John Giarrett was born 22 November 1888. He married Julia Adelphia Smith, who was born 13 October 1897. Their wedding took place 20 April 1914. Four sons were born to them: John Isaac, 24 August 1915 at Bigelow, Missouri; Kenneth Earl, born 30 August 1917 at Zortman, Montana; Paul Lawrence, born 27 September 1923 at Lawrence, Nebraska; and Dale Quiloris, born 10 December 1926 at Lewistown, Montana.
  John Isaac married Roberta Bunn of Bear Creek, Montana. Roberta was born 26 August 1924. They have no children.
  Kenneth Earl married Viola Bunn of Cody, Wyoming. Viola was born 21 November 1919. They had two children: Lynn, born 11 September 1944 and died, 1September 1971 at Powell, Wyoming, burial at Ballentine, Montana; and Carrol, born 23 June 1949.
  Paul Lawrence married Betty Alexander of Shell, Missouri and five children were born to them: Darrell, born 11 March 1955; John, born 7 August 1956; Jim Bob, born 26 December 1958; Phyrene, born 19 February 1965; and Charles, born 16 July 1968.
  Dale Q. Gairrett married Katherine R. Hanson, daughter of Roy and Alice Hanson of Billings, Montana. Their children are: Janice Gayle, born 23 April 1956; Kenneth Patrick, born 30 June 1958; Julie Anne, born 26 December 1960, died, 10 February 1982, buried at Cody, Wyoming; Roy Dale, born 17 May 1970; and Kelly Earlene, born 30 August 1971.

  Robert Newton Gairrett was born at Randolph, Missouri, Holt County on 14 February 1886. He married Ina Muriel Smith 7 July 1911 in Craig, Missouri. She was born at Mound City, Missouri, 15 October 1887, the daughter of Clabourn H. and Rhoda Chaney Smith.
  Newt and brother John came to Wilder, Montana in 1910. Newt homesteaded on the south side of the Missouri River and John on the north side, about a mile apart. This was a remote location, approximately ninety miles from either Malta in Phillips County or Lewistown in Fergus County with no improved roads, only gumbo trails. These families were true pioneers who lived at this location for twenty-five years and endured many hardships raising their families, but made the best of their resources and enjoyed a good life with many friends.
  The Gairrett brothers married sisters, Ina and Julia Smith. Each family raised four boys, who were full cousins. Robert Wayne, Newt and Ina's oldest son was born 16 April 1912, St. Josephs, Missouri. John Keith, Charles Glenn and Edgar A. were born in Montana.
  Schooling was very important to them and in this location presented difficult problems. Ina taught in the Eugene cabin and Newt would come and take them home on weekends. Then Gairretts got their own school, sometimes on one side or the other of the River, as best suited. They managed until the boys were graduating from the eighth grade. Wayne had to go to high school at Roy and board away. Newt and Ina moved into Lewistown to put the boys in high school. Wayne was a good banjo player and would jig to the music. He and Jimmy Duke were classmates at Fergus High and were both musicians. Jim recalls the good times they had together.
  At age 23, Wayne and his mother, Ina were both stricken with pneumonia and were both in the Malta hospital. Wayne died 22 November 1935 and Ina passed away six days later, 28 November 1935. They were buried in the Zortman Cemetery.
  The Gairretts lands were sold to the Corps of Engineers for the Fort Peck Dam project and they moved to Billings in 1936. In 1938, Newton went to Ennis, Montana where he operated a fishing resort until 1954, when he returned to Billings. In 1966, he was struck by a motorcycle and died in a Billings hospital. R. N. Gairrett was buried in the Zortman Cemetery beside his wife and son. His three sons survive him: Keith of Hazen, North Dakota; Glen of Las Vegas, Nevada and Edger of Great Falls, Montana and two grandchildren. ^{P. 454}

  Charles Harry Halpin was born at Montrose, Pennsylvania on November 22, 1884. He was reared and educated in the public schools of that community and while playing sand-lot baseball, he developed more than usual talent, and shortly after the turn of the century went to Bloomington, Illinois where he became a professional baseball player in the old Three-I league. He later joined Cincinnati in the National League of organized baseball where he played second base until the development of a bronchial ailment. On the advice of his physician he came to Montana and settled in the mountain country near Seeley Lake, east of Missoula, where he was engaged in the general store, hotel and logging business.
  Some time before 1912 he moved to Butte, where he again took up baseball and played in the Butte City League and also was employed by the A. C. M. company as a carpenter on its surface workings.
  Mr. Halpin belonged to the Masonic Lodge of Butte and it was through the lodge that he located the Harnois property on the Missouri River which he purchased. Mr. Frank Harnois was a squatter who held 312 acres next to the hills and on the bottom above Fort Carroll. He was aged and in very poor health in 1920 when he turned this land over to the Masonic Lodge of Butte and passed away soon after. Mr. Harnois signed the deed with an "X" and it was witnessed by Jim Vickery. A. Diamond, Chas. L. Scott and Tonig. Shmitt of Roy, Montana. George W. Mikel was in charge and Halpin came down and viewed the place and decided to purchase it. He received the deed January 1, 1924, as recorded at the Lewistown Courthouse.
  Mr. Halpin raised alfalfa seed and cattle on this ranch. His brand was HAL on the R. R. He served as an election judge at the Wilder precinct and he was a respected member of the Wilder community. With the development of the Fort Peck Dam project, he sold his holdings to the U.S. Government and purchased a ranch on the Judith River at the old Fullerton Post Office about 12 miles west of Winifred in Fergus County.
  In 1944 he disposed of his ranch holdings and moved to Lewistown where he was employed as a clerk at the Burke Hotel and became assistant manager.
  Harry Halpin was 63 years of age at the time of his death on September 29, 1948. He had a large acquaintance in this area and was a courteous and genial person, and was a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Episcopal Church.

