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myself she sure would make good pioneer stuff!"
  Harriet Foster, born in Illinois on May 15, 1892, had come out from Illinois to visit her brother and to keep house for him. She and Will were married on December 16, 1916.
They had four children. Their first born, Ellen, died at birth in 1917. William Ellsworth was born on October 10, 1924. He was the first to ride a horse to attend school at the Romunstad School District. Bruce Russell was born on July 17, 1926 and Robert "Bob" was born on November 22, 1928.
 Will and Harriet always put a great stock in friends. He told of times when as many as 16 would saddle up and ride to the top of Cone Butte. They attended church at Fergus and the children attended the Romunstad and Fergus schools, and high school in Lewistown.
 In 1959 they divided the land among their 3 sons and moved to Lewistown after 49 years of country life. Friends were still an important part of their life after they left the ranch. Their Lewistown home was filled with momentos. Some of the most priceless were the photos of the Landru and Fergus family members and of their many friends. One photo they specially prized was dated February 29, 1917 and was of their first homestead after their marriage. There were 16 men on the barn roof, shingling. They had 40 for dinner that day.
  Will stated that he loved Montana. "I expect to live here and die here," he said. Hattie passed away first, on April 19, 1979. Will died November 11, 1981. Both were laid to rest in Lewistown.
  William Ellsworth married Margaret Biddison of Lewistown. They had 3 children: Jeanette Louise born July 4, 1949; James William born Jan. 18, 1951 and Thomas Wayne born July 7, 1956. William presently lives in Scottsdale, Arizona.
  Bob remained on the ranch raising wheat, grain, hogs and cattle. In 1948 he wed Verda Mae Wendt. They had 2 children; Alan born October 6, 1949 and David born July 14, 1952. He later married Rae Rousek Spurgeon; they had one child, Shelly Louise, born in September of 1958.
  Bruce married Helen Engles in 1959. They farmed on the home ranch for several years after his folks moved to Lewistown, before moving to the Seattle, Washington area where they presently reside. Her two children, Doug and Debbie, attended school in Roy.
  The 'home place' was originally homesteaded by Einor Tiseth. Hattie's father, W.R. Foster did homestead some land. It was always known as the 'Foster place'. He also owned most of the land on the Landru place and Hattie inherited it from him.
  Doug and Colette Landru and their two sons, Casey and Kyle, now live and ranch on the home place.

PETER AND INGA LARSON

  Peter Larson and Inga Cjerholm were married in Great Falls in 1896. They lived in Belt until 1905 when they moved to Lewistown. Peter worked in the coal mines until he took up a homestead of 320 acres at Armells in 1912. Here he farmed and had livestock; cows, horses, pigs and poultry.
  He rented the Vestal place about 1925 and with the help of his sons took care of his homestead, the Vestal place and another place he had acquired.
  The couple had nine children, 5 girls and 4 boys: Ellen, Art, Ruth, Ebba, Dora, Percy, Lawrence, Marie and Oscar.
  Ellen married Harold Campbell. They had one child, Barbara.
  Art married Leona Blizzard.
  Ruth married Bill Rabe. They lived in Wisconsin and had 5 children: Bill, Marjory, Richard, Charles and Shirley.
 

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  Ebba married Henry "Hank" Rood and they lived at Bear Springs. They too had 5 children: Clyde, Betty Lou, Doris, Jean and Nancy.
  Dora and her husband, Alonzo Olden lived in Roundup. They had 3 children; two died in infancy, one survived.
  Percy and his wife, Louise, had 1 daughter, Janice. They live in Washington.
Lawrence and his wife, Gayle, lived in Billings with their two children by her former marriage and adopted by Lawrence.
  Marie married Ogle Pollard. They live in Lewistown and had five children: Joyce, Roger, Eileen, Sandy and Carol.
  Oscar and his wife, Mildred, live in Lewistown and have one son, Elliot.
Peter and Inga worked very hard all of their lives. Inga was a midwife and delivered many neighborhood babies. Peter took care of the children when Inga was gone, but when they were old enough all did their share of the work.
  Peter Larson was born February 28, 1860 in Norway. he came to the United States as a young man. He died in 1940 at the age of 80 from Brights Disease.
  Inga Maria Cjerholm was born September 8, 1870 in Sweden. She came to the U.S. when a young lady. She died in 1935, at age 65, of heart disease.

