Memories, of pleasant early homestead days in Montana, I will never forget. My father and mother, Orin and Cora McNeil, had read advertisements of beautiful grain land that could be homesteaded in Montana.
  In September or October, 1916, my father left our home in Everett, Washington and came to find out for himself. Jack Sommers, a real estate dealer at Roy, located a place for him. It looked good at the time. He filed on half section just 3 miles north of the, then, Kachia store and post office. Mr. and Mrs. Rose and their young son, Earl, ran the store and post office.
  My father soon got lumber hauled out to build the first room of our house. It was 14 feet by 16 feet.
  He then returned home to Washington and worked during the winter. By March he had an emigrant car loaded with all the household things, 250 cedar posts, shingles and lumber for the rest of the house and barn. He came on the train at the same time the emigrant car was to come. Mother, I and the four younger children came later by train. We landed in Roy on March 30th.
  Father was hauling to the place so was not there when we arrived. However, by evening he came and by March 31st we were on our way, 25 miles to the homestead. Both my brother, Maurice, and my sister, Ruth, wanted to ride in the seat with papa. The seat had no rim so as they moved just a bit too close, Papa went off on his head. Mama and I screamed, but luckily he wasn't hurt too badly and climbed back on, but only one child could sit with him after that.
  The day was lovely, but 25 miles was a long way by horse and wagon. By evening we reached Kachia but were told the Antelope Creek was so high that we would have to stay there at Kachia for the night. We bedded down on the floor.
  Mr. Rose had died while Papa was back in Everett; so a relative, Mrs. Harris, was there. The morning was cold and windy. We huddled under blankets in the wagon and drove on. It was April 1, 1917 (APRIL FOOL' DAY)!
  Luckily Papa had bought a few sacks of coal in Roy so soon our one-room house was warm. He had laid flooring up over the rafters so with a bed springs and mattress on each side we children slept very comfortably up there. However, this was our first introduction to SAGE TICKS and we surely didn't like them.
  Several more trips had to be made to Roy to get the rest of our lumber and household furniture. Soon Papa built on two more rooms; bedrooms. This made the house "ell" shape and was quite comfortable. The barn came next with space for a car also. Papa heard of a Guernsey cow for sale so he and I walked over there and bought it. We led it home.
  In June my father went back to Everett for my older sister, Clara, who had just graduated from high school and for our model T Ford.
  There was no school nearby so we went to Lewistown for the winter. Papa worked for the railroad, I worked in a real estate office and the children went to school. Clara went to Lytle, Montana to teach school.
  In the spring it was back to the homestead with high hopes. The plowing had been done so crops were soon in, especially a large garden. The summer was nice with quite a little rainfall. Mother canned a lot and the potatoes were beautiful!
  My father then went to Lehigh, Montana to work at the coal mine there. He ran the pumps that kept the water out of the mine. While he was working there he took the "1918" flu and was very ill, but he did recover.
  Our winter was lovely on the homestead and we enjoyed it all. There were dances to go to, sometimes programs or pie suppers, etc. At night we could see the tiny lights from other homesteads, some from lanterns that were people doing their chores and some from lamps in windows. We never felt alone out there on the prairie but always we felt very secure.
  By spring it all looked good -- more crop was put in but the summer was so dry that the grain was very short. By fall water was hard to find. Papa proved up on the place in the fall of 1919 and decided to leave. Many neighbors said, "No, stay and get cattle." My father wisely decided against it.
  Our neighbors on the south were Mr. and Mrs. Matt Blum and daughters, Anna and Barbara. Just east of them were Mr. and Mrs. Deitche and sons, Tony and Joe and daughter Helen. Jim and Bonnie Frailey were east of our place. He was a mechanic at the Ford garage in Lewistown and they spent little time on their place. A young man named Kelley was just north of us and really improved his place a lot. He built a cistern with a gravel filter. Then he was drafted into the army and died of the flu. His helpful neighbor was Frank Manseka.
  Mr. and Mrs. C.R. Miller joined our place on the N. W. ^{P.  238} corner. She was an especially nice friend. Mrs. Hudson lived on her son's homestead as he had a pool hall in Lewistown. Danny Dempsey lived on his fathers place and did all the work there. Then came Clint Martindale and Bessie's place and their son, Gale. Joining him was his father's place, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Martindale and their children, Todd, Buck, Deed and Babe, Frank died from tick fever in 1919. Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ludeman, who called themselves "Mam and Pap" were on the east of us. -- and then they all left the homestead also.