  Thomas Howard was born 21 November 1864 in Charlotte, Iowa. His parents were Charles Howard and Mary Ann Brennan. He left home in his early twenties and worked on ranches in the Panhandle of Texas as a wrangler. In 1893 he came to North Dakota with a trail herd and a year later moved to Montana with a pack train. That spring he worked for Brockway and Connell (or Cornell). He later worked for Bill and Bob Coburn; one had a ranch on the Missouri River and the other had a ranch in the Larb Hills.
  In 1895 he went to work for the Alex Hansen Ranch on the Dearborn River near Augusta where he met Edith Braford who lived nearby with her sister, Laura Burtch.
  Edith was born 25 January 1881 at Silver Creek near Helena. Her parents were Jotham Braford and Lucy Gordon, who had come to Montana from Michigan in 1877.
  Tom and Edith were married in Helena in 1896. They first lived near Avon where their daughter, Alice, was born 4 December 1897. The following year they moved to Rock Creek below Landusky where Tom worked on the roundup. A boy, Ben, was born and died there in December 1898.
  Their next move was to the Missouri River (location later known as the Knox place). Their son, William, was born there 23 April 1901 (but his funeral card listed Roy as his birthplace). Edith's mother, Lucy Braford, would stay with them in the summers, and she once caught a 48-pound sturgeon while at this place.
  They moved to where Brooks is now; between Lewistown and Roy where Tom once ran a saloon -- nothing there now. (Ledger entries regarding this give dates of 1903.)
  Then they lived on Fargo Coulee and Armells Creek. The nearest town was Wilder. Terese was born there on 4 August 1904. Edith's sister Laura was by then married to Robert Lillard and lived nearby.
  In June 1905, Tom decided to move the family to northern Montana, Valley County. They settled where ^{P. 455}  Rock Creek and McEachern Creek joined. The nearest post office was Barr, 20 miles away. Later Thoney was built, three miles away. Tom lived here for 15 years and homesteaded the land. From October 1906 to October 1908 Edith had a post office named Boundary on the property. Tom was a constable for a time (sheriffs day book entries for 1917). In Dec. 1918 at Malta, Alice married Guy Bucher of Saco. They moved to Washington State and when the first child was to be born in 1920, Edith went to visit her daughter. Edith never returned to Montana. She died in Vancouver, Washington 3 April 1958.
  In 1921 Tom's mailing address was Nielsen (Phillips County). In 1923 his record books show brands, cattle weights and check-in times, indicating he was either a brand inspector or working for a stockyards.
  In 1926 Terese and her family lived with him for a time at Baker Springs. In 1927 they were all at Hunter Springs.
  In 1933 Tom purchased property (known as Two Calf) on the Missouri River. In the late 30's this was sold to the Federal Government for the Fort Peck Project, and he then leased it back. The lease was held for several years before being turned over to Bud Norskog.
  In 1945 Tom moved back to Roy but he would spend the winters with Terese in Lewistown. In 1950 he went with the family when they moved to Great Falls. He died there 26 December 1957, at the age of 93, and was brought back to Lewistown City Cemetery for burial.

  Laura Braford Lillard was born in Kent County, Michigan, about 1869. The family moved to Montana in 1877. From a first marriage to Alfred or Alford Burtch there was one known child, Howard Burtch.
  By 1904 she was married to Robert Lillard and was living on the Missouri River in Fergus County. Her sister, Edith Howard, said that Laura later divorced Robert and married his brother Jack. In 1921 her aunts obituary mentioned a Laura Lillard of Black leaf, Montana. There is an article in "Progressive Men of Montana" on a William Lillard of the Black Leaf Valley, who came to Montana in 1866 and he had two sons named Robert and John.
  The Avon book "Our Neighborhood" stated she died in Glasgow in 1948 but we could find no record there.

  Terese Howard, daughter of Tom and Edith Howard, married a Harry Barnum. They were divorced on the day that their daughter, Arla Rose Terese, or Nickie as she was called, was born, on 2 December 1923 in Centralia, Washington. In 1925 Terese married Pete Misner. I'm not aware of a court adoption, but Nickie always used the name Misner until she was married. I believe she went to school for at least one year in Winifred, probably 1935-36 as we were living on the Hess place at the time.
  We were living in Zortman when Nickie married William Ulfred Baucke, 11 August 1941 at Malta. They worked for his father, Jack Baucke on the Missouri River Ranch and also lived in Roy for a time in the early 40's, then they moved to Oregon. They had seven children, five still living. Nickie and Bill were divorced and she later married Toney Wickersham; her children took the name Wickersham. Nickie died 11 January 1964 at Boring, Oregon and is buried in Willamette National Military Cemetery in Portland.
  Terese is buried in Great Falls where she died on July 29, 1979.

  Tom Howard is remembered by those who knew him when he lived in the area as having a wild and wonderful imaginetion and the stories that he told were fantastic. People are still chuckling, today, when they recall a few of his tales.
  Emma Light knew him quite well and she remembers visiting and eating in his house several times when he was batching it. "He was a good cook," she recalled. "Tom Howard's cabin had a dirt floor that was as hard and slick as concrete. The table that held the pan of dish water sat between the stove in one corner of the room and the cupboard in the other corner.
 When he was through washing dishes he would throw the water on the floor, which was already saturated with grease from the stove, to keep the dust down." One of Tom's stories was a fish story. A Whopper!
 Once as Tom, his wife, and daughter were going up river in a boat they met some sturgeon going down river. "They were BIG fish too, 36 feet long at least! One was a male and one a female! Upon spying the ladies the fish turned around so fast to take a look that they darn near upset the boat!"    Tom's wife was a good subject for his stories. ^{P. 456} 
 Tom once bought a milk cow that was about ready to calve. To keep the calf away from the cow so they could have some milk themselves he had to build a corral to keep it in; only he forgot to put in a gate. So in order to let the calf nurse, it had to be hoisted over the fence, by gripping ears and tail, twice each milking. "Calf got damned heavy by fall, the Missus could hardly throw it over the fence anymore!" he told some folks.
"So I had to sell it." Another episode explained Tom's back trouble.
  Tom, wife, and daughter had made a trip into Roy to get their winter's supply of food. Enroute home a wheel fell off of the wagon -- so while Mrs. Howard hoisted the wheel back on, Tom, while laying on the ground, held the wagon up with his feet. He claimed his "back was never quite the same again."

