Roy, Montana, a tiny town
Just a small dot on the map
Overflowing with fascinating history
Told to us and our children
As they sit on Grandpa's lap.
Words on the pages of this book
Open a treasure chest of memories
As they recount the deeds of our ancestors
Who preceded you and me.
Many came from oppressed lands
Searching for a life that's free
Because of hardships they endured
Freedom is here for you and me.
When they first saw the rolling plains
Beneath our great Big Sky
Their dreams were focused on the future
Not just the sight that met their eye.
In place of grass and sagebrush
Their dreams saw fields of golden grain
Tremendous herds of sheep and cattle
Grazing on the grassy plain.
They knew it wouldn't be easy
To wrest a living from the soil
Sagebrush and rocks must be cleared away
They were not afraid to work and toil.
Settling on their homesteads
Houses built of logs or sod
Each proceeded to build a life
Walking hand in hand with God.
In memory we follow their footsteps
As they struggled to fulfill their dreams
We now see acres of grainfields
'Twas not as easy as it seems.
Tremendous herds of sheep and cattle
Graze acres that once were dotted
With log or sodhouse homes.
Acres overrun with prairie dogs
Where buffalo herds did roam.
These very same acres of land
The pioneers' feet have trod
As they wearily trudged behind the plow
That turned the furrow in the lovely virgin sod.
A tremendous debt we owe them
Those hardy pioneers
Who cleared a pathway for us
Those early struggling years
We won't let them be forgotten or
Tales of their hardships and their joys
As we recount their story
In this History of the area of Roy.

Ruth Siroky is the widow of Jim Siroky who died September 10, 1977. Jim came from Yugoslavia in 1913 at age four, with his four sisters and brothers and parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Siroky Sr. They homesteaded near Roy, Montana where they experienced many hardships and adventures.