CARL ARTHUR LARSON

  Art Larson and Leona Blizzard were married in December of 1923 in Flint, Michigan.
  Art had gone to Michigan to find work in the factories. They returned to Montana in 1931 with their 3 children, Marge, Donna and Art "Chum". Another daughter, of Leona's, Mary Jane (Kellner), stayed in Michigan and was raised by grandparents.
  After they returned to Montana, Larry and Patsy were born.
  They worked on the Horse Ranch at Fergus. Leona also taught school at Knob Hill. Art lived in Lewistown for several years where he was a Fergus County jailer and did carpentry work. Art passed away in 1981.
  Leona remained in the Roy area. For a time she was married to Bill Davis and they had a daughter, Janet.
  Art and Leona's daughter, Marge is married to Perry Kalal. Their son, Art or "Chum" married Vi Bare the daughter of Laura (Larson) and Elmer Bare. Larry Larson married June Wright, daughter of Harry and Ruth Wright.
  Many descendents of Peter and Inga Larson live in the Central Montana area. Among those living in Roy are Marge Kalal and her children and Jackie Styer Grimsrud.

GEORGE MARTIN

  George Martin, Armells area, was born April 5, 1885 in Michigan to Pat and Margaret Martin. He received his education there.
  He came to Montana in 1910 and homesteaded at Armells in 1914. On October 27, 1915 he married Lena V. Lucier in Lewistown.
  In 1920 they moved to the Brooks area and in 1936 to Lewistown where he worked for the Milwaukee Railroad until his retirement.
  The Martin's had a son, Tommie, and two daughters Frances (Neet) and Betty (Cerovski).
  George passed away February 25, 1964 and is buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery.

CLAUDE AND MARY BUTTS MAURY

  Claude Maury was a grandson of James Fergus, father of Fergus County. He was born in Iowa on August 21, 1883 and came, with his parents, to live on the James Fergus Ranch at Armells when he was about two years old. The family stayed for two years then moved to Oregon. There was also a brother, Marion, and a sister.
  When Claude was fifteen he returned to Montana to work on his grandfathers ranch. He eventually became manager and half owner of the old Fergus Horse Ranch. He engaged in stock raising on an extensive scale.
  At the time of his passing on March 21, 1932 the Fergus Horse Ranch was owned by the county and Claude was owner and operator of the Maury Service Station in Lewistown.
  Claude was married to Mary Margaret Butts in 1902 in Lewistown.
Mary was born in Missouri on November 2, 1884. She came to Montana with her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Harry Butts, as a small child.
  The Maurys had three children. Their eldest, Emory, died in November of 1935 at the age of 32 from injuries suffered in an auto accident in May of 1923. He had been paralized since the accident. There were two daughters, Mrs. Frank Bristol and Mrs. Robert Lindblom.
  Mary died at her daughter's home in Oakland, California of a heart attack in January of 1946. She was buried in Lewistown beside her husband and son.
  Mary's parents are also buried in Lewistown.
 

THE McKERLIE FAMILY

  The McKerlie family came to Montana from the upper Michigan peninsula town of Gladstone. Victor and Clair came first, and later their father, John, and his brother, Robert, came and homesteaded on Armells Creek. They built a tiny frame cabin with a bed that folded down against the wall. A table folded up against another wall, and the chairs were hung on pegs when the bed was down.
  Some time later, their mother, Mary Seller McKerlie and their younger sister, Jean, came along after she graduated from Gladstone High School. Robert's wife, Minnie and their children lived close by. As there was no school teacher in the neighborhood, 16-year-old Jean was hired to teach the grade school. Charlie and George Petranek were two of her pupils.
  Their ventures in farming were fairly disastrous even before the drought of 1919. Some cattle they brought from Oregon didn't withstand the harsh winter, and in a spring flood their calf crop perished.
  Victor came to Lewistown and worked for Thompson Construction; builders of the Montana Building, among others. He enlisted in the Army Corps of Engineers during World War I, and was so proud of that service that he continued to wear the "puttees" and jodphurs for many years as a sort of engineer's uniform. After his return from the service he started his own Victor Construction Company, specializing in grain elevators and associate buildings in every part of Montana and northern Wyoming.
  In 1921, he married Helena Wernli at Garneill. They had three children: John, a West Point graduate, is an architectural engineer in New York City; Judy Harris, a retired teacher-librarian in the San Francisco Bay area until retiring to Dayton, Nevada, recently; and Pat, who is the wife of Judge Peter Rapkoch in Lewistown.
  Clair married Clara Tollefson of Choteau and they had two children, Betty Jean Lennon and James Allen. He also worked in construction all over Montana but left in the late 30's for Washington State. He was working on the Grand Coulee Dam when he was stricken with a heart attack and died in 1942.
  After leaving the homestead Jean taught school in many communities in Montana, attending summer school and the University whenever possible. She married Fred N. Thomson, also a teacher of Math and Agriculture. They taught in Lame Deer for several years, as well as several high schools in the Central Montana area. After Fred's death in 1943, Jean continued her career, achieving her Bachelor's Degree at the University after thirty years! She received her Masters in Library Science in 1958, then taught in Michigan until ill health forced her retirement and she returned to Montana. Until her death in 1987, she lived in Lewistown.
  After their children left the Armells region, John and Mary McKerlie moved to a small acreage in Beaver Creek Canyon close to Lewistown in the Snowy Mountains. John died in 1930 and Mary lived with Jean in Lame Deer until her death in 1941.
  The Robert McKerlie family moved to Leavenworth, Washington after they left the homestead, as did the other relatives who had come from Michigan.
  Vic McKerlie loved to tell stories about the hard times on the homestead; about riding his Harley Davidson bike over the rough roads out there, and how he missed the train in Lewistown so he walked to catch it either in Hilger or Suffolk. One time he had his father on the back of the bike, riding over the bumpy roads, and he turned his head to say something to him and discovered that he'd lost his passenger some three miles back when they'd hit a particularly bad "thank you marm" as they called the dips in the roads back then! I always remember that he and Helena loved Montana so much they never even used to go back to visit Michigan or Iowa, where Helena had grown up. They just loved the climate, and the people, and everything about the Big Sky Country, though they lived through some pretty hard times. The Big Sky Country was mighty good to them.