  Ed Irvine, a Scotsman, was an early-day cowboy who rode the Milk River ranges and worked with the big cow outfits who had come to this destination with the Southern trail drives, which included the N-N, Turkeytrack, Circle-dot, and Mill-iron, around the turn of the century. He was a top hand and good stockman.
  In 1910, the William Douglas family, from Grand Forks, North Dakota, came to Montana by the Great Northern Railroad, stopped at Dodson and homesteaded about ten miles south, being neighbors of the Chris Williamsons. (Three of the Williamsons resided later on the Missouri River at Wilder and were again neighbors.) Mr. Douglas lost his life from blood-poison caused by a barbed wire scratch. Daughter Helen, married Edward Irvine and moved to the Missouri River and located on a homestead, T 21N, R 27E. Mrs. Rachel Douglas sold the homestead and she and her daughter, Maude, moved with the Irvines where she purchased the Jacob and Myrtle R. Rogers property T 21N, R 26E. on March 12, 1920. These lands joined and bordered the Frank Athearns, who were on the Petroleum County line.
  These people were energetic, meticulous people and built up a good ranch on the river bottom where they raised alfalfa hay and seed and Ed was very proud of his Shorthorn cattle. They were forced to sell to the Government for the Ft. Peck Dam project and this bottom is now covered by the dam. Rafter six was the Irvine brand.
  In 1936, Irvines and Douglases moved to a Wyoming ranch that Ed's brother, Bill, had located for them. Bill was a big rancher west of Laramie and a banker. This ranch was located thirty miles northwest of Laramie and was an ideal place, good mountain water, large meadows, excellent range and good buildings. Two families had lived on this ranch and so housing accommodated both Irvines and the Douglas ladies. They spent about twelve years raising a large herd of cattle on this ranch. Ed passed away in 1948. The Douglas women were gone and Helen turned the ranch over to Ed's nephew and she moved to Laramie and lived at the Ivinson Home for Ladies for over twenty years. She was active in the Presbyterian Church and social activities at the home. She passed away July 29, 1986, at the age of 91 years.

  Sam Jones lived on what is known as the Jones Island for a number of years. This is located on the northside of the Missouri River between the Bell bottom and Romo White's place, in Phillips County.
  Sam raised some cattle and lived a secluded life. He crossed the river and walked to the Wilder Post Office where he got his mail. He ordered most of his needs through the mail order catalogues. He did enjoy visiting with the people who were up for their mail.
  In the spring of 1929 his son, Eddy Harley Jones of Fife Lake, Michigan, came to stay with him for the summer. As he was returning home from a trip on foot to the post office for their mail, he became desperately ill and was not able to cross the river. When Sam came looking for him, he went down to Maulands and Joe Mauland rushed Eddy to St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewistown ^{P. 457} by car where he died the following day September 24, 1929 of spinal meningitis. He was buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery. The Fergus County Death Certificate stated he was 21 years and 7 months of age.
  Apparently the boy's mother was never notified of her son's death, as a notice in a Lewistown newspaper, 20 February 1949 stated that the mother, who was in failing health was searching for the whereabouts of her son, Eddy Harley Jones, who had come to Wilder, Montana to take up a homestead where his father was residing. Eddy was her only heir.
  Samuel N. Jones sold his river land to the U.S. Government for the Fort Peck Dam project in 1935 and moved to Zortman, where he lived for a time. The Phillips County News at Malta states that he died 28 February 1940 and was buried in the Malta Cemetery.