  In July of 1987, during or at a family reunion at the Rife Ranch, south of Roy, my nephew, John Rife, guided three of the six children of Orin and Cora McNeil, along with carloads of other descendents, to "our old homestead" northeast of Roy, 'the first home that I really remember. The cracked soil yielding sagebrush looked just as we left it 65 years before, and the cactus that I walked into pierced as painfully. We had some trouble locating the site of the tarpaper-and-lath cabin, gone without a trace except for the hollow from a cellar under it. The dirt road coming from the south and running east of our house had not changed position. On the southern horizon I recognized Sandy Butte, and more westerly, Black Butte.
  At the prospect of growing wheat during high prices of World War I, my folks, at age 44, took up a homestead near Roy, and in March of 1917 moved with their six children; Clara, Winnie, Florence, Ruth, Maurice and Grace, from the large modern 4-bedroom home in the city of Everett to the 3-room house with water source nearly a mile away and kerosene lights.
  Music was a joy in our lives. We had an Edison graphophone with cylinder records, and I seemed to be the one to roll them off the rocking chair onto the floor. The piano was brought from Everett. Winnie would play while the girls and Maury sang war tunes, "Goodbye My Bluebell," and "Sweet Little Buttercup," and I would cry at the sad words. Happier themes were, K-K-K-Katie," and "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em Down On The Farm." Mama and Papa held high standards and encouraged us to use the best language we knew. I never learned cuss words from them!
  Papa gave up farming after crop failures and went to work at a coal mine in Lehigh while we stayed to "prove up" on the place. It was a great day when Papa came home. When he needed something in the attic, he would grasp my ankles and lift me up to the hole in the ceiling.
  When anyone came it was a big occasion for we were quite isolated. We could scream or trill, and no one heard us.
  Mama was so in hopes of having water on the place and each morning she would dig a little deeper in her well. At last she came back to the house announcing that she had struck water! With a glass vial in her hand she returned to her well with all of us following excitedly after her. Dipping the vial into the water, she brought it to her lips and said, "It's bitter!" What a disappointment! We each had to taste to believe it. Mama said later she had ruptured herself in digging wells. She said she would go off on a hillside and cry it out by herself, then she'd come back to us and try to be thankful so we would not know. She kept us healthy in spite of little food. After a meal we would wet a finger and dab up each crumb. We licked our plates too. One morning as she was washing dishes I licked my plate so clean that I told Mama she wouldn't have to wash that dish. She said, "Um-hum," as she put it in the pan of dishwater. I could not understand that, water being so precious. Mama sometimes scrubbed the floor with the dishwater, leaving white streaks on the wooden boards from the alkali water.
  One day Mama was reminiscing about life back in Michigan. "Oh, to go down the lane once again where the May apples grow," she mused. I then went out into the hot sun searching through the sun flowers for that fruit, then that's the last I recall of the incident. But the family said later that I "ran away" and they had some trouble finding me out in the sagebrush where a herd of range cattle went by.
  At one time I took my naps on a pillow laid on two facing chairs. Once I woke to a popping sound and an unfamiliar aroma. The others were eating white, fluffy morsels and gave me my first taste of popcorn.
  A tree was a treasure of refreshment. We took a picnic lunch to a cottonwood tree that they knew about somewhere south of the place. Each quivering green leaf was a marvel of creation, and we all climbed up in the ^{P.  239} branches. I think that was the day I learned to slide off Jen, the white horse.
  Dark clouds over Black Butte moved closer and lightning was slicing through them, warning of rain that could soak the gumbo and make it difficult to drive out. We must hurry, but just let us linger a bit longer. The homestead was our tie with a happy childhood. Florence was searching through memories and Ruth was digging out fossil fish from the dry creek bed. I joined her for a moment though we knew we must hurry on or get caught. The storm waited for us, and we returned to Roy talking of homestead days. My son, Danny, had come along, but Johnny stayed at the ranch, "having seen it once." David pondered, "Why would your mom and dad take up this worthless homestead when they could have used the money to buy a good farm here or back in Washington?" I had no answer. But I had heard Mama declare many times, "We sunk more than a thousand dollars into that homestead, and it was the most foolish move we ever made." Yet with many years and miles between, we children have fond memories of those homestead days and the carefree life Mama and Papa provided for us.
  Winnie stayed on in that country, teaching school, marrying Earl Rife and raising her family at Roy. The rest of the family went back to Everett with the folks. Maury eventually took over paying taxes on the homestead, leasing it out for grazing cattle. Since his death in 1985 his wife, Glenna McNeil, and their children own it. Our visits with the Rifes have included a trip to the old home that is only in memories.