L. J. (LOUIE) MITTEN AND MISS RUTH MITTEN

  This brother and sister were long-time residents of Fergus and Roy communities where both were very active in school, church, community organizations and the American Legion.
  The Mittens were two of a family of nine children and were raised in Illinois. L. J. Mitten was an athletic teacher in high school there. He attended college in Bozeman for three years and decided to stay in Montana, and came to Armells area where he ranched for over twenty years.
  Miss Mitten was one of Fergus County's outstanding teachers. She began her profession in Illinois where she was reared and taught there for several years before moving to Kansas where she was superintendent of schools for four years before coming to Montana. Her efforts were untiring in working for schools, community, church and Sunday schools. She is remembered for her loving personality. She last resided in the two story house in Roy's east side that is now owned by Harold (Casey) Jones.
  In failing health, Miss Mitten went to Wichita, Kansas where she made her home for the rest of her life. She died 9 November 1942.
  Mrs. Will Landru was a niece of the Mittens.
 

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  Louie Mitten retired from his ranch and moved to Vancouver, Washington where he spent the last ten years of his life. Born in 1880, he was 70 years old when he passed away in mid November 1950, burial at Ocean Park, Washington. He was survived by one brother, Dave Mitten, the last member of the Mitten family. His obituary was in the 23 November 1950 issue of the Lewistown Daily News.