[Charles H. Kendall, father of Charles E. Kendall will be referred to as C.H. in the following account. His son, Chas. E. will be referred to as Charlie.]
  Charlie Kendall was born in Stetsonville, Wisconsin on October 16, 1891, the son of C.H. Kendall and Margaret Knoblock. Charlie came to Montana at the age of 15, in 1907, to join his father, C.H., who was a station agent at Sappington.
  C.H. had come west with his job as a station agent for the Milwaukee Railroad. His wife, Margaret, and children remained in Wisconsin. By 1906, C.H. had found his way to the Missouri River bottoms where he filed a Desert Land Entry claim, in the vicinity of river miles 145.3 to 146.0.
  Charlie was large for his age and was able to get a job as a carpenter's helper for the Milwaukee Railroad. When he had worked his way as far west as Butte, by working on depots, he decided to join his father. He bought a bald-faced horse and headed for his father's claim on the Missouri River.
  Charlie got a job breaking horses for a neighboring homesteader (Tommy Robbins) soon after he arrived at his dad's place.
  In March of 1910 he homesteaded on 160 acres, up river and next to his dad's claim. He later thought better of it and relinquished this claim in 1911. He then filed on the next tract up river, at the mouth of Antelope Creek, and then filed for a supplemental homestead entry on the original tract, in between the two places. C. H.'s desert land entry was canceled in 1915 or 1916 and he refiled on the tract for a regular homestead entry. Patents for his and both of Charlie's entries were received in 1919.
  Charlie cut the cottonwood logs for the first (one room) cabin which he built himself. This first log cabin was later moved to Cow Camp between the Little Rockies and the Missouri River. As "you go to the Little Rockies it sets on the west side of the road (Highway 191) and can be viewed for miles," writes Emma Light. "I can still picture the cupboard, water barrel, stove and board bed as it was when I was a young girl. The bed and cupboard were made from lumber brought down river on the barge. The large table was under the window with two long benches on each side. The plank floor and benches were scrubbed clean with lye water. The roof of the cabin was all logs, covered with several inches of dirt." From 1911 to 1918 (19) Charlie ran a most unique business. It was a floating grocery and hardware store on the Missouri River. His territory extended from Ft. Benton down river to Frazer.
  Charlie would inform homesteaders along the river and take orders. He would then trail the horses that he broke during winter time to Ft. Benton and sell them. With the money earned he would purchase timbers and lumber to build a raft and supplies to stock his floating store from a wholesaler. At times his cargo would make it necessary to build two or three barges.
  Homesteaders ordered flour, sugar, tea, coffee, canned goods, repairs for machinery, yard goods to make into clothing; almost anything needed by a rancher or a household was loaded aboard the raft.
  The news that Kendall's barges were coming preceded him down river and families eagerly awaited their arrival. Charlie always had extra items on board, so if anyone unexpectedly ran out of something, he usually had it among his wares. Another service, almost as important as supplies, that Charlie rendered was relaying the news!
  As the rafts emptied he would sell the lumber to those in need of building material. "There was a large cabinet at the home place made from this lumber. All of the furniture was made on the place."
  In 1916 the spring break-up caused terrible ice jams and flooding; everyone along the river lost all their livestock. One survivor was a cat.
  The ice gorge did not hurt Charlie's home but C. H.'s home had water in it up to about a foot from the ceiling. C.H. stayed with Charlie that night, after he had returned from taking his other son, Art, to town to a job. The next morning Charlie looked out to see ice and water over the fences. They put a row boat in the water and went to C. H.'s place to get his gun, clothing and other things out. When they got to the house Charlie was standing up in the boat, when it hit a pump that was in front of C. H.'s house and hidden by the swollen river waters. Charlie fell out and into the cellar door which was left open, so the cat could go in and out through the hole in the basement. There was a shelf about a foot from the ceiling; the cat had gone up the curtain and reached the shelf. They saved the gun, clothing and cat. ^{P. 4458}
  The barge business came to an end after the fall trip of 1917. It was in October and an early freeze caught the barges in the ice just above the Hagadone place (river mile 95.3 to 99.3 right). A valiant effort was made to save the barges and cargo, but Charlie lost $3000 worth of supplies.
  Charlie married Ruby Henry in 1914. They floated down the river on their honeymoon. In 1915 he worked in the August mine at Landusky and he and Ruby also operated a boarding house. He mined during the day and helped Ruby with boarding house chores at night.
  The marriage did not last long, however. It ended when he got so angry at her that he stuck her into a rain barrel, head-first. As soon as someone pulled her out, she left for Chicago.
  In 1928 Charlie bought the Fisk place.
  In 1929 he married another Ruby. This was Ruby Noordam (Shellito). She was born on August 27, 1905 and was the first white baby to be born at Ruby Gulch. The new Mrs. Kendall had a daughter, Emma. A son, Charles Elvin, "Jack" was born to them in 1933.
  Ruby worked side by side with Charlie as a ranch hand, ranch cook, cook at Ruby Gulch mine, riding for cattle, operated farm equipment and stacked hay. She assisted with the difficult job of herding the cattle across the river for shipment to market from Roy. She made two trips to Sioux City with cattle shipments.
  Alfalfa was raised on the Kendall Bottoms. In 1924, Charley bought his first threshing machine. It was an all wood International. He hauled the seed to Landusky where it was shipped to various places by parcel post.
  He supplemented his income by trapping beaver along the river bottoms. He sold hundreds of hides as beaver coats were a very popular item at that time.
  Mail was received at various post offices. He would boat or ford across the river to Wilder. Other times mail came to Dorsey, Logon, Sappington or Winston.
  Charles brother, Arthur "Art", would be with them at times. He never homesteaded but some great stories are told about the times he was with them.
  Charley broke his land with a bull team. Art decided to liven up the team and hooked up some batteries to the chains of the singletree. Parts of the plow were still being found in 1938.
  Another time - in 1920 - Art wanted to take C.H. on a motorcycle ride .'Grandpa' said okay, but first he went and strapped on his gun.
  "Son, you buck me off and I will shoot you!" 
  Away they went. Art took off across a plowed field and bucked Grandpa C.H. off. When C.H. had collected himself, Art was long gone. When they heard from him again he was in Deadwood City, North Dakota.
  Art said that C.H. made up that last story, there wasn't much truth to it.
  In 1935 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers condemned the Kendall Bottoms for the new Ft. Peck Reservoir, and Charles was forced to sell his place. The family was allowed to continue to occupy the land under a lease agreement.
  In 1936 the Kendalls divorced. Ruby remarried, but was widowed in 1943. In 1945 she and Charlie remarried.
  In 1948 at the age of 48, Charlie died of a heart attack while gathering cattle. The Kendall family continued to use the Bottoms until 1952 when they could no longer afford the lease.
  Ruby now resides in Lewistown as does her daughter, Emma Light. Jack lives in Hilger and is employed at the mines in Zortman.

  John "Shorty" Keppel, born 22 December 1885 took up the bottom across the Missouri River from Wilder which he obtained from the Weston Brothers, who left in 1922. This was also Tex Alford's holdings and where he operated a saloon at the turn of the century and into the teens. A noted place of business!
  Keppel resided on this river place until the purchase of the river lands for the Fort Peck Dam in 1935, where ^{P. 459} he raised alfalfa seed. He retired and moved to Zortman where he lived until his death 22 April 1966, at the age of 80 years. His only survivor being a brother, Charles M. Wells of Lacombe, Louisiana.
  Shorty used to come up to Wilder during the winter months after the river had frozen over and got some of his mail at the post office. He was a jolly little man and liked to visit. In the summer he would go up to Zortman.
  He was buried in the Malta Cemetery.

  In May of 1900, Richard King, a native of New York, and his wife, Lucy Louise King, born in Browning, Montana, moved their family of seven sons and one daughter, Sadie, together with 160 head of cattle and a herd of horses, from Browning to a spot on the Missouri River, just below the mouth of Armells Creek and right above what has been known since as King's Island.
  In 1905 a second daughter, Louise, was born to the King family and the next year (1906) Mrs. King died, to be followed by others until by 1963 only three of the original family survived. They were Henry King of Portland, Oregon, Mrs. Louise King Haas of Spokane and Wallace King of Havre.
  In late October of 1963 members of the Dorman Jackson family and the Con Anderson family gathered on the banks of the Missouri River, near King's Island, to set in place headstones for the graves of four members of the King family.
  The King graveyard lies on a knell above the river. In it lie Humpy's wife, Louise (1861-1906), and his children: Clyde (1894-1895?), C. Dewey (1899- 1914) and William (1892-1913).

