BIOGRAPHIES

Peter O. Fallang

PETER O. FALLANG. - Born May 18, 1846, at Gran Dioces, Hadeland, Norway, the son of Ole P. Fallang, a skilled carpenter and inventor who was in the mechanical matters and in sweep of vision a century ahead of his time, Peter O. Fallang, of Sweet Grass county, Mont., is entitled by natural inheritance to the position of prominence he occupies among his fellow citizens.  His father died of cholera in 1853 when Peter O. was but seven years old, but he was carefully reared by his mother, who was also a native of Norway and whose maiden name was Anne Halvorsen.  Her father was a prosperous miller, and her husband's father was a leading farmer in his section of the country.  The ancestors on both sides were longlived people, and stood high in the esteem of the community.  Their son, Peter, attended the common schools until he was twelve years of age, when he entered the high school, from which he was graduated in 1861 at the age of fifteen.  After leaving school he worked on the farm until 1865, meanwhile pursuing his studies and a carefully selected course of reading.  On the first day of October, 1865, he entered the military school of the regular army Christiania, and was graduated therefrom on July 31, 1868, at the age of twenty-two years.  From early life he was distinguished for promptness in the discharge of duty, honesty and truthfulness, and by this means made warm and enduring friendships among his worthy associates and commanded the respect of his superiors.  He has always been temperate in habits, careful in choice of companions and devoutly religious.  At the age of thirteen he was seized with a consuming ambition to become an officer in the army, and to the gratification of this desire he devoted all of his energies, supplying by hard work the deficiencies of financial equipment.  He lived at Christiania as a soldier until May, 1873, when he resigned from the army and immigrated to the United States, proceeding at once to Rushford, Minn., where he remained until autumn.  In October he went to Wisconsin and worked in the Pineries in that state as a scaler during the winter.  In the spring of 1874 he bought a piece of land in Black Brook, Wis., and removing his family thereto from Minnesota, lived there until 1878, and then returned to Rushford, Minn., where he was engaged in selling farming implements and machinery until 1881.  In October of that year he started for Montana, and on his arrival located the place on which he now resides and which has been his home ever since.  He has been engaged in raising sheep, horses and cattle since 1883, and has improved his ranch with care and taste, expecting from his arrival to pass the rest of his life in the state.

Mr. Fallang is particularly well qualified for public life and has yielded to pressing demands once or twice to accept office, but has many times refused.  He was one of the first county commissioners of Sweet Grass county, but insisted upon serving without pay and solely for the good of the people of the new county.  He was also city marshal of Rushford, Minn., from 1879 to 1881.  In Norway he was a non-commissioned officer and instructor in the military school until 1870, and was then promoted quartermaster, which position he held at the time of his resignation for the purpose of coming to the United States.  In Montana he was the originator and promoter of the Sweet Grass woolen mills, the first enterprise of the kind in the state.  He has always been foremost in support of every good idea for the development of material resources and the advancement of industrial interests and has rendered valuable and appreciated service along many lines in his state, which he considers one of the best and most promising in the Union.  He has been closely and serviceably identified with the school system for many years, and has given it an impetus and a directness of course in his county which is highly appreciated.  He does not belong to any secret society, but is a firm believer and active worker in the Lutheran church, and was the originator of the congregation in his town.

Mr. Fallang was married on July 27, 1870, at Christiania, Norway, to Mrs. Inger Maria Olsen, who was born September 2, 1842, in the diocese of Swarstad, Laurdal, Norway, the daughter of a farmer.  They have six children: Olga Birgethe, now Mrs. Carl Tangen, of Sweet Grass county; Oscar Alfred, now sheriff of the county, and a veteran of the Spanish-American war, having been with the First Montana Volunteers in the Philippines; Herbert Christopher, a prosperous electrician living in Seattle, also a veteran of the late war, having been with the Third United States Infantry in Cuba; Agnes Constance, now Mrs. Andrew Olsbach, of Ballard, Wash.; Inga Mathilde, now Mrs. Peter Mayelsen, of Sweet Grass county, and Samuel, a student at the Agricultural College, Bozeman.  Mr. Fallang is a man of positive convictions and freedom and candor of speech.  His views on any public question are never of a doubtful character.  Although modest and unassuming he has been forced to a position of leadership among the people of his community because of his capacity.

Source: Transcription from the book, Progressive Men of the State of Montana, author and publication date unknown, pages 824-825, located on the website, Internet Archive (http://archive.org), accessed 16 June 2022.

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