  Harry and Ruby Mead came to Lewistown, Montana in 1914 from Norton, Kansas. Their daughter, Lucille Irene, was born in Lewistown in 1914.
  The couple homesteaded in the Valentine area. Their son, Virgle, was born in Roy in 1916.
  They moved to Portland, Oregon in 1918 where two more children were born. Harry worked for the S. P. & S. Railroad for 35 years.
  Harry died in 1962 at age 79. Ruby died in 1981 at age 88.
  "My parents, Ruby and Harry Mead, did not talk about the life they had in Montana. Dad did say that he enjoyed his life there and wished the he had stayed."

  My memory of those days consists mainly of what I have heard from my family and friends, because I was only 1 year old when we moved out to Montana from Utica, Nebraska and I guess I was about 5 or 6 when we left to go back to Nebraska.
  My parents were, Alex S. and Clara E. Miller. Both are now deceased and are buried in Utica, Nebraska. My oldest brother was Wilbur J. who is also deceased and buried in York, Nebraska. Then came my only sister, Lydia E., who is also dead and buried in Aurora, Nebraska. Next was another brother, Clarence R., who will be 85 years old this August and is in a nursing home in Hutchinson, Kansas. Next was me, Rupert M. I was 75 years old this past February. I retired from the Navy in 1959 and from house building two years ago. My youngest brother, Russell Wayne, was born in Montana, and his birth certificate gives his birth place as Roy, Montana. However, I have always been told that he was born out at the homestead, without the services of a doctor, probably with the assistance of the neighbor ladies. Russell will be 73 years old this July -- so he kind of grew up about the same time as the city of Roy.
  Russell retired from the Army in 1954 and came to Florida and started building homes and had a real estate office. I joined him 5 years later. We both retired two years ago and live about 20 miles apart.
  I will attempt to name some of the neighbors we had, most of whom I have met. My uncle and aunt, Henry and Anna Ludeman, lived real close. Aunt Anna just recently passed away. She was over 100. She spent her later years in a nursing home in Lewistown.
  There were the John Beedys, whose wife was named Mamie. They moved back to Kansas where they had come from. They had 3 children, two boys, Carl and Harry, and a daughter, Carrie, who married Claude Christie, who was also living in Montana.
  Then there was Coy and Mae Lovitt, who moved back to York, Nebraska. Mr. Soverign was an older man and had a daughter named Nel, who at that time was not married. What I remember about Mr. Soverign is a neatly trimmed goatee, which was snow white.
 There was Rolly and Mabel Rossiter. They did not have children. ^{P.  240}
  And then there were the Martins and the Southworths. There was a family named Blank, too, who had a son who later became a doctor in Hutchinson, Kansas. My brother Clarence talked of him often. He is now retired from practice.
  I do want to mention a little bit about when, and under what circumstances, we left the homestead. As best that I can calculate we went out there in 1914, as I was born in 1913. Dad left Wilbur to run the homestead, but it doesn't seem very long before Wilbur was drafted into the Army. I can remember my father going back out to Montana and loading their personal belongings, including horses, on a box car and shipping it back to where we had moved in Nebraska. I can very well remember unloading the car and have a very vivid memory of the horses that were shipped back. I do wonder now, how Wilbur, an unmarried man, living alone on what was supposed to be a farm, was drafted into the Army. No one ever adequately explained that to me.

