was I0"
at al-I times, We had e 3O ealtron sbone jar th,ere ard,[...]t, He worald get thre
vrild d,eer meat ard prt, i.t into the Jan" Af,ter the
naten ran thnough thio basin i_t wao run out to water
the horses and. cattre.[...]3-es Garlp,nd was born, q1n old,er
brother wirl-i"an took uncle Ed back to rowa, uncl-e Ed
i died there in Lg4. I'{y FaLhen and bnothens moved the
house of uncle Ed rs u,p and Joi-ned it to ours wi-tLa a[...]er patched
our clothes, Mot,her nade Lhe covers that went on olrr
beds. She made tho shirts and pants for my brothers
and she elso lnade d,resEeE fon herseLf and I. l'toLher
would nake 15 to 2O'loarres of breed e\rery reeek aLong
with pies and c[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (127)[...].
pour hot grease over it. It would keep for a long {

time. They nade their o[...]n ard bury it in the sawdusL in Lhe ice house. It
i+ou1d laet about a year that w&fo Mother nade home
made ice cnearn and lenonade with the j-ce" My parents
would take a load of grain, ueually wheab, and go to
townnla.J niles awaJr Lo get our yearly suppl-y of flour,
sugar, salb, and dried fnuit such ao apric[...]ensrpeachesrand pnrnes. They bought 25 pound box,
of, carmed coffee beansn ueually 3 gallon cans of tea
aruL epicee, salt ard pepp€r. If they coul-[...]weJ.l as eggsr
arid Mother would make up a brick of cheese to selL to.
?hey uade bhein own saurkraut and sdnee meat for pies,
Mot,hen rrould take trs chiLdren ard pick n[...]p and nake cooked
cereal and butterrdlk pancakes. I used to love lying
in bed ).lstening to hj-n si-n[...]e. The Roundup
newsp&pen had a nrIl page ant'icle of the funeral with
a poem. We n:iEsed our Father for nany years. l"loLher
Lived to be 87 years o1d.. She lived the last 13 years
t{tth rry huebard and I. She was a wonderftrl wouran and
spent many hours doing things for her children. She
made each of us a qrilt, ali.ke" There are 9 living
children" Mother was such a lovely peroono I admj.re
hen for the way she looked at life and liked i[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (128)LefL us on "A.uguot, ?th, Lg6/+, In thein memory I write
this,

)

Raynond and Jane E, Schruab
I985

l19

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (129)[...]e l920rs
and to the ranch in ]ti:,z-. rt was one of the trappiest,?
daye of my life. Dad said we have all the pets we
wanted[...]ercatsrdogsrchickens,
geeserturkeysrducksra team of mulesr'lambsrpigeons,
guineasr ponXs rhorses, cc[...]ranch, we didntt
need oecurity. The combinaLion of arr those voices
hit your ears, and ne aII hit the yard. We loved to
he,ve company. When I neturned to ihe ranch Ln L95?,
for the fint tirne, eince before the sale in Lgl.g,
(whlch tr didn tt go to)I Just couldnrt faee that d"y.
I knew as a teenager part, of, my life was ovetr, things
r*ouLd never be the E[...]theNatLoral cruard ard was in the south Facific
for 5 years, tr norred to Porttrand, 0regon, Margaret[...]Lh me" Howard Joined the Navy, and wae at sea
fon I years. Dad carne out and wonked in the shipyande[...]gn Montana. trn Lgt+g he rnarried GLaeia Mama j_n I
Swcetgrassr!1t,", and, had a seaond batch of kids. He
caLLed us, rrBatchestt" Leo, JohnrDanqyr[...]ssed away with Parkinsonts
Disea,se. Frankie died of Cancer, and rry husband, CarI
01son, vrhom[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (130)[...]dian 4 timesrin Saddle bronc and
Steer wrestling, I have a J year old grandson who
wants to be a cowboy like Grandpa Carl and Teaur roper
Iike his Dad. My gra[...]s Father
ind l'tother have a store in Sweetgrass. I }ive in l,Ihit-
efish, have had a home here nany years. I arn working
in our Mountian MaII in the rrCosme[...]ns Department Store. Itm their Cosmetician"
P.S.- I enjoyed the reunion this eumner(1985). Hor*ard
and I came for 2 daysr w€ stayed 2 weeks and still we
wernlt ready t,o go home" WiLI never forget all of you
r+onderful P€,opler who *rorked so hard to put on a good
party like that and stayed home, so we sould aIL get
together and remember. It even rai-ned for usrto beauty
up the place" That 9O degree weather was hard on it.
I hope we aII get, together again" My Love a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (131) Ler' and Veda Ce;mpan.i^on
by[...]iper ar(:;unci
1')25 - 26. He was section foreman for the Miiwauiceie
Railroad at 'bhat time. We spent[...]m Forest Grove. We lived there un't::Li 19)g-
39. I have alut of nice memories of both piaces.
During Wcrld War lI, w€ ali liveo[...]husbancl Mike, were all rn the
seruice. The rest of us warked in the shipyards
around there. After Wo[...]cis, and Sandy live in Sweetg.,:ass, Howard lives i
in Portland, Oregon. Bob ii'ves in Vallejo, Californie
f ha've li'rred in California for 40 years, I still
Jove Montana, but we always l-iqed vrhere o[...]the Arrny and vre mo'iec
al-ot. After he got out of the serr,rice we settled in
Napa, California, and[...]or. Mike passed away Ln 1977 fram a heart attack.
I am really thankful for r',ry good country backgnound
j.n Montana. It really helped me. When my husband
passed away I nerer e'ven knew how to nrn a lawnmowert
but I mader up ny mi-nd to get on the ball and learn.
My grandson Robb taught me. I ha're almost an acret
with quite a few frrrit treesr grapes, and a big gardel
every year. I love to work in the yard. I l:trn the
122
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (132)[...]Napa Va11ey is a beautiful area. We grow lots
of wine grapes. rrFalcon Crestfr isnlt far fron he[...]st as bear.ltiful as it shows
on television.
I ha'ye many beautiful of piper and
merao[...]Gro've. Mr. and Mrs.
Knuth used to gi've us a ba6 of candy with our grocery
order, They were real nice people. I renember the
eommunity danees and picnics we used to go to. I
loved to :rrn, and would enter my age group. I ne.ver
won a lraee. Jean Nelson would always beat me. f
ne'ver ga've up. I still like to rln. I jog e"very
day, I donrt play golf. T remennber the bealrtiful
Ho1id[...]we made. Cranberry and popcorn strings, and
lots of real eandles. It would be just beautiful.
It was[...]e'ven go to ileath in our sleigh. The only
thing I dontt nisgl is the 20 below zer:o, when us
kids u[...].vl.yed and were
rea1ly healthy, r

I renember how hard my father and ulother worked
to[...]e
Depression, thatrs why they gave up the ranrch, I
still wish they had it. We always had lots of good
food and lo'ye, even though tirnes were tough.
I renenber all you folks very well from piper,
Fore[...]ne fron Grass Rangen
Winnett, and Lewistown.
I donrt e'ver remember hearlng about Grandma
Lyonrs[...]i.ve
Just a few bloeks flom me. He is part owner of a
sheet metal conpany. W grandson, Robbie[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (133)[...]by May Charbonneau
I was born in LgL5, in Lervistown, Monta"na at the[...]hs Hospita}. L sprent ny }ife on the ranch
south of Beaket, until. f, was 22 years ord. r attended[...]stnict No lt7r and due to the
inelement weather for me and rqr eister, riding the
honse dou.ble to s[...]he next terq to serrd ue to the l4inn:ich sehoole that
was }ocated in Atherton ftrlch, south of Becket, We
rsde horseback there too. I attended Fergus Hj.gh in
Lewistown fon l* years, Missoula Co1trege for 4 years,
1nd was employed on various nanches until l9AI, fihen
f enlist,ed in the Navy" I had combat duty in the [fs-
nth and South Atlant[...]ot-
land after senving on the LI.S.S.Swanson bU3.I was up
for F.RrTo- which meant to Join Adrniral Halseyts
fl[...]tations
and as a combat veteran had on\y 5 months of state
side duty. I was dlsabled in L97L and an now retired.
tr was Security guard No.LC+28 for the Federal Qsysjn-
ment, making calls to the police eveqf hour on the
houn. I retired temporarily in I971r neeieved total
(fuff) disability retirement tn L972. I now live in
He lena, l,lontana. On July 1fth r Lg6O , I was married ts
Elizabeth Lechner, of Petersburg, pennslyvania. WhEt
I enJoy the most about retj.rement is the Duty station
at Fort Harison, Monta,na. On\r 7 miles west of Helena
I volunteer for work. tr run movie and training filmsr
for the Doctors and also Diabetic and Alcoholi[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (134)[...]r0r0oo hour award, presented.
frorn the Direetor of the Medieat Regional ofiice cen-
tetr- rt is a silver Bow, and you d,ontt get tha'b for
just being there and drinking coffee. rt is .for vorun-
teer wsrk above and beyond the call of duty" I enJoy
doing this kird of wonk. The patients come fron ait {

ov[...], world r+ar rr, Korea, and.
vietnam. f d,o a lot of, travering to pJaces r have not
s€eno Ttre most importanb part of rry visitations is in
nenewing old aqraintances a[...].Amos
since r*e prt on a play at the ripe old age of 16, at
bhe Minnich school. .A,mos waa bher[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (135)[...]rl was narried at
that, time" He was a Union[...]prisoner at the Batble of
erII Run, and imp[...]on.
In the course of their
narraige they had 9 child
i,Iedding Pictune Oct. 1906 F€nr John, Lewis[...]Mary and Ju}le. AI1 are
deceased. John died in I9I3" Julie wae lris Abbotts
Mother" Since my Mother was a St Jeruain by nainaige
I think sonething should be included of her roots.
She was the daughter of Wa1ter Watson l{iruulch and
Louiea Dickson Minnic[...]ana
from Colorado, to where they y{ere bornn From that
bi:ne on aII trace seems to be gone of Grardfather Wal-
t,er Watson Minnich. Mother was raised on the Dickson
ranch south of Becket. The Dickson brothers were half
brothers of Gnandmother l'[innich. Father and Mother
were ma[...]st Groverl'lontana. He
homesteaded about the turn of the century at Pine
]rove. They had I children. Victor- stillborn, C\rde,
BrylrJ[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (136)[...]nd Bock
Shortly after Chuck(Charles)ltitter & I wer€ il&rr-
ied in 1934, Mother decided that I should have a din- (
ner for Mrs Gregory, !$ron Gregory, l{artha HiIl, and
Mother and Dad. With Lester Miller, Chuck & I, that
n'ade B people, in all. Not a hard number to cook for,
so I thought. So- one Sunday I went about, to have
this dinner for eight. I fixed piesr &tr angel food
cake, had a big green sa1ad, baked a good sized tur-
key and Lesber insisted I bake a ehicken also.At the
appoinfed hour Mother[...], Odin ii{a[land, their }ong tj-me hired rnan,
So I nade room fcr him at the table. Next came {yron,
I4rs Gregorlr & l4artha, and they had a guest with them
so nor'*r the party was 10 i-n aII. Afterdinner we were
all playing cards r+hen in drove a whole car load fuII
of peop)-e lcoking for the Gregorys. We ask them inr&
the whole bunch playeC cards until around 6 prrno when
I fixed supper of leftovers f'rom the dinrlopr Then ule
all played cards unfil about nidnight. It was tirae
for cof,fee, So Martha and I got together and lucky
for ne I had the Angel food cake left, and a large
can of pineapple. So we rnade coffee, put a slice of
pineapple on the cake with a dab of whipped cream on
it. That?s what they got for the midnight snack. As
the guests were leaving, b[...]nice dinner and evening. Someone ask l{other hoi* I had
managed it. She said she didn?t know I could do so
well Dad stuck out his chesf and said[...]ng we rnade
our rninds up to do.
I(arI Johann Sikveland[...]Sikveland , cane to thi-s
country from Nonray, in I9O5, coming fron an area near
ByrnerNoFwsyr whi'eh is south of eentral Nonyay. He we-
nt to Swend Hollands, wher[...]brother, Kefas was born in Nomay in 1910. He and
I'tother came to this countqr in 1915 & he started hig
first year of school at Forest Grove. Father had a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (137)lomestead Just eaet of the 01e Eike place. 0f course
llother could not speak eng]ish. I think she spenL a
t,ime with the Hollands and Eikesr as weII as at the
degtvelts. In the fall" of 1919 they moved to Doveteil
*here Father prrchased the Ton lverson homestead. I
'{aa born Septenber 22nd L9L9 t and we
moved shortly
rfter that" Father passed away December l7thr1960 at
lge 60.[...]ahor
iister C'unda, born at Dovetail, lives north of Grass
lange, M.ontana.

Esther Donovan HiIdahI
I st€.rted echsol in Teigen, ]'lontana in 1919" T[...]Mrs Bouls. There was a large stove in the
:enter of the room and in the vrinten a large kettle
{as kept on the stove to rnelt snow for drinking water
Ln. Other times it was brought from the Teigen ranch
Ln large containers. Most of the kid.s that lived at
r distance, rode horeeback to school.In the winter
uhen the snow was deep, one of the neighbors would
pick us upin thelr bobsled an[...]. There
{ae a 2 burner kerosene stove in the back of the roolR
and durlng the cold weather the older girls would aII
bake turng making soup for lunch. Each child would
rrj.ng something each day for the soup. At that ti-me
leigen csnsisted of a - HotelrGeneral Store, IumberT-
lrd, Teacherage and school, a few houses and the Post
)ffice that was housed in the Hotell until a building
{as built for it. Mr and Mrs Boyd ran the Post Office
lor rnany[...]the section on the
:ailroad at Teigen- The thing I renember most of tho
te years, is the work never ended. Water was[...]wasted it.'The bath water was
tsed and used again for mopping and cleaning as uras
;he wash water. The[...]Wator was brought, back from Lewistown, but sone
;i.mes i-t vlas days before it got back. If we ran[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (138)[...]o Winnett or Grass Range on the
raj-Lroad handcar for our drinking wat€t. Nothing was
wasted in those days, The hourly wage was I8 cents,
About twice duri-ng the sunmer I would geb a peruay to
buy a sueker wibh" We had a[...]d to raise grain on, and cuL hay along the right-
of-'way, The geese were picked every year fon feathers
for pillor*s, 3d feather-bed ticks" All bhe feathers
were saved, &if I had nothJ-ng betLer to dor I got a
job of stripping the large feathers that were of cou-
rse used in pillows, My Uncler by n1y Grandn[...]sewings quilts etc" Everything
was bought by the I00 pounds in bulk' Flour, Sugarr&
oa*meal . That nade it nice, because you got your
meat with it.T[...]e cooked the r*eevitrs were weII donee &
the rest that wasntt eaten was good .for chinking the
cracks in the walls. It was borture to tly and get it
down. There were na trees for shader so the heat was
unbearable in the summer.[...]d washing clothesr eo rse would
gather a big pile of sagebmsh for a smudge so we
couLd get outside without the mosquitoes eating us up
alive. Something else- we had plenty of rattlesnakes" (
I was not uncommon to find one relaxing on the fron[...]e luckyr Lhe dog no doubt did
save us nany times. I forgot to mention how handy the
flour sacks were bo help out with the clothing, They
were used for underpantsrslipsrblouses, dresses, dish
towels, e[...]Deprty Sheriff in Winnett"
He was with the posse that wenb after the men that
robbed the bank at Roy. The robbery Tex Jackson serv-
rd, ti-ne for. One of the nen shot a hole through ry
Dad,te hat. My Dad[...]knew him as Red Dono\r&rlr Dad also drove a stage for a
r30
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (139),ime betr*een Ler*i,:town amd Winnett, It was a Packard
or Hudson, and some better than going by wagon. There
rere a lot of Gypsies roarnlrg the country i-n those
ryer and when they cane around everyone n[...]as locked up or nailed dottn, It was a big thrill for
.s each year to see the wild horse herds driven thro-
.gh. AIso Mr Teigenrs sheep, I donrt know hor* narqr he
Edr but there were sheep for as far as you could s€€r
. was abouL 9 or IO[...]evening. Men set up saw
horses to put boards on for tables, and everyone
rrought foode and freezers full of homernade icecreamo
lhere were garnes for children and grow,r,uFs " Everyone
rnjoyed the dances held i-n the barn at lleath. The old
as weII as the you[...].:: ,' ,,.:,.,li ,.. - i

01d log Schoolhouse at Teigen where I went
to school for s short time, before the new
School[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (140)[...],iled on
a homestead in the old Holmes coulee' At that' time, (
L9W- 1916r we calted it the $heepshed'[...]asin country' He filed on
the homestead and sent for MoLhen and us children'
!{other took us 4 boys, M[...]ed also' ?hey
had a homestead over the other side of Bear Gulch"
Lucy Boughton used to come by and take me to school
at Forest Grove. I rode behird the sadd.le" The next
year I walked 3* dleg to school with all the other
child[...]alFaLfa field along the creek" Had a
LuIu SeIIers for teacher. The ne:rL year the men fol}
built, a new[...]t had to walk over the hill
to go to school then. I remember some I vrent to school
withi- The Daniels glrls, Johnson[...]herrGene & Jane {
Corni-ng took up a homeetead in that area about bhis
bine, His fuII nane was Orin Euge[...]le
Mat Corning used to eome visit us someti-mes n I can
remember snarirg gophers with binder twi.ne loops for
excitement. We had to make our onn entertainmertn[...]creek . 4y Father had a hearL attack at 3O years of
&ger so we had an Auction sale in I9I5 and sold moet
everything. I r,ras 5 years old at the tine of the sale,
I remember aLnost like it was yesterday. SaIe day
it
the Auctioneer drove out in an automobile, I bhink it
waa & Znd hand one that I had never s€€rlr Some of the
tricksters in the crowd fut a log chai[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (141)front and back wheel-s for a joke, We Lef,t the aue-
tj-on and book the t,ra[...]o B]-oomingdale, Id.J-chigan" tr am t,he oldest of, g chj-}d
tr€rrr There are 6 of us left t?owr Dad died at 6O years
ol-d and Mother ab 7l+ years " Grandgn Conning Lived to
be B& years old., I will be 79 when we see you alt in
August 1985. I now Live at Hu son, FLorida r &s do.eo
n1y' sister, HeJ-en, the on\y one of urs bonre in l,lontana.

Reeo].1-eeti[...]we ea}}ed Spr-
Lng Creek, Jusb a few miles fronn I"ewi-stoimi" tewistown[...]st stroppj-rlg center '
ry the name of- Sei-Ier'$ stanted the first store in
iorest Gnovo, and a manYlannd ,Frost, had a i'rotel' This
{as the start of Forest Grove ' I starbed ny school
Lif,e in a Isg cabin PooIItrr A[...]now' 4y fannily was Episeopalianr &
*ith the help of Bishop Rev' Brewer, the eomnuniby[...]opal
rsed t,o cone from Lewistown, and the Bishop for the
Itate abou.t once a year. There was Sunday sctrsol dur-
i"ng the sunmetr, and l'lsther taught the adult cla[...]ove\y to be sili-y at the night moment,
ftHow did I get here?tr the baby ear of eorn ask itfs
Itlother. rrThe stalk[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (142)[...]e hotel in Forest
Grove. He waa ruuned Postnaater of F''orest Grove in l-908
and served until, I9tr4. 0ther children born in Forest
Grove or on Lh[...]Elbert,r1908; Anna
MunleJ-rI9IO; Claudina Louise, I91I; ard Robert Wi]*liarl
(i,ittte Birl) 1913" Bj-tly died of' Diptheria in r9r9
j.n Lewist,own, at age 5* years oLd" The creek rtrruring
behind bhe hoLel was a source of enjoynent for the
Foreot Gnove ehj.l-dren, btrt, i.t atrmost, was t"he end fon
Roy. Ralph and SyJ-via wene skat,i.ng on the frozen
creek wj.Lh Roy taggi-ng aJ-ong one day, when he felL i-n
to one o.f the hoLea chopped in the ice for animals to
dnj.nk water .fromn Luckj-}y it vmE the upper of the 2
hoLee. SyIvS.a ran for hblp, Ratph gnabbed a hoe on the
h*, ekated to tl[...]e he trfished
Re;r orattr. Everyone pnaised Ralph for his qricL think-
i.ng. In Laten years Roy was heard saying, that no one
ga\rs hl"ru any cnedit fon being emant eno[...]ee. He died
in l-9tr8 a year before the discovery of, Insulin. trn
1915 bhey had a eale at the raneh a[...]rI Svlartz, the hired rnan, took
over bhe rinning of, the ranch at, that, time" In 1920
the fanily moved Lo Levristown. Four of the faudly then
graduated frorn Fergus Hig[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (143)er death in X951. Ralptr w&s a pai-nt,er for t,he Grahari
ainL Shop in Lewist,ovm, unt,il- he d.j"ed of $,pJa,st,ie an-
mia in 1937. Syl.via taugirt in n[...]n unt,il moving t,o L.os AngeJ-es iJr lg6L She
ad I son, Ral"ph Lyons Kenraey, Arule d.ie.d in 1984,,[...]na to live. She rnoved
o Holena in 1978, She ha,e I son, Jarme,s Wi-1lay6 Nance.
Wi[...]nkard
was bonn August 3Othrl-9tg j-n Lewi-stown, I4.ontana' I
ived on the ranch until t,he farnily moved to Lewist ounr
n 1936, and ny bnotLrer Ge'orge and I both attended
he trittle L room school which is st,ill standirgo but
ob in us€r IL is about L rnil"e east of where Piper
sed Lo be. We both laber atLended f{i[...]here' After
oving to town & going to High school, I wonked at
lrj-ous jobs, rnost\r on ranches" I married Sigrid Ro-
tad in 1940" We Lived fon a sh[...]n morred, back to Lewistownn whrere
e Llved while I wonked for the U"S.Gypsum plant at
eath"When World War II ca[...]ty at Helena, We then move.d to kemertonrWash',
I worked in the Navy yar'ds, I have fotlowed tlrat
work alt my life, l1y[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (144) John E I.yons
aro[...]-
Roy, Sylvia, Ralph, Granny Flowardr and Isabel i.yon",
Bil-Ly, Louise & Anne[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (145)[...]David Bianchi

The Wilden Brothers homesteaded I nile north of
he old town of Tlrler,. There were 5 brothers, with
omesteads jo[...]; and Bertram Charles"
iley r*as the on\y brother that had a wife at this
jme, ard he Lived vrtith he:'[...]homestead. FIe Later rnoved to Roundup"
hi.s left I Wilden brotlrer.s on the land. The 5E brand
as acq;ired, which was interpreted to be I English-
r€oe €,s they had all- migrated from[...]George l{athaway Wildin
nC liarriet Kear WiLdin of pream, GloucesterrEngi^and.
here wetre 11 sons an[...]r which rnust have wrenched the
ery heart strings of their Mother" Jack maried
;dith James in BreamrEn[...]earn, EngJ,and with her infant still-
,orn child i-n her arms, .A,t the time of Edith ts death
ack was living in liavre and wor[...]lmost penniJ-ess vhen Edith died, His great love for
'€r & a aense of responsj-bility was the driven force
,hat persuaded hj.m to borrow $ 500,00 to take hrer and
ris son home for burial" This was no easy task in
,hose dayor &s h[...]in the St.James EpiscoSnl Church grave yard,
tust I nronLh after her death, This was bhe same church[...]on and family, he returned to Havre" The history of
,he Wildents began when 4 brothersrJackrRalphrEdg[...]Upon Jackre return to Engla,nd , with
,he bodies of his wife and son, he was accornlnnied on[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (146)[...]ws Nest Pass, or"r
fsot as Lhere were no roads in that area in the early
days. Crows Nest Pass dirrid.es[...]ibish Columbia and AlberL&. After a
short periocl of wo.rklng i.n the nri.nes at Var:covern the;
aga.in crossed t,he Crows ltiest Pass to i,ethbrifge and
Lhen e&me to Flavre, IvionLana and[...]hey worked in No 3 &. l+ raines located
just wesL of the town, This was. homesLe€,d d,ays, ancl
they heard of a l=a,nd simila"r in nrany ways Lo the land
of their birth, LoeaLed. I day by horse and, wagon ar Z
days j-f they chose Lo walk. This was near Tller, Mont,
i.n Fergu.s County.Tller then haci a general sLorer[...]p. Today if you sLop bhere you
only s ee remnants of early foundations r f"fter ree iev
ind tit,le Lo[...]l./A VUgU
Log home locatecl eenLrally of all homesLeads and whick
si:ill sta[...]pre. Jack and
Ed,ga,rrHarry and Ralph spent most of their renraining
year$ of their lj-ves there, RiIeS' had moved to Round-
u[...]o never (

end, was the new home for Berb Wilden. IJe settLed a
piece of ground which the Crown }ater granted to hirn.
Ber[...]his United SLates Cj-tizenship and was a
VeLeran of World War LHe f,oughb in the trenehes in
France,[...]es were
bringing to,p prrces & they rode hundreds of rnlles i-n
the Durfee hills, across the Snowiesr &B far as the
Musselshell River breake in search ref honses that had
strayed frorn the ranch, Prices soon f[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (147)[...]r Fox business. These fox lived eating
the horses that were no Ionger of ary rralue. Endless
tine and money was spent bui-lding pens of chicken wire
with sandstone floors, making it inpossible for the
fox to dig out,They had hardly got into the f[...]fur hit an all time low, and
they had to get out of Fox and into what became a cow
ranch"Thj-s seemed[...]wheat and barley. The ranch had acquired
Lhe name of the, ftFox Ranchlf which reny people wj-Il re
cogni-ze even today, If you were to talk to some of
their neighbors, like the- AbbottsrBrooksr"A,hlgren,
Eickoff , F inkbei[...]s are low in the
Grass Range and. Snowy Mts, area i-t recalls to aremory
the stonj-es tol-d by the Wil-din brothers in the ev€I1-
ings when all huddled around the large coal & wood
burn5-ng stove in the ol-d ranch home. Storles of f,iret
settling the landrand. beirrg vi-sited with the last of
the wandering Indians, that stopped to rest and drink
ai the rnaqy spnings on the ranch"Of how the grest N-
Bar Ranch, began and pastured ca[...]shel-l to the lvhssouri- breaks, befone the land i'las all-
scarned wj-th banbed wj-re fences ard gates that read,
rNo Tresspassinglt The untimely death of neighborrDave
Paynewho shot hirnself, and saddend the whole comnulrity,
Storiee of Fedenal agent,s conai-ng to the ranch in
search of liqlror, that was illega1 to inake otr poeess.
and how one of then basted from a ga3-Ion jugr which
conLained the urine of the fox, kept to use as scent
on the trap lines.[...]use fhe agents hod not looked j-n a
proper pla.ce for the whi.te noonshine liquor Jug or
the ptrace fro[...]never to be recalled by this wri-ter again'
Jusb like the broken-spirited Indians that struck the
Iodges after eanping at the Big Spring[...]Isst and perish
in tirne with the rustling winds that blow. Slowlyr &
sure\r the stories told by these early p5-oneers of
Fergus County wiII be forgotten and replac[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (148)stories of new pioneens and ne',^r front"ieno j-n outer
s[...]can neea}}.
Yets, the naneh is stil} Lhere, Just I niile north of
Tyler, with Lhe same fence tl:at srrrounded it then as
rlow* Wlth many of the $ame fenoe pcnLs atiltr holding
it uFr that were laboroucly dug by hand by the pion-
eers, in[...]soilt bhat support,s very little
in many pl.aees except clumps of grass anet Pond.eroea
Pine trees, t,hat, exist,n[...]and wiII nourish
Iittle else. The )E ranch is stl]I in the fanrily and
i,n owned by the f'annily of Wllliam D. Bianehi, who l.s
m"a.rree.d to the for[...]uch to a"sslst nne in prepaning
the brief history of Lhe Wildin Brobhers, and for this
I t'hanlc her. Rosatie ,her hunband-Davici Heinrt,o[...]sr &Iso.

trlohrrrorrr I
L l[...]'

This brief history of events concerning the viildin brothers
has been vrritten by wiJ-lian David Bianchi of 145 Erickson court,
Billings, Llontana, vrho i[...]in the year
]9f8. fheir friendship was to grow i-nto a relationship that
can be superseded only by the Love end carinE of ones o*.n
fanily,
1 v,'il1 be forever grateful if I am granted the privelege of
alloviing a vivid part of their lives to remain etched. sorae-
where or with someone in perperuity.
I submj.t this brlef episode to those that rnay wish to read.
it this First day of February }iineteen tiundred an<i Eight Four.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (149)[...]Petrj-san Rapi"ds, I'linnesot,a"
He wae the sen of Fred &
Anna Me[...]hen and
eldest of nine children;*[...]eliffcrd,
Mar*i-n, Flerence, Eaymond,[...]nal d, tauren.
I{is farni}y liveC aL Pel"-[...]rnoved
t,o Montana, ta Lheftsune-l'iuf,fft area i.n the Snor*y Moun-
tains, near Forest Gl.ove. Thi[...]when so
many folks were moving wesL, to the land of oppontun-
ity and a new way of life, The meager possessions al-l
eame vre.gt by[...]Included with thein fl,rrniture ,
was & few heael of, stockr-horses & eows, & the bane
essentials of beginning a new life on a new trand, Mtr.
Fred Danschen had 320 acnes of, NriHsiderDarnn nough
grnoulnd which dictntt prov[...]y good farm 1and.
Fred had earne to Montana ahead of, his famLJ"y to file
his claimrbut Anna and the e[...]embers.-staying
rit,h a good neighbor by the name of,rrHornseth) until-
sueh a time as & hsuse r+as bu[...]eolder than the barn. In fact, he seems
bo think that the barn might have been better for all
bo live in than the house. Times wetre hard,[...]ace. trt was in Forest Grove
*here Floyd and mos! of the chil"dren grew up & went
;o school. During th[...]ce from
;he hsmestead. Floyds most vivid memoriee of the home
rtead was trying to keep enough wood chopped and to
(eep from freezing to death" A cord of wood. would last
t4l
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (150)only a day or twon Floyd killed the first deer that
the family hadrbut he had to send Margaret to get[...]get it home" It was a smal} deer, and he
says rrr I4y Dad just bhrew it sver his shoulder & away
he w[...]dmothers
appJ-e tree, and a big appl"e in the top of the tree.
He was tol-d te leave it alone until it[...]do me any good ei-ther, but she diCn?t
punish me. I have never forgotten about the apple ep-
isode. H[...]yd left school in the
8th grade, to go to work so that there would be 1 less
mouth to feed. at home. He started working for Albert
Bauer, but didntt stay there long. He didn[...]g enough money, and when he approached l{r"
Bauer for more money, he wae told that he was Just a
kid and not r+orth any moren He had[...]kutis had just lost his hired ran, & v*as looking
for help, so he qrit Bauer and ask Lankutis for a job'
He got lf,e $ 50.00 a month he wanted and a good p3ace {

to workn He also worked for a fellow rumed, Parks in
about 1900. That was the year of a hard winter. Parks
had. about 300 head of cattle that his 2 sonsrCuster &
Cecil were supposed to be taking care of' They were
young fellows and more interested j-n[...]an anything elserso Floyd helped with the
feeding of these cattle. He remembers one day when it
was te[...]several
miles from the stack to the feed grounds" That day a
number of eattle followed the sled to the hay slacke
follow[...]the cattle were left to follow the sled
and rack of hay back, but when the hay was unloaded[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (151) the catbl-e had not neturned, Floyd thought that they
shou}.d go bring t,he cattle back to the f[...]at Forest, Grove, cutting rip rap t
fron the e1i-ffs abo''re the tswn. Han,ry Spears was the
boss. On the l8th of tr{,ay of that y€r F}oyd went to
wonk with tha'L etr€wr FIe lj ed about his agen but that
was no problem, as he was a big strappi-ng kid[...]o as long
as you were able to hol.d uF your end of the job that
was all t,hat mattered. Soon after that, Spears was
promoted to road rnaster and Jim Barta became his boss.
ile workeei for Jirn Barta for about 10 years r or until
he got a wonk erew of his ownc Floydis first job was
huildi4g a stockya[...]ded them 'riith a box car home on wheele " later
that fal-i, Lhe erew was ]aid r:ff and he went to work
for Gordon Tibbetsrand. Erma did the cooking fon the
crewr Hoi+even it ',rnas about Lhat time that the rai-lroad
peopJ.e were beginning t,o geL qui[...]n 1937 and 38. Floyd went into
the water service for the nailroad in ]939 and had to
move his famiSy[...]J l-itt1e bedrooms,
no'omrand
big enough for a bed and dresser with no clothes clos
ets, It wa[...]ght his
own house in Deer Lodge, in the sane year that the
.47
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (152)Ja5:s bornbed Fearl lianbsu:r'. l{e had sol"d hls CIar for 7
rhuneired doLJers tc lrake a dawn payment on the heuse,
and 2 rnonths Leter, *u'i:en the i,vararae deelared, the
ear beeame r+orth .] 50* do[...]=iarisra 7 roorn hor:ee fai"ri,y reeent.Iy built" That I
Eame hrruse t"o.day is werth lr5 to 50 thoueand d[...]6 days a
week betiureen Harl.owioi+n and Arrery, i$.aho n i{is work
l'rad bs' dr> with plumbing, He worke'd on bathroom f,ix-
tures an1, argrthing that had ts do with the wat,er aL
aIlr i{e m rred his famiSy to LeurisLoi^m in August of
i,?LV, t"o take o"vex Otto Blo.fgettrs jsb, rarho lcas to
rebine" lte bu:]t a he;me i-n Lere,rietown lieigl"lts, and his
J sane gnaduat[...]es, sinee he r*as a month]-y rnan" ?he union said that,
he woulC get j"t baek , but it Look about, J-O y[...]re mol'e lbo make"
Thafl r.ras baek to Deer LoCge i.n June of 1958, where he
continued to live until he reLired[...]t"ake ptrace dtri-ng his t,irne sn the railroad."
i{e r:redj-eted foe" rnany Jrears that Ltre MiLwaukee wa.5 on
its way out. When he went[...]ivision waa Lewistown,
BuLte was the headquarters for the Rocky Mount'ain div
j-sion" Those offices wer[...]rRoy and Winifred, '
They are all gone now, as we]I as the tracks being all
torn up. With Reag[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (153)[...]ng At Forest Grove
Reminicences of C,T.Young