  Jim Kipp was the "Mr. Montana" of Treasure State Indians. He was a cowboy, substantial rancher and a top rodeo hand. He was well-known and well-liked, having many friends throughout the Central Montana area.
  The Indian blood that flowed through his body was blended by that of his French-Canadian great-grandfather, who was an early-day free trader in Montana's upper Missouri River country.
  James Kipp, the great-grandfather, was born in Montreal in 1798. He came to this country in 1822 with the Columbia Fur Company, and six years later entered the service of the American Fur Company, battling tooth and toenail with Canada's powerful Hudson Bay Company.
  His ability and trustworthiness won him favor with the Chouteau Indians. He married a Mandan princess named Sah-kwi-ah-ki, who was very kind to the starving Blackfeet during the horrible winter of 1881-82. His son, Joseph, was an Army scout in Col. Baker's command, and pleaded in vain to prevent the massacre on New Year's Day, 1870, when Heavy Runner's band was mistaken for hostile Sioux.
  Jim Kipp's father, Joseph, once had a trading post at the mouth of Warm Spring Creek in Fergus County. A young Vermonter named Willard Schultz came out here and lived with him and other Blackfeet, writing many Indian books, some of which are considered to be the greatest on Indian lore and may be found in local libraries.
  Jim Kipp was born at the old agency on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Glacier County, July 15, 1891. His father, Joseph Kipp, was an Indian scout with the U.S. Cavalry during the retreat of Chief Joseph across Montana. He built several trading posts and operated posts at Fort Union, Fort Whoop Up and Fort Benton. His mother was a Mandan Indian from Fort Berthold, North Dakota.
  Jim Kipp came to this section of the state about 1908. He worked for cattle companies and gained wide recognition as a bull dogger, calf roper and bronc rider. He established a ranch at the mouth of the Cow Creek and on July 6, 1912 married Octavia Jones at Chinook. 
  In his later years he operated a ranch near Lodgepole. He died in late March of 1956, age 65, at the Ft. Belknap hospital.  At the time of his death two children, a son , Joseph, and a daughter, Leona (Lahr) and 16 grandchildren survived him.
  Named in his honor and memory is the James Kipp State Park at the site of the Fred Robinson Bridge, where it crosses the Missouri about 8 miles down river from Cow Island. ^{P. 460}

  Charles McClean Knox was the son of Dr. Samuel Knox, a pioneer physician of Princeton and Davenport, Iowa. He was reared and schooled at Princeton and in 1889 he and Rosa May Evans, also a native of Princeton, were married. They came to Montana the same year. Howard Knox was their only child.
  They first ranched in the Livingston area and came to the Missouri River at the turn of the century, where they homesteaded on the bottom above the mouth of Armells Creek where Charlie engaged in a livestock operation. According to the Polk Directory of 1908-09 at Wilder, C.M. Knox and Brown were listed as cattlemen. John Brown was listed in the previous book as being from north of Winifred. He also ran horses which were of Coach breeding, tall slender hot-bloods, mostly sorrels. They became wild and hard to handle as they adapted to the rough Missouri breaks country, and had a reputation among the cowboys.
  Mrs. Knox passed away August 28, 1925 after she was stricken by a heart attack and rushed to Lewistown where she died. Their son had been with the Bank of Fergus County at Lewistown, but at this time was engaged in banking at Bismarck, ND. Mrs. Knox's body was shipped to Princeton, Iowa for burial.
  Charlie remained on the river place until it was purchased by the Corps of Engineers for the Fort Peck Dam. He was a close friend of the McNulty family and spent much time with them as they lived on the bottom below him. He was a frequent visitor at the Wilder Post Office, coming up on horseback, for the mail. He had gone to Detroit, Michigan only a short time before his death and was at his son Howard's home when he died on February 18, 1935, at the age of 72 years. His body was forwarded to Princeton, Iowa for burial beside his wife. He had a brother living there as well as other relatives.

  Rupert Koelzer was born in Orafino, Idaho in 1896. He had a third grade education. Edna Elizabeth Spicker was born in Kamia, Idaho in 1894. Edna had a 3-year teacher college education and taught school.
  Rupert and Ray McNulty homesteaded together on the river in 1916. They built identical cabins on opposite sides of the river. They had building supplies brought down the river by flat boat. Rupert was on the north side of the river about 3 miles below the present location of the Robinson Bridge. The map still shows a gulch called Koelzer Coulee.
  After Rupert had built a cabin he sent for Edna. She came to Lewistown in February of 1917. Of course things being what they were in those days, people didn't live together without being married so they promptly went to the courthouse and got the certificate and got married in St. Leo's Church. Mrs. McNulty told Vernon that she and Edna were the only white girls in the area and there were a few Indian girls. There would be 10 or 15 cowboys in the area and they had dances in the cabins.
  Rupert did not have a team of horses so when Koelzers wanted to go to Roy they would pole his boat across the river and borrow McNulty's team and wagon.
  Rupert and several others put up ice on the river in the winter. They cut blocks of ice from the river. The ice was packed in the cellar and covered over with hay and straw. It would last for the summer.
  Rupert and Edna caught sturgeon from the river. One winter they were snowed in for 3 months and ate cornbread and sturgeon (fried, smoked, baked or whatever).
  After Rupert and Edna had lived on the homestead for a full year, Louis was born, in 1919. Vernon didn't know why but Louis only lived a few days. On the next pregnancy Edna went to Lewiston, Idaho, where her folks lived. Dale was born in 1920 and everything was fine this time. Dale now lives in West Yellowstone. Jerry was born in 1921 on the homestead with Rupert ^{P. 461} in attendance and possibly Mrs. McNulty. When Jerry went to the military in 1943 he had to go to a courthouse and register his birth as it had never been done. All he had was a baptismal record. Jerry now lives in Alaska.
  As a lad, Vernon remembers hearing a few tales about homesteading days. There was a fellow named Charley Kendall, who one time brought Rupert a quarter of a young horse. Rupert and Edna had horse meat and Edna always thought it was beef until they went visiting the Kendalls in the spring and Mrs. Kendall asked her what she thought of the horse. It almost broke up their marriage.
  Rupert told about the time they caught a bobcat and semi-tamed it. They tried to take it back to Lewiston, Idaho one time. They had it in a car but it tore all the stuffing out of the car and they had to dispose of it.
  The letters sent by the Koelzers were postmarked Roy. So most of the time they went to Roy for supplies and mail. Occasionally they went to Zortman or Landusky for supplies. One time the relatives in Idaho sent Koelzers a box of apples by railway express. Apples were pretty scarce on the prairie so Rupert walked all the way to Roy from the river and carried the box of apples home.
  Vernon says he was conceived in Montana but actually born in the back of a wood shed in Clarkston, Washington in 1922. He likes to think he is almost a native Montanan. The only girl, Donna, was born in 1923 in Clarkston, Washington.
  Rupert and Edna homesteaded from 1916 to 1922. Then they left and went back to Idaho and Rupert became a butcher. Edna felt better with all the children nearer to school. She wanted them to all have an education.
  Rupert left his homestead to Steve Koelzer, his older brother. Steve was always kind of the black sheep of the family; he liked to drink and gamble. Rupert had 3 or 4 big haystacks and he had about 80 or 90 acres of hay land that he cut by hand and 42 head of cattle. He gave it all to Steve and he and Edna got into McNulty's wagon and headed for Idaho and back to their home. Edna died in 1931 in Lewiston, Idaho. Rupert died in 1967 in Butte, Montana. Vernon and his wife, Elaine, live in Billings, Montana. 