WALTER H. PECK FAMILY HISTORY
by Jean Peck Bradley

  Walter H. Peck was born on August 28th, 1853 in Cook County, Illinois, the son of Presbyterian minister, Reverend John Peck and Sarah Bremner Peck. At the age of 12 he went to work in the offices of the Erie Railroad where he remained for the next 11 years. After the death of his widowed mother and at the age of 28 years he decided to join those hardy souls who found a challenge in new horizons in the West.
  Boarding the train to St. Louis and then on to Bismarck, North Dakota, which was then the end of the rail line. He rode up the Missouri River on the first steamboat of the year, the "Far West", and landed in Fort Benton. The trip took 14 days. Fort Benton was then the last navigable station on the Missouri and was the bustling headquarters for large shipments of furs, wool and supplies and was the gateway for shipments of gold to the East.
  There Walter bought a saddle horse, a frying pan and a small pail. For provisions he had a slab of bacon, a pound of tea, a sack of rice and some dried fruit. With Square Butte as a landmark, he left Fort Benton riding directly across the open fenceless country and eventually ended up on Armells Creek, then in Meagher County on the North slopes of the Judith Mountains. Here Walter found work on a large sheep ranch, taking part of his wages in a share of the lambs. In 1882 he took up a homestead 12 miles north of Fort Maginnis and stocked it with 600 head of sheep. Eventually adding desert and timber claims he increased his acreage to 800 acres and his band of sheep to about 7000. On September 22, 1885 he married Zelinda Stuart.
  Zelinda was born of Quaker parents, one of 7 children, in North Carolina in 1849. During the Civil War her father clung tenaciously to his Quaker beliefs and refused to bear arms. He was bitterly persecuted for his religious convictions, even being hung by his thumbs, but was finally forced to march toward the enemy with a gun tied to his body. He marched on into enemy territory and till the end of the Civil War was sent to work in the salt mines as punishment. These years passed, and at the end of the war he got in touch with his family again and they joined him in Raysville, Indiana to start a new life. Here he rented a small acreage and managed, by working for his landlord whenever possible, to put by a small amount toward moving his family further west into Illinois which was still an open pioneering country at that time. They finally moved to Plymouth, Illinois when Zelinda was a young lady of 19.
  Zelinda's older brother, Julian, ventured out West to Montana and became a sheep man not far from where Walter Peck had settled. A large operator, a Scotchman by the name of William Fergus lived nearby and had a family of three girls and a boy who were nearing school age, but there were no schools in the area. Julian wrote to his sister and she decided to make the hazardous trip West to join him to keep house for him and to keep her anxious parents informed as to his well being as well as to teach the Fergus children.
  She often told most interesting stories of her trip as she boarded the train as far as it went to Bismarck, North Dakota and from there, by stage, where she was the only woman among a group of fur traders. She was impressed with the beauty of the grasslands, the streams and the wild game and as they drove into the Maiden Canyon the driver asked where he could 'drop' his lady passenger. She asked to be taken to thb Hotel but the driver shook his head and in astonishment said "No Ma'am that isn't a fit place for a lady. There ain't no real hotel in these parts....just saloons and lodging houses! I'll take you to Mrs. Ballinger's. She is a white woman and will take good care of you till your brother comes for you." Zelinda spent a few days with Mr. and Mrs. Ballinger and there formed a friendship which lasted through their lives.
  Zelinda, or Linda as she was widely known, stayed with her brother till fall. Then as he was planning to be married and his cabin was quite small she went to live in the home of Granville Stuart. Granville was a boisterous, hearty man of the West (no relation) and was looking for someone to teach his family of children. His wife was a shy, retiring full blood Crow Indian. She taught his children as well as the Fergus children and any others in the immediate area. Eventually Linda and Walter became acquainted and were married, and to this union were born three children: Harry, Helen and John.
  The need for a neighborhood post office became apparent and induced Walter to promote a petition to have one established. They proposed to have the new post office named Ray, shortened from Linda's childhood hometown of Raysville, Indiana, but through some error, perhaps in penmanship, when the official papers arrived, in 1892, to establish the post office in his home the name was given as Roy.
  A drouth, followed by a severe winter caused Walter to lose most of his sheep so he sold his place in 1897 to Oscar Stephens and sent his family to stay with her parents in Illinois to go to school while he planned to run what was left of his band of sheep in the breaks of the
 

Missouri for the winter. The next spring he was forced to sell what was left of his sheep and had barely $1,000 to show for his labor.
  About this time he learned of a general store in Garneill which was having financial difficulties. Through his reputation for personal integrity and with no collateral, Walter was able to make arrangements through Sam Phillips of the Bank of Fergus County to become half owner with Frank Hassett of the Garneill property. He soon bought his partner's interest and became sole owner of the W.H. Peck General Merchandise Store which was said to handle anything from a needle up to a threshing machine. Upon taking over the business he sent for Linda and the children. By this time the railroad had been built to Great Falls so from there they came by stage to Utica where Walter met them and they traveled by horse and buggy to their new home 25 miles away. The railroad was built into the area during the next few years and with the excitement of homestead areas opening up and new industry the general store proved to be a thriving business. Peck ran the store until 1917, which also included the post office from 1902 to 1912. He was appointed deputy U.S. Land Commissioner and as such took homestead filings in the area.
  Peck's retired to Lewistown where he died in 1928 at the age of 74. Zelinda lived to be 94 years old. Their youngest son, John, stayed in the Garneill area where he raised a large family, many of them still residing in that area.