Chanles T"Youngrson of Chanles L, and Mrs Yourg was
rborn the sixth, of seven ctritrdren in the famJ-ly, My
parents home[...]willing t,o gam
ble 5 years of their l-j-fe and a l-ot cf hard work fcn a
piece of land. At t,odays econorny, a 320 acre hcr,'lestead
woulC be worth about $ I00r000"0C" Father" was a f,arm
bcy from southwest[...]ranch owneei by iiad?s Unele. fn 1905 at the
age of l year cIC, we moved te L,ogan County, in l{crth
Dakota where Father filed orr 160 acres, One of his
neighbors contested his right tc prove up on[...]he had to take his case to the Federal }epartment
of the fntericr, where his case i.ras decided by Fres"
Theodone Roosevelt, and he got a pe.tent in 1910" Fie
1'fas prouder of the patent, than he was of the homestead.
T\*o of my older sisters had aitended teachers college
in[...]ndham, and Mary took
a school about 5 ndles north of Benchland, I often
thixk, how daring for 2 girls to come to a strange &
unsettled co[...]s an acrel fish in
every stream, and an abundanee of wild game. Gold mine
ing was opening up in Gilt E[...]and l4other, so they decided if
there was a place like this they had to come see it.
In 1912 they[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (154)[...]nts were kept posted on what Lan,l
was open, e.nd for a fee woul-C take you. to see if , Irry
fol.ks di[...]si.rects arsund in ,
They showed the fol.ks a lct of pJaces arounct Gnass
RangerHeathrPiperrand Forest Grsve, One trip in'rolved,
a piece of Land on fr:p of fhe rocky btuff above Forest
Grove, That olet Fackard, wi"Lh l4r Hur"ley af the wheel.
cou[...]p:horre posl, FaLher &l,lother
purchased 80 acres of land. from a fellow who was posf-
naster in Lerlristown, by bhe name of Grant Robinson, &
filed on a 320 acre tract along side of it in n\y GranC
mother?s name" One cold winber he[...]d Nicholsretc, In fhe
night, one could get on top of whaL we calleC, ttloco
RiCgerf, and see lights on[...]ncher would use it when it
was necessary, to fill i:r rutte ard to make the trails
passable. It was hard for the counfy to keep track of
Lhese as they ','Jere moved over a 1ot of country, When t,

we got.here the rails wsre l[...]the Lyon$
placer(Stanley Ranch)" It was built by I9f3 from Grass
Bange bo Lewistown"trOld Pick Handle Bunkett was the con
tractor for ihis stretch of track. He is the sane rnan
t,hat ran the Erke Hotel in Lewistown, for many $€&rs.r
I remember going down to the McCauIIey place in the
evening and seeing over I50 horses all tied up to the
hitching rack,[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (155)of the fanily could. ride in the coaeh and the men in
*ith the livestock. I4y brother DeweyrFather and I all
rode in there, and by the ti-rne vre got to Montana we
smelled just l-ike afl the rest of the livestock" We
Fere probably the first emigran[...]the railroaC" It was llalloween day in
L9:-.3t so that day has always heen sort of an arLiver-
sary for me. Our cars were switched j-n on a siding ,
next[...]lp
r.nloadrset up the wagonsr& prepare to load up for the
brip to ttre nev,' homestead the next day. Some of the
lrtj-cles we had brought along were; a rvood[...]idehill riding plowran 8 foot
liscrthree sectj-on of harrowra grai-n drillrone horee
buggyra wagCInrfo[...]sh boards rdishes,
rooking utensi-lsr1 double bed for the folks, a single
ced for Grandma, several nrattresses and bedding for
.rs chj-ldren to rake our beds on the floon, carp[...]cing tools, Iog chaj-nsqcro$e-cut sawra few
sacks of wheatroats & barleyr and some alfalfa seed.
lhere was a cabin on the B0 acres, that Dad bought. It
{as a fnane building, L2 x 16 feet, unfinished inside,
irop siding on the outside and plenty of know holes
for good ventilation. One thin board between inside
bhe weather. With a fami\y the size of oursr we had to
)xpand the living quarterl at once. this being last of
)ctober, winter would soon be herer Eo we worked U-ke
radgere to prepare for it" There was a spring to be
levelopedra shed to build for the livestockrfencing,
r homestead shack for Grandma, '*ood to get in for the
uinter, batten up the cracks in the house, ard add a
Lean-to for a kitchen. By building a half attic up in
;he maj-n part of the house, we kids eould lie the mat-
lresses down in a row and cUmb up & down a ladder for
>ur sleeping quarters. The big ehallenge was to t[...]r dayrn and she was
tsually right. We had a grove of Aspen trees near the
rouse and the prairie[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (156)[...]tllem in the trees,
Any t,imewe wanted e hr-cken for tl'ie table we would set
rLhe traprs, and the nex[...]them they became very{
tame and s+ere not afraid of us, & continued to U-ve in
the trees for rnany year,$" h're also ate rabbitsrvenison,
and sornetimes a psrrrul:i"ne and ducks, inie tried to nrake
our meat stretcl'r "bo i',f€ cold buy anC save t,he breedi"ng
stoek unii[...]he',sas Living off her own l"and., IL
kla.s a ;ob for rine and sj-stenrCatherine, to cl-irnb fhe
hitl- and fetch a pait of wat,er fon her bo wash with &
t,o drink every day[...]as good as
water in our spring, w5-bhin 50 yards of the house, The
wat"er sometimes came from fhe clo[...]anily
didnrt have, anotlrer didr ss it was a case of trading
back and forth r*ith work and equipnrent, as welL as
cari-ng for each other in sickness and running erands,
When someone had a preject reqriiring help, like brand
ing, hayingrharrrestrfencingrputting ice up[...]g
in winter wood from the timber, ib was expected that
one would arange with his neighbors to exchange help,,
Sister Johana taught the Erickson sehool for several I
years, It yras about, J miles from our place over rough
counbry, My sj-ster Catherine, brother Newton, and I
alf walked to sehool.rwhile Johana, because she w[...]1a Fishburn,
2 Rileyts, 3 Hagarty, { Nichols, and I Enickson" There
was an average of 15 and all in I room, with 7 or B
grades, When the folks built th[...]fr& aII a 4 horse tdam could do to bring 500 feet
of lumber at a tjme, While delivering lumber for our
house, my sisLer Mary and Dean Pierce met and married.
They lived for several years about ! mite above the
Jack[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (157)ob1le repair shop at Forest Grove unt,il about L92lr.
wo of there chj-l-dren wetre born here, For the f j-ret 3
ears on the homesLeadr w€ kept gr[...]ewistown
nd Mother made butter in l pound bricks, that she
old to the Power Merchantil-e Store, Besi-des that we
rapped, skunks rbadgers rweasels, coyotes r& o[...]thes we were to 7eL
or the fol-l-owing year. Some of the other people I rem
,,tnbtare; The Joe !-inns, Jackrnans, Frank L[...]Westvelts, Paul- T\,'riss, Bor-lghtonsretc. Lucy of
he Boughton fami J-y l-ater became the wif e of PauI Flsh
urn who many of you know' Hanson Erothers had the gen
ral storert[...]homesteader from up on Alaska
leneh, by the name of Mrplijah' He pl.ayed the piano
or houre. W[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (158)[...]lana. ltrey
left Monteauna, Indiana , by train ln I90B for Montana
Ihey traveled as far as Glengary, Montana I then on in
to Lewistownl Montana. Ir I9Og George helped build
and worked at ttre hiek ;r[...]to their
Homestead at, Forest Grove. Montana. In I91O George
filed on hi-s homestead. George moved[...]two sons, PauI ard EarI to their in I9I0. Homestead
George wa}ked back and for[...]Grove , to
Lewistown , to vrork at the brick yard for thrree years.
During this tine Iver Heggen did the field work and
harvesting for C.eorgGe George r*orked hard to make ends
neet. X[...]George helped organi-ze
the first Tele_phone Co i-n Forest Groverin I9I?. He
builb his own wind changed electrj-c light plent in
L932t so that nad.e things a lot more convenlent for
Edith and the fanily, R.S.A. didn t come to that area
unt'il" the faIL of 1948. Robert the third bo the young-
estr(sen) to[...],,,ipii !,";,:';,
'fu,.,i :, ::: :1"[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (159)[...]Fiel-d. He served l+ years artd uas discharged in I9/+5"
He rnaruied l4artha Rhyne in Puyallup, Washington, They
had 2 daughters ; Edith, bsrn in I9&8, who attended[...]om Richland Hi School, j:r Washington.
She worked for Sac Tac 3-n SeatLIe, then in Medford,
Oregon, She[...]nd she rnarried, Gary Livezey in
L977. In June 197I Earl retired from the Bonneyille
Power Adninistration, '*here he trad. r'rorked for 3I yrs.
In L973 we noved to a 38 acre farrn. Earl ha[...]nch, ot?
'Tfler creek' The ranch joined the ranch of Elmen Eri.
ckson, 1"15r uncle, Eugene Garber, U-ved on the ranch
vith us most of the ti-ne", unti-l his death in r9G8.
We had 2 d[...].,
Bon Dvorak, have the ranch at this time, Kelly i;
naryied to DrlPete &rleigh, and they Live i_n Great
Falls" Mary passed alray in 1983. I later naruj-ed
Dolly Nj-:r of Miles City" We reside at the nanch in
the sunner and in Mesa, Arizonia d.uring fhe r*i-nter.
\-J +---l[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (160)[...]ir marriage in
March of IBB5, and first
sett[...]in 1886.
In lvlay of 1887 Constance
was b[...]o & Southwest branch
of the Northern Pacific[...]to thevn
there in 189I, but he died
OIe and Gertrude in 1893[...]onstance rotanding. Taken and May was born in May of
in 1889 at FargorNo.Dakota 1898. North Dakota was[...]to be bought €sy;so Ole
bought a farm out of Gacklerbut sold it to buy a hctel
in Gackle. It was hard workn but socially rewarding
for the family. The Piano, engraved chairsr& round oa[...]rove, where they renrained until
Pollyts death in I97I. The westward movement of the
Johnstad family from Gack1e was spearh[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (161)[...]C

in the Johnstad Hote1 i-n Gackle

Lillian and Ed Finnrs 3rd Wedding anniversary in
front of lheir home in Great Falls rMon'- Aug.{, L9[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (162)From the southern edge of her propenty, she coul-d see
the beautifirl valley of the head,waters of the South
Fork Creek. Lillian hired Ed Finn t,o b[...]920.
Ed Finn wae 1 of 7 Ln the i
f,amily of Mr-$tlrs J.J.Finn.[...],
lSB5.When about I year ol-d,
he & h[...]ly in
the spri-ng of 1900, the
farni}y l=eft for Montana,
making t[...]lwaukee Rail--
noad, then building south and east of Forest Gnove to
Grass Range. He later homesteaded a tract of lanC near
Forest Grove and hauled fnieeht in the[...]Forest Grove area.
in I9I0
rr4
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (163)Ed Flnn worked 1n the grain business for about twelve
years, following his marriage to Lillian Johnstad.
Most of those years were spent in Gre\t FallsrMontana
wlth the Roclqy Mountaln Elerrator Compargr, worki-ng for
\iu brother-in-lawr Walter G Kirkpatrlck, who was the
"leneral Superintendent of the Cornparqr. &[ was a pri-me
favorite with most[...]ska and Muriel & his nephew (nrA)
Truman, because of his ready understanding of their
problems, his proteetivenessrand his urarvelous sense
of humor. For some tlrne prior to his heart attack on
Febmary 2[...]nnj-es husband, Ton Pettltrhad a job as a
printer for the Lewistown. Argus Newspaperrso Grandma
and Gra[...]nrood,

Luella and LiIUan Pettlt, daughters of Connle &
Tonn Pettit ln[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (164)Walter G.KirkpatnLck, second son of TheophoJ-us Nesbit
KlnkpatrickrM.D., was born in[...]ne 30thr1883. A traveling jobrbuying and selJ.ing of
gnain fook hlm fnsm his horne state to GacklerNo.[...]where he met Palma Johnstad. (
They were rnaruied i-n ..lune sf X910. Duska was born in
OcLober of }9).IrMuriel in April 19I"3r& Trunran(Bud) in
L9I5 in May. Walter?s grain buainess exLended into
Mo[...]& homestead in the Haekshaw
Creek &rea soubh-east of Forest Grove, because the cou
ntry was so beautj-[...]nnie) fog home
stead cabin was buiJt, on the edge of the hiII that
drops down to Nonth Fork Creek and the N B[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (165) In March of l9l5rthe Kinkpatrick fanrily arrived in
Forest[...]would be attending school in Lewistown tp qualify for
teaching jn the fall. Both sf their husbands we[...]t,ive Jobs r so Graridma & Grandpa
Johnstad cared for the I grandchiidren. Connie taught
the ll- Bar Schoo1 that falli The lJ Bar schoo] as it[...]school heren Beeause of
the scarcity of teachers
d[...]In L95OrBrett
a son of Duskats aLtended
this school during his I
th grade. His teach[...]t Lo sehool in the country.rl
Ficture at right is of
Brett Ershelle at bhe
)Johnstad ranch, then[...]has a cattle ranch in north
Minnesote. just out of the
city of -Gonvick.

r57

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (166)Wa1ter Kirkpatrickrs homestead was also a part of the
foothills of the Libt1e Snowy Mountains. It was near
the Hackshaw Creek which flows from West to East like
North Fork Creek and South Fork Creeks. l{ackshaw[...]h Fork flow through lovely lower land valleys.All
of this water drainage comes together below the N Ba[...]rls rnakee ii all- very beautifulrbut clearing
it of tfunber and rocks is difficult for road building
or planbing crops.Hackshaw Creek at that tjme rolick
ed and tumbled down the hills with nu[...]eek and
the moist gu1J-ies providcd them moisture for delicious
Jellies and jams.hrry people helped bui[...]us how to nake pine
needle necklaces and took all of us for rides on his
horse. He taught us how to find ard chew pi-ne sap gum
before we kne'r there was ary other kind. He helped
build our road. from the homesLead to[...]t hsme l-n Montana. sheep in the yard of
L to R- Dugka and Luella our tt[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (167)[...]ble. To get t,o the Nicholts place at
the bottom of the hill on North Fork Creek to practice
lour[...]b back up the hill-. In retrospect
it anraaes me that no one seemed concerned about wild
bearrwiJ-dcat[...]-f\rl,
natural scenery to this day, remaj-ns one of my fond-
est memories. I find it so easy to understand why none
of us became greqt pianists. Thiere was little conta[...]ht the Pine Grove school, about a mile eouthwest
of Lhe Scott St Jermain ranch. Scott?s wiferHelen ran
the Post Office out of the nanch house. trt was a long
trek on horsebac[...]ical devices to rub the ekin
raw on tenden spots of your anatonly. Palrna & Duska
boarded. with the[...]mily and Grandma
and Grand.pa Johnstad took care of Bud and Muriel in
ourtrnew housetr on the homestead"I neven remember the
weather being enjoyable on the weekends that we went
home. Fenhaps that was because of the discornfort of
hanging on to Mot'her from the baek of the saddle.
Scotf ?s oldest sonrCJ-yde, and daug[...]the saddle on
lheir horse to and from school. If I had been given a
.'choice,
Ith convj-nce[...]ther initiated a poli-cy ln the Pine
Grove School of giving a monthly prize for the best
behaved student. George Schwab raised his hand to say
that he knew who was going to get the prize.Upon being[...]fDuska, because she sleeps aII the
tlmelt So much for edueation! I should have counted my
blessings as hardships in regard to education, as it
worsened after that. In the fatt of lgtgrConnie Pettit
and May Johnstad were hired to[...]ielts teacher was Doris Shaw.
May taught the rest of us and Connie taught the upper[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (168)gnades. The ycnng people agreed that the sight of
Ma::ganet anci GeraLd Lycns riding down the main street
of Forest Grove in a pony cart driven by a shetland
pony had to be the rnost fascinating event of fheir
lives, Housing was provi-ded at the Forest Grove Ho- i
teJ. run by the Collins family. The children soon dis-'
covered that Ma Collins had a very colorful daughter,
I'lettie, r^rho beeame the bride of our fami\y?s long
tirne friend, Martin l,lichols.[...]just did not have enough
power to get to bhe top of Sure-Enuff Hill even with-
out a futI load. AIl p[...]rted Lhe car a
goodly distance down from bhe base of the hillrthen
walked up the hiil to a point where[...]' chance to
cool down, so Connie could make a run for the hill,So
when she reached us, it usedrrrrnan p[...]e top. Huffj-ng and puffirg when reaehing the top
of the grader w€td aII get back in and enjoyrrt Free
wheelingtt d.own the other side of the grade. At the
clcse of the school y€r i.n Forest Grove in lp20ra.I1
the Johnstad girls departed the area. Connie ran for
Fergus County Superintendent of Schools against funanda
Swift. Amanda won the election, not only on a fine re
cord, but as well for her rare sense of humor, In her
canpaign speeches, she saidrshe was[...]onnie and the girls moved to Lewistown as she was i
hired to teach the Garfield school in town" May m[...]Gulch
area . She married Dudley Gibsonroldest son of HaI &
Francis Gibson, of Lewistown. HaI served a court repo-
rter at the Lewistown Courthouse for the major part
of his working years. Dudley Gibson worked for the
Montana Power Compan;r and was transferred bo[...]child, Dona
May Gibson was born there in Ju\y Bth of L?U, The
Kirkpatrick famiJy noved to Great Falls as Wal-ter had
been given a Job as General Superintendent of the
RocIry Mountain Elevator Comparry there. Great Fal}s
proudly clajmed the title of the Niagara of the West,
because of Lhe many beautiful water falls along the[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (169)[...]ar Sehoo] and the
Voge1 and Sehultz property east of the Tom Elan rancht
)ordering the county road' He[...]h stiU- stands. but it eventual3y
became the home for the people-who nranaged the ranch
for him, Lillian Johnstad and Ld Finn were married in
the strmmer of L920 and moved to Mendonrlt{ontanarae Ed
was in charge of a grain eterrator there ' IIsw that the
children no J-onger had pressing needs, OIe a[...]ce in 1919" This property
was about 4 miles south of the N Bar Sehool" \n I92h,
they were fortunate to secure propert}'adjaeent to
Hackehaw creek and have it eonnect with the rest of
their property. It was then that the young fo]Is expe-
rienced an old fashioned[...]neeessity because
it r+as a fore gone concluej-on that the grand ehildren
would be spending sunmer vacations there" Duska and
Muriel can account for 50 atunmers spent there, hrd too
spent a part of every sunmer there until his death in
L965. The highlights of summers were the saturday nite
dances at Forest G[...]ow Creek.Duska and Muriel even
pnovided the music for the dances at the Mormon HalI
one sunmer. Duska p[...]e stream dieappeared entirely raking it
necessary for thd family to drill a well for a sta,ble
source of waber. As l-lememberrit took 40 feet of dril-
ling to reach the underground souree of waLer, but
when t"hey found it their troubles were oV€rr The water
was cold and of good 4iality then as it is today. The
Jshnstads a[...]Their home soon
beeame a favorite ttline stoprt for eowboys;- Smokey
Lyons, hd Bird, Ber[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (170)family for his cheery nature and untold kindness to
Grandma[...].the age
where they could not always do things for themselves,
ft was an exciting time rshen Shorty[...]e yearly branding" The Lasy S reversed. E Bar I

brand. was burned on the .Iohnstad stockrthe P +[...]l Finnf s,

OIe and Gertrude Johnstad in front of thei-r new home
on llackehaw Creek in L927[...]area after finishing their edqcation' In the
fall of L932 Duska taught the Minnick School south of
Becket. She boarded. at the home of MinnierWard, and (
Wallace Dickson. The students that aLtended that year
were; the Eike boys,&tith & Helen PofterrWard Dickson
jr., and Ernie (Sonny) A,iken, In the fall of t933rshe
taught the Hardscrabble school adJacent[...]choo1 was held in a rnakeshift shack with one end of
it partitioned off for a teacherage. Muriel kept her
company so she coul[...]t to Billings Lo finish school.
Durlng the winter of L93h, enow was deep and only a
few fence posts could be seen along the eounty road'
Duska became so ill that it was necessary to get her
to Lewistown.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (171)help. It a torturous 3 rniles for rnan and horse.
was
Jack Milburn Sr. sent a crew of men to shcvel out a
path so a car could get to the ranch.The same crew
shoveled most of the ren,aini-ng 18 miles to the high-
i^ray at Grass Rar€e' The snow plow fortunateJy h[...]ack Milburn was
always read.y with a helping hand for our far[\r.

Hard scrabble school -in[...]hinen
Duska Kirkpatrick, Jimmy
Roane-youngest eon of Ed WhenDick Sm:ith left the
Roane Sr.1 Mi[...]he went to vrork
;R- Bessle RayrMyrtle and for the Araerican Ercpress
'l,orraine Roaner& Ruby Ra[...]ne rapidly to become a
girls are daughters of Ed district representatj-ve
Roane Jr. for the eompanyr& stayed[...]Covina rCalifornia.
In the faII of L934, Duska taught the Geary School
near where McCartney Creek flows j-nto North Fork ck.
That year she boarded with I{r and }'lrs Henry Sanderson
and their sonr[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (172)[...]e year was finished
Duska was called be teach one of the goverrunent schools
funded by the Br:reau of Indian .{ffairs at Fort, Feck
Damn Sitel-B milee east of GlasgowrMont"am: During (
that year Duska became engageC to Wil-Iian (BiIIy)
B,rshelle, son of Ernes-tine Bushell-e Aiken' They had
met the year[...]iken had been hit by the incoming train j-n front
of bhe stabion in Forest Gnove during a blinding bli[...]a, Muriel returned to teach the Ryan sehool
north of the N Bar ranch, From bhere she lef,t to teach
sc[...]Ala-
ska. While there she ne.rried Wayne Vihinen, of Great
Falls, Montana and a cl-ase rnaie of Duskals' The couple
returneC to Great FaIl after[...]orked his way through school by working part time for
an insurance compar\y, He continued in this field[...]During the years Lhat t
his business was located i-n Roundup, he speni nany a I
happy hour at the JohnsNad ranch. Duska arrd Billy ware
rnarried at Grandrna JohnstaCf s ranch in June of L935,
The Reverend George Hirsto formetr rector of thre Saint
JamestParrish in Lewistown, as well as Pastor of Sai-nt
Paulrs church in Forest Grove officiated"[...]d Dudl-ey and
May Gibsoru It was nade an occasion of a family reu-
nion and aII of Grandrna Johnsta,dts children and Grand
ch[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (173)[...]work, Grandrn haql even stopy;ed bakinlg brea,d
'i-f sire eou3-d get to a store a,nri buy bakery bre[...].shione,l long hair he}d j.n
a knot at t,he back of t"heir head. wibh brobrn bone hair
r.i nq -r Thn
t,rrru !arv rest, of the women arril'ed wifh be-auty-shop
hair-elos a[...]been eon$iriered very inappropri.ate at the turn of fhe
century. .[unL ]tay Gibson played t]re weddin[...]l1 pro
ceeded to a natural pine arbor by Lhe side of the
house,

Leffi,to right - Duska Kinkpatr[...]ella pit,tit & Dick Smithrunofficial ad.opted son of
Grandnra Johnstad and the entire familynLouise B[...]the porch as
weII as Aunt May Gibeoltr The rest of the faniily were
inside preparing a luncheon fit for a kingrexcept f,or
Aunt Litl.ian[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (174)[...]et?'{6{ner
EULOGY FOR BIG BILL BUSHELLE
b.v[...]ceful rest
Unllqp the'S';c'ft, cloud-specked blue of M,ontana skim,
Over'tree-studled green' hills that Bi'll loved besb.

He was a quicit, gentie nlan w[...]sun and sand;
He rented Go 's acres from th,e joy of God's lease
His religion was the grace of a beautiful land.
From the vsst soul of his mind caime the tiir'ings that h€ brflt,
A scholarly, but physical man, wh'o well arnd knowing knew h'is art.
The size of awesro,me buildings are sy.mbols of his' arrL and wit,
Erect in quiet magnilude displ,aying size of Big B,ill's heart.

Ea,s['of thg Sncwy lvTr-.un,t:l'ins, and North of Northfork Creek.
Grass Range lics in a holiow wit[...]Bill hunted, slalked lr'is prey wi,th one bullet for. t:he kitl;
The rnem0lJ of peacefLil rides always haurnted fhe hunterrs drea[...]harrpy now upcn tfre winds, he's founq!fris peace of mind.
ltre's with his horse named liriday[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (175)[...]ers-Olefs adopted son, and Ole
Johnstad. In fronL of Ed is Lillian Finn, Ladies in
the next rovr L tr-' I1- May JohnstadrConni-e PettitrBeat-
r^'iruvr^e
^
Enricnsi
Jr.svr a v+rJ I v Ki
u , trol rr-;{ rkr[...]_w
Last group picture taken of OIe & Gertrudels four[...]]
r v++I rr[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (176)[...]moved to the but,tes near I
ForeetGrove f,r[...]had 3 chiJ-drenr- CarI I
EdibhSr&Helen2.[...]after L5 years of poon
crops & ra[...]Mont-. CanI nramied }4yrtle Roane
and spenfl noet of, Lhe years in Levristown. Pearl- paseed
away in 1963 afte living for rnarqr years in Washington
Lat,en M:innie sramj.e[...]n
Lewiatswn fon aone 2J yeara" Minnie passed away i.n
L978. Minnie Dickeon wonke{ hard to get a schoo[...]. In the fal"L af Lg?t+ we hel-d sahoolih
a arnaJ"I J"og cabin. l,f,ber nniah planning a larger schoo[...]walked
OLd Jack would let the 3 o.f us ride most of, the time,
except f,or bhe La.rge noclry eLif"f, Pthr he would stop
at the bottonarrtJ-ike get offrt- 6r!ld if, we didntL he I[...]ill., to wait f,or us at
the top. He r+ould let 2 of us ride up, but nevetr 3 of
U$ r r:.,'..;r ,,r,,.;l[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (177)[...]arbonneau
Dec. 22rL965
i The Fairvi-ew School, a landmark in the Fores[...]lt{unick and Lulu Sellers,
It was a summer school for nnny years with as mary as
27 pupi-Is at one tirn[...]e
hill.s around Forest Grove,Pupitr-s walked from I to 5
miles to schooL The schoolfs water supply wa[...]ng nearby, The school served as a
gathering place for community dinners for the homes-
teaders who came by tearn and wagon, T[...]he sehool J"arge enough to handle 10
to l-2 teams of horses as well as several saddle horses.
I[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (178)[...]ool dj"strict was created in 1913 fron
portione of Forest Grove District No.2Ir and Greenr*ood
, Dis[...]olu.ne
of children @n
jthe census, and the location of Distriet LL?. Ihls
first teachers were Alice !{[...]n L9L5 a new school wae bullt on land don-
ated for a echool by Albert Bauer. The first teaehers
re[...]strict. The new Eite wac morc
centralty located for all peopl.e involved,. The largcst
enrollment was 42 pupils ard the Leact was 2 pup5-3-e.
At the tj-ne of the consolidation i.nto Grass Range
District there wetre 9 prpllsr[...]prplle. Faj.rvlew Distriet lI7 ran a sctrooL bue for sne
i"r" tn L963 to Grass Range. In f964 both Beeket,Gn[...]Range Echool and
Range had ltfs first bus routc for sehool childrea.
Hrs. Tora Nielsen (narUara) bas driven the Fainview
bus for fsur years. The brilding is stardlng novt on
th[...]errea aa a ohep
and garage. Thls ended 49'yearE of eontinuous school-
ing when clo,ged. in f963. T[...]ool Distriet ll? were: l"Irg'
F.R. Boughtonr l9U-I92Ai Atbert Bauer, Lg2L-L925;
iElva Lundin, L926 e J:g3l+; Elsie Toogood, L935i I_
Mead,ors , L9i6-L93Si llugh Pcrso, L939'I9l+oi l,eno F+-
utis ,Lgt+6-l9lz; verlie Meadors[...]: AILce
Hinich & Edna Plerce, each teaching pgrt of the year;
Ellzabeth Bersuch & Fred Bayer, each t[...]thy Bayer & Marv Peterson, €el-teaeh-
ing part of the year; Louise ltronas , Arula Robineont
Waltir Haldt, eatt teaching part of the year'. U:'lter
Heldt, Mary [6aap, Lorraine N[...]Baggenstross, tfalter HeLdt,
each teaching pa;t of the year; Josie !1ieky, Bcl Il De-
vis, B.Steingr.lbqr, 99ch teachine part of the pffr
nil6 jobil$n;Au;a Syveraon, 2[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (179)[...]r6* Ear,l Steele & Jean l,lsran VlasbelJ,e , eaeh I
teaehing part of fhe yeerg Norna Ripley & Marie Stee1e\
each teaching fert of the year; Adelaid"e Olm,stead, 2
year$; Selma la.[...], }lil]er& Lorraine WiJ.liams, eaeh teaching Fart
of the year; Canol Ann Wede}l Shi.rJ-ey Evans; Betty[...]Jrestin, Lens & Flelen Lankutis; Chanles
i.Ile Penso; Ethel
sftowerman; & Ellnen Sn[...]Jr.
Rapnonei & Evelyn Bauerl Rr.rth M" Dickensen; I4ay, Rose ,
.Iim & Joe Lundi-ng Ernest Ai.ken; WeJ[...]vin, Raymond, F'Lorenee, CharJ.ee, Donald & Floyd i
Damechen; Homer Hemn; Sronn Donnan Ray, Essie, &[...]e
Leo, AgnesnRobert & l,tarie Lanbeff ; Delores & I'tickel
Jones; Robert & David Dudley; Johnr[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (180)[...]rline, Marcella & Raymond Lun-
Iin.
Trustees Of, Fairvj.ew were: Edwj.n Aiken, JnF"Arnoldl
,and F[...]1 L.H"Millerr George Isaac
l"R.Boughton, 1918-1919i L.H.Ivliller, George Isaacs,
{any Isaacsrfg20; Iv[...]; N.W.Lundin, Iver Heggen, L"H"}tiller,
.c1Zi-7.92i+1 J"H.Arnold.n Harry Syverson, George Isaacs,
-92[...]saacs, Sta,ni Lankutis, Fiarry Syverson, L936-L939i
lanny Syverson, Stani Lankutie, Robert, Ivleadors[...]ift, Stani Lankutisr Robert
leadorsrStr., l9il4-I95:.i Jj-m Lundin, Robert, MeadorslSr. 1
:lifford Swift[...]im Lundin, Justin La,nkutis,
.obert Isaacs, L95l+-I96t+.
trn L963 the Fairview Tnustees got con[...]he,State Superintendent. They bought
, school bus for Dist. No" 117 and transported prpils
.o Grass Ran[...]iew con-
olidated into Grass Range District No" 2I and the bus
'an the same routeo Later after Fores[...]a month unless otheryise agreed on
y a rnaJority of the members. There were 18 original
embers. Speci^al getherings were held for other
ffairs such as: Parties, Speakers, etc. 0n Feb. Ll+)
964 the maln dj-scussion vras for consolidation into
he Grass Range school s[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (181)[...]Grove was a log building close to the south
fork of McDonal"d Creekn in L893" was used until[...]new frame building was erected on the north edge of
town, in about 1906. School was held Lhere untit[...]e was built near the
Frost hsme on the eouth edge of tor*n. Sehosl was the
eight upper and lower gradeg and two years of high
school. Daniel A. Meagher was the firs[...]He
also suggested the r'lame ffForest Grovert for Lhe town.
Teachers did their or,tl.r Jar,'litor w[...]E:ceharrrges from all across the
globe were so&e of the guest speakers. Forsst Grove
Extension Homern[...]hristmas progra&s, arranged by the teachers were 6i8 \
evente at the Holiday 8eason, conplete with sa[...]I

CJa,us, handlng out presentsr and treats of candy, nute,
orangi" and apples. It was qtrit,e a[...]Grove school consslidated with Grass Range
Aprit I?p L973. Now a school bus transports the ptpils
ln[...]tend grade and high
school. The school was prt up for bids, and Le,Ster H'
}[il]er prchased it & gave[...]mmunity !o be ueed as a comrnunity rneeting place for
the area events, with a Connnunity CIub that was form-
ed anl has the responsibility of upkeep of it.