 The Machler brothers, sons of Michael Lois and Katherine Gereg Machler of Vorderthal, Switzerland, were prominent men of Central Montana since 1911 when they immigrated to America from their native Switzerland. Mike and Toby were first to arrive in 1905, stopping at Lansing, Iowa. Frank joined them there in 1908, when they all moved to Montana in 1911. Fred came directly to Lewistown to meet the other three brothers.

  Frederick S., born 4 October 1878 in Vorderthal, Switzerland came to this country in 1911 to join his three brothers, Toby, Mike and Frank and settled in Fergus County. He first located in the Glengary section, but soon moved to the Missouri River north east of Roy to ranch with his brother, Mike. He was a rancher and stockman in this area for thirty years. Fred was truly a "macho" man and enjoyed his rough appearance. He was really a generous, caring person and a good neighbor and friend. He remained a bachelor all his life and was contented with his ranch life on the river.
  Roy barber, Arch Johnson, related amusingly that Fred would stop at his shop for a shave and haircut the last thing before going home, instead of doing this when he came to town! His black hat fit any way he put it on his head.
  Fred made a business trip to Lewistown and was the victim of an accident when his pickup truck left the highway, four miles west of Roy, pinning Fred beneath it in the rollover. He died the following day in the Lewistown Hospital from critical head injuries on 5 February 1944. Burial was in the Lewistown City Cemetery.
^{P. 462}

  Mike Machler, born 20 November 1885, immigrated to the United States from Switzerland in 1905 and resided at Lansing, Iowa until 1907 when he moved to Lewistown, Montana and filed on a homestead in the Denton area, where he lived until 1915 when he moved to the Chain Butte section and ranched on the Missouri River until he retired in 1955.
  Andrew Tresch was associated with the Machlers. Mike bought a 1930 Ford truck and he and Lynn Phillips engaged in trucking in the area. When Mike retired from the ranch and moved to Roy, he joined another neighbor and friend from the river, John Mayberry. They owned and operated the Roy Bar for a number of years.
  Mike was a respected, reliable citizen, a true friend, and in his quiet way, gave sage advice to those who would heed his philosophy.
  He remained a Roy resident until his death 13 April 1975, at his home following a short illness.
  Mike Machler was a 50 year member of the Captain Scott Masonic Lodge #98, AF&AM, of Grass Range and was 89 years of age at his passing. Cremation   followed the Masonic Memorial Service at Creel Chapel, Lewistown, Montana.

  Frank, born 1 December 1883, came to America in 1908 and resided in the Glengary-Lewistown area. Frank, his wife and son, Frank Jr., moved to Roundup in 1935 and resided there the rest of his life. He died at Roundup after three years of illness on 28 November 1955. He was buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery. 

  Toby Machler was born 10 August 1882, and came to . the United States from his native Switzerland in 1905 and settled at Lansing, Iowa. In 1911 he moved to Montana in the Glengary-Lewistown area. On April 25, 1911, he married Rose Yaeger at Lewistown and they moved to Grass Range where he homesteaded and they lived there until 1919. They moved to a ranch near the Missouri River; at one time he operated the Fergus County Sheep Ranch and numerous ranches in the Winnett and Glengary sections.
  In 1946, Toby retired from ranching and they made their home in Lewistown for the rest of their lives. Rose Yaeger Machler was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Yaeger and was educated at Beaver Creek School. The Machlers had four sons: George, William, John and Frank; two daughters: Mrs. Rose Poole and Mrs. Catherine McDonald and fifteen grandchildren. Toby was 86 years of age when he died, 8 April 1969. Rose died 10 September 1975, age 83 years. Internment was in the Lewistown Cemetery for both.

  Birney Francis Manning was born at Bismarck, North Dakota, 1883, the son of Daniel and Katie Donnelly Manning.
  Ben and his brother, Gervais, of Dickinson, North Dakota, a banker at Dickinson, were partners in the Manning Ranch, Phillips County at the mouth of Rock Creek on the Missouri River, post office Wilder. They had a large operation, running both cattle and horses. Lazy F Hanging T was the horse brand and "box bar" was the cattle brand.
  Ben was a tall, well-built man, six feet seven inches, who wore high-heeled western riding boots and a high crowned hat, uncreased, which made him appear even taller than his actual height.
  Ben was noted for his kindness and generosity. He carried on large transactions with mail order companies and thus received a great deal of parcel post through the Wilder post office. He gave many of the oldsters along the river a home as well as keeping a number of employees.
  Ben was taken to the St. Joseph's Hospital at Lewistown, after being desperately ill at the ranch, by Doctor Wilder and John Mayberry. He died four days later of a stroke on January 15, 1927 at 44 years of age. By order of his brother, his body was shipped to Dickinson for burial. Gervais came out immediately and closed out the business, selling the ranch to the Dewar Brothers, Al and Tom, of Zortman. Al made his home on this ranch until the Corps of Engineers bought the river land in 1935 for the Ft. Peck Dam.
  Stan Garthofner rented this place from the Government and lived there with his family for a number of years. ^{P. 463}