THE SAMUEL T. STRAUSBURG FAMILY
by Bessie Wiedman

  Samuel T. Strausburg, stock and grain rancher in Fergus County, was a loyal and enthusiastic booster of Montana's opportunities. He had lived in a number of states and locations before coming here, and it was Montana that proved most permanently attractive and afforded him the opportunities for getting securely anchored in terms of material prosperity.
  Mr. Strausberg was born near Centerview, in Johnson County, Missouri, June 30, 1869, the son of Jacob and Elizabeth (Fogle) Strausburg. His father was born at Union Bridge, Maryland and both parents were of German Baptist families. They moved from Dayton, Ohio to Missouri in 1867 and Jacob Strausburg spent his life as a farmer and died at Warrensburg, Missouri in 1924, at the age of eighty-four. His wife passed away in 1914, at seventy-nine, and both are buried at Centerview. They were the parents of nine children.
  Samuel attended the Houx schoolhouse, three miles north of Centerville and remained in his home locality until he was twenty-two. He accepted the advice of a friend urging him to go to Montana and take up a homestead. He turned what he had into cash, loaded his household goods and his family on a train and started for Lewistown, where he arrived in 1914. He brought with him his wife and five children, and a cash capital of only $250.
  His homestead was located three miles northeast of Armell postoffice and station. He filed a contest on this homestead but the former claimants agreed to release his claim. Later he found other Government land adjacent and entered enough to finish out a section. Some of the land was heavily timbered with pine. In the course of his various experiences in the Middle West he had acquired the knowledge of a sawmill and he conceived the idea of saving a great deal of cash outlay by turning the fine trees into lumber. He bought a small sawmill and sawed up enough of the pine logs to provide material for house, barn, chicken and hog houses and he and his sons then turned carpenters and built the lumber into substantial forms of construction. Most of the improvements on his farm and ranch represent the direct results of his enterprise and the labor of himself and his children.
  Mr. Strausburg, in the spring of 1916, laid the foundation of his livestock by purchasing three cows and their calves, and the following year added nine head of the Shorthorn strain. A constant source of revenue was milk and cream. He also raised Duroc Jersey strain of hogs and sold them to the butcher shops in Lewistown.
  What he accomplished as a homesteader and farmer had not been at the expense of public spirited participation in the community life. He helped build three schoolhouses in the region and served on the school board nine years. The first schoolhouse was six miles from his ranch and his eldest son drove the stage to carry the children to school. After getting on the school board Mr. Strausburg succeeded in getting another building less than two miles away. He was deputy field assessor for five years, serving under Assessors Reddick, and Hughes. He was a Democrat and he was reared in the faith of the German Baptist Church. He was a director of the First National Bank of Roy and during the World War he and his family assisted in carrying out the patriotic program of his locality.
Mr. Strausburg married, October 22, 1891, Miss Martha Burgard, who was born in Fulton County, Illinois on May 3, 1870. She was the daughter of Peter and Martha (Danner) Burgard. Her people were also German Baptists and moved from Illinois to Missouri. Mrs. Strausburg was one of thirteen children and the others who grew up were: John, Mrs. Lizzie Strausburg, Peter, Paul Silas, Mrs. Ruth Kahler of Lewistown, Montana.
  Mr. and Mrs. Strausburg had five children. Their daugher Birdie is the wife of John Pelot and they owned and managed an apartment house in Lewistown.
 

  Birdie's former husband was Roy Lee Wolfe and her children are Harold, Floyd, Roy Lee and Dorothy Wolfe Gilskey of Hilger.
  The other children of Samuel and Martha were Chester Samuel who married Alice May O'Connors; Howard W. whose first wife was Joyce Johnson and his 2nd wife was Edythe McEneaney; Ruby who married Harold Scanlon and Porter D. who married Ruth Potterf. (See Potterf history)
  Porter D. and Ruth had seven children. After his death in 1935 she and the children moved to Roy where they attended school. The children of Porter D. were: Porter S. who resides in Lewistown; Evelyn who married James Gradle, they live in Roundup; Lavinni who is Mrs. Jim Bowser of Roy; Vernon of Lewistown; Ramona (Mrs. Fred Youderian) deceased; Martha (Mrs. Addis Avitt) of Lodi, California and Curtis of Cut Bank.
  Samuel and Martha celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in May of 1941. Sam died in April of 1952 and Martha a month later in May.

VESSEY
T. 19N R.21E Sec. 3,4,9 & 10
information by Nellie Belle Vessey and Freddie Vessey

   Jay C. Vessey was born on January 8, 1871 in Sauk Center, Minnesota. He died in February of 1947 at the age of 76. His wife, Susan Combs, daughter of William Combs and Amanda Butler, was born in October of  1872. She died March 19, 1928 at the age of 56. Both are buried in Lewistown.
 