17?

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (182)[...]. Robertc,
Mns. (Aunt,ie) Hayward, Mr. & Mrs. F.O.I4rons, Walter
LyonsrGayle Thornas, RUW & Rex Chitt[...]race Dixono and Mr. & Mrs. Rayrnond
Wallace. $one of the ]"ater carne to the conrnunity after
1920" Ho[...]estfe1t, Shenrnan Reese, Mr. & illrse W.PnParker, i{r. &
Oscar Hanson and Mr. & Mre. George Har[...]nabelle &
LuciIIe perso, ilrner & John Weber, Ida I'{ay & t{ard-Jr.
Dixon, AlvinrEugener AlbertJr, &[...]June syverson.
Junior nenbers were under L8 years of age and children
comrnunity, added,[...]they were
of Fairview
174
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (183)born membetrs"
The neonle strived for echools. roads and imnro-
vements for all. The children had programs or playst
songs an[...]nd
roads. AtrI this at the second meeting May II, I9I9r
with over a hundred people attending.
June B, t9I9 meeti.ng, Mr. CarI PetersonrCounty
AgricuJ.tural[...]Lewistown in
f9trlr. The first station was Heath of Gypsum, then on
ovetr the divide at Horseshoe Ben[...]alled Orange, where water supply was repleni-ohed for
the oLd eteam engines; on to Piper(named for tiarley
Piper owner of the land, ani towneite), a Post Office
established in L9L5 closed in L937, a sprr at Jackman
for the coalnine, then Forest Grovel where there was[...]homested log cabln which was taken down
from East of Forest Grove arrd rebuilt with an addiLion
added.[...]r*n prior to this, with a Post Office since March I88.
Next is Teigen(named for Mons Teigen gho ovrned a lot o1
lsnd and several bands of sheep, Teigens came thcre irat
1884), the Post Office was established in I9I4 and is
stiU there in 1975: on to lrlinnet (named for ltalter
John Wi.nnet whs established a ranch in M[...]l L963, tlalna were going to and fro,
conbination of passenger and freighb as weII as freighr
trains to haul the ble,ck gold to refineries. As of
this date, 1976, some of the track has been taken up.
Many winters rr[...]een dri-
it;A inl--Onl-t,ir6-ior-fivi ddys, crowa of men with
17,
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (184)[...]t bellied stoves , burning wood and coal,
seats for fslks waitin l to rj-de the trainr nainly to
irlewistown
which was and is tbe County Seat of Fergus
County.
Roads were a trail of ruts cut by wagon wheelst
with nany crooks, coo}l[...]and
boulders. Referring to the Secreta,rysl book of Fair
View community at the ltlay 1919 meeti-ng, Amos Snyder
of Becket asked to have County Road from the mouth of
Bear Gulch sn through to Becket, he vdrlunteered to
furnish teams.
In a radius of 12 or 15 miles of Forest'Grove
were theee schools, possi-b$r other[...]lller & Erj-cksollo
Grase Range, 18 rnilee East of Forest Grove and Lewis-
town 2O miles West, are the closest schosls. I am not
quotini; Distnict numbers as they are cha[...]ys school was held through the surilmer too,
and for short terms according to funds available' Most
aII of the school houses are now gone from their[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (185)[...]V, in r
Levristown, Montar,a. He was t'he son of Charles John €
Marion i{azet(Bean)Foran" Grandson or o**i*i; ;;;riru{
(Co:-Uy) Bean. He was Uducated in the[...]t approxirnaLely 45 rnonths in the senvj-ce, Most of
tirne was spent, in bhe African TheaLer, and some j-n
Irels,nd. On November Lg r I94&, he married Betty Sar-
back, daughter of Gobtfnied and Fann:-e {DengeJ-) San-
back.Betby was born "August 27+,h, L923, a twin of a
sister who died at age-3 days. Bettyts grandpar[...]oseph and WiUrelmina DengeJ-, eanly day residenbs
of the Grass Range area, corning hene in 1905, Hj-s[...]Joseph Got'
fried Foran. He now lives in Fonsythn I,[t", and he is
narried to Charlotte Huffine, daughLer of l& and }4rs
Donald Huffine, former residents of LewistownrMt,They
have 3 children. A daughter Les[...]es, a son and twin sister Kaycee Rae" On
December I8t6 rL9b9, Charles and Betty had anothen (
daughter, Rena Carlee. She married Duane Negaard in
I97A, and have 3 sons; Brockton James, Patrick Kent &
Iance C., a daughter Cheryl Renie died of Ondenes dj--
sease, arul had lived all I8 months of her life in
hospitals. On November 29th, L958, Ch[...]CharLes iII health
where Betty, became postmasLer of the Cristina Post
Office. Charlee passed a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (186)[...]d 0-\d-
I
J[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (187)[...]rthy & Roy
RiJ-i.eyrMrs Anderson

Dickson School[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (188) Juet ,{ Few Of My Menori-es
by
l4artha F\.lerstenau Graser
I was 5 years old wlren my family eame to },l,onta.na, I
remember oun house in l'tinnesota, and rry Fathe[...]abourt, Montanar so Fat,her fook a tnip out, t,o
I"I<lnta,na, bought 350 aeres sf Landrcarneback to tt[...]Xd blre house and rue morred.
to Montana " The f:i-rst ru;lnter we llved i:e tewistown
as it, was impossible to get to the r[...]er wagon at Forest Grove, We kids sat 1n the
bed of the wagon and Mothen r-lpon the seat with Dad,
Off we went f,or I niles, and I remember how upset
Mothen w&sr Sl'le kept sayi4grtt Paul, wtrat kind of for
saken counLry treJ4lu taking us to?rt When we ami[...]e ranch, Elizabeth, Pauline, and
Evelyn, ryere al-I born j-n the cabj-n. Hard fo believe
we al} lived[...]lrs Tom Elan was quibe profieient as a l,lidwife, I do
neeall when Eve\yn was bonn, bhe Midwj"fe didn[...]it snowed. a lot. O.lr grain wasnrt
trashed yet, I remember rqy parents brilging it in &
threshing i[...]er" Fly l'lother nade bread and a cooked
nush ouL of this meal. .dLso ru,de it int,o a sort of
loffee, Iike postum, We had potatoee ancr. turnips and
rte many a meal of thi-s & bread,. We did. have milk,
cut for some neason we seLdosl hadhrtter. In those
lays we Fid our grocerybi}l I time a year, Mother
nade butter to sellr or else[...]:rearnery at Forest Grove, so we could bul a fe'e of
;he groceries, In winter bhe chickens drdntt laJr,
)ecause it r*as to coLd. I can remember taking lard[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (189)[...]nch pails to schooL. We stayed on
the ranch until I was Il+. The morgage wa,s then fore -
closed and rre lost our property. During this time 3
of us of school age attended the Greenwmd Schoo}" We
camied our lunches and a pail of water r E$ there
was no water available at the sc[...]allest ehildren were
in class from 9 A.M. to l+ F.I'[. We also had some good
tj-mes . Inthose days it[...]ot to rnake ue
happy. One year there was a fourth-of -.IuJy Celebna -
tion in Forest Grove. My 2 hnothers and I picked wil-d
bemies and cannied thern 5 uniles to[...]Otr beet friend
were Lhe Danschens" Margaret and I rernained life long
friends. We didntt see each other for years on end,
bub atrways comesponded. About J.0[...]est Grove" It wae a very
wondenful nostalgie tine for us. Mantin EIan took us
for a drive up Surenuff road. It' was in June and the
wild flowers wer'"e in bloom" I had forgotten how beau-
ti-fuL the wild f,Iowere are i.n thab area. We visited
the little chunch. How I remember going to Sunday
schooL and eervices ta hear Rev. Hearst," I remembel l
tinne when tr was about 15, n was working for Gladys
Dnake (Uaclntyre) Sfre and her husband, Pe[...]dersons" My broLher , Fred was also
was wotrki.ng for someone in the area. Thene was a danc
at Forest,[...]he wouldntt fin
out, so CarI Sandersono Fred and I went. trt was a lot
of fun. TLre next dance we never went, and it nas Ju[...]She llved in Lewistown, Montana. My
husband and I moved to Callfornja. in 1931. We had 2
s[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (190) Califsrnia,, lle rnronked fon t,laj-s eomfg,nf, for 29 years,
anei rnr,as sti.il work.r4g urhen he[...]nrovi,ng to
Califonnla, The youngesb ,sas only I0 wfrren uqy irusbrxi
) passed awalr. I werett,o r,vrk at, the Concord Commun:-ty
llospl-batr as a rab heJ.per arrct irel"d the job for 13 yeans
Vrrhen I reblred, I rn,oved to Grass Vai"Iey in J"9ZZ and
live in[...]en 20,00, now it isover ]001000,
So eongest,ed. I st,ill hraire uy home t,here, and rent it,
t,oa grandson & famLl+r, I haue been blessed v,rith 13
grand,chj-l-dren ard so f,ar i+ great-grand,chj-Ld.ren. My
olCesb son lives in GrmJarna, Fuerto Rico, He is tile
night Superintendent, of, FhilJ"ips l:,r.ierto Ri-co Co,e &
ahenaj-ca} ne[...]c hu l-t,2, .trames Ner*kirk rwes tve lt, $ ker J.i Bob r.ters teneau.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (191)[...]Robh
by Jessie J Roth

I came to Montana in Augusb of l-904, at age Il months,
with my parents and sister Edith. We came to Tbo Dot(
i*here qy eister Gracie was born Decemben 1"905. The
firat real reeollection I have of life was when my
sieter, Olive was born l,larch I90?. At the time we
lived away up in the hiLl above the head of Surenuff
ereek. We iived j.n a litt,Ie log cabin[...]ght.. Across the creek lived a
family by the name of, Sanderson. Ivly Grandparents ,
James lvlcALliste[...]creek, about r.lhere the
Hip place was ]at,er. At that tfune Louise Sellers was
the teacher. Alfred & her rode honseback to school
Edith & I rode doubLe with then.I wlth Louise & Edith
with Alfnedr whom she later manried. l'{hen I was about
7 we lived on top of the hill above the Jackman coal
mine . It was pure sand and the onJ-y crop of FIax tr
el,"er 6&w gf,ownr ft seerned to do very weII in that
sand,,. Ti,pt is where we }i-ved when the raiLroad was
built.I remember it rtrell.. AII did with ManrMuJ.e and
h[...]er owned t'he old Brrke Hote} in Lewistown. After
I left school I wonked in Lewistown for about I year
& on several farme around Cheadle before f l[...]be manrigd in Spokane, in December L923. Ity Hus- i
band to be came out here a Fear befone to get settled \.

then I eame l+hen he was established.Clara should r€rn-
ber hfun., Easten\r McRae. FIe passed away in 1950 and
I remarried in L952. He laseed ar/day in 1963 and I
have been aLsne since then"[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (192)[...], l{ontana
on September 20r 1972. The first child of George
Washington and MarXr Catherine Rea A11en. He noani-ed
Frances Folsom Phippsr daughter of John Phipps. She
was born in La Plata, Missouri.[...]n, Montana with the Re'v. H. E. Wakefield,
Rector of St. James Episcopal Church officiating.
tliilliam Allen was a resident of l'orest Grove
and Frances Phipps was living in Levristown, Montana.
Allen was a resident of Gallabin County, Montana on
No'vember 25, 1894,[...]g claim. On
Oetober 15, 1905, he made appiication for a 160 acre
homestead at the Lewistown, Montana U.[...]t
Allen. 0n September 18, 1911, he filed a notice of
intention to make proof and provided the names of
witnesses, John lilcllohone, Fred Fishburn, and Henry
Scally, of Lewistown, and Henry Jarnes of Forest Gro've,
Ivlontana. He was then a resident of Forest Gro've,
and signed the papers. 0n September 22, 1911, a notice
of his intention to make proof was first published i[...]tanal Fergus.County Argus paper.
)re notice ran for five consecr.rti'ye r^reeks. On Oct-
ober 25, 1911, Henry Scally, neighbor, swore that
Allen occupied his land since ivlarch 1907. Impro[...]mes, a half brother, claimed on October 25,
1911, that he had kr:own Allen to be in Fergus County
eor se[...]tent lvlarch 28, 1912. He listed his residence as
i'orest Grove, and his occupation as farner on the
rirth certifieate of his son, William Attix A11en,
tho was born No've[...]again on Septem-
rcr 12, 1918 when he registeped for the World War I
184.
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (193)draft. He was still in liladison Valley on Septernber'
18, 1918 when his first ciaughter,[...]t Allen died on irlay 11 , 195), from
the effects of a granshot wound sustained i.tay 8, 1951.
Frances Folsom Phipps 'illen died i'1arch 16, 1976.

/.. , \
i{rs. Dorothry \ |'?.r I I'erry
by
Jane Skelton llendriclcs
Dorothy Lanrbert. eldest of six children and
daughter of Sir "rienry l'oley and lad.y Cathering :-am-
bert[...]n l:Jngland. She studied art in
Dres<ien, Germany for serreral years.
Ijhe then ca{ne to A}bertar[...]mam-
ied a Ray Fatterson, They lived at a number of
locations in l{ontana, I,lr. Patterson died in 194r.
llrs. Terry, or Patr[...]t Grove -in 1946, She later cnarried tr?"l Terry,
of Forest Grove. They moved to KaLispellr but[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (194)[...]Creek, Tyler Creek and Sure tsruf Creek
jr:in at that spot, lie came into the area in 1882.
He l+as b.trn the sr:n of C.N. Frye and Harriet
Frye November 5, 1851 in Vi[...]November 18, 1890 he married Frances M. Atkinson of
iiarnes County, Minnesota. He gave his address as
I1.?lonaid Creek, Fergus County, Montana. Two child[...]who
passed away in lecember 1910 from the effects of a
goitre, IIe is buried rrfacing the setting sunt[...]er home, the daughterl Mrs, Addie Frye
Wanvig ask for a drink of water from the o1d well
that her father dug and rocked up and equipped with
a hand pump. She remarked that was the best drink
of water she had since she left this o,Teao[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (195)[...]a.Our lives began in Minnesota, but rve had heard
of luh.e wonderf'ul- land in Montarn, and llere invited to
becorne fart of lt. Son like pioneersr w€ crCI$sed the
Rj.ver, by ferry, and[...]r and
bhe children; Wal-ter ).2, Lloyd g, Dorothy I, and, Paui
2, IL was Ocbober af 'LgU+" fn the eyes of a chiJ-d,
arriving in Forest Grove, was a fime of a;; things new
and wonderfull Orr rela.trves, the[...]led. We attended school
a'L Forest Grove the year of L}aq--L925, Later in the
fall we lived in the Fro[...]en up the creek to
the Tller Raneh. In the spring of L925r &o additional
2 rooms were added to the hou[...]were an hsurrs horseback
ride to Foneet Groveror maybe less when we were late.
Leaving the Forest Grove sehool to attend the school
in the Erickson Distriet, I thought was tragiet We
were seperaLed, from our cousins, and I thought, how {
rniserablet For a year, f was the only girl in school. '

Mother insisted on Lady teachers and that we had each
yeari- Miss Suflivan, Miss O?Hara, an[...]ool was noved to the Barrihart placer &tr
edifice of learning, now a grannery. We far"sred the
benches[...]we f,arrned the upper Tller place. We fed cattle for
the Hanson Packing Co., in 1926 and 1927 and trai[...]ket, & t,o the Snowies .
Walter and Lloyd engaged i"n general ranehingn while
Dad farrned Lhe[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (196)to tr981 aneithe Forest Gnove Centenni.al. Now that the
raneh buildings have ci,isappearedn we do nof regret
the faet that, t.hey have f,aded into rnemcry, J-eaving
blre J,anel freer sFr€n, and produ.cti-ve. We had our usuai-
i.pjnrnies;- Wa1ten broke his leg, aLso }ost an eye[...]e
fell off ancl broke his nos,e"Mothrer broke her i-eg whi-}e
on flhe way to r,'j.sit an aiLj-ng neighbor, A pant of our
f,'amily, a baby boy n is burj"ed j-n the pre[...]e s1-rri-ng at L933 to srdnnJr CaLif,ornia. Oun l-i-ves
took on a dif,l"erent turn tLrere. ldal"ter a[...]n a Fastor ir:
Cal,ifornia, Pau}., a rail earrien for the U.S.Posta1
Senviee, died suddenly af a heart attack in L976. I
(Dorothy) aiO secretarj-al- work and narket resea[...]n L95), and Father fol"J-owed in
T979n at the age of 95.

Taken in[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (197)[...]Paul Isaacs sr"
I was rnarri-ed tr4,areh Bth
L93t4, to Marion Cox, i-n I
Ler.list,oran,[...]ey
Brandt place for 6 years
then moved to Kinsey, I{t,
in 191+0, fa[...]les Ciby"
There I worked. for bhe
Standard Oil- Co.. In I9l*B
to F[...]Oil_
Co",In 195e we moved o\retr to Miesoub, and I worked
for the Taber truck sLop, for 5 years, In Lgi-g I went
to r+ork for the Missoula White Pine Sash Co,; where I
worked for 17 Jrears, f algo worked for the Rot,her Lu-
mben Co, in Miesouia as a clean u[...]nr to rrhen ever f got d.one. Sometj-mes 12 hours of
cleaning, One night about 2 a. nr & skunlc & l+ k[...]dnft come out, until
the night, shift was ov€rr I ealled them Mom and her
kids. They got so they were aII around where I worked.
They didntt, bother me, and I not them either" tr feII
into the refuse chain one night. Those skunks were
right thene, like they were trying to help me out, I
was aboub I0 feet from the burner, when the chain ,
stopped, so I eould get out, then went ono That is (
where I net the Lord. Riding on that chin to the tee- \
pee burner. There was no one else at the mj_Il except
me and, those 4 skunks, and the swj-tch was acroe[...]from where it stopped to let me out, ?o this
day, I tllnever forget those four sktlrr&g.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (198) Aeeountrs Of' A Forest. Grove Sahool ?eacher[...]oneet Grove schootr 5O years
)gn, September 1185. I- only taught I year, L935-36.
In flhe fall at L936, \ neburned t o the Unirrersity at
l[i-ssoula and obtained my B"A.degnee in 1938. rne year
is very vivid in my memoxXr of days gone by. I was
naiseeJ on a ranch about I miLes up East Fsrk Creek )
near Heath" I graduated from Fergus Coo High Sahool,
ln I93l-, and spent 2 yeans on the ranch with my Father
E.A"*iohnsono Hourever tr deaided that tr wanted to do
somebhj-ng besides being a trancher, so in the fal-i of
"L93,3, Dad gave mo
$trOO"OO and eaid tr eould use it to
go to co)-lege, Of counse it banely paid fon r1y bosks
and Luiflion, but X was trurclqr. I obLained a job in the
Library at Eastern l'lontan[...]sement roomrl
managed to graduaLe in the spring of L935, & obtaj-ned
a job bo teach your schooL fo[...]a month.
J was then €r young nn,n sf 22 years of age, eager to
make a nerk in the wonld, I ann pnoud of n;r one year
of Leaching" The County Superint,endent of Sahoolsr-
Me Fatt,on, had only worde of pnaj-se for the Job I did
and tr wae asked by the tr"uetees Lo teach agaj-n" How-
ever, I decided I wasnrt going t"o rnake much of a rnark
without rqy B.A"Degree, and since tr had saved J+00.0O
dellars of the 900"00 dollare paid me tr decided I had
enough to go to school 2 more years, whi-ch I did. We
had a good year at Foneet Grove. !y Christnas, things
)were going well I nemember that we had an exeeLlent
progron . Most of the panenLs were proud of the per-
f,onmance of theln children, and I rvas proud of then
al-I. I dontt remember aII ny students, but I had about
18 on 19" I had all eight gnades. Three f,rom the Dan-
schen family; Chanles, Don, and I believe a gi-rI. Tko
Forans, Ben and Florence.[...]rfired
the furnace, and the stove in the hallway. I slept in
I room in the schoolhouse arxl boarded with[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (199)IL was before the days -of R.E"A. so our J,ights af
nighb , r{a$ a gas eoiernan }j-ght,.'1 There was no indoor
nnumbS"ng and I had to carry water from the well fsr
f'or the f,urnace. trt seems to me that it took abotrt
10 sr mc.tre gal)-ons a day. This[...]y iey
bLast. The t rustees had prrchased. 75 t,on of coal from
Mr McBride, who had a eoal- mine" $r February I had eIl
of it used, and f rernember meefling I'1r Nielson, one of
the t rustees , &L the Post Off,ice. He ask ne r+hat I
w&s going to do when aII bhe eoal was gone" I replied,
ItMr Niel-son, that reaJ"ly isnrt rry problem, When tr have
sehool I am going to see thaL the kids are kept warm
even though I have to shovel coal and earry water in
frcm the wetl. When the coal is gone, tr guess that
is Lhe end of school..tt Needless to say I was furnished
wifh motre coal, In the spring Ms P[...]County
Superintendent, gave the children a series of achieve-
ment test,s, ad He wetre aII pleased with the ..esults,
which indicated that I wasntt a failure as a teaeher,
but had d.one a good Job, and because of it all the
tnustees wanted me to eontinue. f would of liked to,
because I had been broke al,l rny life. While $10O.OO
a month wasn?t much, it was more thah f was used to,
However I made the right decision to return to sehool,
The Savings and Loan busj-ness has been good to merarxl
I in return feel that I was good for the Savings and
Loan business, I am now complete\y retired , and we
spend our time[...]e been to Europe twice, China, Japan, Thialand, & i
f,our times to Hawaii. We are leadi-ng a F[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (200)[...]ForesL Grove School tn L9i5_Lg:i6
lack ror,r - chartes Dauisehen, Gnant reruy, Don[...],t+<-g
farmer sent his nephew a crate of chickens, but the
ox broke open as the boy[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (201)[...]erfarden, doubLe vuedding ring, nine patch, sbars
of vanious designs , basket, and many of tNre retrazyrf
tJrpe" Does ar\yone know nry subject? It, r-rj-trl surely be1
easrer rbo guess when I menti-on scraps of colonful &
pJain material- Iefb L'rsm other sewin[...]out a particular rol-or scheme, aJ.so rnil}:-ons of
tiny even stiehes" Now everyone knowslfm writing-of
quilbs and quitbing, l.[y Molbhen passed a.way WT
/74. after a fu]-l-, busy often sad life, Now I- won$br
hor,.r she carried, her burdens day after day, Bearing
L2 children and reari-ng 3-1 of bhem in pioneer surr-
oundings with }ittle incone[...]s than r,setlI evetr know, Chunch
was to dj-stant for attendance, reS.a,tives in the easb
and neighbors[...], Irm sure quilts were
much sf the answer. Seraps of gay naterial brighbened
her drab LLfe. She created beauty when money often
wasntt available for necessities, Her handiwork c€r-
tainly served a[...]ost blocks
were sewed by hand with a nachine used for the join-
ing and binding. As we grew up and star[...]ever;day type, but we each recieved at least one of (

her beauLies. Each grandchild was welc[...]s, and 35 grandchildren meant s€ry'-
eral dozen of those. Nsw she had time and monegr to
make the more complicated patterns, During World War
I, several of her quilts uere aucLioned to raise the
money for the Red Crossr but only the last fer'r years
coul[...]nty
fairs" They won several prizes each tjme. Itd like
to say a daughter or daughter- in-law is carrying[...]ake them
but use slmple patterns or Just slgrares of nraterial
wlth our rnachines doing most of the sewihg, Qrilts
then played an importan[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (202) Grs enw+l'ci l,iercor :. i: s

My parents, James Pcier ancl Giadys lr:::,^ll;;, ire,nne
tc Montana in the summer +f i921 , Thty to,lil a h-;m*-
Jstead and bcught seim€ arlciiticnai acr$age fr:i;n: 'ins 1
Jin Morrison, This iand. was iccateo.[...]est G::r:ve and r.hey seitied the:l*
in the hope that the mcuntaj.n air wnuici pl:iue as
berieficiai to[...],::, had
predic teri.
Wo::d soon got around that rny {rrcthi'r wa*q i4
rrschool-rnarmrtr and she was askeci tc tea.ch t[...]ie, and Gertrude l\4clonal"d, and Edwin and
Arnie i{ornseth.
One morning on the way tc schcol Momts usually
pentle horse dia alot of fancy stepping and Mom
glanced up tc see a }arge[...]cl"d the cider boys what she had seen, mentioning
thatfor the wh:-te wol.f called
"Clubf lct". The boys didnrt Eet the wol-f but assureci
their teaeher that i"t had indeed been t'Clubfoottl
from its tracks. T[...]s later Mom would again teacit at
Greenwood. Some of her students then being-pdgart[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (203)Veree;rrlr Sniri f,:rffrrerrii*rrerrce ieLerson, 8r I'larvjn
Trj.nke. I{om f311.1ht at riian\} scircols, truf r tliink Green
wnorJ, i*as her f.t'rlrite. - by Llabe Dr"ake J,Jr.:lnt,<l[...]tt M.aett -r{a$ bot"n in l,.rlcrt,h-'L_ngLcnrlt{i.nnesotara s.-;n- of l,{t:
anii Mrc ,InIeFh l,i':inLy'r'e. He 'was ed.ucat.ed j.n l"ii.nrresofa
a:rd" iane t,i; iiicnt,e.na irr liil..t, Cn Januayy ZtT)5e, he
sra,r"l"ierl 3ladys lce ilake in i,e,.*istqwn, juiac sprent most
qf t'ri.s Life i.n the Ferest Cr"or.'e anC Beckelt area, wcrk
ing rnr tire Jrir:a-l ranr:.1'rers i-rr,:ludi-ng lhe lrl Iiar ranch,
At r>ne Li:r,e he[...]alsc hac a thresl^rj.ng macfri-ne ancl
thresl'ied for t,he far"mers in +-he area. ile worked af
Lhe Ca+" Cr:eek oi.lfiei.cir.r anrl for s:_x yeai.'s he uorked
at,n nrech'!r:e shop i.n Se.a+-tJ.e. Mac, rr?as rurai. r:ra1l c&r-
rjer[...]as-
Ler' :ln Ferer,+" Grove tn 1952. l{e reti::ed i.n I?6,8 anC
moveri l,r F.ciln'iuf in 19t9. IIe ser'','ed in the Signal
Cot"ps during l'r'orlu War fI a.nci i.{as a nrenri-rer of tilc
Eagl.r:*s Ladg;3 ,:,!1rj. American Tegiorl. i\tac tr,assed a:day in
Fiay ef L985,[...]l,unctin
John il Barfel. '/;ae born lin 1905 i-n Gernrany, the son
ofEphriam & Ernel;a Bartel" H[...]ned the U,S,Armed fcrces, anei was dischar
ged in I9/r2, I{e t,hen purchased a larrn }iorth-east of
Forest Grove, I ean recall, i.n most ary type of weath(
er one could find John walking, carrying a[...]strike up
a conversation and he enjoyed visiLing, I remember one
fi-rne I had went to Grass Range with our three High
Schoo[...]pily bhere gardening and visiting until
the tj-ne of his deaLhr on March LgBl+, He was buried
w[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (204)[...]n the Milwaukee Ra.il-road
to Fonest, Grove, in f9I6, fnour Monroe Cor.rnty, Wi-s. ,
wi-th their two[...]'d S&ith,' homestead in
Iairview Comnunity, Sd Sm:i,th was the brothen-in-Iaw
of Nora Perso, Later ihey rnoved to her brother s
ho[...]was
moved onto the property" This is now the home of the
Jim Lundints" Because of a severe drought and shortage
of feed for stock, Persofs moved to Lewistown in 1920"
Hugo f[...]r he wonked at, the Judith Laundry and at
Po'rler I'lerchantile, Nora worked for many years at the
Srsj-etzer Department Store, In the fall of 1926, the
desire to fanm brought thern again to t[...]School, & Annabell,e was marcied to
Lyle l'loore of Grass Range, and, Lourcille was rnarried
to Hernan Isaacs, fonrnerly of Forest Grove. -Th€y
farmed there un-til 19J+I. They then rnoved to Lewietown
and purchased the[...]town, Hugo passed away 5-n April 196L, at the
age of, 7I, and Nona passed away in I9?9, at the age
of 8?, Persors had 2 Grandsons; Dick l'loore of Cutbattk
l,iontana and Ron Isaacs of Eugene, Washington , They
'iad eisht Gneat[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (205)[...]1 , 1870. He carre to this country
in the spri.ng of 1887. He died in Helena on Jarruary
21, 1917.
I, Thomas G. Nielsen, Jr. was born in Lewistown
on[...]on a
ranch on Alaska Bench, where f began schooL i-n a one
room log schoolhouse. School ran in the summer months
only and in the fall of 1919r w€ noved to Forest
Gro've where I went to school tiIl the eighth grade.
My schoolin[...]high school in Grass
Range, Montana State College i_n Bozeman, and Columbia
University. My teaching h[...]d Baker,
Montana and in Wapato, Washington, where I retired
ir1 1972 after 25 years of teaching Biology in the
high school. During World War II.I served as a photo
gra-pher in Lhe Eighth Air Force i_n England.
Whate'ver suceess I have had in li.fe can be attrib-
uted to oly parents who sacrificed for my education.