  Raphael Marcotte became a citizen of the United States of America, District Court of the 8th Judicial District, State of Montana in the County of Fergus on 9 December 1889. He, being a subject of Great Britian and Queen Victoria; witnessed by A. C. Shufelt and L. A. Lapalm, by Judge C.H. Benton.
  Raphael Marcotte and Georgina, his wife, were squatters on the Carroll bottom on the Missouri River: T 21N, R 26E, Sec. 15, 22. This land was surveyed by the Government in 1906.
  The title is recorded to Georgina Marcotte because Raphael Marcotte could not sign his name, which is stated in the title.
  The 1905 Polk Directory states that Marcotte and Paument had cattle valued at $875. The land of 322 acres was valued at $1,110, and in the name of Georgina Marcotte.
  Two daughters were living at this time, Ida and Annie. Ida was married to Smokey Johnson at the time of the shoot-out at Little Crooked in 1921. His place, the bottom above Rocky Point, was turned over to Raphael Marcotte when Johnson went to prison at Deer Lodge.
  Marcottes moved to Thermopolis, Wyoming from Wilder.

  Roland Matthews was born September 4, 1886 in Waverly, Kentucky, one of ten children of Daniel and Elizabeth Matthews. When he was 14 years of age he went to work in a tobacco factory as a bookkeeper. He then went to Iowa where he worked for a farmer until he got fired. After that he hitched a ride to Montana and worked on a sheep ranch near Bowdoin until he again got fired. He then went to work for the Long X, wrangling horses. "Running horses" was the thing he loved to do most during his life time. Roland was called the "Kentucky Kid".
  For a few years, until 1919, he traveled from Nevada to Montana in the spring, shearing sheep. Around the first of June he would go back to the ranch.
  Sometimes there was a winter job and sometimes not. When not, a bunch of cowboys would 'throw' together, rent a cabin, buy some oats for their horses and ride the grub line. The grub line was the name of a system of feeding the cowboys who traveled the line of ranches looking for work. They'd stay at a ranch, a day or two, then move on.
  Matthews also read a lot: Shakespeare ("never got too much a thrill out of that"), O'Henry, Jack London, James Oliver Curwood, Zane Grey. He said he didn't get lonesome as long as he had something to read.
  In 1917 he rode in rodeos (or roundups) at Miles City and sold horses all summer long. During WWI he sold 'war' horses. He broke horses; once buying 120 head for $60 and selling them for $135 as cowboy horses. A broke horse would bring $165.
  In those days few cowboys actually carried guns. Even when they did they didn't use them much. Matthews said he used his for "pounding snow out of his horses shoes more'n anything else."
  Cowboys loved to play tricks on one another; ride in rodeos, play cards (each one thought he was the world's best poker player) and dance. The highlight of the week was going to a dance. Roland would ride horseback 80 miles round trip to attend one. Sometimes he'd catch a ride with a fellow in a Model T. Roland claimed to have danced in almost every school house in Phillips County. It was at one of these dances that he met Beatrice Lapham, whom he married on April 28, 1919.
  Roland came into the area before the homesteaders influx. He claimed homesteaders changed the country. Roland also homesteaded, along the south side of the ^{P. 464} Missouri River, near the mouth of the Musselshell River on Hay Coulee. He built a log house and "rode by it once in awhile so he could prove up!"
  The Matthews lived on the ranch until the government paid him $9800 for it in 1936. When the government first approached him with an offer to buy his land, Matthews was not happy. He said, "to tell you the truth, they just took my home. The first one and the most prosperous. They just took it away from me. I didn't like it, but I couldn't do anything about it." The Matthews had four children: William, David, Vern and Betty (Hill). The children went to school horseback, until they went to high school. Then Beatrice moved to Lewistown with them and Roland went to town once a month or as often as he could to see them.
  Roland worked as a mail carrier on the Roy to Valentine route after he was bought out. He made extra money hauling passengers and freight along with the mail. Until 1949, when he returned to Central Montana, he lived in various places. He had many tales to tell of the old days and of his years as a cowboy and he wrote several stories which were published in special issues of the Lewistown paper. He was a familiar sight around town as he walked uptown each and everyday. He didn't smoke, but he drank coffee and ate what he wanted -- "And I drink whiskey too," he said!
  Roland died at the age of 100 following a short illness, on December 30, 1986. Beatrice had preceded him in death on September 10, 1979. Both are buried in Malta.

  Tom McAlpine was a bachelor who lived along the Missouri River. He was known as "Goosey Tom", a nickname he acquired because if anyone pointed a finger at him, for any reason, that person would probably be promptly knocked down!
  Tom ran horses and in 1926, about the time he sold his ranch to Lynn Phillips and Ray Henneman, he shipped 50 head of horses to Butte, which were sold to the Montana Horse Products Company. They averaged about $6.00 a head, net. Tom figured that they should have brought more money, but he also realized that they "weren't making him any money running loose on the range either." At the time there were thousands of these "knot head" horses running at large, eating grass and draining storage reservoirs. It was felt that by clearing the range of these cayuses more range could be opened up for cattle and sheep. The horses were made into tankage and fertilizer.
  Soon after McAlpine sold his ranch and his horses, he left on an extended trip to Washington and Oregon. He stated when he left that "after living in this portion of Montana for over 30 years he felt he was entitled to a vacation, so will soon crank 'Old Liz' and start out on his pleasure trip."