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   The Vessey's homesteaded in 1915, about 14 miles from Roy, on Armells Creek, where they raised cattle. They made their home in Roy in later years.
   They had five sons: Ray, who was killed in France in WWI; Winfred (Winnifred) and Ernest, who moved to the west coast; Donald, who was around Roy for several years and Fred.
 Fred Vessey was born in 1895 in Sauk Center, Minnesota. He was married to Nellie Belle Massey on March 21, 1931 in Lewistown. Nellie was born on May 24, 1907 in Oaks, Oklahoma. They had five children: Freddie, born January 17, 1932; Jay LaMoyne, born August 14, 1934, died December 29, 1936, buried in Lewistown; Donna, born August 29, 1937; Rodney (Ray) born September 26, 1943 (all in Lewistown) and Dan born March 5, 1952 in Grangeville, Idaho, died February 18, 1969.
  Nellie Vessey wrote the following about her husband Fred:

Fred worked for a large cattle outfit between Roy and (Valentine?) the winter of 1919. He and Charles Russell rode the range together for this outfit. This outfit couldn't get hay for their cattle that winter so they all died; all 10,000 head. They couldn't get hay then like now. There was one old poor cow, that didn't die, so Charles drew a picture for Fred and left it in his house and when he was gone someone stole it. This happened before I knew Fred. Fred told me all of this about Charles Russell.
Before Fred and his family came to Montana, Andrew Fergus had the Horse Ranch on Armells Creek. Some settlers came in that he didn't like. Some of his cowboys hung a boy on a cottonwood tree. That was in the early days that happened, but they were still talking about it. That took place about 1/2 mile of our place on Armells Creek.

 After Fred and Nellie were married they lived on a ranch Fred had bought several years earlier on Armells Creek near the Horse Ranch. Fred had been foreman on the Gilpatrick Ranch for several years before he started ranching himself. They had sheep and cattle.
  The Fred Vessey's bought the Bill Lane ranch below Roy where they lived for several years. In the spring of 1944 they sold the ranch and moved to Stites, Idaho and bought a ranch. Fred also worked at a planer mill run by Potlatch Forests.
  Fred died on February 26, 1962 of a heart attack at the age of 77. Nellie was 81 years old in 1988 and resides in Grangeville, Idaho.

THE ALBERT C. WIEDMAN FAMILY

a composite from the writings of

Alan and Bessie Colver Wiedman

Albert C. Wiedman was one of the substantial ranchers and farmers of Fergus County, his homeplace being located three miles south of Armells, on Armells Creek, and comprised of the lands homesteaded by his parents in 1888.   Albert was born near St. Joseph in Buchanan County, Missouri on May 22, 1874, one of eight children of Christian and Sibylla (Gutekunst) Wiedman and a grandson of Frederick Wiedman, all natives of Wurttenburg, Germany.   Chris and Sibylla were married in 1871 in America. After four of their children died of scarlet fever they decided to leave Missouri with its unhappy memories. They sold their grocery store and in 1888 Chris headed the family migration to Montana. The family consisted of Albert, then 14; Amelia 12, Emma 4 and Charles 4 months.   They came up the river and across the plains to White Sulphur Springs where Chris had a sister, Mrs. George Bruckert, living. Chris and Albert left the rest of the family there while they came on to Lewistown where he had two more sisters living. They were Mrs. William Vannest and Mrs. Frank Hash.   After locating their homestead they returned to White Sulphur Springs for the winter. There were only three houses between the homestead and Lewistown then;