Forest Gro've in[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (206)[...]ungtt place near Forest Go.ve, duri-ng the summer
of 1 926.
We can:e from t 6 ivlile Bench in Mu[...]charLes and Eda peckenpough, moved with
us. Each of the women drove a team and. lumber
wagont and the rnen had. larger loads with four horse
teams, I and another boy about fiiy age, rno.ved the
3-ivestock, some hundred and twenty cattl-e and.
se'yeral head of horses. Needless to s&Xr we had.
our problems and[...]were glad. to be
finished with the responsibility of keeping the
stock moving and out of peopLers fields and yard.
The place hadntt been lj_ved in for some time
and was rtrn down' r can remeraber weed[...]get hay put up and fixing
buildi.ngs and fencesn I was too yourrg to remember
rnrch detail except that tr sure wanted to go back
to the rrBenchrr,[...]ade school at the hiekson
School, My teachers, as I remember theur, were
LucieLe quickendenn Vera Gor[...]d Mrs, peterson,
There rnay ha've been others and I tm sure one or
more of these taught two years. The school was
never very big, r guess 21 students was the largest
and I trlly donrt lcreow how those teachers mad.e it
w.ith All eight grades in one room. Most of the
years r went to Erickson school, there[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (207)and conral there to keep the horses out of the
weather.
Our nearest neighbors were Char[...]nter. The
only tines we ever went to a doctor was for broken
bones. Sis an arm and I a 1eg. Oh yes, we had
our tonsilB out too. Mon ra[...]s and old fat hens was
all the aoney we would see for months. Cattle
prices were low, dry years didnlt[...]e or twice hall storns eleaned up the
crops.
I went to high school one year and quit to
go to work and surprising enough, I nnost always ha.d
a job. I worked for Ray and Earl Barnhart, there
at the Forest Gro'ye[...]the rrNtl
while Jack Milburn was superintendent. I also
worked for o1d Charlie Tyler.
for the trNrr way back in i912-14,
Dad worked
He had taken five year a[...]e ranches doetoring livestoek, patching up horses
that had gotten into wire, castrating co1ts,
floating horses teeth, on and on. I got in on scne i
of those chores, too, and it has helped to this
day.[...]ee in the Fairview area
and Ii'sed there a eouple of years during the
Thirties. Fron there, the folks moved to the old
Lyons place for a year or so and then bought the
place at Forest Gro'ue. By that tirae I had drifted
to other pastures and jolned the Amy while they
were stil1 liuing there.
The things that stiek in your mind about the
area and the times are 'varied.. I remember walking
froo the Young place to Skellies[...]it was easier to walk than ride a horse be-
eause of snow drifts. We used to 'visit back and
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (208)[...]*eather didntt stop us.
There were tines that it rmrst have been months
between trips to lewi[...]22 niles
. from the Young place and in the winter that was a
)longl ways.
Winter time always me[...]o've was attended
regularly by our parents and, of course, we kids
to. I still belonged to the Zion Luthern church
when I went into the Arny in 1940, Both Viola
and I were baptized there. One week it was an
Ftrrise[...]llansenls store.
Summers were busy times. I think I must have
ridden a million miles on a hay rake[...]rard to.
Bill lvleadors put on rodeos at Becket for se'vera1
sutnrDers.
In winter, eard part[...]livestock,
cutting next years woodrputting up i-cerard working
) repairing nachinery and har:ress[...]d after it turrred co1d. Then the house was
busy for some tine putting up meat.
Mother always ha[...]anned
vegatables and fnrit. We always had plenty of
potatoes, carrotsr and sueh..Ln the cellar. Duri[...]folxs moved to South Lewistown and lived
out most of their days in a nice little place
that was Eruch handier than either of then had ever
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (209)[...]er E. Brown and they ha've
lived in Lewistown all of their married life with
the exception of a few years while Chet was working
for the Baptist Church in Oregonn They have raised f

a family of three boys and one girl who are all
mamied" and have fanilies of thei:r olrrr. Two of
the boys work with Chet in 'their business in
Lewistown.
Glen married Jane Young of Pine Val1ey,
Ca.lifornia while he was in the Arny[...]g in Lewistown and at the present
time is working for Chet and the boys.
When I left Fergus County High School at the
end of rny freshaan yearl I was probably the most
likely eandidate to ne'ver see the inside of another
school and most of my teachers would have agreed"
I did, however, take tests and graduate in June
of 1946 at Fergus lligh Schorl and went to F;llmann
Washington for the nex',., fi'ue years. I graduated
in 1911 with a Bachelorrs dagree in Agriculhrral
Science and a teacherGs credential- for Vscational
Agriculture. I taught at Redlands High Schosl in
Redlands, California for 2) years and since retir-
ing ha've mosed to tittle River Valley east of,
L,incoln Cityr Oregon, where I can enjoy my memories
and watch the world[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (210)[...]vv

May Charbonneau

) I climb a hill and in the distance, to tLre
North, I see the Judith Mountains, 01d Black hrtte,
and o[...]e, and on a clear night
you can see the lights of the conrmtnity of Grass
Range, Montana.
To the West I can see the Little Belt Mountains,
the winding road to our County Seat of Lewistown,
in Fergus County, Montana.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (211)[...]vi_ft.
The homestead cabin af Jchn Stani-ey, west of lieckeb
in the fcothills, was nioved l-cg by.l-cr[...]ay Charbc;nneau.
There are seueral shel-ls of buildi-ngs le.it,
They are the Tom }Tielscn hou.s[...]e Fost Office was once on a h;mesite
j-n the town of }{anorrer, mcved in and remodei.eclo anr1
is the honre of Alice and l}:b Smith. Hcmes o:: Mob.ile
il.omes a[...]d trailers, by the
tons on weekends, cdming fr:m 1i1g city to FlatwilLow
Country to hrr-nt, fish* gfid picnic. The huge lcgging
trrrcks haul loads of long Pine ancl Fir, eut down
by the loggerst saw[...]rning skidders) and piled alcng a rcad
pushed out of a hil]side by a Caterpilier trac|cr,
then lcradec[...]draft horses pu1l arr ocaasional wa€on or sled for
feeding cattle and for a good o1d Hayride for an
afternoon of f\rn.
The McDonald Creek sti1l runs[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (212)[...]c 150C pounCs each)n alnost
overnight, j.nstea.cl of belng cut with a scythe c'r a
hc,,rse-drawn mCIwe[...]in tnrck to be harled f,c; grain storage, instead
of hcrse-drawn binders and men with three tined
pitc[...]Grass Range cr Lewistown in the faLl and trade
it for flour (lOO pound sacks and enough for a year)
tc stcre i-n the attic of their home and be used for
bread baked by the lady of the housen Some ranchers
ground their own wheat into whoLe wheat flour and
also cocked it for breakfast food.
ALl in all it is still a g:':,at place to 1i.ve,
out amang r'fJld Mother Nah:rerr on the South Fork of
McDonald Creek.
The children still ski but n[...]il1s
around Forest Grore, but fav away ski slopes like
Kingsr Hill, transported there by big buses from[...]t
and Bozeman, Montana" Ride the airplane instead of
the horse and buggy. 0ccasionally a helicopter la[...]Grass Range
and Lewistown by school buses instead of riding
their saddle horses or walklng to c[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (213)[...]w in nurnber, now they attend a
scho+} in a class of 100ts.

Some }listory of the Johnson Family
b[...]t 19A4. Edith
was six years and f \./as 13 months of age. My sj_ster
Gracie was born at Two Dot, December 14, 19Or. The
frrst reccLlection I ha'rre of }ife was when my sister,
Cli'se was born Mareh 2, 1907, At that tirner we were
at Forest Grove living in a 1og ca[...]Across the creek lired
a family named Sanderson. I dontt know just when vre
arrived at Forest Grove,[...], James MeAliister lived within walking distance.
I remember Edith and I would walk to their place for
milk a.rrd eggsr so they m-ust have come there be[...]d in a Little frame house, near
Surehtough creek, I belie've about where the Hipp
Ranch was l-atern At that time when I was five years
o1d, Louise Sellers talrght sehool[...]ses to school, so
they picked us up eaeh morning. I rode with Louise
and Edith rode with Alfred" My father worked for
Dan Tyler at the time, I recall living for a short
time in a log cabin in their yardr-f think it was
used" for a bunk house, '

I wonder whatever became of the graves that
were on a little knoll, just avays from their hou[...]od iron fence around itr and was
sti]l there when I left ther in 1921.
My brother Henry was born August 14t 1909, whil
we I irred. on what was ]mown as the Delbridge placet
later known as Doc. Schultz Ranch, I didntt go to
school that year. I dontt recall how Edith got to
school. My f[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (214)[...]when the railroad
was being built through there. I remember a eamp
right where we carne down to the main road. A bunch
of hillbilly kids, scared to death of them. We even
) changed our route to schoolr so w[...]i*ned the Burke llc,t-
eI in Lewistown.
I remenber the church being built across the
rsad[...]sehool
with his chilelren at Greenwood schocl. I am not
to farnil-iar with when the church was m[...]ter Mildred was born,
September 26) 1912. l{hen I left there it was known
as the Doc" Jongewaard plaee. I remember walking to
school from therer ori a path along the fcot of the
hi1l. lrie were always on the alert, espcia[...]ten going home at night we would kill a
rattler that was crossing our path. When he heard
usr he wcu[...]the lead would stopr we began to gather rocks,
of which there were plenty, and pelt the poor snake
to death. We were never afraid of them, and none of
us were ever bitten. tsreddy tr"ry usually walk[...]a rascal, always pull-
ing some orneaXr prank. I remember one time he met
us on the path as though he had been to schoof and
con'vinced us that the teaeher was sick and there
would be no school that day, so we went back home.
The next day we get a lectirre for being absent. One
of the engineers on the railroad was a Mr. Bostwick"[...]durJ-ng the summelvacation. As & cer-
tain amount of residency was required for proving up
on a homestead. Their home was[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (215)[...]1"t, and my sister
Eaeter was bi::n there Apri-i" 9, i917, Those years we
w*nt 'b; G'ru:enw;:cd schcr::[...]nts who
Ii ir*: ti c l. c ser.
How I haterl that pl-ace - no near neighbors thi
nearast was the Rrley fan:-i-}y. They haci two boys, La.
Verne anci Edgar" And the winters were terrible. I
recal-l going tc Fc,rest Gro ve ons tinre with my Uncle
John and Granrima, They useci the front half of a bob
sJerlr wrth a box cn it. They wculd fill th[...]he could get
the sled thr'rugh, No one euer heard of a snow plcw
in thase days, everybody t"esL eare c[...]d day, but
e irerybody need.ed suppiies, How well I recall the
winter: 1915-17 - bhe front of our house was drifted
over the top, our front door was not open alJ_ winter,
and many times when I went outside (through the back
door) f would come back in with my nose and fingers
frozen white, That was when I vowed that I would
leave there, We left this plaee late in i{ay 1917
and on May 51, it snowed one foot of snow in just
a few hours" We rnoved into a small[...]was a wagon and team
and in bad weather a canuas, like an old sheep wagon,
covered us. Lloyd Thomas was[...]the new schoor- buirding wasnrt
completed, sone of us went to school in the old. John
Lyons saloon buildingr known at that time as the vern
Wright building, I belie'rre he had groceries there at
one time. By Spring of 1919r we had mo'ved into Fores
Groye, We lived for a while in an o1d store building[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (216)[...]er had a
eream testing station there fir a couple of' years un-
til we moved. into the 1og hi:use, Sne also ha^j. an ice
cream parior in the front of the buiiding one summer,
192O.
The tr'all of 1919 found the new school near €Dolr-
gh completed to be usedr and my cl-ass was reacty for
high school. I donnt recal-} who ali was in our cl-ass
the first[...]cres, b/e star'r,eci the year pretty goodn
but by that time the pe,:ple who had crrme out there
on the r[...]he first floor, we were in the
basement. We ended that yeay with five oc six soph-
omores and about ten[...]Ruby Chittick, Ethel Jones, Jessi,e
Johnson, and I am not sure about Margaret lanj-els.
To begin the[...]. Jay Holmes (br<;ther to
Harry) and Marie Fiscus for teachers, for some reascn
Jay Holmes resigned and we had Mr. Ilaight to replace
lrim
of 1919 and 1924r &s silon as school-
The summers
was ouer, I went to cook on a ranch for Ben Hill. He
had a large ranch over toward Cheadl[...]-d walk tc Piper on an afternoon
off. Ben got all of his supplies from Lewistown,
mainly about once a[...]ute
mail carrier, also freight. !{hen he was busy I hauled
freight and carried mail for him. Many times f was
excused from schooL for an hour at 10:00 ?.[i. to take
the mai] to the train and pick up the ineoming mail.
As soon as sehool was out I met the return train from
Wirurett with the outgoing mail and picked up the in-
coming mail. That is when I would pick up the frei-
ght for the grocery stores. At that time the Hanssn
Brothers had built a new store wi[...], but
they neuer vrent to sehool in Forest Grove. I believe
20,
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (217)the Oscar Hansons had a baby boy about the tj.me I
left therer the girls were LaVerne anri. Norma.[...]ns Ft:j.day' to twc litt1e IOWNS
north (l thi.nk) of Forest Grr:ver Cheadl-e and ldovary
So I hari that job al1 s!.mmerr 3s welJ as the loea,l t

mail and freight, In the Fall I went to Lewistown
and worked aLl winter for a family witlt a little boy,
the Sam Eicoffs, i{e ran the Leacier nepartment store
and she had a littl"e exclusir.'e dress shop, In the
Spring of 1922t I guess I was a little homesick, srr
I quit my job and came home, but shortly I was off on
another ranch cook j,.:b, This sumrcer I worked fr:r the
Malrnard Hannas near Chead"le, almost every Saturday
night, one of the hireo men and I would get on our
horses and ride to Heath to the barn dances, We
would get home just in time for me to get breakfast
and Earl to do the rrorning chores, Af ter the noon
meal f was free for the rest of the day, until break-
fast time Monday,
The Spring of 1921 I went to work again on the
Ben Hil] raneh. Ben had passed away prior to that,
and the raneh was run by a foreman and Mrs" Hill.
John Berg had been with Ben for many years, John and
Mrsn Hill later were rnarried. About half way through
the summer, I got mad at one of the men and quit" To
finish the season I worked for about a month for a Mr,
and Mrs, Drff. f canrt even remember where the ranch
was, guess my hlad was too full of other thingsr BS
that is the last job I had before leaving to get marr.
ied.[...]Groven Nolrember 2, 1921 . He was
two years when I was married, two of Edithfs boys are
older than 0rville.
My father liked to argue politics, so one of.the
men sarcastically ask him one day if he was a Senator,
From that time on he was always I'Senator Johnsonrr
a^nong the nen. Sorne of the late comers thought he
had boen a Senator and[...]st Gro'ye and prohibition
was'voted in, each FalI for about three yearsr By sis'
ter Gracie and I picked chokecherries, which were al-
ways in abundance, for the railroad men. When they
came through i[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (218)and we would have them for delivery on thei-r return
at 4200 p.m. We got 1r( a gallon for themr &nd to
make $J.5O each between ten and fcur[...]e knew they
made very good symp and jam. We heard that they
made mighty good wine. After I left there, I dontt
know if the kids go1., Iazy or the ehokecherries got
scarce, but the job just seemed to play out.
I left Forest Grove November 17, 1921 for Spokane,
where my future husband was. We were married December
25,1923.
summer of 1929, we returned to Forest Gro've
late
t[...]the weather was get-
ting bad, we were broke, and I was not able to travel
as I was siek and pregnant. Mac leased the Jackman
rni[...]ator man (t think his name was Knuth)
handled all of the finances. Mae came into town on
Saturday and did barbering for the 1ocal gentry.
That is all of the money we had all winter. I was
sick, pregnant, discouraged, and unhappy all[...]n on January 27, 1930. Her hospital
bill was paid for with a car load of coal. We caoe
back to Spokane in June 19)O. There[...]nger brothers and sisters came to Spo-
kane later that year. My brother Henry eame with us.
Edith and Al[...]a$e in
1915.

0r'vi1Le1 Jessie, Lucinda, 3i11e Hank (seated).
The last of the Johnsons, taken I /29/ez.
207

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (219)[...]L,ouise Miller Genriusa,

I ti.i Forest, Grotre planning to file on a
eame
homest*ad, it was in October 1.cJAg" I rentecl a
sad-dle horse frcm John Sellars, I went bar:k to
Lewistown arrd filed on iand in the[...]In 1910 I movecl[...]stea,i, (see[...]nearby, 'I,he[...]ildren, r asked, Rose !/eber
to eome te take care of the home and chil,lren. She
had two boys Elmer and John. Rose and r were married
around the first of January 1gZO, B.ose was not well-
for several years, she passed. on in December 1924,
S[...]Around 1925 - 26, the August west.velt Raneh was
for sale. I bought it and noved from my homestead
to the westvelt raneh on south Fork of McDonald creek,
_ In 1942, f was marri[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (220)[...]there,
My son, Charles" lived j-n Fresno for a few
years, lie was j-n the Nauy for two years during
;\dorld War I1, After the war r,,ias o.ver, he ca$e bar:k
and. l-i"ved and worked on the ranch for se'veraL years,
He ma,gied and moved to Lewistow[...]in ]vlarch 1977, she ha.d. a bad st::oke.
I soLd the ranch to !avi-d. a'd }ixie Wagner in
1o[...]Sellers had a sheep ranch where Coxrs now ]ive. (i
remember a lot of names of some I went to school r^rith
and some from conversations with my father. )
I was 6 years old at the time of our auction sal-e,
I remember it almost like it was yesterday. The
auctioneer drove out in an automcbile, and I think
it was about the second one I had ever seen. Some
of the tricksters in the crowd put a 1og chain around.
)the front and baek wheels for a joke. The ol-d root
cellar and spring are the only things left there now,
except for sorne rocks for the house foundation,
T walked to Forest Grove to school" Someti_mes
I rode behind the saddle with Lucy Boughtonr my cous-
in, on her Pinto potl/o I remember the horse shed.s
up in the schoolyard, L[...]Forest Grove. rt was near the
creek on the edge of an a].fa]'fa fie1d. Luru Sellers
was our teacher[...]estead, LuLu sellers igas also our teacher
there, I remember the Johnsons, laniels, and.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (221)[...]o was my fatherrs brother,
helped them some.
I remember myfather putting up hay over on (

Flatwillow for some rancher over there. MY sisf,sr,
who was born[...]orida.
My father went to Ivlontana ancl sent for mother
to come on the train. At that time she had { boys,
Mathew Elmonr Eugener Paulr[...]ere
we all stayed until our house was ready.
I can remember snaring gophers with bindertwine
locps for excitement. We had to nake our own enter-
tainmen[...]vel the world, he was t
a $ailor on the high seas for several years before
migrating to and expl[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (222)Upon arriving on shore, he hitchiked on to the state
of Minnesota and worked in the timber woods and saw- -/
mil.ls for two yearsn But Marcus was destined to chall--
eng[...]" on the section crew renairinq ihe
roarlway for Chica4o-Milwaukee-St. Paul railroad, Af-
ter a short time, he was promoted to foreman for the
area of line between Medors, North lakota and Glen-
dive, Montana, After about two years, a rolling
stone for adventure, Ma::cus saw no future in this po-
sitj[...]e because drinking
hard liquor and a habit formed for gambling had be-
gun to take its toll- and he dec[...]ing Glendive, he had purchased a re-
linquishment of a" homestead entry from an aquaint-
ance provided for by the llomestead Act. He was ass-
isted and pro[...]ion by
federal 1;Lnd agents at Glendive, Montana. For a fee,
a real estate agent at Lewistown, Montana[...]this poi.nt
in time l-ocated at about the center of Half Moon
Ranch holdings, which he h,ad not seen heretofore.
Having no means of transportation, he was destined
for the 'iorrrrcv with the use of a n.nmnass
1;n n:.ena.?e[...]oot across
prairi-e and badl-ands to the junction of the Red Hitl
north of Lavina, Montarra and the stage route toward
the h[...], a rifIe, and a
broad &x. Upon locating the area of the homestead,
taking time out to observe the sun[...]tion was to provide shelter. The shel-ter
he used for the time alLotted to complete a cabin of
logs and poles was under a large spmce tree nearby,
After downing Ponderosa pine trees near the ]ocation
of the cabin, he began to sense a big undertaking
wa[...]bnrte strength would
solve the problem" IIe spoke of the graat pride he
had upon completion of the fog structure with a pole
roof, Sti1l, the on[...]owed from a nearby rancher to
place the dirt used for roofing. i{is rifle came into
good use to shoot wild game for strength needed to
eomplete the task,[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (223)[...]was told by his neighbor r&rr-
came
cher that work was avail-able for a rancher on East
Fork south of Lewistown aborre Heath. He needed the
money for other plans. He had developed. the urge to
go back to Norway to again see a sweetheart ne rran i
left behind. He had declded he would need someone tL
share the loneliness for whate'uer the future might
hold.
0n or about the'middle of December, 1899 he set
sail forNorway to locate h[...]stead
near He"wrer Norway. They married. mid.year of 190o.
Again he left her behind with the promise that he
would return to bring her to Araerj-ea.[...]Arneriea and the homestead,
he began to rearize that he had. found the solitude tc
his wishes and desires. To him there was a bond of i
pride and commitment to this land. To fulfill hi[...]ner, he realized he
was eompblled to aquire a job for the needed. funds
for the return to Norway. He began working at the
harrresting of grain the fall of 19a1 in the Judith
Basin west of Lewistown, After the haryest season
was overr he[...]rned to Norway. After gather-
in their belongings for the reh;.rn to America, they
told of the happiness they anticipated for the prom-
ised land, the homestead they would sha.re together in
the hidden ualley, now the holdlngs of Half Moon
Ranch.
' Uponarriving in Americal they traveled on to
Minneapolis, Mirrreesota and stayed for two months.
212
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (224)[...]some money to buy the necess-
ary pro'visions that would be needed to fu1fi1l their
objecti've.[...]y, they arri'ued at
Lewistown, Montana by way of Three Forks, Montana.
By now, their spirits w[...]s the years rolled by to form
the foundati-on of the existing Half Moon Raneh and
its f\rture.[...]ing life began
to take shape with the arrival of new members conslst-
ing of sj-x children dr.lri.ng their wedlock and happy[...]ased; Clara E. (lgll); Ken:eeth E. frMiker' (llll)i
Roy T. (lglS) deceased; Judith f . ( t 918) d[...]-

As the children beeame of school ager they at
one time or another had their schooling for three
months at different locations. A11 were[...]tending cl_ass. To acquire a
better education for their children, Marcus purchased
a home in Lewistown to help the completion of school-
ing through high school.

\
J

*p/tt*t-i"n)d*'t*"-o% *
!?,i., ..;t:r f p, t e L[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (225)[...]rne emin-,
lnt for Dad. lie was comp-[...]the lrvestock.
I would spend the holiclay{
with hini from the age of
7 on tc high sc[...]Moon. 0n an occasior] I
asked him what kind of
bread he was ma[...]alone to take charge. Not
Art in front of Homestead bad for a seven years old !
in the 192}rs'where he[...]the graduation
was born 4/zz/06. of their children from[...]grown into
young men and ladies ready to prepare for their own
future and destiny, Da.d. and Mother dd[...]r overextendedr even by the pcpular sociSL means. I

Art, A1, and Ken:neth rrl{ike[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (226)[...]aggravated by the new and
inexperienced lifestyle of
country living alongside
me and my two brotherst[...]ge the ranch operation to-
gether until 1941 when I took a leave of absence to
work at law enforcement as deputy sheriff for Guy
Tul1ock, Sheriff of Fergus County. A1 and Mike corr-
tinued to operate the ranch during by absence until
1944. It was forhrnate for ne to bargain for and
purchase the Half Moon Ranch from rny parents Ln 1944.
Shortly thereafter, I resigned as deputy sheriff and
rehrrned to the ranch I lo'ved and a continued life
of contentment.
E'ya and the children Carole Nancy and Arthur
Mareus contirnred to live in Lewistown for two years
so rrNancyrr might attend school. During this period
I continued to care for the lirrestock at Half Moon
Ranch which becane lc[...]er quarters and
Iwin Coulee Ranch 20 railes north of Lavina which I
purchased in 1919. This was home for livestock dur-
ing the winter months. With the tw[...]e so our ehildren eould continue their
schooling. I became bored at preparing ny own meals
end hastily decided upon a new cqrrse of action by
notoring to and from Lavina and Twin Co[...]76. Even with the hardship and grlel-
Lng ordeal, I would not have it arry other w&f,r It
ras been worthy of the saerifj-ce. Once the children
rad gro[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (227)[...]Jr. attendecl Montana State College at Boze-
man for two years and later graduated from Rocky
Mountain[...]!Ig Avmrr IT+u wa5 not until after his discharge that
fIJ-tlrJ.

everything began to change and[...]lyr and lvlarcus Brand
a fourth generation Nelson of lialf Moon Ranch. Thei
being at home is a happy m[...]e
who homesteaded and liued within the bounderies of
2r6

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (228)or the surrounding area of the Half Moon Ranch.

Henry Eligah Jess Clark
i{enery Nelson[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (229) I want this for the back pa.ge. Why? l{e11 be-
eause it always reminds rue of my Dad and the way he
would look out over the ran[...]land, seeing, cri
ictruing, and perhaps dreaming of things that no one eLs
could comprehend. Moments like that are mighty impor
tant to a rancher, perhaps more so today than e.ver be
fore. Dad and lvlother often told of the best of times
and the worst of times but never changing their atti-
tude on life[...]l around us these days, there is a
certain amount of stress and hor^l to deal with it,
WelI, I an not against anything that is being suggest
ed; I arn for any and all things that work, But I
would like to recommend a simple cure: Take time to
smell th[...]thrive and years to surviye
This year may be one of the latter, but keep the pos-
itiue things in mind.
Hans O, and Jeanett Serrerson Hanson I'amily
Dy[...]n Battle Lake, Minnesdta. My father owned a store i
Parkers Prairie, Minnesota where my sister, LaVytne,
and I, were born. He sold his store and mo.ved to
Glasg[...]worked in a general store
belonging to a relative of my rnotherf s. We came to
Glasgow about 1905 and[...]there about
a year and a hal-f, We then moved to Valley City,
North nakota, where he worked as aJt accountan.t. Whil
we were therer my father became i1l and the doctor
tol-d him, if he wished to raise his family, he would
have to find work that he could do in the fresh air.
In about 1909, he f[...]no'ved to North
Dakota, about 1B nniles northwest of Medina. We lived
there nine years. My moth[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (230)farm, most people did that sort of farming a that.very[...]d vie had some
good yearsr w€ were pretty wei-l of when we came to
liontana.. IVJy brother, James wa[...]\ We came to Forest Grcue jn 1915, It seems that
'I .lust feIl in iose withi l{ontana imrned.iate}y, I{y
Uncle Oscar Hans,ln had been in Ivlcntana for: a few years
and wanted my father to corne to For[...]tart
a general store. They ran the store together for
seqerai yea.rs and there were good years and barL" These
were some of the First v/orld War years"
l{y father sold[...]change. liy mother started teaching
sehool around that time. In June of 192r, sister, La-
Vyrne, was married to Bertrand[...]ey live in
Evansriille, Indiana. John Gilmore and I vrere mamied
a yeax l-ater in September, 1925. We[...]and one grandson who was a ylrar old
on the 28th of January. Our son'lives in St. Paul,
Minnesota. He 1s a Chaplain, he works with first
offender juveniles. i{e has four chiLdren, two boys
and two girls. He h[...]pf Jarruary and another grandson was born the 1st of
December. Mother and lad moved to Lewj-stown, some-
time in the early 1!{0ts" Mother taught school for a
nunber of years after this. My father died tn 1945
and my mother died in 1965.
Now for a lighter vein - when my brother, Jimmyt
was a little boy, my father had to go to Helena with
a group of men to lobby at the legislahtre. I belie've
it was in conneetion with lncluding our part of the
eounty with Petrol-eum. Jimmy raised quite a fuss
about Dad going. nad said, rrl canrt telL the men, I
cannot go because of my baby son. rr Jimmy eried him-
self to sleep an[...]woke up and
said to my mother, ilWherets my duds, I an going with
PaPe." ,rg
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (231)[...]ha}l.rr Mother did not want
Jim to go o.ver there that eueningr so she put him to
bed when he was asleep[...]woke up, he said, rrDid you go orer to,.
the ha].I last night.tt Mom saidl I'Yesrr. He asked, !
rrDid you see me there?rl
My sister and I u/ere eonfj-rmed in Zion Lutheran
Church in Lewistown, in April of 1917. It was a beau-
tiful day when we left Fores[...]rked as a stone mason and
also freighted material for the railroad to Great Fa11s
Later he homesteaded I miles south of Forest Grove in
Bear Gulch and returned to Wiscon[...]n Montana was an extreme change in en'viron-
ment for Mrs. Syverson as the Wiseonsin farms were
nicely[...]ncluded a eow and some
chickens which were a gift for the Syversons from
their'parents to help them get[...]ife. They returned to Wisconsin during the winter of
191, and hired a man to lock after the pla[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (232)[...]kens. After this Mr. Syverson took out-
side work for a time in order to earn money to buy ma-
:hinery and cattle. There were times of both diffi-
:u1ty and joy over the following year[...]r one brother and
four sisters al-so came and two of them filed on home-
steads near Fairview. Carl ho[...]and also did cement work.
Two other sisters of Herman and Carlrs, who came
from Wisconsin were M[...]oved to Long Beachr California.
{rs. Emma Bernett of Lewistown is the only living o}eo-
rer of the Syverson familyr of which there were four
)oys and five girls.
I[...]orred to Lewistown. Herman
rassed away at the a8e of 81 on November B, 1955,
their chiLdren are Harry of Grass Range and Lewistown,
\rnold of Lewistown and Betty 0sterholm who makes he[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (233)[...]m personal interyiew to Roberta Dona-
yon for Lewistown News-Argus Christmas Editionr Dec-
embe[...]aimed in the Missouri
River Breaks near the mouth of the lvlusselshell R.iver.
But it was not always easy, especial-ly for someone n€
to this country, to hrow how ,to proceed with unravel-
ing the government red tape that kept them apart.
Matt had first come to the[...]d in the smelters at Great FalLsn It was
good pay for those days - $2.!0 an hour. In 1!08 he
moved to A[...]s later he returr
ed to Bribir, Croatia, the city of his birth and ther
on lvlay 2), 1910, he m[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (234)[...]o the United States and to Anaconda. He had
heard of the land that was free for claiming itr sc
he cane to Lewistown in 1918 and filed on a homestead
in Garfield Countyr near the mouth of the lt{trsseLshel-1.
ttlt was a prairie dog town when I filed on it.rr
he reealled.
Matt set to work[...]stmaster,
a man named Green, and his German wife, that he did
not know how to go about bringing his fami[...]United States Congress. Mrs. Green wrote a
letter for Matt to \dellington Rankin and in a short
time he[...]hich Rankin
adyised li4att to send to his wife so that she in turn
could take it to the American'counsel[...]t New York City they were not
permitted to debark for an additional three days be-
cause the ship was under quarentine for scarLet fe'ver"
Speaking of his wifers trip to this country,
vlatt recalled that on his own first voyage here he
paid fi15.00 for his passage al] the way frorn Yugosl-av-
La to Gr[...]n the trip and while in
Inaconda it was decided. that her tonsils should be
removed. She remained there a total of 10 days.
Mrs, Vlastel-ic and the children a[...];own by train in the morningr but it was e'uening of
;he same day before Matt got there. Since it was[...]the cl-osest place where he
ouLd board a train for Lewistown.
The children were wai.ting for him when he stepped[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (235)[...]-
ched up his spring wagon and took them the rest of
the way to the river. I{owerrerl they spent the rest
of the winter with the Joe Bush family in order to
b[...]e two
chiLdren had littfe trouble in school. Some of the
other children, including the lt{atovichf s c[...]hem out.
Although it has been 55 ye'ars now, I4rs. Vlasteli,
stiLl remembers her first view of the Missouri River.
It was at flood stage at the[...]s, to gi've sorne protection
from the snow.
That second year Ivirs. Ed Skibby was the teacher.
She received $55 a month for teaching the 12 students{
in the school.
An[...]in Grass Range and ir4arie (tttrs. Joe Kovacich)
]i'ves on the Dirride east of Lewistown.
tvlatt remenbers wel} his first tmck. He sold
hogs to have the noney to buy it in 1929 for $15O and
it had 9rOO0 miles on it.
With a veh[...]children to the doctor
in Lewistown. He remembers that Dr. Wal-lin and Dr.
Wilder used to keep evening o[...]stance.
RoElds were depl-orable. Often when i-t was necess-
224
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (236)[...]onthse they stocked up on groceries in the
;al-l, I'lr/e would sell ttten[...]o get some
;'roceriesrrr he saidl sa,cks of floure ten sacks
rf sugar, and coffee.r'
hl[...]river breaks,
;he ilfastef ics never killed them for food, They rais-
:d qhocn nirrc
Lr[...]v*u u:vt
Ma.tt remembers that in 19jO Tom Stout and Teddy
llue Abbott of Lewistown opened a ferry across the
:iver at the mouth of the l'fusselshel-l. It was operat-
rd by a man named I'red Lute, The purpose of the ferry
ras to shorten the distance between Lew[...]ring ranchersr Lew and Ed- Tripp, They mcv*td-
;o I'orest Grove where he ranched, raising cattle and
oi3s. Chickens a.nd geese for the coyotes, he a,dded.
Both sons, I{att, Jr. and George, worked on the
arrch and help-i.ng others who had helped them. 'Zara
as always df[...]doilies,
ableciothes, etc. She was a glrea.t cook of simple
eal-s, offering them to anyone who was around at dinn-
r time. lvlatt and Zora kept lots of children over-
ight or for longer periods of time as therr I i rzcd
ext door to the school"
They sold iheir[...]to Dick Burch, when
hey mo'ved to Lewistown.
I{attts days were rrot spent in id}eness. At last
:[...]ing hobby he becarne
rterested in many years ago. i{e learned the intri-
lte skill from an older man[...]d as planters on the lawn.
Although the work i-s exacting, Matt does not wear
-asses. Nor does his wife Zara. Ivlatt claims that
) can copy in wood anything he can draw.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (237)rqade a model of Ed Lambts priz,e mare.
Although he has ha[...]it to rel-atives and frienc
He also has a number of items on display in his home.
t[...]a became
Af ber moring
very actirre members of St. Leors Catholic Church.- l
missing very few of the churchs ritual services. pr€
viously they were members of St. Barbarars Church at
Grass Ralge.
They lo[...]wo chil-dren and their grandchildren. Decend-ents of
those mentioned in this story were able to be present
But as life had a new beginning in this country
for l{att, it was also here that he passed away i$ovem-
ber J, 1984 after complications from an inj[...]Ivlatt and Zora on Mother I s[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (238)[...]Lin Geary and Emna Geary
by Harold Geary & I'lary Phillnps Crj'swell
In the spring of 1900, having trived in northern
Nebraska for 19 tears and experienced in droughtt &
i l,ack of wood anC otkrer di-sappoi-ntrnents in farrning ,[...]U-vi-ng" They were also tol"d there was
plenty of nraten and trees, They were onJ.y a few days
iu[...]&'rrnn had 2 covened waSons arrd about l0 head of, horseq
four niLk cows, and a d.ozen ehrckens. T[...]ehickens -l+ould, be
Let out, 5-n th.e evenir:g for a whj-Ie, but would go to
roost in coops a't t,he b,ckend of the wagon box where
they were locked. up and. wo[...]ay' trt, was sonr Nathanfs job to drive
and care for bhe nilk cowsr otr horseback. This way
.tire fan"i3y v+as able to make about 15 m:iles a day'
When[...]at fl-ood stage, So they
parked thein ll'fagons i-n a circle and p-rt the aninals
in the cen.ter,[...]traveked, on weeb' Wheneven wonk was avail-
able for the boys or Frank, they "*oul-d stop' When
Lhey[...]k on sheep ranches, &
Iumber wsrk providLrg ties for the Bj.Ilings- Cody
railroad line being buj,Itr so they rernained there for
a couple years' Duri-ng thj,s tine, MarLha Elizabetht
the 3rd child, took il-I and passed away" In the sum
mer of L9O3, Frank heard of 2 old school f,riends of
hi.s in the Snor*y Mor:.ntains, in Montana' So t[...]and see them. One was Frank (l'tact<) Mc
Cartney for vrhich the creek and big spring on ,Alaska[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (239)[...]n they should homestead on land
at the confluence of HelI Creek and North Fork of lhe
Flatwillovr, which tfrey did. Af,ter Frank an[...]ildren were born to them" Life wasi
much the same for all homesbeaders. Big gardens Lo
provide vegetables and along wiih wild beruiesr were
canned, for winter use. Thege Wetre pJ,aced in a cellar
at the back of the }og bunk house, in the front yard
v,rhich was[...]beaver dams and packed in sawdust in
the cell"ar for j-ce oream rnaking in the aumrner tj-ne.
Wood was[...]rovide aII the n'ilJ<, cre&rn, & butter nec,essal1i
for the family. Sorneti-unes there was ctream left over to
place in creann cans. By I9I3, with the nailnoad into
Forest Grove,[...]ensrguinees rand ducke. There
were quilts Lo neke for tLre beds as well as feather
nrattnessee and pill-ows. AilL cJ-othing except overalls
and. jeans were rnade by Enuna who was a[...]as started
down on Flatwillow. It, r+as also used for Sunday School
and other geb togethens. The oldest[...]d
grain and naiLroad ties to Roundup. Then aft,er I9I8
stayed he stayed at hone, because of Frank had died of
the flu. The other sons worked on the N- ranch or for
sawmille in the area. Each eventually started his own
ranch. Nathan marrled Norna Curtie of ltliddle Bench;[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (240)[...]er he moved on to Ftab
willow and lived the rest of his life there, raising
6 children, His son, Har[...]Flatwillow
,and hi-s pJace is also owned by some of his family lowr
lFrank Jr, rnarried Ethe] Snith and homesteaded on the
A1aska Bench untj-I moving to Lewistown' Sid & Jees
also had places[...]rt
Phillips. She always nade it home every summer for a
vieit when her husband tended the sheep camps i[...]n atre gone now aLso' Howevetr, there are several of
their grandchS-ldren 3-iving in the area.[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (241)[...]child in a farnily of four
children that were born t
Geo[...]hi-rn
Year of T923
othen eh[...]soon discotrere
James (Jinl) Hiatf that she could not suppor
them , so she put thern into[...]Live with an eJ-derly pair
rorho had no children of their own and were also slave
ownetrs. He was tre[...]ugh the second reaCer j-n
school, and at, the age of Lhr he nan awaJr' The next
few yearE wene badrtin[...]l l890ts when. the united states was I