  Rev. Arthur Ritchey, his wife Diva, and their three little girls; Lola, Lois and Loreen, located on a homestead in the Kachia area in 1915. They came from Nebraska. Though he was only here for 7 months of the year, he was a real asset to the community. He held church services and Sunday school in the school house. The Ritchey homestead is still in the family. Lola Ritchey Schollenberger writes:
  My earliest memories are from age 2 1/2 to 5 1/2 years and from 1915 to 1919. In 1915 I remember we raised wheat for what I thought of as the "Big Roys" who went to help in Europe. Later, in 1949, when my husband and I were there he took a (Photo) of me standing with the cows and I thought of it as producing milk and meat for the Veterans of World War II.
  The air was wonderful, the open space delightful. My mother said we did what we could to help each other, as best we could, during World War I and after. When my two older sisters walked down the narrow road, over a mile to the school house, she and I went to our vegetable garden and chicken coup. I learned how to pick chicken feathers in order to eat the chicken!
  My father continued as a pastor-minister in Lincoln, Nebraska. He came up when he could to plant and to harvest. Mother and we three girls went back to Lincoln during the coldest months of December, January and February each year.
  Lois' memories include a "whipping with a broom" by the man school teacher because she refused to take off her hat which was a tam-o-shanter which she wore to protect her eyes! My mother walked us all to the school house the next day and asked (told) him not to hit her child for any reason!!, with anything.
  My parents left there after our house blew down in a lightning storm.
  My father died in 1951 in Ontario, California. My mother lived until 1974 in Glendale, California, near Loreen, who taught school part time, as married "girls" were not allowed full time work in California at that time! Lois and I helped take care of our mother and she from time to time would tell us about our life alone up there without our father. She had three brothers who visited us up there and helped too. She said she would rather not talk about it!

  William Rose homesteaded 15 miles east of Roy. He ran the Kachia store on his homestead.
  Rose passed away when he was just 40 years old from Bright's Disease. His body was shipped to Kansas City for burial.
  His widow, Malissa, and his young son, Earl, moved into Roy, where she worked at the Roy Hotel and later married the proprietor, Joseph Reeble.

  The Scanlans came to the Central Montana area in 1914 and homesteaded in the Valentine area. (T 19N R 24 E Sec. 35) During the course of their lives here, they also resided at Roy and at Fergus. When John M. Scanlan died on March 21, 1921, at the age of 64, he was referred to as a "Roy farmer".
  After his death, his wife Della resided with their son, Harold "Flunky" Scanlan until her passing March 14, 1932 at the age of 69. O'Della Viola was born on October 5, 1863 in Mor241rison, Illinois, the daughter of Amelia Shaw and Henry Latton. Besides Harold, the couple had two other sons: Walter of Chicago and ^{P.  241} Harry (T 19N R 25E Sec. 33) of Agra, Kansas; and a daughter, Mrs. Carl Noble of Melvern, Kansas.
  Harold was born in Fargo, North Dakota to Ole and Martha Winger on August 9, 1899. His mother died at his birth and he was reared by John and Della. In the early years he worked on horse and cattle round-ups. He was remember as having one of the "best-looking team of horses, along with Curley Willmore, Claude Satterfield and John Beck, that hauled into Roy. Their horses were always well kept and shiny and the harnesses were oiled and in A-one shape." Harold had a beautiful voice and use to sing at dances. Ivar Mathison recalled in 1988, "I can hear Flunky sing "Blue Heaven" yet. Just wonderful".
  Harold moved to the Fergus area to farm and ranch in 1926 and on May 26, 1932 he and Ruby Strausburg were married in Lewistown. They left the area in 1940 and moved to the Kinsey Project near Miles City to farm. He was range boss of Kinsey Cattle Grazing Association in the 1940's and also worked on the construction of the Miles City V. A. Hospital. He and Ruby lived at Kinsey until retiring and moving into Miles City in 1970.
  The couple had four sons: Larry, Clayton, Karl and Geary and four daughters: Mrs. Ray (Christine) Mace, Mrs. Blaine (Marcel) Sordahl, Mrs. John (Marilyn) Simmons and Mrs. Dennis (Lois) Haughian.
  Harold "Flunky" died on February 21, 1978.