  Ethel Mace, a native of the state of Missouri came to Montana in 1915 and taught the Armells School in District #29.
  Ethel Mace and Jim McGinnis, also from Holt County, Missouri were married at Lewistown, Montana 6 January 1916. She homesteaded the above location on the south side of the Missouri River prior to her marriage. They moved to the river where Jim built a nice three room log house.
  Ethel taught the Rukavina School near them the term of 1918-19. Her pupils were Murray and Lucille Fletcher, Alice and Ray Ragland, Rose Ladeau, the Rukavina children and the Matovich children. (Fergus County school records)
  Ethel went back to her former home in Missouri for the birth of her first child, Robert, born 15 January 1920, Holt County.
  The Gairrett brothers and their wives were their close neighbors and came from the same place in Missouri. The three families would take their teams and wagons and go up into Canada for the fall harvest to earn money for a winter grubstake. Ina Gairrett taught the Rukavina School following Ethel McGinnis. They all got their mail at the Wilder store and post office, which ^{P. 465} was accessible by horseback, although if a vehicle was used it was necessary to come up the Musselshell trail to the Rocky Point trail and back over five miles to the northeast to reach Wilder.
  Shirley Ann wrote that her father and little brother, Robert, took Ethel by open wagon to Roy, a distance of at least 45 miles, where Ethel boarded the train for Lewistown. She entered the St. Joseph's Hospital for the birth of Shirley Ann, born 4 April 1924. She returned the same way with her six-week old baby.
  She remembers of her mother telling of confronting a rattlesnake in their home, coiled up between Mrs. McGinnis and little Robert, a toddler. She was terror stricken until her husband finally came and took charge of the situation.
  The McGinnis family had many friends in this area and were greatly missed when they decided to go back to Missouri to make their home in the fall of 1925. Six weeks after their arrival, twin girls were born to the McGinnises. Patricia and Elizabeth, born 29 November 1925.
  Mrs. McGinnis never returned to Montana, but Jim came back on a trip in 1932. He liked this country so well, but it did not afford a living for his growing family and was their reason for leaving.
  Shirley Ann McGinnis Surdarth of Liberty, Missouri is a psychiatric R. N. in the mental health center there and has given information on her family. She longed to see the place of her birth and the country her parents spoke so much of and in June of 1988, she and her sister, Patricia came to Montana to view the Missouri River breaks and Lewistown.

  Ray McNulty and Rosalie Raymond were married on March 24, 1944. Rosalie was born in the Two Calf area, during that infamous winter of 1919. Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Rube Raymond. Her dad had been a railroad conductor in Nebraska. Her mother was a nurse and, without any help, brought Rosalie into the world.
  The couple, and Rosalie's three children, Beverly, Billie and David, by a former marriage, settled on Ray's ranch which he had homesteaded in 1916 along Armells Creek and the Missouri River with his parents.
  Ray and Rosalie loved it along the river, in spite of the many times of being flooded out. In fact, in 1947, they spent their wedding anniversary sitting on a wagon tongue on high ground, due to a 'wall of water' that had rushed downstream late the night of March 20, 1947. They did not know that the flood was coming and on that fateful night they ran for their lives, carrying five-year-old David in their arms (the girls were staying in town), the rampaging river rose higher than ever before and when the water receded their house had been carried downstream and deposited a mile away. A week later they were staying in it again after many long and hard hours of cleaning it up.
  The flood was the result of an ice jam that had moved all the way down the river. The water had receded the evening of the flood, because the ice was holding the water back. When the ice broke loose, the noise was deafening.
  Six weeks later, after many days of sunshine, huge cakes of ice were still laying all along the river and in alfalfa fields for 50 miles. Twenty five ranchers suffered great losses. John Umstead lost 90 head of his cattle in this flood.
  Rosalie and the children moved to Hilger where she bought a house and they attended school. Later they purchased a mobile home which was moved to the river, on the north side of Armells, where they lived until Rosalie moved it into Roy after Ray's death.
  Ray's homestead was condemned by the government for the Ft. Peck project in the 30's when they bought up all the river bottoms for the project. He then leased it, and his dad's homestead, and continued to operate the ranch. The leases up and down the river all read differently. Closer to the dam the leases read that the people could stay until flooded out; up-river leases were called "life time leases" which meant they had the right on the place for life.
  In 1959 the remote area was opened up with the new north-south highway, 191, which was within a half mile of their buildings. Ray thought it was pretty nice because he'd no longer have to shovel snow and fight mud every foot of the 35 miles to Roy-a trip that, at one time, was made only once a year.
  Telephones and electricity soon followed, but the highway brought problems they hadn't thought of; gates left open, garden trampled, calves and gas stolen and vandalism, especially after the opening of the James Kipp State Park. Ray once stated that when he .............cont'd.

• From left to right: Newt Gairrett, Glenn Gairrett, Alice Hanson, John Gairrett, Jean Hutton, Keith Gairrett, Tom Hutton, Edgar Gairrett. Taken March 1937.
• Harry Halpin is remembered by Marie Zahn as being a close and good neighbor.
• Tom Howard in 1926
• Mrs. Rachel Douglas in the middle with her daughters, Mrs. Ed (Helen) Irvine on the left and Maude Douglas in the right.
• Helen and Ed Irvine.
• Charles E. Kendall with 3 of his floating "grocery and hardware store" barges. As one barge would get empty of supplies he would them sell the lumber.
• Charles E. Kendall, early day Missouri River entrepreneur.
• Elna Brumfield, Jim Kipp, Edith Brumfield and Mr. Zukermann.
• The corrals on the Knox River bottom along the Missouri.
• Charlie Knox.
• Edna and Rupert Koelzer, February 1, 1917
• Loading the blocks of ice onto a wagon for transportation to the ice cellar or house to pack in straw or sawdust. The ice would keep for many months when stored this way.
• Ben Manning holding Bucky Bell. (1926)
• The Tom Hutton family, new owners of the Marcotte house along the river. The  pile of dirt on the right side is the root cellar with entry made from inside of the house. Mrs. Hutton holding Jean. 1918
• Ft. Carroll, Montana Territory '1880' Photo taken by F.J. Haynes in the summer on 1880. (Photo courtesy of the Montana Historical Society, Helena, Montana.)
• Winifred Hutton holding Shirley McGinnis, Robert McGinnis and Jean Hutton with "Bobby Dog." 1925.