end,uring a reeession. F''athen told
rnany tjmes of
when a loaf of bread was l0 eents, but the dine was
alnost impossj_ble to get. He talked very littLe of
thj-s penioO of his l"ife, excepL to say,rrshank[...]called waLking. one t,ime he had bhe mis-
fortune of being locked in a box car for a week with
out arqy food. or water. His l-ife r,[...]ound,. A doctor r+ho knew what to do in
this type of situation was called upon and Daddy was
able to recover. Daddy told of tnaveling one season
with bhe Barnum and B[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (242)and enJoyed to sing, He also thought so much of the
circuses " I believe he cane to l4ontana in I9O2. Iater
Grandna found where he was and came to[...]along with her a daughterrnamed -.Iewell
itlewby, that was 9 years old at the time" It also hap-
lened that Daddyts sisters came along to either renew
farnil[...]dore Tbams, Aunt luh,y was single.
The only thing I knew of her life, was that at one
time she worked for a famiJ.y by the nane of Olsen at
Grass Rar€e" She also worked for the Parsonts fanily
and l,ater rnamied their son, Tom, He was a brother of
the el-der ,Mr Parsonfs families of Judith Gap. They
were sheep ranchers j-n the l93}rs and lg5ots.Grandrna
married Levj- Knerr, who I was told was one of the Lar
geot sheep ownens in Fergus County, They l-iveC ln
Lewistown for sornetjme until they moved to PoJ-son,
Monta,na,[...]-9tr0. tr did not see rny grandmothen again until I
was 1? years old Aunt Pearl and Uncl-e Ted hornestead
ed in fhe Snowy Mountains, southeast of, Lervistown &
above the east forl- of $pning Creek, Uncle Ted. was
mentj.oned in El-l-en tlall?s story in tl:e tt Fergus County
Herita,ge Booktt' I thj-nk the T)rams moved away in L920.
Theplent to[...]ching positlon at the Universi-ty where he taught
for nany years " Afber Daddy came to Montena hre dj-d
nar{y kinds of work, ltre fri-eghted fnom B5-J.1ings to
Lewistow[...]bs. He also wonked at rbhe smelter in Great
Falls for sometime. He nursed snall-pox casas duri:rg
bhe epidern-1c i-n Great falls. I donlt lmow what year
rut while in the Grest Falls[...]ame good friends.
,iving in Central l'lonte,na at that tirne for more than
r deeade, doing the things he did arrd moving around a
good deal, he beeame acqralnted with most of bhe pion
)er settlers and many of the proninent towns people,
. dontt know where he met nry rnother &lith I'Ia.e Mc Far
€,nd, who was born in lowa. Her parents l1ved et
Iinthrop when I was a small child. l4y parents were
ramied at Winbropr I r*as born in April of t9I? in
2rr
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (243)Great FaLls Deaeoness Hospitalr so I suppose they
were living bhene then. They wex"e l[...]]?rL9L8. This was, a tough ,*inter
and WorLd War I fl-u ep,i-demic was at it"s peak. Our r
Mother was f,j.ne for 6 days after my brofhers birthn \
then her health t,ook a turn of sort,s. In spite of aL,
that Daddy and the neighbore coul-d do, ehe died 1l-
d[...]&B onJ-y l-7 daye oLd," This
was a teruible ti-me for n1y Father and he now had aL1
the reeponsibil-ity[...]w&s bonn wibh digest'j,ve Lnoubl-e ard lt
seemed for the first rnonth t'hat noL a thing agreed
with him, We tried rnlLk of all kinds, cowsrgffit*ewes,
nrareerand caruned nd[...]t (a forest rangers wlfe) r+ith 3
sne,Il ehiLdren i+ho Lived on Cottonwood Creek took
eare of baby Jay much of the tirne. I nernernber whiLe
Daddy d,id. nronning chones at t[...]p and put nne ln a horee feed box t"o keep me
out of troubl-e and wa,rrlr. Just befone ry thind birLh-[...]no waten near the bulildinge on the pLace. We had I
to haul water in sumnrer and mel-t a Lot of snow in the\
wj-nter. Daddy dld sevenaL things wh[...]Ld a 2 st'ory rectangular house. He had
some help for the bough parts, but did a great deal
of the work himself. He tined it with lathr so it had
to be plaetered. He obtained ldr Gnandpa Eckhert for
this Job. He was the Father-in-Jaw of the lady who
272
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (244) kept baby Jay. Jay was now about 4* years old and I
was past 6. M:" Eckhent wore a grandpa bearrt" W[...]s
nealtry sdd. f think we lived in the new house for
absut a year, when Daddy decided we needed some[...]ear with his
bed tied to the wagon and some oats for the horses.
He was direeted bo South Fork on Flatr+illot' on the
Nonth side of the Snor+ies, where he rnet a fellow who
had asmatr3 sar+mi]I and some lumber" This mans name
was, Saott St Jen[...]gh sehool. The parents were seri-ousl;r
thinking of trying to find a place t"o live ss their
kide eo[...]it with nry fathen. He came honne with his load
of J.umber, and thinking absut trading places r*ith the
St Jerneins * later he r*ent back fon another load of
Lunber. IL was decided we wsuld nake the trade v[...]fsund us on a fairly nice day
with 2 wagon loade of what ever we were taking" The
heavy articles had[...]udibh Mountain
home and travefed around the edge of Lewistown, up
$pring Creek, on to Heat,h, and ov[...]on through Forest Grove and almost to the bottom of
,Sutre-nuff HitrL ?his is i+here we were prt up for the
Jnight by the Stretch family. People were alwaye so
helpfirt and kind " The next day, on the road q*ite
ean\r, we cros[...]rson bench, and Carson grade and into
South Fork valley.TLrere we turned to the west and tra
-veled up South Fork creek" I thlnk we only passed 2
occupied building groups. The first one we I'ater was
to learn was, Joe Randlers place. He wa[...]y. Qnce in a r'rhile
he Would di-scuss a rooster that he owned. He said the
rooeter was , ffpure bred Rhode Island Red, except he is
Fite (white). Just a m'ile form oun destination, a nice
set of buildings were along the hillside and smal[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (245)Iog buildings set farther west sf them, that had a
sign on it readingrtt Pine Grove Post 0fficef That
was to be our address f,or a few years, but part of
the ti-ne in a diff,erent location ' This place was
Griff & Beulah St Jerrnains' He was a brother of ScoUt,
and I wilf caII these 2 people Mr Griff and Mr scot,t. I

We covereC the last mile of our morning triprreaching
our d.estination sometinte near Dootrlr I rer:nember it had
seemed like a Long ride so tr r*as glad it ended. Oun
new home was in the beeL part of the valley. The wide
meadow land., hernmed i-n by mostly bare hillside on the
north and dansly[...]otd south Fork runni-ng down through the nriddle of it,
a}I. The house was part Log and part 2 story frame
bu[...]nd 2 bedroonrs wetre in the log part" So
ib rnade for a fairly good sized house, but very hand
to heat during windy storms or very cold weather. I
am sure others had poor houses too" There was a[...]the children looked around and then it
was tirne for the school group to come home. There was
Louise I[...]the fami-Jy. Supper was served at a bie table aff i
at one time. The 2 farnily groups and teacher counted
up to 11. I had Just sta,rted school that faII, so
when the St Jennain kids went back to school I went
with them. Ihere was no better way to keep a kid out
of trouble at home. We a1l walked, including the
teacher, a distance of L4l+ rniles up long hills and
across a timbered flat. The school house was located
in a park like area with trees aII around. There was
a playgroun[...]tle necessary house was
located, one on each side of the school building.
It was a plain rec[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (246)[...]schoolhouse measured
24 x 36 or close to it, ft" i*as very dif,ferent than
the school tr had. left,, but f soon found one can learn
under ar4p conditisns i.f, they set their rnlnds to it.
The teachers jobs[...]fire was started in the stove, as the first chore of
the school day. The bigger boys usually went to the
spring for wat,er. ?he St Jermains s ayed on at the
place for about 2 weeks, leaving at the beginning of
Christnas vacationr so they would have ti-ne to g[...]around enough kids at a tjme to pJay
these kj"nds of games and we were to young to know
how to play al[...]ing with them. Those 2
weeks stanted a life tjme of friendship with the fanr-
ily, to the point of being as dear as kin folk. We
didntt see them dun[...]red in a huge F€t. The furniture
was placed out of the wayr or even out doors and the
dancing began.[...]t acqlainted prty. It was the first dancing party
I had ever saw, but certainly not the ]ast. Orer the
years there were many community celebrations for most
ar\y occasj-on. Sometimes srnall groups and sometimes
filled houses. We soon learned that it was much fun.
The Griff St Jermainrs household consisted of Beulah
and her Uncle, an Elderly man named, Frank Younglove.
He was adopted Unc1e of the whole community, with the
n&me ofrtljn[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (247)[...]ar$rones Grandpa should" He slept in the building that
we had saw the Pine Grove Post Offlce sign on. It
afso housed bhe post office and he i*as postmaster.
When the St Jermains }ef,t, the teacher eontinued to t
bsard r*ith us. She and I were usually allovred the (
priviJage of riding a horse to school" Sonretjmes Mrs
Andenssn bnought her horse from hone on North Fork,
where she went for the weekends. Most of the tirne wo
rode a work mare ealledrrrCoaU-efr,[...]ought
her saddled and bridled from the barn ready for the
trip tp school Evidently he didntL get her ti[...]have been a few mj-nutes early or the teacher and I
were a few mi.nuLee late. Anyway when we were rea[...]r away and there she was, going, almost to go
out of sight behind the ridge beside the roadn She
r*ae[...]ith
out us if we were going to be slowpokes. Lots of kind
of things, mar{f of then bad may have happened to
people, if ii had not been for trusty old faithful
In this case, C[...]me. Winter
wnet by and school was closed bhe last of April. I
wae sad at both loosi-ng the teacher, because I would
noL see her often anymore and at school closing, as I
really liked going to school. I had learned so much
in 4 months while I had been there. Mrs Anderson r,ras t
a really good teacher, especial\r for early grades. \
She had an abundanee of patience. After other schools
were out^ Mrs Bror*[...]Ihey were Ethel 11, and Tomry 9. Ihere was a lot
of things to do to keep 3 or 4 kids from 1I to 6 busy
and helpfuI, Always wood and water to keep in supply
and that supply almost never seemed enough. Baby ca[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (248)[...]eek, * mife or so from our house. A steam
,ensine for power and slab wood for firing it. It was
I Jnrall mili, that took 5 on 6 men to nake 5 or 6
thousand feet of lumber a Cay. l'1r S StJerrnain boarded
at the[...]on meal with us also, TLre workers were Ed Roane,
I4arin RoanerGeorge RoanerGeorge TripkierJohn Schaf[...]Day and. Jack wil}iams. It was a real busy
sunmer for all of us. so interesting to us kidsr &s
we had so much[...]body at our house was taking a well deserved day of
r"ut from the weekly labor. Mr Griff came up, and[...]before. As she nas a frj-end we had not met, aII of us
kids acted. tike bumps on a log. We didnft see ntsny
ner* kids often. Finally, one of the mill trorkers ask
one of us if r^re had a baII. We said yes and went and
f[...], Iris Mc Williams and she waa a p year old neice
of scott and Griff st Jerrnajns. This was the beginn-
ing of a life long friendship for some of us. She
stayed with the scott and Griff st Jerrnains. After
that one tctrm of country school, she stayed at her
home in Lewisto[...]and Aunt Beulahs. There was always a lot
Ioing on that was interesting. Riding horseback for
/o*r or p:tting up hay. l'{,aking ice-cream or swimmirg
,1r."* a must for us kids. I hope Iris enJoyed the time
we epent together as m[...]s we did through out the yearsn The school
ter^rn of L925 & L926 was a year for illness at our
house and the corffnun:lty. During November some of the
kids had whosping cough. Some were out of school for
2 and 3 weeks. In December, brother Jay came down
with pneurnonia. He was very iII and on the 3rd day
of his illness, with no sign of the fever breaki-:rgt
one of us kids was sent to Mr Griffe with a note aek
ing him to go to Grass Range for Doctor Freed. It v*as
b{e afternoon and a storm w[...]k to
our place sornetime after mldnight, and then of course
277
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (249)[...]ce bhat Jay would
recover, and givng a great Ceal of crediL to the onion
por-rltices and mustard plasters thaf were bo be applied
regularly. That was the kind of neighbors that most of
the people were" A,Iways ready to help in any emergency,
I never rnet Dr Freed, but I do know she did much good
for the area surrounding Grass Range" That wasn?t the
end of illness at our house or in fhe community that
urinter, Ihe last part of February and inLo March an
epedernic of snall pox struck, Very few in the country
escaped[...]ousehoLd had them, but
it seerls, brother Jay and I came down wj-th Uhem first.
I really habed being il}, as I hated missing school
The teacher came down with the snralL pox too and they
had to close the school That I believe, was the worst
year for illness at our home in all our years there"
Uncle Frank wanted to give up the responsibility of
running the Posb Office, $o it uas decided Lhat Bla,ncir
would put in an application for it, trt r+as sent to
the government in September of L925. The rnail at that
time came to la,vina, a snrall town locat,ed on t[...]brought the Pine Grove nail &
another Post Office of, Clara. Pine Groves mail was (
brought porbably o[...]route
patron had their own snall mail sack, nade of heavy
grade cotLon naterial. People often used sL[...]ae ne went the route leaving the
seeond sack full of nail for you, and took it bo fhe
post offiee, where it was[...]ly not, opened again until it got back to Lavina,.Of
course, he brought nail back in the sane b[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (250)[...]ies
not on the route. During the earliest years that we
got mail at Pine Grove, a lvlr Dela,pp broug[...]ek. Later a Mr. W.H.Streeter succ-
) essfully bid for the noute for 2 terms, however he
died befone the ]ast terrn[...]inished the term in his fathers place. At
the end of the second term the route was discontinuedl
I belleve that was Ln L932. Blanche Brown becarne the
poetman tnL926. That was another job and a large one
to keep everything right for Uncle Sam and also very
confirming, as sure as the postmaster wasntt home, a
caller came for their mail" Blanche always enjoyed
people?s visj[...]et a store }icense, then he
could buy wholesale. That way people could buy their
groceries a few at a[...]baking powder, dried fruiLsrspieesrcandyrgun and of
course tobacco. Tobacco was a big seller. the st[...]y needed fhat &
often ran low wi-thout realizing i-t. Daddy would bry
some colse-outs at the whoLes[...]. One winter he bought a
.,gouple 1O0 pound sacks of peanuts. A litble story
.beminded me of those peanuts, We happened bo have the
) peanuts and a portion was gave to each of us kids &
a hired man who had been helping out for a few weeks,
The hired man, being geite devilish[...]she wasnrt looking and
she retaleated, and the 2 of them began having lote
of fun by throwing peanuts at each other. This hired
man was a fe1low by the name of , Ernmett Charbonnea,u.
The rest of us kids were told to stay out of the fight
and there were shells all over the pla[...]mess had to be cleaned
up by bedtj:ne. Ethel and I had to do it without too
much dilly-da1lying around, becauoe bedtjrne was to be
at I PnM." Elections were also held at our house. The
'f irst years that we lived on the place. Daddv had a"[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (251)herd of cattle along with a libt,Ie Civensif,icaLion of
whai ever we could produce that, was saleable' We aI-
ways nnnaged a living, Dadd[...]ho still owned {\
Iand. It was on\r a bill for exp,enser because oft,en
they couldnrt even rent, ib for pasture. .As Daddy be-
came financially able, he[...]main
inLerest and keeping only a few cattle, Most of the
time we had a few milk cows as the cream alwa[...]morning and evenings we had to pull bhe can out of the
waLer, pour the cream in, then put the can ba[...]eepirg
bine wifh the milk sqr.rirts into the pail I wonder
now how we sounded, back then r*hen we didntt care, We
were doing a job that had to be done and doing some-
thing we liked at[...]tt Oh, anyplaceT
So he r"rent to the farthest end of the cow barn and he
sat down to an ani.nal that looked like a cowr He {
could not see very well, becauso it was Lo dark, It ;
turned out not to be a cowr I know that the nn,n ltas \
surprised and humiliated, but we[...]ny" While Daddy was stil} running the large
herds of cattle, before they were turned out on the
range in the spring, there was always one big Cay of
branding and dehorning, and ear-marking also went with
the job. I never liked branding day" Most all were
prt to use carrying water for those hard workers or
wood for firesr otr standing in a place wavi-ng your
arns to keep the poor victinn of the hot iron and knife
from getting away w[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (252)[...]t ever
they carried wit,h them or naybe stopping for the night,
near a ranchr where somebody woul-d offer bo pay though
,very few would aceept pay for a meal-, Wa sor of a law
lof the rangerl guess. Cattle were usually shipped
from nnd Septenber through the first week of October.
As I remenber it, the railroad prJ-ce, included the
return fare for -the catble owner or helper in fhe
shipping char[...]the cabt l-e cars, the exLra helpers could head for
home, )-eading Daddyts horse' This trip took the[...]eattle, These men went wifh the eattle
fo check that none got, down and tranpled on and also
to feed[...]et,imes was erowded anC
not -'yery eornfortabl.e, I suppcse they earried sonrething
t,o eat a'it,h th[...]' Ofi these trips
Daddy r*as gone about 2 weeks ' I remember one trip, he
got back to Lewistorryn and[...]the other haLf, One year, Daddy took 2 car
Loads of eaLtl.e to rnarkei ' There was about 50 head of
eattle for which he recieved $I20Q, dollars. Ihat was
about twenty dollars apiece. I doilt remenber the year
but it was before t93O'In the fal-l after several days
of riding and getLing aII the cattle togefherr the d[...]o to the
';/nrarket"
" The market was maybe in St Paul or Chieago
lstockyardg, When the bunch[...]we could help with the driver unfil they
were out of the mounlains where it was fhe hardest t,o
keep c[...]omeward, rnade grite a day' When we got the sheep
that mosbJy ended therttBig Cowboy Stufftt'[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (253)[...]to go to town and back in a (

d.ay. One of the neighbors had a blue Dodge touring
car that he would seII, so she bought it and learned[...]fo or not,. Gasoline powered
vehicles seemed out of Daddyts reaLm. He could repair
a, !{agon wheelrsp[...]ple farm rnachinery, but thaL was about the linit
of his meehanj_eal abitrity. He finally often hired a
bnucken Lo do hauling for hi,ru. He avoided. rnaking those
3 or { day tnips in the cold, When the time came that
aLmost e\reryone had .a carr or access to one, that was
about, bhe end of our convenience store. the post offiee
agaln move[...]Schwab?e homen on South Bench. Mrs h.own had
heen i}} a great, deal and ar*ay ard therefore it was a[...]e the
posf, Office n0ove, the people were looklng for a quick
and ehorter noute fon the mail to get out of Lerrist,own
ard. also bo give service to nnore pe[...]3 times a week t,o the
fam'ilies eout'h and east of Forest Grove who had t,o go.
to the post offiee for thein nail' The governnnent I
allowed this new route to be established in 1930.[...]e ranchere went on with Life everyday regard
Iess of what came up. After Daddy had got some of the
M.i,d,d}e Bench landr some wae fa1rl1ed and so[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (254)[...]sfack arrd had to be pitched by forkr oil and off of a
Xsad f,rom a rack., usually on a wagon gearsp w[...]arrer damns
)n our pLace, and if we had the right kind of weather
there would be thick ice, about I/a Lo 18 inches thick
on them. This was harvested[...]ep sawdust too. It was a very valuabl-e
necessity for homernade j-ce-creamr or a drink of ice
water in bhe sunrner. If, l{e were lucky and[...]lons, they were buried in the damp sawdusi
on top of the ice. Pubting up wood and ice were some
tjmes[...]worked hrard, many were ready on a
Saturday night for more of thioser rt Throw out the fur-
niture and dancetr part,ies. They were held at most aqy
oneis home for any occassion, Evident\y they were goo
therapy, D[...]Larger
cror,.lds attended these dances, .A, f,ew of us often went
to the d.ances held at the Forest G[...]d L93l+, Donations were oftern accepted and taken
for good causes. Mr Griff prrchased one of the first
radios to be owned by our near neighbor[...]i-rneg d.uring fhe
years, The nein culturaL doing of the y(:ar was usual\y
the Pine Grove Christnas Pr[...]d some good progralns. Eveny one came in besb of
clothing to nake the performers feel wothy. Maybe 30
people yrotrld be there" Santa or a heJ_per sh[...]e and coffe rnrere served" It wes an exciting day
for the school children. Iris McWilliams completed her
education to teach and appU-ed for the Lg36-37 term,
This was the last fulI year of school there. there
were no echool age chi[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (255)[...]re was frequ-
ent changes in growth and operation of the p1ace. f
berieve there was only I more land puchase. That wad
a place in the Durfy hilIs, South of the N-Bar ranch.
The last years on the home place brought personal
adversity to Daddy. As aII of ue kids approached to
adulthoodl we all changed in j-deas and personality, I
married in L935 and brother Jay joined the C.C.C. pro
gram for a yeer. By spring, Daddy had treded the home
plac[...]ming. It Just wasnlt his
goar in llfe. so by fall of L939* Daddy eord the stock
and land jn the Durfy[...]o visit his Moth en ard Sister. They stayed there I or
2 yeans, then deci-ded to go to California, that it
would be a good pJ-ace to be. Sorne tj_me duri[...]he would rather be baek in or
close to the pJace of his birth. He eettl,ed in Hot
Springs Arkansasn where he stayed for about 4 yea.rsc
FIe and a new wife then went back[...]e at
the age af 7Ar Daddy buiLt a 3 bedroom house of this
and Lhat and whabever he coul"d pick up at s[...]t time we were in Calid'ornia, Mrs Hiatt
was stil-I livi.ng in the house. Daddy paseed away in
Long B[...]Father
got his srnal-L empi.re built Just in tjme for ti to be
torn apart. Our I0 years there was a wonder{tI oxper-
ience, whieh I remenber fond\i.
We owe and I want to give a lot of credit to Mrs
Blanche Bnown for rnany of the accomplishments of this
past venture. She did as much as shc could t[...]passed. awiy in
western washi-ngt'on the sunmer of 1948, Her son claude[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (256) Stani Lankutis M,ade of Strong Stuff
Stani Lankutis who homesteaded southeast of
Forest Grove in l9llr was rnade of stnong etuff . He
was a Lithuani-an, who was drafted inLo the Russian {/
anEy in I90I, and fought the Russo-Japanese war qf
f90L-I905. Stani was captured by the Japanese in the
Baitle of Mukden in nor'thern China, and r*as a prison-
er ,)f war fon a year.- ilere ie the story that wae !n
the Democrat,-Newsr 5? years &8or that descrj-bed Sta'ni
with his war experience$r &nd h[...]Japanese wan w&s deecribed to Roy Marsh, mana8er of
th; Calvert HoteJ-, by Stani La,nkutis, proml-nen[...]He wae dnafted into the Russi-an
army in the falt of 190Ir and in l-904 the war between
Ruslia and Japan bnoke out. He Landed at Harbinn
Chinar or Chrlstrnas day of the same yearn aften they
travel-ed for 63 days in a box canrbefore affj.ving at
their destj.na'{:j-on. He f,ought in the BattLe of, Mukden
from Christrnas untiL the latter part of Februalyo In
this battle, his battalion of 3000 men w&s captnredt
i,+ith onty I0o surviving the horror, the others being
either killed sn wounded. The reunainden were herded
like cattle fon 21? days, until they reached the sea'
Lankutis was aprisoner of war for 1 yean, and then an
A,merican ship took him back[...]f,or $ ?-5.CQ a year. It' wae
during t,his peniod that he nade up his rn:ind to eome
to Ameri-ca and seek his f,ortune, He arrived in New
Yonk City in April of 190? with appnoxi-nately $ e'40
in his pocket, no[...]ld not speak
the Englisfr tanguage. In the spring of 1908 he came
to Fergus County and has reeided here since that time,
He fil_ed on a homestead at Foresb @[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (257)[...]by Leno Lankutis
Her are some of thenernories rry brother Justin & I
have of our folks, Mary andStani Lankutis, when we
were g[...]o Chicago, 'where he worked
in the railroad yards for a while. After hie brother
joined him frorn lithu[...]to
the Milwaukee Railroad. They dug the air shaft for
ventilation as their first job. Dad told of haring
the advertisement put out by the l"lilwauk[...]ed the
homesteads, because it meant more business for his
railroad. hauling out a lot of the homesteaders and
also their suppli-es. Dad, after his brother died,
came to Forest Grovel looki-ng for a homestead to file
ono The choj-ce sj-tes were pretty well claimed by IgIL
when he filed on I5O acres near where the present o1d
buildings are. I remenber hj-rn saying that he hat on
a rock and cried wondering what to do n[...], He went back to Roundup and bought a Hanbleton
i-an nrare which he rode out to Lhe honestead, She[...]d finally did at Rourdup where he
had bought her. I can remember the horse as a high
spirited nare that was the Mother of a Lot of Dadts
work and saddle horses. He then started }ooking for
a nachinery dealer who would let hj-n have a plor* on
credlt so he couLd break up sod" I remember hi-ur say-
ing the dealer that did so was BiIl Wiefuran Sr, who
ran the Montana Hardware " He vras the Father of Art &
BiII Wierlnan Jr". Dad said ltliednan told him that he,
rrlooked honesttf and he would trust him until fall.{y
Dad always admired I{r Wiedncn for his kindnosg. After
a, few years of batching, Dad decided thst this Has,
trfor the bi[...]his neighborsrsyversonsr,
Isaacsr and Boughtons, that he was going back to
Chicago to find a wife, ad if he didntt he wasnft
coming back. If that happened they could do vrhat lhey
wanted w[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (258)[...]Mike &
ltriek were severeJ,y gassed in Worlcl War I. Nick passed
away in t'he ]ate 1930is, and Mike m[...]to a dairy fanm where he raised 9 ehildren. Eight of,
whorn ar'e stiil livi.ng. Mothen wonked aE a seanetress
ard for the milroads cleaning pulfunan eatrs between[...]at, Fcrest
Grove, &d Look them home to the raneh. I renember
Mon te}ling about asking Dad what kind of a house he
had and that he was pretLy nrague as to the condition
et,c of the cabin. The finet shock Morn got r+as when
Lhe[...]th Mornrs indusLri"-
ousness, it didntt take long for hen to have thej-r
place pnesentabJ-e, with a coat of r+hitewash and a
real bedl then a Leanto added fo[...]who left, untiJ- he acqr.lired the pnes
ent ranch of over 3OO0 acres. The homesteadens were
most}"y Xo[...]en renb or sel-L thein property" tr can
remen*ber that one was fnom Indianan another was a
prizefighter,[...]g in his cabj-n bo
keep li.nbered uF . Justin and I would t"ake turns writ
ing Dadts Letters for hin, since he could onJy sign
hie name. tr dontt remember the foLks ever speakirlg i

Libhuanj"an except fon some word they couLdntt think
of in Engi.ish, but Jus0in can remember them speakin[...]fotrks never mLssed an electj.on in aII the years I
can remernben. They considered it, a priviledge t[...]under Ruesian rule where there were no
electione. I remernber Dad betng discouraged in the
I9ZOte and telling Mon that he would like to go back
to the old countryr to l-i-ven She said that if he did
he was going back alone, becauee in no way was she
going back to working in the flelds like she did as a
child. The ironlc thing r+as that she was the hired
248

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (259)hand in the fields for marly years until he could so
aff,ord a hircd man for part of the year. Even then
she would rather be out"doors working. I ean Just re-
mem er the 3Ora" A lot offellows worked for their
room and board during the winter v*hen the[...]t, whene he died 1n a
mine fl-ood. The big event, of, the year was going to
KJ-ein, to rrisit UncIe George Chieldj-nas. Justin tells
of, going by t'eam and buggy, a 2 day trip. He also[...]d Mom putting hjm to bed in the horse marrger. I
remernber (af,ter we went, rnodern), Dad gett,ing[...]would atJ. pitr-e into
the l4odetr T, a Foad.ster that Dad bought for L5 bucks.
Jown Flatwillow we wouLd go to,It 16 ni[...]m Nelson Lives fiowr Barring an abnormai. nurnber of
ilat t'i-ree and no Lhundenstonms r w€ usuatr-Jy go'b Lh[...]ts€rs, tr had a hard time convincltg
;he folks that it was no maJor undertaking to geb in
,he can and[...]year baby, having been born on February 2pth in
.8I8. So every {. years the neighbons would come from[...]with his
xpeni-ences in China and .Iapan.tr wish that there were
ape recorders then" because I wonrt attempt to recal
lot of his day t,o day experj-ences ovetr t,here, as I
ay not be accuraie. I do nemember hin telling of be-
ng crammed into a ship with hatches shut and[...]healy seas. Thi"s bringe back nremories to
Iot of fellows in Wor1d War II, of rioting againsL
he Japanese in prieon, becauee t[...]s they got, a,--
ty with it and got better food. I donlt reeall the
rpanese doing that during the Won1d War II. Dad told
f being etuffed into a little box Like our soldiers
249
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (260)[...]tured" These
Korea
incidents are some of the few I remernber and are fair
ly accurate on nly part. Dad was in r what I suppose
now would be a heavy weapons company. Instead of the
usuaf rnortars and machineguns, they used the[...]a 5 foot target consistent
1y at up to 1200 yards That was apparently the r€&s-
on for thettBattle sightsff on bhe old military rifles,[...]ed to make was in
Japan. Dad wae a prisoner there for a while during
the Russian-Japanese War. In other[...]rom our family. Dad forgot more
about horses than I will ever know, but when he tang-
Ied with motors[...]rr the last f ew miles were because Dad
got tired of fjxing flats or ran out of patching" The
drop center rims on the 29 Chevrolet, that, he could
not get to fasten were always a mystery[...]rnaster bhe technique. Dad had a bemper, so most of
the rirns, bore reny hammer dents and consequently all
sprung out of shape. So they had a distinctive sqreak
going down l4ain Street in Lewistown. I remember the
gates he had to fix whenr trthe dann[...]so she couldntt get
on out. She did walk the rest of bhe way home though.
Dad near\r died of the flu in l9L9' Justin lras a baby
sor George Is[...]fhe hill every day and
cut wood and do the ehores for },lom until Dad got
better. Mom didnrt know much[...]er coal at the McBride rnine.
After trading wheat for flour at the elevator, he[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (261)[...]reet Grove Merchantile store
ran by Oscar Hansen, for sugar, staples and maybe a
l"ittle candy too if there was money left. A big trip
I f ll- always remember, was r*ith I'iom on Saturdays to
Porest Grove wj.th the team a[...]sstr_yrs.
We wsuld then buy groceriee and get out of town while
the train was eoming back from Winnett[...]woul-dnrt scare the horses. The
annual vacation for Daci was a trip back to Chieago
with cattle. We t[...]the earlier days
during the hard times the check for the cattle would
banely pay the freight bill" The[...]d going to dances at somebodys house. Dad did
not like to dance, but Mom really enjoyed dancing if
Dad w[...]omebody played eards with him after he got there. I
remember a boy that worked for us, that had the most
stamina of anyone I ever knew. He wore a 1ight levi
jacket sunmer and[...]uld get on
nis hsrse,(usually one he was breaking for someone,)
rnd went d.own the road to r--., guess[...]him
rtaying home a night, although he rnust have. I do
remenber the one morning he was Late. His hors[...]ptt and fel1 off his horse &
tad to walk the rest of, the way hom€. WG were bapbis-
d Catholics, but[...]and Christnas. In later years, when
le had a car, of sortsr w€ would go to church in
'onest Grove, o[...]d in Winnett and had an old beat
pI926 chevrolet that he drove to Grass Range and to
'ceet Grove once a month. That was quite a trip in
'hose days. The homesteaders like ny folks, had real
ough tines, but they a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (262)little or no expense. A lot of thern, I think, were
just out for adventure and a little profit. This was
probab\r[...]art, after br:ing
all over Europe and Asia. A lot of the homesteaders
such as my folks didn?t have arq[...]ng the depression yearsr so theyhad to rnake a go
of it. The country was not fulJy settled when qy
fol[...]c-
es and get into crops and gardens. In the days of
steam engines and threshing rnachines, l'lom told of the
crer,r eating a whole beef before they were d[...]moving in so, they otayed a week when they should of
been gone in a couple days. Dad also had to bomow[...]s, or otherwise he would have lost what he
had, I guess there Just wasntt ar\y money to be h[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (263)[...]Lillian and Tom Gregory
Parents of Myron Gregory
Lillian Gregory, Mother of Myron Gregory was born
at Cascade, Montana, then Montarra territoryr September
]2th, l-882, the daughber of l,lyron and Ellzabeth UIc
Daniels. She was a gnaduate of the Grest Falls high
school and a college in Ohio. l'lrs Gregory taught a
school for a time near Cascade, where she was rnarried
to To[...]e area. Lillian Gregory passed away in Sept
ember of tr946. She was a good business woman and act-
j-v[...]Gregory