  Freddie was born August 12, 1875. Mary was born December 6, 1878. They had a farm in Beaver Crossing, Nebraska. They found relatives to rent their farm and came to Montana in an emigrant car around 1914. They left behind a married daughter and another daughter, Amanda, lived in Lewistown. Four daughters, Rose, Lena, Alva, and Sylvia and one son, Joe came with them to Montana. They homesteaded east of Roy. The family attended Sunday school at the Kachia school. The children were awarded a New Testament if they came five Sundays, and Lena received one.
  In order to go to school at Byford, the brother, Joe, drove a buggy and the girls rode on the floor of the buggy with heated rocks. They were only able to go 3 months because of the weather.
  Elmer was born while they lived here on May 2, 1915 and was named Elmer Montana Sears. His mother delivered her baby alone while Joe rode to the neighbors for help. The girls were sent to ride their ponies to a neighbors. Freddie was gone working on the railroad. The mid-wife, Mrs. August Perin, came later. The girls were surprised to find a new baby when they returned.
  Amanda worked in Lewistown and came for Christmas. She brought the children little glass animals containing small candies. Amanda met and married Jim Rogers in Lewistown, and they moved to Washington, Indiana.
  Mary became concerned about the lack of schooling for her children; and after some heated discussions with Freddie, she returned to Nebraska with her children so they could go to school. Freddie stayed in Montana until he proved up and then returned to their truck farm in Nebraska.
  While here the Sears raised potatoes; and although the potatoes were small sized, any surplus was eagerly bought by others in the area.
  Amanda and her husband were in the grocery business, and he later became Chief of Police. They have seven children.
  Rose Sears Berry, born 1903, trained as a beautician and had her own shop. She now lives in Garden Grove, California.
  Leona Sears Alderson, born 1906, became a teacher. She and her husband moved to Flat, Alaska where she was a Postmistress for many years. She now lives in Lebanon, Oregon.
  Alva Sears Lyngholm McKay, born 1908, made a career with Penny's in ladies ready-to-wear becoming a buyer. She is deceased.
  Joe Sears, born 1901, worked for Richfield Oil Co. Then later was a partner in the Sky Lite Night Club which was popular during the war years. Joe is deceased.
  Sylvia Sears, born in 1912, died in 1918.
  Elmer Sears, born 1915, became a teacher and taught for a year. He then went to work for Boeing Aircraft in Seattle from 1943-65. He returned to college and got his degree in 1965 at the age of 50. He worked for the State of Washington in the Department of Labor and Industry for 10 years. He and his wife, Elizabeth Burke, have 4 children and live in Seattle and Bloomington, Indiana. After Sears left here, these children were born.
  Violet Sears Larson, born 1917, now lives in Reptin, Alabama. Lorna Sears Brilliant Smith, born 1918, now lives in Escondida, California.
  Marie Sears Spring, born 1919 now lives in Port Richey, Florida.

  Charles E. Southworth came out to Montana from Wood River, Nebraska and filed on a homestead. A friend from Wood River came with him. On their way out here, on the train, they met a doctor from Oklahoma. They stopped at Ryegate to see three families that had homesteaded there two or three years before, ^{P.  242} from our town in Nebraska; people that Dad and his friend knew back there.
  Most of the land at Ryegate, that was any good, had been homesteaded so they came on up to Lewistown. At Lewistown they contacted a man, by the name of Jay McClain, who was a land locator and who brought them out the next day to look at land on which they could file. It was 60 miles northeast of Lewistown. All three filed on land that joined each other. They had 6 months to move on it before they would lose it.
  Dad had crops back in Nebraska to take care of, before he could move out here. He also had to have a sale to sell off what machinery and different things that they wouldn't be bringing out here with them. He had his sale the 16th of January 1914.
  In February of 1914 he loaded an emigrant car. He and a friend each had a half of another car, that was shipping out here at the same time. The man who had the other half of that car had two sons and a son-in-law, who was Dr. George White. Dr. White was a dentist in Lewistown for a good many years. Dad had to unload the car at Hilger, which was 44 miles from the homestead. They arrived at Hilger on February 19, 1914.
  His wife, Minnie L. Southworth, and son, Frank J., came on the passenger train, which arrived a couple of days later. He had to store the miscellaneous belongings in the basement of the bank building until later when he got the house and building built so as to have a place to put them. They had to take the horses and cows, which he brought in the emigrant car with him, when they went to the homestead. They were two days getting out to the homestead. We stayed in a shack, which was about three miles from our place, which a neighbor had already built sometime before, until we could get our house built. Then Dad built the barn.
  Homestead days weren't easy days, as a homesteader had to plow so many acres on each 160 acres that he homesteaded and put some buildings on the land to prove up on it, or to say, get a deed on it. Dad kept plowing up more land to farm and milked more cows. Those days some ranchers milked cows and sold cream which helped with the expenses. Some homesteaded just 160 acres, some 320 acres. Dad homesteaded 320 acres.
 As years went by Dad and Mother bought more land from time to time, and got more cattle. After their son,  Frank, was through high school, he and his Dad went in partnership on farming and cattle raising. In time they had built up a large holding of land and cattle. They'd gone through quite a few drought years in 1919 and the 1930's, and occasionally a year came along with grasshoppers, which like to visit the country every few years.
  They saw the small towns grow for a good many years, then dwindle down to where there's not much left of them.
  Charles and Minnie Southworth both had to go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for major operations while they were on the ranch. They retired in 1944 and moved to Lewistown when their son took over the running of the ranch. Charles passed away in 1955 and Minnie passed away in 1971 at the age of 91 years.

