Born June 22, 1861 at Skudesnesshaven Norway. His parents were Iver Iverson and Helga (Swenson) Iverson. He was educated in the public schools of Norway. At the age of 14 he went to sea and was a sailor for nearly 10 years before immigrating to the United States. I can remember my father Henry telling me many times that his dad had been a "seafaring man". I also recall him telling me that Gunder and his brother Sven had jumped ship in New York harbor and lit out for the west. The brothers stopped for a short while in Traill county North Dakota where they worked for wages. They came to Montana in 1884 and filed a squatters claim on the Crow reservation near Absarokee. Family lore says that they had a falling out with the indian agent over an increase in the lease price. By 1888 the brothers had moved to the Smith river country and were employed by the Smith brothers as sheep herders. During this time they managed to aquire a small band of sheep of their own.

    A hand written bill of sale dated May 15, 1891, Blackhawk Montana, states that Sven Hoines for the consideration of $15, has purchased a Saloon/Bar from R. S. Barrta. Bills and receipts for this business are made out to Iverson and Hoines, Robinson Montana. Some of these papers predate the bill of sale which indicates that  they may have owned another saloon or possibly leased from Barrta before the purchase. The book NAMES ON THE FACE OF MONTANA by Roberta Carkeek Cheney lists Robinson in Meagher county as having a post office from 1888 - 1894. Blackhawk was also located in Meagher county and had a post office from 1890 - 1893. Hiram K. Edwards was postmaster of both locations. These towns were located near the silver mining town of Castle in the Castle mountains. This was a booming mining district during the years 1886 - 1893. President Grover Cleveland called a special session of Congress in mid - 1893 to repeal the Sherman Silver act and end mandatory government purchases of silver. With the repeal of the act in August 1893 the majority of Montana silver mining towns became ghost towns overnight. Many of the mill owners wired the steam whistle down and walked away.

    In 1892 the Crow tribe ceded the western portion of their reservation and it was opened to homesteading. Gunder and Sven filed on homesteads on Volney Creek in the area that they had squatted on during the 1880's and continued operating in partnership raising both sheep and cattle. A receipt from The Hatch-Dier Mercantile Co. of Big Timber, dated May 14, 1894, is made out to Iverson/Hoiness. A bill from the Annin & DeHart Mercantile Co. of Columbus, dated August 2, 1894 is made out to the Hoiness Bros. (A note of family interest -- A promissory note for $1000 made out to the Hoines Bros. is cosigned G. I. Hoines and S. Hoines.) All business and correspondence after the August 1894 date is done under the surname of Hoines using a single s. In Norwegian naming tradition, the children usually carried the surname of their father. In this case Iverson, because they were the sons of Iver. Another tradition was that the name stays with the farm. In this case they were from the farm of Hoines (Hoeynes) and converted to the farm name after arriving in America. It may also have been an attempt to cover their tracks after they jumped ship.

On March 8, 1899 Gunder married Sophia M. Ekle. She was born near Tronjehm Norway February 23, 1873, the daughter of Jacob and Olena J. (Nelson) Ekle. Sophia and her sister Emma had been working as domestics for one of the big ranches near Martinsdale when she and Gunder met. In the years following their marriage they brought several relatives and townsmen from Norway to this country. In return these men worked off the cost of their passage by working on the Hoines ranch. Gunder died March 20,1921 and Sophia in August of 1946. They had eleven sons:

Gunder Iverson Hoines B. 6/22/1861 D. 3/20/1921  Married  3/8/1899  Sophia Mathilda Ekle  B. 2/23/1873 D. 8/03/1946

Children: *Ingolf Hagbart 4/30/1900 - 7/17/1981 *Hjalmer Olinius (Diabetes) 8/28/1901 - 9/7/1922 *Gunval I. 12/17/1902 - 1/31/1971 *Sigur 8/16/1904 - 7/2/1953 *Sidney Robert 2/12/1906 - 8/15/1992 *Oscar Manuel (Fell in well) 12/30/1907 - 9/10/1911 *Henry 5/25/1909 - 10/11/1989 *Herman A. 3/13/1911 - 6/6/1974 *Olaf O (Stillborn) 10/10/1913 - 10/10/1913 *Willhelm (William) Oscar Olaf 11/14/1914 - 11/22/1986 *Harold Fredrick 10/4/1917 - 1/17/1988

Mike Hoines mthoines@prodigy.net

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