Mother and Father of l4yron GregorY

2rt

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (264)[...]1876, the son sf Iseral Hayter Gregory (a
native of Seotland) and Mary Jane Hastingsr(who r+as
born i[...]rn inGreat falLsn January 15 th
1910, the son of Thornas and Litrlian Gregory" His
Father, Thonu.s Moruis Gregory rneved. Lo ChestnuL
Valley near Cascade in about L9A7, Thornas Mornis was
born September 2I'f875, in Dekalb County neatr Stew-
artsville, Mis[...]MacGregor, was outlawed in Scotland"
Some members of the CIan changed their nane to the
now-Gregory name which signi-fiesrtr the son or descen
dant of Gregor" lf;rronts mother, Lillian (Mcnaniel),
was[...]2rL882, in Cascade County and
grew up in Chestnut VaLLey" After finishing high
school in Grest Falls, she[...]llege in Ohio, Return:lng to Mont'.nar she
taught for a tine at the Chestnut Valley school near
the town of Cascade, Lillianfs parents were [yron & {
Elizabe[...]ounty, New York, August 28thr1851, He was
the son of wilrismand MaryJane (Meade ) i'tcoaniers. The
Father, liilliem, !{as born in the norLh of rreland of
a scottish father and an rrish Mother, I'{yron I' . ran:iers
Iulother was born in England" wirriam[...]Utica, New lork,
where he went into the business of nraking soap and
candles. M;ron McDanieis canne t[...]ld" He came into Chestnut Valtey riding the
w4gon of Jinmie Austin whom he had met at Sun River"
He pre-enpted 160 acres of land and went in business[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (265)[...]also ran
r sawmill" He prospered in the Chestnut Valley and
rcgrired 5L2O acres, most of which were 1n the Sheep
lreek area. On August 3rL[...]She was born at Kj.ngstonrCanada
und at the tjrne of rneeting Mr MeDaniels, she was }iv-
,,ng in Alban[...]rew up on a smaLl
'anch 4 miles from the ChesLnut Valley schoo] and 8
tiles from the town of, Cascade. Ihey raised caLtle ,
rheeprpigerchicken[...]off the bus, because
hey had Just let a skunk out of the traps. It was an
ngenious way to get out of, going to schooln Myron
ent to the Chestnut VaIIey school for his first 4
rades. Then the school r*ae consolida[...]ooln He recie-
ed free rent, ad he cleaned a bank that was in the
rne buildi-:ng" Starting when he was )[...]re. He
rrked several years before he quit because of a lack
I money and the depression. He then left Bozernanr&[...]his Missouri relation.
.ving in Missourl was one of Iul;rronrs fondest memorj-es.
.s eousin, l4ary I[...]visits, Tom and Lillian Gregory decided
I move to Forest Grove area shortly after l"[yron ret
'ned to Montana. In the spring of L932r they moved
' the present Garber plac[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (266)ill and passed away that spring" Myron and his Mother
renLed at the Garber place for a short bime before
naoving to Lhe McCauley prlace' They stayed there for
several years as ren|ors, and then bought the pre[...]y ptace.on June 27 t 1935, Myron nranried l4artha i
Hill, The ceremony was at her parentts ranch at P[...]st son, was born in a s&rr Five more chil-d-
ren, I4yronC" (Bee) rJohnnArthur, Thomas (nrtcfr) and A.[...]st 2
sheep camps. He stayed in the sheep business for about,
2L years, T\llo of his favorite sheep-herders were John
ny Beal and[...]3, M;rcon rented the Brovrn p3-a,ce
on Flatwillow for cattle pasture ' i{e alss raised hogs.
In the ]atel960ts he starLeC[...]boar stock from around frhe country' His interesL
i_n hogs lead to his active participatisn in fhe Po[...]os" They necieved
several local arrd state awards for their contribtrtion
to the porl industry. AI1 Log[...]erience both befor and after ngrraige and in the For-
est Grove area incLuded l+6 yen,rs as a pork producer,
34 years as a sheep.rman, arrt 48 years of raising of
cattle, $rcon was veru fond of meeting people and
visiting" He loved to be on t[...]e road, He and Martha were able to travel to nany i
conventions and. spent several winters i-n Arizonia" t
He was a menber of the Fraternal Order of Eagles for
{2 years rMasonic Friendship Lodge L39 tcalvary cornmand
er }f Royal Arch Masonic chapber I5r AI Bedoo Shrj-ne
and. a lifetime member of the Central Montana Pork Co-
uncil, State Pork P[...]estnut Val}ey area and died withj-n a
few nonths of each other, Several of Lhe I0 FIaIey
children went to live with neighb[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (267)wetrr read and a member of the wornents cristj-an Ternp-
erance union. Gus m[...]rrgton in 1932 and
went on fo become Lhe rnanager of, the rargest rumber
xiIl j-n the Pennrnsul"a of Por$ A,ngel-es" lnl;rron passed
lway in March of 1980. He had recently returned from
.tlntering in[...]ill Gregory was bonn to Benjami-n J & Sigri-d
{il-I on Janua ry 7 ,LgL3, at the log }-iornestead house on
;he HilI Ranch south of Chead.le' No one could have
(nown, thab she would[...]d become an active
ribal part, in the developmenf of the cornurunity and
.ocal organJ-zations, Her par[...]ative Norueg-
-an6, giving her a direct, henitage of which she was
rary proud " Benjamin J Hill, hd ir[...]filing the homestead in
-88?. Sigrid (gere) HiU- i-rnigraLed J-n, 1!3-0, from TeIe
rark, Norway, arr[...]h Norwegian fri-ends and they
fere matrried in l-9I2" Withln a f,ew years, Martha and
rrother Ben wer[...]ing Norwegian Christrnas
,radi-tions, eating lots of fish. th€.t aruived in big
arrels from Minneapoli-s and ridi,r8 in the wagon to
'isit neighbors" One of the higltlights of her early
-ife rroras a tri-p to San Francisco, B[...]n to a warmer clinu'te
'or the devastating winter of f919, They ate fishr€xt-
ioyed tlre ocean and h[...]ide school, and Hent on to finish grade
chool at that location. During her younger years'
artha had a fondness for horses and i^lould cli-mg on
ny kind. One July Athrcelebration in Forest Grove,[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (268)[...]y horae" Martha won the racer but missed
the rest of the celebration" Martha attended Fergus (
County[...]ol" Her
church home was the Zoin Lutheran Ch rchr i+here she
was extensively invoLved in Luther Leagu[...]He feI} total-Ly in love with this love\y Norweg-
i.an girl" After a shorL courtship, Myron proposed[...]Ethel Kizer,
Marthats best fniend uras her nraid of honor. M;rron and
Martha Lived on the Mccauley pl[...]ande, eheep herders and cropsn lulantha took care
of the babies, J.iked the cows and naised a large ga[...]log rooms t'o kitchen and
triving area" The re*t of, the familJr, Anthurn?homas I
(gutc5), and, A,rdith were born in t,he next, six[...]nk aystem f,on 15 yeare, pr.ltti-ng through ealls for
ovetr 20 Foneet Grove, Fairview ard Surenuf, farnj-Iies.
When Lhe N- Bar ranch was part of the system, she
would have to pr.tt throtrgh up t[...]as a gracj-ous, dedicated and hard working
nember of more onganizatisns thnoughout the year$.
She was a memberroffleer and or President of the Arula
$nalJ,ey Chapter of tf,e Eaetern Star, Central Montana
Cowbel[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (269)[...]Council' 4 H was a very imporbant
'amily acLivity for the Gregorys ' lutrartha was a leader
,f the Forest Grove Feeders CIub, for 14 years. She
ras the guiding and supportive motivation that promp
,ed the six chilrlren to complete 57 years,[...]j-th achieved several
tate awards and trips. One of Marthats favorite on-
;anizations was t,Lre Eastern Star. She was n of,.ficer
nf member far 22 years and found tlee fraternal Chris
,ian fellowship a speciatr part of her life' Durirr.g
he 1970ts and earJ.y l980ts, Myron and Mantha travel-
ed mucfr of, the yean. They knew hundreds of people &
njoyed visit,ing fnierds and relatives[...]nly on
areh 1911980r upoil returnS-4g f,rorn one of their trrps.
,e was very deep3-y nnissed by l4ar[...]rne on the Gregory
anch, She passed away in M,ay of X983r following
everal lengtty illnesses' The c[...]b to thern, Benrraoved, to SeattLen John
esides i.n Lewj-sLown, [yron C, is at t'he home tranch,[...]h
.ucleur power, Thornas is 5-n ilougJ.as, Wyorn-i-ngr& works
or a gas compar{f, and. SJ-s - Ardith Lindgren, is a
rersoo€I depantmenb rnanager and secretary fon the A.
.I. company in Seattle, Washi-qgton'

Gregory Coat" of Arms[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (270) I4r and Mrs Ben HiII Sr'
Parents of Martha Gregory

26r

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (271)[...]l r+as born in llaugesonrNorway,
in 1858" The son of Joe and }dantha Haugeo He was or i
of, 7 ehildnen, anci grew up on the coast of Norwa
where his parents farned and fished. Both h[...]sane province, Thejr birthdays being
in the years of I82/i and k830. Een was educated in
Nonway throughrrrgyani-st!r which is the equivoLent of
our high school" As a yound nan, his first trade[...]ted States Citi-
z€rle It r+as during this time that he deeided to
change his narne to Hill. Thanslate[...]and in L885 filed on a
homestead" 3 rniles eouth of Chead1e" He p.rchased
more le.nd and etarted in t[...]s and also
purebred catt,Ie bueiness. Ben was one of the rnen r'lho
took a personal" interest in the organizati-on of the
Fergue County Rrrebred Livestock Association, which
was one of Lhe mo,st ef'f,icienL organlzatione at the
tjme w[...]s in the county.
He assj-sted in bhe organization of t'he first Cooper-
ative Grain Elevator Co", in Fergus County and was a
director af the Eqrity Elevator Co. of Forest Grove. ,

A frienJ of nary of the early pioneers, his daughter, l
Martha[...]d house now stards. He
tnaded it to Swend Holland for a honse, which he
ne\retr did nide, but always led with him. In I90I he
returned to Nonway for a vj.sit. Through the years he
spon$ored around 2[...]stop at Teddy BIue Abbottrs place
r+ith rnail for them. He was always greeted by a boul[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (272)[...]in lglL6- He was
ln accurate observer and student of events. Ben will
ulways be remembered as having great respect for his
iami-\r, and neighbors and always had a kind word for
;hem,
l,lrs Sigrid HilL Berg
iigrid Berge was born i-n Telemark, a province in the
-nland and central mount,aln area of Norway, August 2,
-884r to Svening and A,ustrj-a, Berge. She was the third
:hild of ten childf,€no She ruas educated in rural Nor
t[...]lk 7 niles to school. Sigrid
torked and took care of ehildren to accurnrlate enough
toney to come to t[...]y j-n about 1910. Her first jobs hrere in
rorking for families around Lewistown, while she was
.earning to speak English, $he filed on a hornestead
l,afun north of Forest Grove, but due to coyotes hor*l-
ng ard r[...]his venture she niaryied Ben
ill, and spent most of her busy lif,e on the Hil-l
anch south of Cheadle, Her religious ethics and her
candinavia[...]subnitted, was chosen fon therZ n
utheran Church of Lewistown, of whi-ch she was a Ij-fe
ember. Her husband passed[...]ati-on, She had 2 chil-dn€n, Martha and
eru In I92l+ she rnarried John Berg" They had t gi-nI,
ileen Brandt of Lewistoyn. This q.riet spoken, plea-
tnt[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (273)[...]Your Life
(sr bitgand pieces of it)
by trrj"s Abbott[...]At
the t.ender age of 2 ,she
her I'Iother and 2 sietens[...]fe,
Juri.y l3thr L983 r+ith a wal,k of 3 niLes to
school-. Part of the time
they had school at, Lheir home. In L9A5[...]ype by handrl*hich was no smaLL task. The wj.nter of
Ig13 and l-9}4r juet af'ber Li-L got out og the Bth grade
she taughL a futrI ni.nemonLh tern of, schoo] six niles !
from the fanS.iy hone" Eight months out of the nine I
she roGe horseback to sahool every dayn Because of bad
weathen she wae fonced to board wj.th a Russi[...]il eupper time. $he got so lonesome and home
siek that she cried everT dey for a whole month. Lll
and sister Connie cane to Montana in I914r and took
up homeeteads. They hired Eel Finn a[...]d me $35.00 to build her homestead, cabln
and now I?11 spend the rest of n\y life 'rorking for her
264
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (274)fior nothing.tt To prove up, on the homestead Lil ]-ive
I there LB nonthe to establish residence. She dug out
;he spring and nade a box for it" made troughs and
tiped water down to Lhen, plowed up land and raj-sed
I ctrope During these busy sl.unmers she helped r+i[...]year LiI worked at
;he hotel in Forest Grove" At that time Forest Grove
ras a bustU-ng Little community consisting of a hote!
rlevator, restaurant, post off,j.eerblack[...]Lil stayed with
hem did the cooking and eared" for the children" May
aught the lst- .f,oun gnades,[...]er 14 gradee " Ihe school had the fj-rst 2 y'ears of
igh echool also" One Xe&f,r whj-Ie Lil taught Mi[...]l\y drove in a one-horse buggyt
robab$ a distanee of /** or 5 rough miles one way.
il- went back to Gackle in I9f5, Disaster struck the
ohnstad family at Chrietnas time of that year, when
he hotel burned. Lil sister Connie and[...]d
ouse and moved to Montana in the epning toon In I9t6
ills sisterrPollyrher husband, ard 3 children[...]Dime
bore. While she was r+orkirrg for Woolworths was
flfered the nanagership of a Woolworth Store in Ka]i-
reII. Because of Edfs work she was unable to accept
re Jobrbut she did teIl her bosertt ht I donrt lctow
rough to rnanage a store.tt ll[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (275)[...]unt Studiol rnaking costunes " She
r*orked on a $ I0r000 full length black velvet gownt
trimmed r*ith genuine Ermine, and eovered with sequins,
This was nade for Lillian Gish. At this ti-me LiI also (
worked aL a delicatessen for a fiery litt,Ie Italian
who fired her every day,[...]ad lived before. Ed, &&o-
aged ttre elevator here for & years " In f930 they noved
to Geyser where they[...]dup where Ed
worked on the Rehabilitation Program for 8 months" He
took sick that fall and passed away in FebruarXr of
L936. The sunmer of 1936 Lil r+orked for Bargerts Photo
Shop in Lewistown, In I93? she cooked 6 weeks of the
summer seaaon for the Knof,fsinger Transportation Co'
at Glacier Pa[...]r Recre
ation camp or Dude Ranch in the foothills of the Snowy
mountains, on bhe north f,onk of Flatwillow creek' Here
LiI did the cooking and ke[...]0 to 1950 they rented the camp Lo
the GirI Scouts of Roundup. From 1950 to L959 they !
rented ca[...]\
campers. In l9l+7 Lil was named Superintendent of the
Artdeedlework department for the Central tr{ontana Fair
in Lewistown. A fain board official pointed out that
fr she had this spot for a number of years and is a
real expert.tt Lil thought sherd pnobably had bhis Job
for 9 or possibly IO years, but when we figure[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (276)[...]them to Roundup. After there r+as no moe demand for
mj-ne propsrthey eut poets and poles. These went[...]ht with thern and she
spent her time in the shade of a tree, i* her wheel
chain, watching the birde, squimilsrchipmunksretc"
While they wetre cuiting tj-mber, a I'ellow cELme up fron
Melstone and saw Lhem tired,[...]the Insurance Center where
urrey were taking care of things while Erd & LiIIian
Kirkpatrick nade a bus[...]in the world 2 girls would work up in the timber like
that at that' heavy wonk, when they could be holding
down a job }ike that. trn l-95b &. L955 LiI worked at the
Roupdup Meno[...]oundup, both as a maid
and in the offiee.ln spite of Lilts busy schedule she
has never missed the opp[...]Joy life to the
fullest along the way. He!" love of travel is evidenc-
ed in the following list of a f,er* places she has saw
and been; She has seen all the western states and some
of, Mexieo, all the Northern sta.tes, the New Englan[...]friend on Whidby Is
land, a 3 week overseas tour of Norway, SwedenrDenmark
Scotland and lreland with a wonderful Grayli-ne tour
of, New York City on the return tri-p. She has also[...]birthday parties and
aniversary celebrations for friends, and playing in
all the rnarathone[...]s many as 3 at a tine. she stil does a great deal of
crocheting for epople, pi,eces and ties qrilte for
charitable organizationsr,&d makes m[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (277)for our local rest home and hospital. Shets still gane
for arlything and ready to go at the drop of a hat. If
you sayrrr Letts go Lil"rr She saysrrWh[...]o eome and help us celebrate LiI?s 90th birthday, I
am sure we all wish her marqr years more of health and
happineeslrtl Over 100 relatives and friends attended
the open house for Lilfian Finnrs gOth birthday, aL
the Rsundup Odd FeIlor+s hall, JuIy I3thrL9B3r from 2
prrn. ts & prllt in Roundup. Rela[...]Flhn , brother-in-law ard sister--in-
law of Ed Fj-nn - Husband of Lillian Fi"nn
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (278)[...]n Johnstad Finn
Nestled in the foothill-s of the Little Snowies is
r/ the long deserted Double Diarnond Bar Dude Ranchn ( 99 )
The ranch conslsted of a big lodge and two sleepirg
cabins, all constructed of native }ogs. It j.s surr-
ounded by giant pine and fir treesr r*ith an abundance
of wild flowers. {y husband Edr had passed away a
short tjrne before and r\y sister Polly Kirkpatrick, &
I needed a means of income, preferably one which would
allow us to[...]beloved home ranch. We came
up wi-th the idea of a dude ranch, with Po1ly to take
the guests on pack trips, and me to prepare the good
country meals for the guests. We slecLed the name from
ury brand[...]We
selected a beautiful spot on the north fork of Flatwi
Ilow creek, which was well stocked with[...]a, a coal niner
from Roundup, and it was rnade of love\r natural rock
collected from rrarious parts of our ranch property.
Ttre Lodge consisted of one large nrain room with the
fireplace. The f[...]rer rocking chairs
/and a Jarge hand made table for the dining &rea. Tkte
room was deeorated in a[...]r ant
lers, a mounted buffalo head, the barrel of an old
arny gunran Indian harnmer and arrows,[...]cabins, one near the lodge & one on the slope, that
was reached by a stairway or a cljmb up the st[...]as cornpleted ,and our fi-rst guests '
a group of seven from California, amived on July 18
1938,[...]days
and stayed 2 weeks. We did a snalL amount of newspaper
advertiiements sent brochures[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (279)[...]ed fishing and swiming, which diversion
eonsisted of lots of splashingr and vrhen fhe wafler
was high enoughrd[...]riding, and rela:ci-ng" Guide pack trips wetre'
pta.nrred and c&pied out by PoIIy and occasionally by[...]own, Rourdup, ad Grass Range.
llle also leased it for nany years to the Roundup GirI
Scouts for their srunmer camps. Today it is sad to re-
turn[...]unlovedl but standing among the ruinsr one
can 'i rnagine the wonder{\rl hapfy hours thab once were
spent in that splendid setting.[...]v-i$[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (280)[...]1885. When a yound man of
14, he and a friend of
his would take the goats
up into the Alps for the
surnrn€Fo They did this for
2 summers, saved t[...]ayed with
his friend for a while &
then went[...]ired as a
cabin boy for the officer
of the shi-p. He told us
nany stories of the ship and the sea. From San Fran-
cisco they saj-Ied around the horn of South America to
Australia and. back. The ship was called ttrerts{ayfiel{
the ]ast, of the saili.ng ships. When the storms at sea
would[...]to run up the mast to roIL the
pails uponr a gust of r*ind would blor* the nast over
the sea. Father s[...]er. Xpnder"
Anothei tine the sailors told Father, that r that
night they were going dovrn the hole to egt one of the
officers llve chickens, to eat. They ask Fath[...]worked on a dairy farm in Livingston,
l,lontana , for several year. When he was 21, he heard[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (281)[...]s a beautifut tittle spot" He built
his cabin out of logs, bd a we]} and another building
too, In lgtl[...]chool board" One
day '*hile he was up on the roof of the school, one of
his friends ask him why he was there workingr as he
wag a bachelor" Father saidrtt Who knows, maybe someday
Itl-I have a fanily, He }ived. there seveml years' He
told us of his life on the homestead, his neighbors,
the San[...]l the people r*ho had places
beside him, He spoke of the N- ranch" He said he got
very lonelyn Just he[...]ld it, to the Gearys ' Hi-s cabin
is still a parb of the Geary homen (He lived on t'he
Homestead for ? years.) He went back to $wit,aen].and
for a wife, He found qy t.Iother, A young g5-rl working
in the city of Lousanne, on the shore of I.ake Geneva"
They lrere married in 1913, in Pompa[...]yed with his folks as she was wibh
child, In May of l9l4r Mother cane on the lasL of
the passenger boats bo the United Statesr &s World
War I was on and this was the Last, ship f,or them.
Fa[...]Range, and again Father got a new
homestead east of Grass Range' Their homestead joined
OIe olsens, Norman Nicklesonrthe George crooks, and a
I,lrs Boles to the north' So rtrite Father uorked o[...]abin, Mother got the Qozy
Restaurant, at the end of the street, by C1arks store.
She had the pJace for 2 years ' Ttto sisters were born
there, The Doct[...]hing. Father came home after the r*ar' He worked
for J.MnJohnsonrJust over & hill from us, for a tine
then rtent back to working on the rallroad, from Grass
Range to Teigen. I can remember Mother taki&g a buggy
on Fr[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (282)[...]rshrcactusrand snakes" The
winters were so cotrd,,I tremomber Mother having t,o walk
bo Ol-e OLsens to get xrd.l-k, Sheid light the i-ight, and,
stoke the heati-ng sboven and LelI us[...]were 5 t3 t& 2" Three othen
children were born on that, homest,ead. ' |4y sister & I
werTL to the Kinnick school i-n I92l-, Father heard of,
another farm, better ]and for rent on the Mc DorlaLd
Creek, So in L922 they moved Liaere. ,[Il of us child-
ren went to the Doulghty SchooL, Yerbetter L"and, they
i-ived there ? years r&d t,hey did very well-. In 1930
they moved to fhe Crouse pla,ee east, of Grags Range,
Lived there about, 3 years, then mov[...]e next to the BLake pJ.,ace,

Wedding picture of MrJ{rs Alice Louise Bonzon
Frede[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (283)About that tj-me the depression was onr- In December
of L935, t'ather went to Seattler Waehi-ngton and got a
beautlful home for us all. Mother was 8o happy. She
saidrfr They tell rne ,there ,it is Just like it is in
Switzerland.rt She made so nany plans. In Febnrarr5r of (

L936, she got very ill and was taken to the[...]eet her on the
train in Grass Range, she had died of a heart attackt
before leaving the hospital. She was buried on the 5
th of March. The 15th of llareh we were all loaded w"ith
aII our eanthly b[...]w home in Waehington" We amived there the
evening of the l9th. We all dld wellr but Father could
not c[...]e now U-ves in
a beau.tifrrl home in Swltzerland. I visit him often.
We Juet saw hjft in Septenber of f984 . He is now 99
and, very active and alert. When we do see him, he
speaks so nuch of his horne in Pine Grove. His eyeg
fight, t[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (284)[...]by Raymond Francis Fishburn
This i.s a story of the advent and progress of the
,John Fishburn Fanily at the approxi-mate date of rBB0
ivhen they arrived in l'Iontana. Ben Fishburn, as did
many other men at that t,ime, with his wife and brood,
of youngsters, found it, advisable to move westl f,n[...]war be-
tween the states had ended, and promi.se of f,ree land
out west sounded rea,l- good to Ben, S[...]cessit,ies ;: covetred wagono, muLes, and a tearn
of horses and other gear needed. for such a trip, they
headed west" Ben had heard of the government opening
up huge tnacks of l-and in Okl,ahorna to be hornesteaded,
Ben appar[...]nd finaJ-3y arni.ved at the then very
suai-L town of Lewistown, Montana, I do not i:aye the
d,ates and am writing soleJ.y from msmory of events
that iletre tord to me' Ben fiJnarry f,ound. his piece of
land at Castl-e Brtte near Lewisbown, tWhy?tton\y God
knowsl r wilL at this tine list the names of, Benrs
end his nifel Marganetts children;- MarljG[...]er boys,
rnd if lqy memory serves me right, & boy of ll years
cId, was considered. old enough to rnake[...]e mineE" They were expect
contribute some of their eannings to the f.*iry
ttilt!o at homenttl[...]boyn
id
ieorge, had searched and found his piece of land., I
lay his piece of land, because that is exactly what
:ach of these people vere S"ooking forr- eortr€thing,
rspeeially a tiny piece of this worrd thst theJr couta
:arr their owrtrr r c[...]the
;hrirr they wourd feer Just with Lhe thought of orin-
-ng thelr olrn pJace" This spot rras at, I believeo tha
,gld of lfler Creek, or thereabout, appnoximatley t2
rires south of Forest Grove, !.{.onta;a,-Soon after Geon
;e home[...]hn, moved in
rith him and proceeded to do his bit of homesteadins
'n adJoining land, The herd w[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (285)[...]urse there were
certaln goverrunent req,rirenents that had to be met i1
order to become &n owner. A building to live in,[...]nd persuaded her to
E6rry hjm and become the lady of hls new donain. WeII
the way I look at it, the r*lfe of a homesteader was a
life of hard work, frugal tr-iving, and a hope thet, thi
nge would get betber eomeday. I will at this tilne j-n-
troduee you to ry I'lother, Juli^a. She and her falilIlly,
her Mother, a sister E114, and I brothersn Nelsr Hans
and chrls Nelson came to the[...]cording to Motherrs sj-ster ,
EILa.. ttrey stayed for a short time at the Day reaid
ence after arrivlng in LewLstown. I believe they then
movd to Just eouth of the big spning and took up a
honestead if I a^n not nistaken. That was only a few
uriles from the Ben Fishburn homestead on Castle Ertte
It seems tiketry that ny Father and l*Iother went to the
saee echoolo Uut f an not certain. I do remember viv (
idly some of the tales uy l{other told me about the
ti.rnes rny Fathen hauled f,rieght by teams of horses &
wagons Lo rrarious places. He hauledloads of nool to
nort Elenton, to be shipped to Eastern factolies-
picking up a 1oad' of groderiesrdrygoodsrwhiskeyrand
iff Hina" of tools etc to beul back to Ler+istown'
l4any tj-me he r+ou}ti be gone for a nonth or 6 r,reeks on
a trlp" Lnagine, if you c[...]tle wonant
alone at the homestead with only a dog for compaffr
Sheneven adnitted to me that she was ever afraid tho-
ugh.It was only about ![...]h did
rather lsolateone from the other. Qne story I recall
was, that ny Father had a hlred nan to work around[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (286)[...]spring ti-ne end the cows were calving. It
seens like this hired nan was avery anbitlousrhard
worki-ng[...]d kettle filled with nilk, r'rlth
a final result of sinply feedi:rg it to the plgs. A4y-
way the men[...]he pigs get fat' On October Sndr 1903, the faniJg of
John and Julia increased by oller PauL was born.[...]ad
a pet Fawnrpet skunkrd,og several cate a,\ild I donlt re-
member what elsee but he clai-ned, that before Paul
could rralk, he would be on hard when Mother would
filt a blg pan ftrlt of nilk.The fawnrcaterdogrekunk,
and PauI would aIL drink out sf that pan at the aane
ti-ne. Cou1d be tnrel About ever[...]ite little devi}, who could taLk most anyone out.
of anything she wantedrand usual,ly did. Bescie was[...]ken
arm bone or sonething. According to r€cordo I was the
next to arrive on the scenerJanuary U+trt[...]remenber a thing about ltlt In those days and at,
that date the snow uas ustlslly very deep and the tenp
-erature qaestionable, I donrt reneulb€r r*orrying about
it. Vere was th[...]eyes, was rather short and chubby and waa af,raid
of nothing. When she was 5 ot 6, it was not a wise
p[...]_

with sticks elones or anything e3.se that she could tay
her hands ono She fi-nal\y becane q[...]at
riding calves- whieh ls pretty tricly bucinese for a
kid,. She ras also very good on a bucklng horse and I
never saw her puII leather. Kenneth uas next ln l[...]g litt}e fellow. He was so
quiet and unobtruslve, that eoveral tj-nes he wae eev-
erly inJured because n[...]would happen. One ti'ne he
had follored the reit of the klds into a pasture where
there vfaa a big nean sheep. WeLI the rest of us beat
the sheep to the pole fence, but w[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (287)[...]app-
ened again+ Just as he wal"ked under the end of the
board it fell oooee and t"he sharp corner of of stntc|
him sqrare on top of the head.. I aan stii.I eee that i
poor little SuXr r,'lith that tenri-ble hol-e in his headt
and the blood pouning out of, it" Agai-n in a short ti.ne
he was out and aroun[...]very good, ti-ne. ELvin wae the ]ast and youngest of
the Fiehburn tribe, and probably neny of'the people
who will, nead this account,r reI have knor,rn Elvinr &
l"ot hebter than I did as he was still in sahool when
I l-eft the hornestead ard went out to seek ry fori[...]e wsyr has managed to elude ne up to the
presenL. I believe thi"e is a somewhat accunate and
honest aacount, of the John Fiehburn f,amilyn tr ann un
happy[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (288)[...]d and Olga Holland
in early I9OOrs
Rattlesnakes
by Alice Holland Bock
I was raised inMontana, on the Swend HolLand ranch a
few n:lles north of Forest Grove, so know something
about rattlesnakes. Believe j.t or not, the last one I
'[saw was i-n Fresno, Californbr in the surrner of 1939.
was really surprised to see I rattlesnake in the rnil
dle of a city of 581000, I nas living on the alley ,
facing second avenue. One hot sumer day I vrae out in
front of the house standing on ny poetage sized yard,
when I noticed the rattler going down the al}ey. lry
fir[...]ll it, but.'not havlng anything
to do it with, I gave it a wide berth, and watched it
cross second avenue and go on down bhe alleyeSome hou-
rs later I heard a yell from that direotion and figur-
ed someone had discovered the snake, I Often wondered
how that snake happened to be in a city of that size.
I trave lived in California, roamed the mountAina e[...]lesnake before.
However they say there are, a lot of them in the area
279
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (289) Incidents of Interest and Fiumor[...]n passenger Stud-
ebaker. f think he drove it fon I years or so on the
verg rough noads rue enjoyed in those teen years. He (

put many rniles on that autornobi"le going to Lewj-st,own
for suppJ.iesrand t'o Forest Grove fon the rnailr & to
tend camp. Of,ten the roads were not fit for man or
beast. Many conversations took pJ-ace at or nffi,r the
foot of thl'Sand Hilli ttris rri.It had very }ittle sand
o,n it and Lhe name was probably some homesteaders
title of humor. The hiII is now call"ed the di-vide hiLl
b[...]d & pull a car up the hill
as welI. Mother bell-s of one trip i^rhen she was with
Swend, when he made 3 trips up[...]itL
pulling other cars bo the top. Swend was bhat kind of
neighbor. When I4r. Holland first came to this country,
he worked out for other peopl-er until he was old err-
ough and had[...]s a horneeteader. One lor€ time f,riend
toLd me of a funny incident. Ir.r, the early days when
Mr Hollandnrade hj-nself a cot ueing the riails that he
coul-d find around the place' These naj-Is turned out
to be fencing sta.ples, and were very expensive. I,un-
derst'and he got fired on the spot, but later he became
a. very good f,riend of his .forrner ernployer"At times r+e
had lobe of vieitors at our placen i" it beeattt. a (

stopping place for farnilies who Lived farther north &
east of us and resided much sloser to the Missouri
brakes[...]e in oun life
style. It was a very speci-al tine for the young folk.
Arry time wae a time for pranks. Short sheeted beds for
some, snipe hunting for otherse but one time on HaIf-'
oween rqy folks told of waking up one Nov. 1st and
viewing a fullfledged spring wagon put togethel on top
of, their ehicken house. How the crew rnanaged that we
280