  Frank Southworth, was born in 1902 in York, Nebraska. The family resided there for two years. They then moved to a farm at Wood River, Nebraska where they lived until 1914 when they migrated to a homestead twenty miles east of Roy, Montana.
  Murna Martin, was born in 1903 in Cedar Rapids, Nebraska. At the age of ten months her parents moved to York, Nebraska, their former home, until 1913 when they moved to a homestead twenty-five miles northeast of Roy. At that time their post office was Lindstrom, Montana.
  Murna Martin and Frank Southworth started to school in the sixth grade together in 1914. The building was log; built by people in the community and was called the Pleasant View School, later the Kachia School. A box supper was held to raise money to furnish the new building. The teacher was Mabel Galloway and there were about twenty-five pupils in attendance. All the children walked to school except Frank Southworth.
  Frank lived six miles from the school and at this time he rode a mule which he hated. He was always one of the first ones to arrive. Later on Frank had a nice brown saddle horse and all the children noted this.
  Murna lived a quarter of a mile from school, had to walk and just barely made it on time each morning. In the spring of 1918 Annie Ludeman gave the eighth grade students their eighth grade examinations. The students were Carl Beedy, Frank Southworth, Ida Greene and Murna Martin. In the fall Frank and Murna were freshmen at Fergus County High School.
  Frank stayed at a branch of the Boy's Dormitory which was located at 414 W. Boulevard Street. In the meantime Murna and her family had moved to Lewistown. This was at the time of World War I and a few weeks after school started an influenza epidemic broke out world-wide. People were dying all over the world by the score. Schools, churches, theaters and all public activities were stopped. Frank went home and when school resumed in about six weeks he did not return. In the fall of 1919 Frank enrolled in the Roy school. He took part in all school activities, especially athletics. At the end of three years, which was all Roy had then, Frank, in the fall of 1922, enrolled in Fergus High. He ^{P.  243} lived with the Harry Martin family then. Here, again, Frank excelled in athletics and received his letter in athletics. He graduated in June of 1923. He returned home where he and his father, Charles Southworth, formed a partnership in raising cattle and small grain which was maintained until his father's passing in 1956. They were successful but they endured many hardships. Drought, long bitter cold winters with lots of snow. In the early 30's, because of water shortage, for two summers Frank took the cattle up to the Missouri River and camped. Frank was Clerk of the School District for thirty-four years. For years he had the life of a care-free bachelor.
  Murna continued on in school taking part in all music activities. Each year the music students put on an operetta and because the auditorium at the school was too small for the operetta, it was put on at the Judith Theater. Three shows in one day -- the afternoon performance was put on for the school children so school was dismissed. Murna had a part in the 1921 operetta and she had the lead in the 1922 operetta. Murna graduated in 1922 and that fall she enrolled in the Hulett Conservatory of Music of York, College at York, Nebraska. She attended for two years. She married in 1924, lived in the area for two years, then she and her husband moved to Madison, Wisconsin. She immediately found employment with the Wisconsin Telephone Company and did some studying at the Wisconsin School of Music. Her marriage came to an end.
  In 1941 Murna and family moved to Lewistown, being able to transfer from Wisconsin Telephone Company to the Mountain States Telephone Company. Things moved along.
  One day going to the bank for the Telephone Company who should she meet on the street, none other but Frank Southworth. She couldn't tarry long to have conversation, but Frank learned she lived at 411 W. Boulevard and sure enough, after work he showed up at her front door. From there the romance took off.
  They were married in Murna's house in front of the fireplace on Tuesday, December 28, 1943. So they could have a honeymoon, they had to get married during Christmas vacation so that Murna's mother could look after the children, as she taught school. Frank not only acquired a wife but inherited three children: Edward 14, Emily 11 and Elizabeth 8. The children were anxious to move to the country but finished their school year in town.
  The children adapted well to their new mode of living, such as no electricity and hauling drinking water. Edward was put to work in the hay field and he loved it.
  Fall came and the youngsters tried riding bicycles to school which proved very unsatisfactory. Later Edward was presented with his own saddle horse, of which he was very proud. The girls rode double on another horse. They loved their teacher, Stella Myers, and enjoyed all the children. In February, one evening after school, Edward was helping Frank work cattle and Edward's horse tripped on a loop of wire frozen to the ground, throwing him and dragging him a quarter of a mile. Frank and Murna rushed him to a doctor in Lewistown where he passed away. Life goes on.
  In the fall the girls wanted to return to school in Lewistown, because Emily was ready for high school. Murna went back to work. Murna says it boggles her mind when she thinks of all the commuting, days off, holidays and vacations the family spent at the ranch, all in an: effort to help Frank. The girls learned to ride the range, work cattle, stack hay and drive a tractor. In 1956 Murna retired and lived at the ranch, becoming a part of the community. They were working hard and there was not much time for activities' outside of the community. Living was easier in that the R.E.A. came in, in 1954 and Mid Rivers Telephone in 1961.
  After much thought, Frank decided that after fifty years on one place and giving it his best he would, reluctantly, retire. He sold the ranch in 1964 to Bob Harvey who fit into the community nicely. After moving into town he filed for Public Administrator and was elected for four terms; he then decided not to run again. He worked at the Central Montana Stockyards for fifteen years which helped him to keep in touch with his friends. He was active in all Masonic Bodies.
  Murna was active in Eastern Star and in her church. For fifteen years they did considerable traveling with agriculture and livestock groups visiting farms in various countries, something Frank had always wanted to do.
  Frank, a much-loved pioneer of the Kachia area, who knew the range better than anyone else and also knew every creek, every coulee and most every sagebrush plant on the range, passed away on February 16, 1988.
  Emily is married to Sam Thompson Jr. and lives in Beaumont, Texas. Elizabeth is married to Stephen Dixon and lives in Chaska, Minnesota.  ^{P.  244}