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the Townsend Ranch, now known as the Mayberry Ranch; the Colver Ranch and the Vannest Ranch, now the Clark Carter Ranch.   Albert was 15 years old when they returned the following spring and he and his father worked together in putting up the log house; their chief implements being a cross-cut saw and a wood axe.   After he retired from the responsibilities of grain and stock farming, Christian Wiedman moved to Lewis-town, where he died in 1924, at the age of 85, and his wife in 1927 at the age of 77.   Albert C. Wiedman acquired his education before leaving the old Missouri home. After assisting his father in the preliminary work of developing the homestead he became a range rider and cowboy on some of the ranch holdings of the Fergus Livestock and Land Company. Later he returned home and took the active management of his father's place. This estate represented the original claims entered by his father and mother and other additional claims totaling 1180 acres. Mr. Albert Wiedman also entered a homestead adjoining the location of his parents, and his individual accumulations represent about a section of land.   Mr. Wiedman served as one of the trustees of the home school and helped organize two school districts in this vicinity. Politically he was a Republican in national politics, and during the World War he was registered under the second draft law but was never classified. The Wiedman's as a family were members of the Presbyterian Church.   Mr. Wiedman married at Fort Benton, Montana on October 22, 1904 a Miss Elizabeth Bremner. Elizabeth was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and she and her sister, Mrs. William Gordon, came to the United States in 1900. Both of their parents had died in Scotland. Mrs. Wiedman attended a business college in Scotland.   The ranch was on the main road to the Roy country. When the lower country was being settled many unloaded their emigrant cars at Hilger and also hauled lumber from the three yards there. Many of them stopped at the ranch the first night. Usually there was no charge for meals or horse feed. This was a heavy load for Elizabeth. The pioneer women are the ones who had it tough. Elizabeth was always cheerful. She was well read and could recite an endless amount of poetry. She died in 1929. Albert died in 1945.  The only child of Mr. and Mrs. Wiedman was Alan B., who was born August 19, 1905 and was a graduate of the Lewistown High School. He is a Charter member of the Lewistown DeMolay organization.  Alan stayed on the ranch. On November 12, 1948 he married Bessie Colver, the widow of Fred W. Colver. She had two children, Marcelyn and Fred D. Colver. Bessie died in 1969.   Alan retired in 1969 and lived in a mobile home at the Colver ranch until his passing in 1980.   Marcelyn married John Montgomery. They have six children: Bob, Tom, Tim, Debra (Mrs. Rich Bowser), Mike and Leda (Mrs. Mike McReynolds). Tim, Deb, Mike and Leda all attended school in Roy and are RHS graduates. Marcelyn and John took over the ranch when Alan retired and continue to operate it along with their construction business.   Emma Wiedman married Marion Maury in 1900. They had two girls, Emma and Amelia. The mother died in 1905. Amelia Wiedman married William Fergus in 1899. They had no children but adopted the Maury children. William Fergus died in 1916. Mrs. Fergus married Louis Smith in 1921. She died in 1955.   Amelia Fergus married Bud Williams in 1930. They had one son, Charles. Emma Fergus married John Simofy in 1930. They had a son, Jack, killed in the crash of a B52 in 1971 and a daughter, Ethel, living in Santa Maria, California.   Charles Wiedman took a homestead near Christina. He married a neighbor girl. They later divorced. They had a girl, Mary, who died in 1972; a boy, Wayne, living in Omaha and another named Norman now living in Indiana.   Charles later remarried and had two daughters. The mother, the former Lily Wilson, died when the girls were very young. He took care of them until he died in 1942. One girl is now married to Art Christensen of Dillon. The other one lives in Idaho.

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FRED F. AND JESSIE WILKENS

T 20N R 21E Sec. 5, & 8

Fred F. Wilkens was born on August 7, 1885 in Germany, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Claude Wilkens. He received his education in Davenport, Iowa. He was married to Jessie McDonald on July 12, 1916 in Lewistown. Jessie was born on November 29, 1878 in Granville, Tennessee, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry McDonald.   Fred and Jessie homesteaded in the Horse Ranch area in the 1920's. They lived there for 12 years then moved to the Castle Creek area south of Lewistown where they raised cattle and sheep. After Fred's death on August 19, 1957, Jessie moved into Lewistown where she lived until her passing on February 28, 1980 at the age of 101.   Fred was survived by two daughters, Mrs. Edward Corle of Plymouth, Indiana and Mrs. Raymond May of Lamville, Illinois. Margurite Abbott of Lewistown was a niece of the couple.

YAEGER ARMELLS RANCH

by Charles F. Yaeger Jr.