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (290) never did find out.
I4r liol-l"and was a long ti*" member of the Elks
Lodge, & had quite a nice EIk tooth chain fob. He got
so used to canrying the wateh and chain that, he wore
the d,ecorat,ion long after the watch ceased to trun.
I,,iris Holland thought this was lrnnecessary since[...]at time it was. This usually happened
when he was i-n a deep conversation with a very good.
friend. T[...]g by boat to New York , then by train to the
city of Billings, Montana. To Ubet by sta.ge rrhere he
had a job for a time. Janet(called Jessie), came also
fnom Scot[...]y eontinued their trip by horse &\l&,gon
to south of the snowies whene AIex ran sheep with J.
B. Elliot, until he bought the beginnings of the Mor-
rison holdings at the headwaters of the South Fork of
Flatwil-Iow Creek in the Snowie Mountlins, in Fer[...]essie, Douglas, George, Lavinia r ad Henry. Ihree of
the Morrison children ,Be1la, Douglas, & George, home
steaded open land in Fergus County that Joined the
home ranch.In 190&, AIex Morrison bought the central
part of the lvlorrison holdings, An early map shows
that some of this part of the ranch belonged to Hugh
Mclean who homesteaded in that area in the 18901s.
CarI Erlcksonspent one winter[...]ld. M? Morrison built the
first Pine Grove School for hls children and the nei-
ghbor childrenr&paid th[...]d by stage to the Ru{\rs
thompson ranch northwest of Roundup, twi-ce a week .[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (291)Probably the first keepers of the Pine Grove Post,0f-
f,ice was the Hugh Mclean[...]ch when Mr Morrison prrchased it.
The forest fire of 1910, the largesbin that area since
the turn of the century oceured in late JuIy, i.rr the
Half Moon Cargron. The fire is believed to[...]tni-ng. Si-ncep there was no Forest Ser
vi-ce at that time. the fire burned out of control fo:r
some time except for the local ranchers who were just
beginning to fearn about fi"re fighting. A back fire
was started & because of a change in the wind, the
fire nearly burned out the Frank M,aynard & Archie
Me Lean buildings. T\,ro feet of snow fell in that area
the last week of August which prt the fire out. In
f90B there was[...]h caused by a ra-
nge disputeamong the sheeSrnene of the surrounding area.
The Post Office was the meeting place of the 2 parti"es
whick resulted in the death of one of the said p.rties.
AIex Morrison was a hardy early day rancher and could
shoot guns like a movie cor+boy sure shot. He used to
tell the story of his good all Scotch Blanketl whi-ch
he prized. No[...]s point and nrt 2 fast
bullet holes in the center of the blanket. The two
drifters left like greased lightning. Bella used to
tell of hrer Dad using his colt revolver as a sheep
dog, He could turn a bunch of sheep with his colt
pistol by kicking up rocks ej-ther in front of or
behind them or at their heelsr thus saving him end-
less walking. Strangers often stopped at the ranch
for a meal or an over night stay. One drifter remark-
ed to Alex that he had a very fine horse in his stable
and the next, morn:i-ng the drifter and the horse were
gone. The drift[...]s
to , the nighty fine horse was never recovered. For
the most part people partaking of early day western
hospitality were honest travele[...]riety to their work-a-day life & brought
the news of other friends and neighbors. Duning the
rairly se[...]long ar[r creek there is usually a s]t€rmp area that rnay
be a stock hazard. Stockmen learned t[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (292)[...]mud.on one such occasion Mr Morrison found a cow i_n
deep rnire and in cowboy fashion with the ai-d of his
cow pony & Lariat was able to pulI the cow to dry
land. The bossy fert that she had been handred in a
most undignified mann[...]Alex in a most undignified fashion.so
rhe started for him, head lowered ind with great speed
rith nostrils snorting. what to do? of courie Alex
ran. but the bovine critten wae nap[...]he
listance between them. Mr. Morrisonrall 6 feet of him
lecided to cross the swamp wiEh hrs Desl prac[...]ow. She was stuck in the mud again. AIex
tecided that the bovine crltter could stay there until
,e had[...]help, Jessie Morrison was dearly
.oved, because of her hospitality and keen wit. Both
lex and Jess[...]il their
ast years. They lefb a cornbined legacy of over a hun-
red years of service to that FJart of Fergus County.
Swend and Olga Holl[...]>ther died, & his perenbal Grandmother took care of
Lrn and. younger brother san, and 3 younger sist[...]r alxl the Mediterranean Sea" He sailed in a
rip that he called a fuII rigger and often talked of
.s life on the s€&r the talk of the tjmes, was the
rportunlties to get ahead in[...]e land. to be had in the weet. At lTrSwend
,ided for lulontana, r*here he worked for a tlme near
g sandy. He soon found a Job near Grass Range, where
-worked for Mons Teigen and learned quite a bit of
ising livestock. Especially the sheep business' He
s 2I, when he hornesieaded sn the North Fork of the
Oorraid creek, north of Forest Grovep in 1892' Mr'[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (293)[...]and
cattle and buying other homesteads and farms for the
next 51 years. In 1pg!, Swend nrarried Olgs[...]d long hours arul together developed a fine i
ranch. There were 11 children who survived, Jenr[...]and liked to talk about
the hornestead days. 0n6 of his repeated staternents
wasrrt In the early days[...]There was no place much to spend it.tr He spoke of
them as, trThe Early DaysT Olga Holland, 188I-1963,
had the gsual education. She lived. near a[...]hose
parts. She also had gone to cooki-ng school for a year
and was an unusually fine cook and housekeeper. She
was Talented and sensiLive. OIga found much of the
early homestead life a hardship, ard dietaste[...]n about it. She niesed the
gaiety, parties, & fun of the settled conrunity she
was used tol but she pe[...]ng
are places hornesteaded and proved up on after I9IO.
EarI Steelels homesteadr the l4arker plaeer SLeve Shea,
Mose laIbay lived on the ranch in a cabj-n for a tj-me.
Ivly brother, Swend says that ltlr laTray sold Dad 80 A
at one time. There rnay be others , but theee are aLI
that I can remember. Places that bordered on the HoI-
lard Ranch (rnost of then homesteads are;- Frank GaII-
asr Char[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (294)[...]Qct 5throf
came
1905. That day Mrs Holland was in labor with her sec-
ond ch[...]in bringing Jacob jnto the world, alive and well.
i.lenny and Jacob were the only 2 Holland children[...]He died
one March day at the GiIt Edge Hospital of $phoid
Fever. Swend Hotland thought he had the fineet, neigh-
bors to be had and for the most part he did. Four
homesteads, one to the east of the ranch, & three to
the west sj-de of the ranch were often rented places "
Souietimes j-ncidents of litt,le conseqfrences would oc -
cur in relation ts these lented pLaces. Mr Holland
often had a few old ewes that were to old to rnake the
trip to the sutnmer pas[...]was some distance
away, and he kept a few wethers for bubcheringrwitlt
the old ewes. Ihese were kept in a pasture west of th-
e house . One sunmer day they were ur"issing.[...]a hole in the uoven wire fence and went on
vlest, of their own accord or they nay have been help
ed to[...]ing was different about
them. Ihe painted bLack S that Mr Holland used as a
sheep brand had been clipped[...]a crew around 1n
the early days, as it took a lot of people to do the
Vork that had to be done. He enJoyed his neighbors &
Ln tru[...]her.
Mr and !{rs Holtand were charter members of the Zoin
Lubheran Church in Lewistown. Mr Holland btaa a member
of the EIks Lodge and the Eagles Lodge. In 1943 r Mr
Hol-la,nd reblred and }eased his ranch for a short time
until- hls soli-dame home from World[...]along with
other enterprie€€r r He lives much of the tirne j-n New
Mexico. Jenny lives ln Ornaha,[...]isalia,
California, and Selma lives 5 nlles south of Roundup,
Montana[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (295)[...]in
the eldest son of NeiI InI. i
and EIva M. lundinr& Jrd
chilo in a fanily of 4
was bornrJa[...]iew District No 1I? near
his homeran[...]grade, he got T.Bn in one hipr and was in a cast for
9 months from hj-s waist to his knee" He rnaster[...]ea.r Lewistownr& Iived there until
Lt was sold in I948r when herhis wife and fani\y moved
to tbhone r[...]l+7 he rrarried
Ida },l,ay Breckenridge, daughter of John &llsonrand
Margie Eva Breckenridge of Hilger, l"Iontana. Four chiLd
ren were born to theni- Mrs John L Perguson(Starljne)
of A.lexandria, Virginia ; l'lrs Micheal McGregor(I,1,arce1La)
of Grest Fallsrl'lontana; Raymond James Lundi-n of llavre,
l'lontana; ard Dwaine Edison who passed a[...]e ranch.Their 3 children attended the same school i
their Father did at Fairrriew Dist. II7,, then we[...]avre, Montana" Jj-m was first
elected as a tmstee of the Fai-rview school in l952ra
position he held u[...]Grass
Range schools, He was elected as a trustee of Grass
Range High school in 1960 and held that position until
1958, when he would no long[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (296)[...]George Snith
) t have been told of the following incident thpt
happened at a dance[...]e fellow from Moore saw
Jin on the opposite side of the dance hall and he
rushed over and grabbed Jfu, and chewed off the top
of one of Jimts ears. The fight was broken up by
bystanders and the farmer from Moore left for his home.
A few days later, after giving the i-ncident some
thought, the farmer frorn Moore, dr[...]lete\y astounded by
such an offerras S 500.00 at that tjme was quite a
windfall, kind of J.ike the pot of gold at the end of
,the rainbowr &rrd Jimrs response to him wasrtr Jesus
rChrj-st! Mr; give me $ 5Oo.OOrand. I will let you bite
the other ear off.[...]Rasor

' W George Smith
Most all of the older folks of the Forest Grove arGa
renenber Jim Rasor and especlally the 4th of JuIy
celebration of L928 at the Ashmier Dam on the DengeJ.
Ranch, aboub 8 niles north west of Grass Range. Ilne
young fellows, ir.reluding Ji:r[...]to l5fect deep.The eheps ab-
sorbcd quite a lot of r*ater and ae his horse s'bartcd
bo go unC,er in[...]swi:n to shorc, but he could rtot make itl
so that is how he met his waterlou.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (297)[...]bert went to school at the
Faj-rview District No 1I7 schooL. On August 24th J-9l+6.1
he married Al-ice Breckenridge, {aughter of lrlr & Mrs
John Edison Breckenridggrof HilgerrMon[...]rof ShelbyrMontana; l4rs Ed (Caro1) Deffin-
baugh of Lewistown; JohnE.Isaacs of Circle, Montana
Ivlrs Robert (Diana) Thonpson of Seabtle, Waih. Nancy
Isaacs of Bozeman, Mont. &rrd JoAnn of Forest Grove.
Robert and Alice have ten grandchildren. Robert has
Iived on the home ranch aII his Life except when he
was in the service. He joined the U.S.Arm[...]Kelly came to Montana June 1914. She
was a native of Conneaut, Ohio, and recieved her
schooling there. One of six children, she worked in
the grape arbor and l[...]and raised six children
It was at her insistance that they all recieved at
least a high-school"educatio[...],r Mildred then
moved to the Forest Grove area in I9/+1. After her
husbands deathr--she moved to Alas[...]ana. She worked
at the Central Montana Hospital for many $e&rsr
'ffir"o
Tomorrow is the tod.ay , for yesterday.
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (298)[...]ffiFather and Motirers f,ol-ks wetre farrners' I{erg
I.n SsuLh Dakota and hj.s in lowa. .A'fter they were mar-
ried they left the farrns and went to work for the
Gresb Nsrthern Railroad, in Sior,rx Falls $out,h Dakota,
rrhere my sisters and I were botrn' One eister was born
later ln Lewist,o[...]ol-j,c church, where we could attend school'
When I was {, Fat,her t,ook me with hj-m" He was r*orki-ng
as general forers,n of a l"ange grou.p of men and ue lrad
outr own railroad car t,o l"ive i[...]outrd openat,e ttreir raj-Iroad into the
Central" I'lontana area and. r'lesbrsard to LombardrMontana,[...]to the Pacific
coast, The Milwaukee pS.ayed an i-mportant role in the
progress of, CentraL Montar.la arrd the zurrou.nding areasr
Thls reminds me of a, story t,old me when I was first
sLarting railnoadingr which I shall never forget' A
railroad or was building a[...]green oner lte told
rnd showed tLrem how to place I sross tie at a time on
Jhe n"w road bed, ,After[...]is enough
without taking five"ft This is }ike ome of rV school
experiences during vacation, I would hire to work on
some farm or railroad,and think I '*ould never Live
through the day" I know they r'rould also think I should
be paying them, instead of them paying me" In the
pastr long workirg[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (299)[...]ave to
eat , always seemed to be plenty. One year I worked
for a farmer west of Lewistown during harveet. He
prt me to work shocking bundles of grain. I donrt
Lnow how I tived throu[h that day. It turned out hot, (

and I didntt have any glov€go My hards began to blis-
ter, and ny back began to ache and started to kiII ne'
I waentt doing so weII, the fleld began to look bigger
and bigg€rr that evening he saw I was hurting r*ithout
telling hi-m. The next day he ask me if I ev€r shocked
grain r*ith a pltch fork, and gave me e peir of glovee,
I hadntt so he went out ri-th me and showed me how. I
uatched hi-n and thought I had it rnade. He was in a
hurry fo start combining so he handed me the fork. I
waE in for a surprise. What looked easy for hj-mr was
a disaster for me. The bundles feIL of the fork every
tinoe. I etarted to schock and they feII over all that
day. When he tooked over the first 2 days of what I
had accomplished, '*hich wasnlt much, he saidr as long
as I rlae trying , he had the patience. That sure did
heJ-p ny aching back and hands. Before we stsrted to
thresh, 3 of the neighbors came over to help rs. W€
wenb ove[...]we Etarted threahing we ran into
another problem. I was told to bring a cretain teamt
in harness, and[...]hay rackecollte into the
f,ietd and load bundlee. I did, but when I sbarLed out
with the enpty hayrack , the team r*as pretty frislqy
and f,aet. When I drew nea,r the farmer I worked fort
he ryas working on the steam tractor.[...]ean to etop. He walked over and saidltr l{hat, on I
earth is the natter wlth this tean? They haventt act
ed Like this since the day they were brokenrt He then
Iooked. then overr ard I had their coJ-la,rs on upside
dor*n. 0h Boyl Ttre hame strap was long enotrgh for me
to hook to the wlde part of the collars. He then ask
ne if I could load the rack" I eaid I couldr He also'
aaid not, to load the first rack[...]eaid he had sone others in the field to loade
and that he uould help show me how to drlve along the
Threshtng nachlne to feed the bundles into it. I ilag
a llttle behindr Eo I went for help. It looked }ike
ry -Ioad was a llttle one sLded. One of the helpers
cam@ over and said r*e would heve to unload part of
ry load, as I hsdnrt started it rlght,. I had learned
290

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (300) another lesson" When harvestlng was over that yearrl
could kiss the tean I drove as they seomed to know I
I was a green horn" When I started working on the rail
road it was hard work" Beir€ I was raised near rail-
)oading I wasntt quite a green horn, although I had a
tlme driving a sp5-ke near the rail inbo the tle, I did
a J.ot of nissing with a splke maul" Father told ne I
vtas costing the company nore than they were paying mez
by hitting the raiLs and breakins the naul handles. I
then started practicing on the side after work. The
next teer I worked for I,eo Companion, ry brother-in-
law, stationed at Pipere within the Forest Grove work-
ing area"I worked wlth Ray Grensten of Piper, George
TerrXrrand Walter Hansen, La,f,er I norked in Lewistown
with Amos Cherbonn€aro Thes[...]sunmer Leo ,
hired a pneacher, Arnold Foultonr of the Church of
iodr of Lewistown, I *ontt forget hitrr, He buckled in
uith us norkir,[...]start to listen as it became quite
Lnteresting" I ras rai-sed in the surnourding areas of
)ristinarPipernWS-nnettrand Forest Grove, terdist[...]own, people cane to, to do their
rhopping from aJ-I areasl as it had supp3,i.es and most,
necessitles" Churches of al-I denosdnationsn schools,
and entertainrnent" Ilav[...]lrlontana Fairp
lrith parades"People would come for rniles by train,
,,{lagon, buggies, and a few ear[...]as a fountain o.f
iron, broun looklng, and built like a toad stool set
on a corner of a block actross the street, where at T
tj-ne was a place called the Day housee ard it had a
top like an upside down rrmbrella, everyone used this
fou[...]deo had qrite fanous men and wonnen in
then.gnee that had helped eettle the west, sueh as[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (301)the aarly eettlers. I rccall the falr-grounds the
year it hed the firt bi-plane that flew over during
the falr, that had the first paraehute Junper. He
Junped over th[...]C. People were hollering and staruting up
in some of the seatsas he dropped right into the earth
but in no time he cllnbed to the top of the trill and
waved to the crovid. Then there was the years of the
gypeies. They used to come through Montana,[...]colorfuI
dresses and with their tong black hair, I used to
think they were qrite beconlng. lhe men l[...]ould put on. The men always sent the women to
beg for food,e arut they had qtite an aet of doing sor
The last time of seeing them, they were rlding through
ln Star Tou[...]me pJace along the line their
ship must have came i-n. Just I ti.rne I renember a big
band or tribe of Irrllans cane by our plaeer wlth a
lerge bunch of ponles, some were ridingrsone wa1kir,g,
some in w[...]. '',
place ard the Royr Winifred railroad line. I went to
vlsit then and they were friendly. Iaughing and speak
ing theln language and as I remember verT good english
too. I gtllI f,eel proud that they ask me in to a real
t,eepee. I dontt renember if they cane frorn Spring
cneek or[...]eli.ng to
Fort Benton or Havre" Later in ny teens I went to
Polson and Ronan on the reserrration to fieh. They I
r+ould lef, us fish their lakes if you ask permission & |
looked all right to them. I told then about the lrd,
ians f vieited beforen and that did it. the fish were
thick and some got your hook befor it got far into
the water. Nor* days I tn lucky to catch I fish. One
other arti.cle i wi.sh to nentlon i-s. W Father pJanted
the trees by the Mllwaukee Ra[...]by
Leo Conpanian, between Piper and Foreot Grove, I net
eome wonderftrl people" I rould have to use sheets of
paper to name them aIIs young arrl old. I would like
to teII a few laughs i had whi.Ie bhere. Lou Ia,key
was poEtnaste[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (302)[...]ow he caught Joe Flnn. He aluays did
accuse Joe of llstening ln on the telephono converoa
tions.[...]oe ansr.eredrrTlello Iakeyn
; Another tlne a fer* of us were going to have a snall
gatherlng ard pi[...]but everything he had rcae in the
creek , and that eruled the picn5.c. One ti-ne ry nieee,
Maretit[...]reutrnlng from Lewistonn on the train, ras naitln for
John Berg to come pick her up, eo sho was visiting
rry eister Veda uho then lived i-n the railroad, section
house. Mrs Berg was wea[...]s
sure pretty. After she Isft my sister saidrtt I gure
wish I had oll€rtt There waE an old poem I recalJ.; If
wishes were horses, the begars woul[...]ere pncakee we would, eat tilL we d,led.Perhaps
I shouldnft wrlte about people thj.s r*al but it di[...]back, it is in a
way furury" Leo Conpanlon and I went over to give the
Clavers a hand. While ther his wife, Hazel ask us to
stay for dinr,rer. It was d.uring the hot part of the
)surnner and the flies were thl-ek. As she r[...]Hazel raislng up and waving the towel in front of us
anl, over the table. Chickens Junpfng ard fl[...]the dinner nas good. In
the ear\y days most all of us had to U-ve with tttis
as most had no screen[...]to help
elLuinate the flles. In the early JOts I was called
upon to help fight a forest[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (303)went to a farm house amanged for us to eat our break
fast. lhe folks raj.sed a few[...]ing
we were walJring back to flght the fire. As 2 of then
were brothere, one said to the otherrlt Did you see
that big crock sitting on the porch by the door?tt
The[...]{

full of weavil goat milk, I saw her dip it out and
make pancakes out of it"tt The brother stopped and we
left a sick nan by the path. Up the path a ways one
of the men ask the bnothenr$Your kidding?tt He answer,
adrtt I hope so.tr. As we were living near Foreet
Grove,[...]rls , &d older women
attendir:g those gathenLngs. I know there was very
Iittle nakeup in those day, so it was just natural
beauty. The boxes for the socials wetre very pretty &
attractive, and full of good food. They were auctioned
off to the highest[...]o the chores on Surd,ay mornings. l"1y sister and
I. When he would get out of bed and around he would
s&y,tt I donrL know which is worse, a nj-ght on the torn
o[...]st hand
Iaundry duri-ng the oj,l boom in Winnett. I was to small-
to recall much of what happened. She had the laundry (
near the cre[...]help Mothern tr also
helped her carry the buckets of watern but moet of the
ti-ne I was up town seeing what r*as goirlg onr and there
was alwa;rs something. If net I would be fishing or in
skiny dipplng, I look baek now ard think how hard it
was for Mother, as she worked long hours a}*ays with
plenty to do. I also used to like to go on the train
to Ohnistlna, for the cattle rourdupr for shlprnents
on the nailnoad. The rlders would bring in wild horses
from ths Missouri river breaks for othere to buy or
to ehip to som.e other place. Horse buyers came from
statee like Missouri and l[tssiesippi to buy or trade.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (304)[...]slike they called them Jackrabbits, on acco'
unt of their build and long ears. ltre ranchers would.
i[...]he
traders, some wanted to work the nules first. I recall
one farrner bought a pair" AIL in al} thl[...]y all got together and all
decided to saddle one of the mu1es. We aII knew what
was coming, because[...]e to work or ride. AIso the traders wanted money
for the mules flrst in case of inJuries to arqrone or
killittg it. No probleurs[...]in. The old
mule c€une out all-right, but some of the riders sure
suffered, The money chipped in should have been the
other way around. Those of us born in I!O0, ttre laet
days of President Ttreodore Boosevelt, the 26th pF€B-[...]pecially those
born and raised in Montana nhich I feel is the Last
state to fade of the old r.reste have seen arrl heard of
nany changes through the years" Like the o1d saying.
)ttThe man on the noorrnrr We ha[...]Oh and
Ah at inventione etc through the years. I dontt
think there is any more to Oh about. l{e expeet lt now.
unless Bomeone lnvente a pair of r*inge for us to fly
with that would anaze the norld and ellnrinate all the
other transportatLon. We are retired now and live in
the etate of, Washlngton. HE have IO acree in the nou-
ntains[...]d
our fanily let us Etove so far asaXr fron then, I nay
end with ry dream of retlrement, aome travel fishlng
and hunti[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (305)[...]onneau was born in Kankakee, IlL..on
May 21st , I9L2, the eon of Oscar J. Zelia Ctrarb-[...]ty Roads.
Amos rnamied May Agnes tundln, daughten of NeiL Wn &
EIva M.Iundin of Fonest Gnove, &t the St. Alouyotrs
Cathol-ic chur[...]a, and l-ived on the Flanls Nelsonts
ranch, unti} I9l+I, when we prnchased the John Frye
ranch at Forest[...]72,
We raised 6 children, Mrs RoberL(ALiae) Smitn of
Forest Grove, Alfred Chanbonneau- Construction-Forest
GroverRj.ctiard-Chief Mechanj.e for Billings Fire Dept.
of Billings Montana, Mrs Ji-m (RosaLie) nngfish- Pqs[...]Montana, Oscar uI. Charbonne&u- Constr-
ustion Co of, Ban-I5-ntine, Montana, and Amos L. Charb-
onneau now operabing the home ranch of his parents.
AII the children were active in &-H[...]had 10ji-4 chievenents. May was J+-H CIub Leader for
1O years. Annos served ae Tbustee of thr Forest Grcve
School He worked ar+ay frorn horne on Lhe M:llwaukee
Railroad for 9 years to provide extra cash for the
h

-b o{Jt.; *b Bt
O.l,r"i.r,, m A,$LJ,6 - Oar^;/,>,
O,v^u_i,t- _
J4rJ - 4b pt. /
la - R il^.'r*L w . - Rr.-l& |' I Ar,'.os n.

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (306) Loggers cn $rxenuff the Summer. of :V9

A }-ogger tnrck went up one *f our count'ry roads.
Itts not that unusual, e"'ren if it is late at
nightt I suppose,
ALL suorner lcng before daybreak[...]another abcut a farraer and his
wares.
Our CB rad.i;i has told me the lcgger has spotted my
husbanri; and the iogger cares!
I heard one s&Yr rtThis section is a ]5-mile hour[...]ou gllys iust stirred it
up a blt.
!trhen I eLean the houser Itll" sing and not thr[...]bluff can spot this
'val}ey fCIr rsil"es auay:
for a eurtain hangs and makes a winding strip
of hazy gray.
Yes, the house wiil survj-ve.
And werne making it thnough this nrral smog a1i?e...
Just rem*mber this thcught frsm one of us-
Some of God.ts best fertiiizers eome in the forrn
of dust !
J ffris poem is written to thank the loggers who
d.roue Surenuff the summer of '79.
YCIuslowed and stopped fo:r othrers and det[...]er eame through with flying
colors.
As se'veral of us watched from 3ob and Clarars,
A sign w[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (307)[...]ur)
Sc thanks again-donrt take alarm,
L{ebet some of you loggers grew up on a farm!
AnC if our san grows up and wants to cut logs for
a time;
Let him be iike thcse on Surenuff the summer of t79.