  Nick Spiroff was born in 1889. He came to Montana from Wisconsin in 1907. He worked for the Milwaukee Railroad until 1913 when he homesteaded in the Valentine area. Anna Kiska was born in 1907, the daughter of Vendell and Catheron Kiska. Kiskas homesteaded near Nick Spiroff. Nick married Anna in 1917. They continued ranching until his death in 1968. Their son Nick ranched with them for many years, continuing the ranch at his fathers death. Anna died in 1975. They are both buried in Lewistown. They had six children who all attended Kachia grade school and graduated from Roy high school.
  Nick was born in 1918. He attended the University of Montana. He married Yvonne Foster. He ranched in the area until retirement. He then rented his ranch and moved to Lewistown.
  Katherine was born in 1919. She attended Great Falls Beauty College. She worked in a beauty shop in Lewistown. She married Anthony Narinucci and they live in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  Mary was born in 1920. She attended Great Falls Commercial College and worked for the Bureau of Standards in Washington DC. until retirement. She married Mr. Kirstein and they live in Deland, Florida.
  Joseph was born in 1922. He attended Montana State University. He worked for the Montana Physicians Service for 39 years. He is still doing part time work. He and his wife live in Helena.
 Margaret was born in 1931. She married Don Harvey and they ranched in the area until 1956 when they moved to near Lewistown. They had 4 children. Don and their son died in a boating accident in 1969. They are buried in Lewistown. Margaret later married "Red" Barber of Denton. He passed away from cancer.
Margaret makes her home in Denton.
  Raymond was born in 1932. He attended Billings Business College and worked for the Montana Employment Service for many years. He retired in 1986. He and his wife live in Helena, Montana.