About 1935, George Yaeger of Beaver Creek, west of Glengarry, purchased the old James Fergus Ranch, which was settled in 1880. It is located where the old Carroll Trail crossed Armells Creek and one mile south of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad townsite of Armells. However, the post office at Armells was closed by this time, so the address was Fergus, Montana. That post office was located five miles east of the ranch. The old main highway (graded and graveled) between Lewistown, Hilger, Fergus and Roy went through between the main ranch buildings and crossed the creek at said Carroll Trail crossing. (Where the east fork of Armells Creek runs into Armells Creek.) The Milwaukee Railroad also passed through the buildings at right angles to the old highway.   Several bands of sheep were run on the main ranch and in the spring one band was trailed across country through the Horse Ranch, north of the Charlie Bishop house, down the county road past Fred Mabee's house and turned east at the old country (Zuley) school house to a pasture between the Indian Butte and Crooked Creek Grazing Districts, near Button Butte. The distance was around 40 miles and took about 21/2 days (if it did not rain) to trail there. However, if it rained the sheep wagon could not be moved in the gumbo-mud and the herder would have to keep them where they were when the rain hit. In the fall the sheep were moved home the same route, but by fall the lambs were big and traveled better than the baby ones had that spring.   Of course, coyotes were always a problem as some of them kill to eat....but some just kill lambs and ewes for sport and one coyote will kill 35 or more lambs in a single night. The sheep herder had to "bed" the sheep close to his camp wagon every night and sleep with one ear listening, so if he heard coyotes in the sheep at night he could shoot in the air and scare them away.   After George died in 1948, Rudolph and Elsbeth (King) "Betty" Yaeger and Fred "Fritz" Yaeger moved to Armells from the Beaver Creek Ranch. In the early 1950's the old George Gilpatrick house in Hilger, which was located just east of the brick bank building (Rainbow Bar), was purchased and moved to the ranch for Rudolph and Betty to live in.   The Ranch always employed several hired hands, and some of them stayed on for many years. Louie Larson, born in Norway in 1888, herded sheep for us for 20 years, quitting when he was over 80. John Paul Jones worked on the ranch from the early 1940's until going to Valle Vista Manor in Lewistown in 1978. Andrew Tresch of Roy worked on the ranch for over 20 years after he sold his ranch in the breaks down on the Mussellshell Trail. The last few years he and Mike Machler, another bachelor, also from Switzerland, wintered in Arizona and Andy helped here during the summers and Mike lived in his house in Roy (first house south of L.M.A. Wass' big house.) The last year Andy worked here he was 88 years old. He died in 1987 at the age of 98.   Bill Bucher, son of sheriff Fred and Mary (Keller) Bucher worked here 10 or more years too.   Charles Yaeger Jr., son of Charley and Esther (King) of Beaver Creek, started working summers on the ranch as a hired hand in 1951. He went on full time in 1957. On May 22, 1959 he married Mary Rose Raw, eldest child of James and Mary (Colwell) Raw of Moore. They built a house that fall. They have four children: Cynthia Rose (Mrs. Rodney Thompson) of Plentywood, who was born May 5, 1960 (they have three children: Stephanie Marie, age 31/2, Kayla Rose age 2 and Clayton Vance Thompson age 5 months); Charles Clinton born March 8, 1962; Corey Andrew born January 3, 1965 and Christopher James born August 23, 1971.   Larry A. Yaeger, second son of Charley and Esther, started working on the Armells ranch in 1959. He married Betty Jane Pallett, one of a set of twin daughters of William and Doris Pallett, of Lewistown, on May 26,

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1962. That fall they moved into Rue and Betty's house on the ranch. They have three children: Ronnie Anton born May 14, 1963; Brenda Ann (Mrs. Nick Wilson) of Spokane (they have one son Tyler, age one). Brenda was born February 18, 1965 and Bradley Allen born December 27, 1967. Charley of Beaver Creek (Rudolph's partner) died in 1963 at the age of 60. Rudolph and Fred both died in 1969. Charles and Larry have continued to operate the ranch raising cattle, sheep, hay and some small grains, mainly for winter feed.   James R. Yaeger, Charley and Esther's youngest son, who was born in 1945 continues to live on their Beaver Creek place and is in partnership with Charles and Larry.   Elsbeth is living at Lewis Willow apartments in Lewistown.

From Fergus County Argus -- April 28, 1897

SHEEPHERDER AMPUTATES FINGER

R.S. Reid, a sheepherder in the employ of Will Fergus, arrived in town last Friday minus the end of a finger on his left hand, and in explanation of his loss related a snake story which some discredit, though not at all impossible. Mr. Reid said that on last Thursday while herding a band of sheep on Lower Dog Creek he laid down on the grass to rest, placing his hands under his head, when suddenly he felt a blow and a queer sensation on the ball of one of his fingers. He withdrew his hand quickly and at the same time jerked a rattlesnake out of the clump of sage brush in which his head had been resting. Realizing the danger he was in, Reid resolved to cut his finger off, and taking an old, dull knife from his pocket, commenced to whittle on his finger as if sharpening a lead pencil. Finding that this would not work he opened a larger blade of the knife and placing his finger on a hard substance proceeded to amputate the finger at the first joint, which he accomplished with some difficulty. With the blood flowing freely and without stopping to kill the snake, he put the stump in his mouth and started for the ranch, two and one-half miles away. Arriving there a chicken was killed and the intestines bound upon the wound at once. The following day Reid came on to Lewistown and on Saturday had another operation performed on the finger by Dr. Monahan, it being necessary to amputate the finger again in order to get a flap. Reid thinks that resort to the knife was all that saved his life, and if it was a sure enough "rattler" and not a cactus thorn that came up against his finger, his act was the proper one, although it required considerable nerve to amputate one's own finger with a dull pocket knife.