by Mr. and Mrs. 3i11 Cox

A 'uiew from,' the Susenuff road..
'|-.:]];j].i].i]i.'];.iil:::::i...i].i:]..]:'::l:]i]]i.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (308)[...]id there were too nrany
Swedes in this country by that r&nor l?rey lived on
Ellis fsland for a while. Itrey moved across country &
their final horne was in Seattle, and TaconarWashingtoru
They raised I0 children. My DadrNeil W.(BilI) l,unOin
was the o[...]ber
4LhtL9L2 in St PauI, Minnisota. They moved to Valley
CityrNo.Dakota where a daughterrlulay was born- ltlay 27 r
L9L5. We moved bo Denton, I"lontana when f was about 6
nonths otrd. Dad worked on the railroad in that town.
About the year t916rmy Dad and Mother noved again to
prove up on a homestead in the Straw-Garnie1 area of
Montana. l,Ly sisterrRose was born there March 18[...]. f do not remember much from the homestead days,
except' n1y Dad loved to hunt and never came home with-[...]hen shot. Dad sold out to Leonard Luther in
April of 1.92J-e and moved GroverMontana in an[...]every thing j-n one railroad c&rr The year was L92I
and my Dads name is written near the Indjan Paintings
ln the Bear Gulch Canyon, April 2L'I92L. Ihat was the
year they came. We stayed a night ln the big hotel at
Forest Grove. ran by a Firs CoIIins. I thoueht that was
gre t, such i spacibus building. I thoughtlForest
Grove r+as beautiful set in between the hiUs. We set-
tled on the CarI Syverson Ranch that rqy Dad had pur-
chased, in the Fairview arearabout 4 niles East of
Forest Grover &s the crow flies. qy Mother always said,
ItThey left the homestead and moved to this ranch so
that I might, go to schooll tras we were to far from a
schoolr on the old homestead. I attended the Fairview[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (309)school, all I od'the grades, The first day of schoolt
my Dad took me up and over the hills to school. I was
'trlry lonesome that, Ist day. Everyone was so strange.
That 'las in April L92L. Life for us on that ranch was
hard. Ity Mother packed water from a well in the rocks
in the coulee north of the house, 2 buckets at a ti-urg(
up that hill, but Oh how good it tastedr fresh and[...]50 Ga}. barrel fastned on it and hauled
a barrel of wafer for washing clothesr otr a washboard
j-n a tubr(rubrr[...]and broke (softened) the r*ater with 4,teaspoons
of iye in a bo!]er (about 5 pails of water)' Ttre scum
or hardness would come to the top, abouL I inch bhickl
and she r*ou1d skim that off the water and it would be
nice and soft like rain water. We used the wash wat,er
then to tater[...]ub brush,
and got Cown on oilr knees. We had lots of windy days
so the clothes did not need much ironi[...]en. W Dad worked long
hoursrwalking behind 4 head of horses hitched to the
nrachinery to till the soil[...]and tr ran outside the house, and.
there came th; I head. of horsesr(Z were green broke)
hitched to the harrow[...]across
the culvert and up the hiLt" when they got i-n between
2 treesrcaught, machineryrharness and a[...]Job in the field. The horses sure got a workout \
that day.Itly Dad loved mechanics, ard always helped
n[...]ey broke down.
Mother distiked him helping oLhers that Yay as he vras
gone a lot. BrotherrJames Houard.[...]own and rnarriEa Cfaude Snith. Iuly Dad built one of the
firstljAtwater Kentfr rad,ios in the area from a kit'
It sure sourded. good at nlghtrmusic and pla.ys' I used
to watch herd on the sheep that r4y Dad owned, at night
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (310)during lambing time, and that radio kept ne awake, I
loved it. {y Dad and Mother were Community Leadersrhe
serving on the Schoo] board, and she as clerk of
School Dist. No.Ll| for nrarqr years. My parents prrch-
)ed the olr trCo[...]Lewistown in
1935, and sold it a few years later for $50"00 an &cr€r
They paid off their ranch at Fo[...]7bhrl952, at age 59, and Morn passed away in
June of 1958 at age 74" They are buried. in the Catho-
li[...]had some power too1s, but
they never enjoyed T.V. I graduated from the Bth grade
at Fairview School in Lg2g. Then that faII rqy folks
found a place for rne to work for r1y room and board in
Lewistovrn and to go to Hig[...]good friend,
Lucille Perso, tried to help merbut I was so lone-
some, the peopte I worked fir brought me home and. I
never hrent backrbut I had to help my Dad feed cows &
sheep and all the hard work on the ranch. I was always
sorry I did not go to High Schoole as I had to self-
aducate rnyself. I stayed with r\y parents untj-I in lg3l+
r.n the r:anch, when I maruied, Anos A Charbonneau of
fass RangerMontana. Some interesting things happened
ln those 4 years I wae home. I helped nry Dad butcher
sheep. One coldrstorrny da[...]stack, Just in tfune &ertt Punchtt dropped
lead. I was scared to deathp and ran almost aII the
*ay home. I hated to tell my Dad. He said I had no
cusj-ness riding so fast as I had frosted his Iungs.
{e had several nice horses[...]e to go look up and down the creek in
3ear Gulch. I found the horse j-n a bog hole, al:nost
lu[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (311)[...]the 2? gun &
shoot the horse between the eyesnrr That was sure hard
for rne bo do" I used to herd the sheep in fhe sprirg
and summer" One morning we t,urned the sheep out of the
conral, There was sr*eet clover all[...]' We
p:t them in the corral, and tirey were dying like flies'
Dad fixed. milk and kerosene and plt it in a catsup
bottlerpoked. the neck of the botble down the sheepts
throat, If we got the[...]We csuld save them" Pa hauled out
about one-third of them, j-re a wagon wj-th a Leamr and
then we buri[...]y and said it can be done' It
helped to try a lot of thi-rngs " One evenirrg in the win-
ter of L929r 4y Dad was neadirrg a science magazine. I
said.rtr Whab are you readirg about?ft He saidrtt[...]o the moon.tt l saidrrf Do you think they
ever wl}I?rt He saidrtt llhy not? Man can'do anythingr &
some day they will sit down on that big yellow $oor'rt
Man d.id, but he did not live to see it. In surnrners I
would be able to go rrisit nry Grandrna and. Gran[...]and we
would attend, j-twas so much flrn. Dad and I sawed down
big trees to build a sheep shed one fa[...]re big around, and we set the* j-n hand dug holes for
the uprights, to nail boards onto for the walls, and
2 rows of these trees down the middle of the shed"
Por the roof, we streched woven wi-:rer[...]rf
through the straw roof. I took the ni-ght shiftff &
I never kindled the fire. I was afraid it would burn
down. It d cover the new[...]dry thern off
with a rag. One earty morning when I was through wifh
rny ovrn shift, I went to the house to bed. Soon Mom
called[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (312)I got on ny duds quickrshj-rtroveralls and shoes,[...]the sheep and lambs out. When the roof caved in, i-t
.g.lmost trapped hlm" He could hardly breathe,[...]huge smoke roll up over the hills. My DaC saidrtt I
shouldntt have ptt thosefj-r sticks in, as that wood
shoot's sparks more than pi-ne.rt The sparks hit the
sLraw and set it on fire. He lost many sheeprbut that
fal] we cut nore J-ogs and built another shed in[...]t the
bank wiht horses and a slip, Get s slip fu1I of dirt,
pull it up, dunp i-t, and go back for another slip f\rII"
They ealled them slips or tf fresnostt, and pulled them
by a team of horses " Another year lt{om and J were out
with the sheep herding thern hone from over east of the
house. We had noticed fluffy clouds coming our way out
of the west.It had been about 50 or 60 degrees above[...]o now j-n the 8ots. Dad always ran about 200 head of
sheep. The 1930fe were dry years and sheep survived
quch betLer ttran cattle.l &rrd, besides that the sheep
,Jad three erops a year.-- Woolrlambsrand the pelt if
she died". I?rey were easy to handle too. I alwaye had
a burn lanb or two to raise for my ownr They nade real
nice pets and woutd follow me all over, then I could
seII them in the fall to buy winter clothes[...]reen-
woodrForest Groverand Dickson schools. Some of the
young men would harness 2 teams, hitch them t[...]ow, to arfbob sledrtl and stop
and pick up a load of young people all along the w€rf,r
ltle w[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (313)[...]e
events, and the boys woLlld usually buy l-unch .for thej-r
girtr f,rienCs. Tickets to Cance usually cosf $ 1.00 &
$I"0o for supperl each' A five dollar bj-}l went a long('
ways and there i,{as no gas Lo buyrit was al.J- horse Po-
WBrr We[...]was a cream
tester at the o1d pool halL building' I would gallop
them all the way home along the rail-road tracks so i
would.nrt meet fhe trein ' I would sLop by Oscar and
Nettie Hansonrs store. Th[...]y things
in their suppl;r" Beautiful calico cloth for dres$€5r
I bought a prefty green pnint and rnade a dress -for rqy
self, A long green print dressr and I wore it to many
d.ances, Isabel tleggen and I rrrould rj-de our horses to
Forest Grove, caryy o[...]e Forest Grove School basement" It was the length
of the school and lots of room" Lester Miller had
charge usual.\y and he na[...]pen
boiler on a wood stove" It sure tast,ed good' I had
several girl friends whon I thought a lot, of, Joseph-
ine Dixon, she was tall and slirn" She and I herd'ed
sheep and brought the baby lambs in from the high
hifG north of the Di:con Ranch' (Now Harold and Mary
Nielsonts)[...]nch, she was fun and a hard wonker,'
too, One day I visited her and we got dinner for tlie t
lambing crewr Ttren there wad Edna[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (314)[...]<t- u{ 6att ..
o-td- tS crrra.C/-,
children of 01e !t.-{:ke and Elsie (cox) nike. Left to
Ri.[...]uit, Norwayr on Easter Sunday, April 17,
188'1 , I{e came to America with two brothers, to the
Harl[...], in lilontana, working
on ranches in the spring of 19A?-, Tlhey joined a
third brother already here[...]rs laterr 01e
came to Lewistown and went to work for swend l{olland
)until 1914. Ole filed on a homest[...]n 1910, 01ets brother Olaf took a homestead
north of winnett, Their brother, osten, tromesteaded
east of Winnett, Their brother, S.gm, went to the
Col-umbus area, west of Bil-lings" Osten was a soil_der
during World War[...]etery, though he died following
the !/ar at Galen of T.3.
trl"sie Cox born at Braddock, Pennsylv[...]England, They
returned to the U.S, in the spring of T902, entering
New York llarbor the same day as 01e, only on differ*
ent ships, They came to Great Fal1s for nearly
three years before they came on to[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (315) Jabez and Eliza were born and raised in the
area of Pengance and St. I'ves r England. He was a
stonenason, briuklayer an[...]ead. near cheadle in 1 904. The children attended i
the Cheadle school, then ca}led the Qverland schoolt
Eliza was so d.iscouraged raising her family of ten,
nostly by herself. she had a total of six girls and
four boys. (ffre oldest, old.enough to l-eave home
and. the youngest iust a baby). J*ez, a lot of the
time was home only one or two weekends per mo[...]ried farming.
[his place at Cheadle wasnrt suited for farmingr so
they gave it up and took up a desert claim on Chipp-
awa Creek north west of Grass Range. This didnrt
work out either, so they[...]y bought the Flenning and Brow-
nie rariches east of Frank Lyons ranqh and east of
Bear Gulch. When it got down to just one sonr Arc[...]adquarters. Archie also started
his fanily, har,.i-:rg been married to Mabel Isabel lleg-
gen.[...]re before passing on in 1918. Jabez
eontinued to 1i.ve in Lewistown till his last year. i
lle no'ved. to Great Falls to a sonr Percyr where Jabet
passed. on in December 1955. Thej-r children were
bt"i", Bertha, Annie, Sarah 2 EJ'rza (f'yf e;r Percy,[...], Elsie went to work helping
fllrs. Swend Holland for one year. Here she met 01e.
At age twenty, on Jul[...]abin on his
homestead. Here they oiade their home for the rest
of their lives. OIe passed on, on August 3t 1957.
El[...]a, Donaldq Davidr and E]-
rie.
Osten. Dccept for World War II and a eouple
years at Polytee[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (316)[...]m. July 1, 1914.
ed on the ranch until the summer of 1 980, when the
ranch was sold, remaining single.[...]herts ranchr €stablish-
ed by Archie Cox, south of Forest Groue.
Elesa. After high school-, Elesa worked for
Eddyrs Bakery in Lewistown, where she met Jack Wr[...]moved to Choteau, buying
and operating the Bella Vista MoteL until his retir-
ement in Choteau, Montana. Threy raised two children
- both with famili-es of their own.
Donald. Ionald left home[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (317)ranehes until he went to Lewistown to work for Sten-
dal- Transfer, and then for the Lewistown school- dist-
rict as a custod.ian.[...]folLowing World War IIr Put timei
in the service of occupation in Japan. fhen he
went to school, so h[...]Stendal and adopted
two child.ren. She passed on i-n 1959. The next yeart
David found a widow with f[...]970.
He then worked as a guard at Soise State Pen for
about ten years. They now live in Puyallupr Washing-
ton. Elric is working in a RV shop for home trail-
ors and motor homes.
01e. Ole ([...]built his
homestead to 1974 acres plus 400 acres of BIJvI Land.
He had a very good frienci, who homesteaded just east
of hin. His name was Karl Sikveland and his wife
Guri. They looked for greener pashres following
World !/ar I, and they went to the Dovetail areat
n,rrth of l,{innett, Montana. There Karl really enjoy-,
ed plowing ground that was free of rock. They rais-{
ed five children and the youngest son still operates
that Douetail ra:rch (Torger). The youngest daughter,[...]eland
to James Chittick who kept it only a couple of years.
Then 01e bought it. It cost him-' twel've dol-lars per
acre which was higher than what he paid for any of
the rest. Quring'the tate thirties or early forties,
he paid for 'Fome at a rate less than a dollar per
acre. Yet[...]€
received $t5O per acre.
. 0n the east side of Sikvel-andts homestead was
another where O[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (318)Fred Zahrn and started over on the west side of Sik-
rrelands. Zahrn didnrt li've there long. He[...]also a root ce1Iar and a couple small barns - ano
for pigs and another for team horses and chickens.
This was one, bought back in the late thirties for
one dol1ar per acre on a tax deed and put into El[...]k, George Foster,
and lJalkers. They were dealing for the land which
was taken over by BLM, but then le[...]Apple on
eastl they went to Becket or Grass Range for urail
and to trade. The children went to the Dryland scho-
oI from Soul-ets on east. We, the Eikes went to For-
est Grove.
Ernest )a'vis had his place joi[...]hay loft a bright red eolor.
FoLlowing World War I t Jabez helped 01e build the
fra"mehousee doing t[...]in about 1965. The tele-
phone came in the spring of 1958.
About the time Karl Sikvel-and and fa"[...]came noticeably closer.
They lived two miles west of us. Work was traded. and
socially became 'very close. The children of the For-
an and Eikes grew up like one famify, especially dur-
ing elementry school.[...]Lewistown, and Ben living at Christj-na. A11 the For-
an children got married and ha've their o[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (319)[...]ing Olers life, he picked and clean-
ed off a lot of rock, using a team of horses and a
wagon. Hay was always handl-ed with a pitch fork.
Wood for the stoues, was alw;rys cut the winter be-
fore h[...]ck. If 01e can ]ook down, or
could return to this I'ife, what woul-d his impressior:
be of us? He went to bed with the chickens and eot
up with the sun!

TllE AtBitRT and I{ATHRYN DUFFNffi STORY
IN IV1ilVIORY OF
EUG lil{ E (1 91 4-1g$)[...]. Boatz was born
January 6, 189t, in Sauk Centre, I{}J. They were un-
ited in marriage llay 21 , 1912; at the Catholic Churc
i-n Conway, M0. Af ter a 1ovely reception, they wen[...]our folks
earne by train to Montana. They worked for the lvlil-
waukee Rail-road a few years so[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (320)[...]Eugene on his horse Gyp in front of the
Greenwood. School abo've Su[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (321) fhe folks decided to start farmingr so i'Jouember
50, 1911, they bought land at Fine Grove, l{T. This
must have been rluite art a.dventure for ltlother. Souie-
one had told her tlrat porcupine[...]s got school ager DaC bought a horse-drawn hearse
for theirt,ransportation. They were the enrry of the
other kidsr so gave them rides, too. The hearse was
beautifully handcarved of some hard wood.
]lsther must h r"ve upset so[...]lans as
she was born about 2:00 p.ffi. on the 4th of July, 1922,
About this time the folks bought[...]s did. They helped ea-ch other thresh
thei z. orq i n
lf* 14+rr.

Lawrence was born[...]ob in 1927.

lad holding Lawrence, E\:gene, I{omer, Ralph, Nora,
and Esther. j[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (322)[...]river in flood stage to reaeh the cld bu-
ildings that worild be our home.
It is a much longer gro[...]boys had a big garden up on
a bench. One day one of us brought a sack of water-
melon down tied to the saddl-ehorn of Dadrs old saildle
on Momrs little mare, Virginia.[...]d watermelon all cuer
and broke the headlight out of the c&rr
i,{e also took !-gal-lon cans of cream by saddle-
horse to Cat Creek to send to ii[...]t
down there and the rilrer wouLd be wild and out of its
banks. If the horses wanted to cross they wou[...]gs coming downstreamr too.
Our water supply for washing had to be hauled
from the rj-ver. lrinking water came from the springs
at the edge of the ri'ver, so after each flood we
would have to hunt for a new spring.
In the Fa1l, Mon and us kj-ds would mo've to Cat
Creek for school as it was 10 miles. We had the flu
reaL b[...]d terrible nose bleeds.
,It wasnft too long after that he started to hirve eye
/trouble. He was blind by the time he was 18. Such
a waste of talent! He used to draw western pictures
and especially like to draw animals. He also was
the family barber.[...]Dad cut our ha.ir (Uoys and girls alike) it was like
he had a bowl over our head.
Vereen was born in Cat Creek in 1929 with the
help of our neighbors, Mrs. Lawrence Grocer and lvlrs.
McGibony.
l{e also went to sehool- 10 miles north of the
river. The Sam Shermanrs lived there. I believe
the school was the Dryland school. At any[...]taught us there the first time we had him.
Fi've of us rode horseback for awhiler getting there[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (323)[...]les to schooL. Broth,
er lld was born there in 191i. Ivlrs. Sam Sherman and
I{rs. lundarn helped Mom. Mrs. Dundam was the mothe[...]we moved back from the MusselshelL to i

the Stretch place, just across from Ed Glauserrs.
Little sister .Enid was.born that year.
Dad then bought the Bagby place on S[...]weeny edge shed and
put a floor in it to be used for a cattle shed later.
l{e lived in it a good many[...]use built. bhgene, Mom, and the younger kids
d-id that as our dad was off to greener pastures.
',/e went tc the Greenwood school. Some of our
teachers were E.C. Shafer, Uliss Nieter, Mrs.[...]and Lawrence.

The years of 1936 and 1917 were bad ones up on
Sure Brough. We sold nost of our cattle to buy feed
for the other liyestock. As kids, about all we[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (324)[...]chopping wood, and
going to school. 'v/e didn I t have a radio and no one
had T.V. so we woulc[...]the Grand 01e
Opry. We lorred any kind of music as there wasntt much
'\ +rr vq! .'r vs.'. '[...]time to play we woul,d make
in Arr€ ''l .i.'^-

'ski-s and sleds. E:gene made us a really neat steel
toboggan that four or five of us eould ride. W€ could
even pu1l it with a horse. Boy, did we enjoy that !
Some of our neighbors were Glamsers, Sellerst
Mr. Will[...]afot with l{artin in logging and his sawmill.
i{artin arrd his dad sure could sing.
Jaek Milburn of the N Bar Ranch ran lots of sheep
up our way. We knew all the herders and[...]r from our spring as
there'was sulphur in most of the springs up there.
We also have them fresh vegetables from our gardens.
It was quite a treat for us kids to eat with the her-
ders once in awhi[...]In 1918 or so Lawrence was riding Billyr one of
our fa,rorite horses, and chasing a bul1. ft w[...].
Brother E\rgene was helping to haul- logs for our
house when he slipped and fel1 off the load, injuring
hinself so badly that the doctors removed his left
€ye. He went to the Blind School at Soulder for about
a yeax. He tried so hard to learrr[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (325)the wide open spaces sc ntuch that he felt trapped
there and canre home. This is whe[...]taking
typing so tauglit Errgene, too. He enjoyed that and (

also made leather belts wi[...]d before they couLd get to town - a very sad time
for all of us. The doctors thought it was a heart
condition.[...]Red Cross,
Ralph and Nora were able to eome home for his funeral.
The f-mily was getting smaller as each of the
kids were leaving forvarious reasons. Mother[...]the Bagby place and bought the
Foran place north of Forest Grove. They lived there
until they sold to[...]and Enid went to Fergus }ligh School.
Most of the brothers and sisters had married by
this tj.m[...]were also in the service, then eyentually settled
i-n l,lontana. Nora settled in Nebraska and Lawrence in
liashington. Erid was in Montana for awhile until she
was married and joined her Air F[...]rked at variuos jobs and sewing her quilts in her I
leisure. She aLso had time to go see the kids en[...]r. She was buried on August 6, 1957, with
all ten of her survi'ving children in attendance.
Needless t[...]ws there until going- into a rest- hope
i" Jpii-;rifi;"f,i''-'iui'0.*'-rlt ht fasse-d awav on Julv 2![...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (326)[...]re able to attend the
funeral.. It was a sad time for usr but we were very
glad we coul-d be there.[...]l our
family reunion in 1978 in Lewistown. Eighty of the
family attended. Besides the ten brothers and[...]a family which
our parents could have been proud of.

Family Reunion 1978 - Standing: Homer,[...]ter.
Seated: Bob, Vereen, and Ralph. Child is one of
Homer t s grand.daughters.[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (327)[...]i
The Forest Grove Telephone Company was orga[...]r and
J.W. Jones. Three dollars a day was allowed for
labor for a manr and fi've dollars a day for a man
with a tea^n to build the telephone line in[...]hone users.
No one could own nore than six shares of stock in
the Forest Grove Telephone Comparqr, Eac[...]et Centralr give her the telephone number
outside of the area. She rrould then crank the
numbers requ[...]These
rrere in addtion to exchange service charge of Moun-
tain States Telephone Conpany for Lewistown calIs.
George Isaacs was elected President of the
eompany in 1925. He lived in the Fair[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (328)[...]zed
at the Forest Gro've School house in March of 194,
by Miss Marian Moline of the Fergus County Extension
Office. The first[...]Stanley, Secretary - Treasurer. Other nernbers of the
Club in 1945 were Mrs. Kathryn Drffner, Mrs. Mabel
I. Cox, Mrs. Gladys Glauserr Mrs. Zora Vlastelict[...]Meetings were held once a month nn the years
i to oome, and nany nore ladies joined. Many edueat[...]would. join the Forest Gro've
Feeders 4-It CtuU for a joint pJ.cnlc. Sonetimes the
Jarruary r[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (329)Ivlany members made a pair of Leather gloves, that
they wore for meny years, In 19551 Ken Ross and
Pat George of the Fergus County hctension Office
gave a talk on rrDangers and Protection Against the I
Atomie Bomb and Fall Outrr. Many area menbers att[...]Central Montana
Fair, reoei'ving nany cash prizee for their booth,
'vegatable, fmits, and grains,
The Club sent a subscription of the local News-
Argus to area boys serving in the[...]Forest Grove, Mont.

I{9 zzr4 o^,"[...].

Make a Seperate Sllp for Every Item

Cash or chg?[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (330)[...]si-m Mifchell was born at his family home south
of MaltarMontana and spent the greater part of his
life in Pi:illips county. Growi-ng up on hls forks horne
stead, he attended country schools in that area. Jim
laten spenL three and a hal-f years i-n chinarBrrna &
rndia with the Air Force in world[...]ite' church in Malta and moved to the
ranch south of Marta where their three daughters were
raised' Do[...]fter their marriage they
farmed and ranched south of Malta until 1g67, when
they sold their ranch and[...]Montana
state university at Bozeman with degrees i-n Educatj-on,
In LgTl+ they purchased a larger ranch south of Miles
City, near .{shland, and .noved there with[...]; rn r98l, Jim'and Dortheg prr-
chased a portion of the [yron Gregory ranch near For-
est Grove, where they now n:ake their hone, The[...]been our
home, and no doubt always wlll be, i

72r

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (331)[...]one knows who lived here and left them Uehini
for future generations to wondef ov€Fr No one knows
who, of our type of people found thern first. There are
dates and nan[...]ts, Paleontologists, professors
and conmon people like us all. We have had visitors
from arr over the un[...]eral Central Montana townswith their papers, One of
the nost interesti-ng people we have rnet was some years
ago. A Piute Indian nen came with his fan-i_Iy. He is a
very well educated man and has wrltten several books.
He told and showed me hovir some of the stai_ns and
paints were rnade centuries ago.[...]1d,er
tnj-bes and chiefe he has compiled a wealth of know-
Iedge into hie books. However, he believed like some
others f have talked and wnj.tten to about these signs,
that, they were before the white man &s we know him.
Sorne have even thought it ndght go back to the time
of the land bridge, and the Vikings and or Norsmen
period of ti-me. Wl'ro knows? We enjoy visitors, but ny
rp,[...]ry to stop the vandalism and
research where- ever I eanrin hopes that some where,
sorneday, sorneone will have a[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (332)[...]rthe first Caughter was
born in 188O"Now a fami\y of 5 they noved to Helena.
Betr*een the years l-880[...]o in
l-84O) who had settled near Fort Mcgu5-runis of the south
fork of McDonald Creek in central- Montana the year be-
f[...]his fam-
flf j"n Helena, went back to South Fork of McDonal-d
Creek with McCau1ey in the fall of 1882. Thrilled with
the birnbered Litt,Ie Snowie[...]rich selected his choice ,on the creek of
meadowsrhe
Mc0auleys from the rimrocks on[...]ite & planned his
operation, Others were arriving that fall, John Selle.r,
J.E.FryerA.T.WesveldtrAnos Sr[...]Brothers and Jackmans, A home ranch con-
si-sted of 160 acres on a stream or sprirrgoand names
bear that out, McDonal-d CreekrDuncan CreekrTller Creek,
io[...]and Athern Creek, Ottrer streams held their
share of pioneers rsurenuff , FlatwillowrMc0artneyrWillow,[...]mary
ranger shared by allrleading it info the era of the
spring and fall-s colorful and well written about
ftRoundupsrt, Ihe winter of 1882d was a mild one, and
sprirg came earjJ with plenty of moisture, the grass
was belly deep in the meado'+[...]d supplies, then back to MC Donald Creekrthe hone of
the Lyonrs for the next 45 years, AII of tlhe new pio-
neers got thelr homes uprcor[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (333)[...]uinness established
in 1880 was the trading pootr for sord.iersrpostofficg
and telegraphic comrnunicati[...]st frorn the Dakota?s. Nate Mc0auleyto first
herd of l-03 had arrived by nay of Fort Benton in rgg2.
$ t4 to IJ per head with the calvee thrown in. By the
sunmer of 1883 there were 12 cattle outfits on the
Fort l'l[...]_ton,Tingley Bros.r& Ming
on Annells creek. Most of the €rly herds were joint
venture drives from the herds of Oregon & washington,
which had a surprus of livestock" By 1884 bhe Te:cas
herds were increasi[...]lem & rust,lers were taking their toIL. Hun
dreds of thoueands of catbregraised the bdrbrrt times
were good. It r.r[...]unbranded, cut out the fat cattler2 & J year
olds for the drives t,o the rail ends. Custerr[i1es
Cltyr& Fallon for shipment east. Over supply and low
prices in the faIl oft886, there were over I million
cattle in eastern and central Montanae fo[...]iles, then brlzzards turned the
water ihto sheets of icelmore snowrthen brj-zzard.s,
cold winds arrl often3O to f*O below zero for weeke.
The cattle dled not bg hundred.s, but by hundred.s of
thousands. Granvllle stuart on McDonard &[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (334)[...]S. Iosses at
75 percent" Open range ended in }day of 1887rwith etun-
ning suddeness, cowboys became pa[...]y
'',nd grain to guard against a repeatra builder of fences
-le fenced himself in. Ra,nches never agai[...]I eE-
tablished, and not badly hurt by the winter of 1886-?.
His farming background had prompted hjm to turn hj.e
bottom ground i.:nto hay fietrds. He was also a pioneer
in planting some of the first alfalfa in Central Mont-
and. His lives[...]corporated city and eounty seat. By 1890 the
last of the Frederick and Mary Lyon family had boen
bor[...]nes ) ;
Frederlck Alfred, fg4g; Front row L to R- I'lervin Fred-
erickr1890t Harry HarrlsonrIS[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (335)In ]890 Frederick filed for an additional 640 aeresrin
f905 Walber and Frank for 320 eachrand Ida for 32Q in
I9llraII adjoi-ning acre&g€r Life in Montana was[...]nglhonyocker, bohunkrnester, or scissorbills!?
that the renraining homesites of 32A acres equaled only
approxinrately 30 acres of loam j-n fowarlndiana, & East
enn Dakota?s. nail fare fnom St. Paul to Billings was
cut to $ 12.10 for settlensra whole boxcar for $50.00.
Between 1900 & I9I0r eighty to 90 thousand flooded int,
eastern and.[...]s the honrest-
eaders plowed in bhe springrprayed for rainrin fhe faJ-
they harvested and hauled to the[...]rcent. They needed nore l-and and seed. The
price of wheab was good. The banker usuaJ-\y knew l-ittl'[...]e growing.
Loans exceeded. d,eposits bV 5O%. Most of the l-oans on
next year crops. Mechanization was[...]k with the water wagon pulled along side by teamr
of horses, could plow in a dayrwhat a good team coul[...]tre potential- was awesomerand ripped up
millions of &ctres of fnagile soil with deep botton pI-
ow6r Only the old bj:ne ranchers and the Indians knew (
the folly of it. The plains would do what the plains \
had done for mlllions of years. They would continue to
go through their e;rcle of drought and moisture. It
began in the spring of l9frBig SandyrFort Benton and
Havre registered .33 of an inch NIay, .45 in June the
wet rnonths. The drought spread southeasterJy and by
lglgrcoyered all of central and eastern Montana' Hot
sustained wirdsr[...]ling range firesrand
grasshoppers. Endless clouds of blackruglyrclacking,
whinigrinsects eating every bl,ade of dry grassrtrees,
and even shingles. The ma[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (336) that weathered and fell downrbroken hearts. they left
in all directionsr Banks falted with n rlions of dolr-
ars in MorLage indebtedness, and rnilrions of acres of
eroded land. By the early 1920rs, sj-xty to seventy th-
leff Montana. Those that remainedrtoughed
.lrsand had
iL outrate and sc[...]erle
Fierce in 1910. Essie Belle, the daughter of Albert W
& Leona E.Pierce, who operated a sar^nn[...]5r & later a garage in Forest Grove.
The Pernyts of Mc0artney Croek were the parents and
family of Leona Pierce. Harry & Essie hornesteaded on
the[...]ercerEssits bro-
ther, married Mary Young, sister of Charlie youngra
Lewistown resident. The flu epide[...]sands perished. Harry Lyon died in LewistovmrDoc-
of that year' xssj-e Lyon hur€ on to the honestead with[...]l.gz3rcou1dntt nrako it,gor Bo
packed up and left for cali-fornia & never returned.
Frank Lyon and his[...]anch
-'+th Frederick. walter(snnok5.e) was riding for the N Bar
ie glrls lv€re narried and gone. Me[...]ew Jrears
before, her burial place is at the base of the rirnrocks
to the northroverlooklng the ranch. rn the falr of 1928
Frank and Mary Lyon sold off the ranch and left for
Colorado and California, After almost half a cent[...]er}lontana. Smoky passed away
ln Bozeman ln March of L955. All was quiet until the
surnmer of 1978 vrhen a retired son of Harry H. Iyon,
Vernon H, born in Lewistown in July L9L5 from an abs-
ence of 56 years returned to Montana to filt the v[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (337)aII ties had been broken wlth the other branches of the
family, I was the survivor of mine and had no knowledge
of bhe others. Relying on a seven year ol-ds memory & a
box full ofttbox cametratt picLures of the good oId days i
it was tjme to retunn" Needless to say Lewistown had \

changed. Surprisingly there are perhaps 50 /" of the
oLd buildings standing, more than enough to e[...]yo Headquartered at the Yogo Innr& rnade it known that
2 at the Lyonts wera back in town(my daughter Jud[...]t Gr"ove the next day and
located the Lyon ranch, i-ntroduced ourselres to Jim &
I4arilyn Sbanley who graciously gaxre J hours of their
busy day fp a grand tour of the ranchrSmokyts homeetead
my Fatherls hornestea[...]To cap it all they provided us with add
n€sses of Gerald & Margaret' Lyon of the Frank Lyon
fanrily. 'hle spent a very enjoyab[...]looked ab their records, found the burial ptraces of
Father and Grandfather, and aLl was a supreme slt[...]rally fed in the field.
Straw was pub in the back of the wagon and all the
food that was to be fed to the harvesters was placed[...]

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (338)[...]Si I
I
o
![...]Trade 'With Us and Secure a g6-piece Set of
Rogers Silverware.
FOR,EST GROVE . MONTANA[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (339)[...]from Fergus County
Argus of - I9t0
Mr Mccauley came from the state of ohio to l,ast
chance Gurch, Montana in 1869. He w[...]ast Chance Gulch was in those days a
great center for placer miners and nlarqr fortunes were
extracted fron the soil in and about the present site
of the state capitol. For 12 years, Mr McCauley gave
his attention to prace[...]those early days finding profitabte opporLunities
for the investment of his own labor twerve months in
the year. rn last chanee he got his start and in lBB2
purchased I03 head of eattle in Jefferson County and
drove them to McDo[...]. The stream appears on the epr as the south Fork
of McDonald Creek, but really is the main stream, th[...]au1ey has increased his land holdings to upward.s
of 1600 patented acres, i-ncludi-ng some of the best of
Iand in that section, and his flocks have grown to
over eleven[...]this stock has consid
erab\y increased the value of his herds. He never ship
ped anu stock for feeders, but confines his shi;rnents
to beeves and for several years has marketed in Omaha.
He considers that with conservative nianagement and, pno
per handling , such as he gives his own herds, fhere i
is good pnofit in beef at four cents per pound.
Mr McCau1ey was among the origirnl incorporators
of the Judith Basin Bank and is at present a director
of that institution.
For narry years he lived a bachelor, but in Auguet
1899 r rnaryied Miss Fleming, of Michigatrr who shortJy
previous thereto was one of the roost successful instrrJ
ctors in Fergus Coun[...]onaId Butte
West of McCauley[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (340)[...]ith
11 the original buildings, including the barn that
as burned" Gerald said that his father, took great
ride in the ranch and how it l-ooked. This picture is
ertainly evid.ence of that feeling" Ttre barn fj_re was
tarted by sparks fno[...]the brigade.

ol"t d"r-;jd Xr","a^^,t Jr,^-A I2*-r,
Ra^^n f^, e^d aI!, tre*e .ltt*4;

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (341)[...]one was at
the head of Bear Gulch,The
shearing was done in the large shed.. r remember that
Mexicansheep shearers came i-n every spring to do the
shearing. r dontt know if they worked up from Mexi-co1
or i-f they lived in or nearMontana. rt took them abou[...]the wool down so they could get more in
the sack. I remember having quite a few sheep ticks
on me eve[...]off.
The sheep were sold in 1919 and a herd of cattle
replaced them. A herd of about I25 to 150 were bought
at christinarMontana. They were arl shapes and sizeg.
ALso a part of the ranch operation consisted of
raisi-ng wheat, arfalfa and wird hay was harvested each
year for feed.[...]St. PaulrMinnesota. Sioux City being closer, most
of thern were shipped there. one year we drove the[...]ilwaukee Railroad tracks went right by the
ranch. I donft remember the yearrbut I must have been
about 12 or 13 years old when the[...]ies told about it, the barn had Just been fil
Ied that day with hay. There were always sparks flJ-
ing from the train engine and evetTrone decided that
must have been what started the fire. It d.idnft burn
untj-I night, but it could have been smoldering for
tt2
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (342)[...]section
glew usuarry followed the train to watch for argr fires
bhat might, have been started by frying sparks, i
ember getting into the old overland ana goi-ng to ""r-
Forest Grove for help, vern wrlght & ny Motherrs bro-
bher, llaruy shepherd, were 2 of them who came back
*ith me. rtm sure there were m[...]our neighbors were
rlso there trying to help. By that time, though the
carn was conplet,e\r gone. Fortunaterxr it being in
surRmer, none of the horses were in the barn. Ar1 the
rarnesses ar[...]re d.e-
Itroyed. some ranchers got up on the rooi of the house
rnd as we handed buckets of water up to them, they
roured it on the roof. Thie was whal saved tle holse
lrom burning too.
That sane year fsur stacks of alfarfa hay were
rurned- They totared about 100 tons of ha,y. ghi" fire
:ould have been started by sparks from thL train also.
We had to buy /r carloadi of hay that wlnter to
ieed the cattre. rt cane frorn Nebraika ard south Da-
rota'. The Last carload of hay they bought cost about
19.00 a ton, but th[...]said it was probably srew grass and no gola .t
,I1 for feed.
rt had been very dry that season and most of the
anchers had to buy hay. when a carroad of hay came
.n for a rancher i-t was sprit up.- the other ranchers
'eal\y borrow[...]r carload came in.
r remember one night" Ar1 of our work horses got
n the railroadrright-of-way next to the tracks. wf,en
,hey saw the trai[...]s he courd find to put some teams together.-
I remember the barn dances at the Lyon ranch[...]
Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (343)[...]No questions were asked anC his grandfabher said that
l-ater on in the night,, he heard someone whist,I[...]ocial-s at Porest Grove at the
dance haIl, Fourth of July celebrations and pi-cnj-cs
in the old grove[...]nt t,o dances
at Grass Range too,
From what I have wriLten it sounds like all that
ever happened were tragedies, but there[...]

MD

This book of Forest Grove and the area bordering is ded[...]

Forest Grove Citizens., Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (1985). Montana History Portal, accessed 17/01/2025, https://www.mtmemory.org/nodes/view/3734

Forest Grove, Montana: A History Book (2025)

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Introduction: My name is Kerri Lueilwitz, I am a courageous, gentle, quaint, thankful, outstanding, brave, vast person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.