  My father, Pearl Lee Ellis, and my mother, Jennie Hattie Ellis, homesteaded north of Roy from 1911 to 1914 with Hymen Cunningham and my uncle, Leonard Ellis. Their homestead was located north of Roy, approximately 18 or 20 miles. I was born in Roy, May 19, 1917. My brother, Ray T. Ellis was born in Roy, March 22, 1921.
  My parents moved back to Missouri in the summer of 1921. Two other brothers were born in Missouri: LeRoy and George W. They remained in Missouri until the fall of 1934 when they moved back to Roy and operated Nick Nickolson Cafe. There is where I met my husband to-be, Ed Styer.
Ed Styer came out here in 1931 from South Dakota ^{P.  245} and went to work for A.M. Stendal, for awhile. Then he worked for Walt Haney. He was working for Walt Haney when I met him. We were married June 29, 1935 and moved out north of Roy about 4 or 5 miles from where my folks had homesteaded.
  Ed and I had two children. Alta Mae born August 3, 1936 and Jack Lee on August 2, 1937.
  We lived down on Armells Creek, north of Roy, until the spring of 1942, then we moved south of Lewistown and went to work for John McVey. We worked there until the spring of 1946, when we moved to our present home 25 miles east of Roy, in the Valentine area, on the Gene Galloway Ranch where we have been ever since.
  Our Family Tree: Children of Ed and Mildred Styer, Alta Mae, born August 3, 1936; Jack Lee, born August 2, 1937.
  Children of Alta Mae Akerly Rodencal and Pete Akerly: Rick LeRoy, born November 30, 1956; Debra Lynn, born October 8, 1959; Sheryl Arlee, born May 28, 1961-1964.
  Children of Jack Styer and Sandy (Pollard): Mark Edward, born March 3, 1960; Chip Wade, born March 28, 1961; Jacquline Mildred, born November 30, 1963.
  Great Grandchildren: children of Rick and Sandi Akerly: Tiah Rachelle, born December 4, 1982; Sarah Dawn, born January 6, 1986. Children of Deb and John Hughes: Brandi Jo, born July 2, 1982; Danna Jo, born January 24, 1986. Children of Mark and June (Phillips) Styer: Branden Edward, born March 24, 1984; Brooke Nicole, born December 3, 1985. Child of Chip Styer and Tammy (Zier) Styer: Jason Wade, born December 3, 1981. Child of Jackie and Kyle Grimsrud: KayLee Marie, born December 23, 1988.
[Mickey Styer has been clerk at the Central Montana Stockyards in Lewistown for about 40 years.
  Alta married Randy Rodencal after she and her first husband separated. Randy worked for Nick Spiroff for several years before their marriage. Alta and Randy operate the S & W Outfitters and make their home on the Styer Ranch.
  Jacquline "Jackie" and her husband, Kyle Grimsrud, have the old Jennings place (in later years owned by Bill Harvey, Don Kalina and Bob Sweeting). Kyle came to the Roy area from Jordan in the spring of 1986 when the Grimsruds purchased the ranch.]
  If I could put everything down that has happened since Ed and I have been married, it would be a book all its own. And a lot of things people wouldn't believe, as a lot happened in 52 1/2 years of married life. But really we wouldn't change it very much if we had it to live over.

  John Tuma farmed in the Kachia area for 30 years. He was in the threshing business with Charles Puckett and Blazej Lelek. His homestead joined Grover Beal's place and they farmed and worked together. When Beal left, Tuma farmed his land until it was sold to Bill Harvey.
  John was a veteran of WWI. He served 18 months in France.
  He died of cancer at Ft. Harrison on April 27, 1944 at the age of 56. A military funeral was held in Lingerwood, North Dakota and he was buried in the Bohemian National Cemetery. He was survived by a brother, Albert, of North Dakota and a sister.

JOHN B. AND MARY BEEDY- John and Mary had three children: Carrie, Harvey and Carl. They moved to Agra, Kansas. They are all deceased now. There are some grandchildren in Agra, Kansas.

ALLEN RUPERT BOWMAN-- Allen married Virginia V. Know, she was a relative of James Know of Roy. They proved up their homestead on March 8, 1915. The witnesses were Matt Blum, Harry N. Blank and Bernice Blank all of Kachia and James W. Know of Roy. They had one son, Chas. Allen. They left around 1918.

BURTON N. COLLIER-- T 18N R25E Sec. 10. Burton Collier lived about four miles west of Valentine. He was a chiropractor before homesteading at Valentine. His place is now part of the Nick Spiroff place.

FRED COLLIER-- well known resident of Valentine country, who was brought to Lewistown for medical attention, died yesterday. Death was caused by complications developing from pneumonia. Mr. Collier was about 67 years of age. He is survived by a son residing at Casper, Wyoming: a son in Arkansas; and a daughter. (Obituary in Winnett Times dated 4-2-26.) 

GREGG (or Gregory) OTTO-- His house was boarded up for a few feet and covered with a tent. He and 15 cats lived in this house together.

• A young and charming Winnie McNeil (Rife) during the homestead era. 
• The McNeil sisters, taken about 1987: left to right; Winnie Rife, Ruth Johnson, Grace Biggs and Florence Hemeke.
• Frank, Murna, Emily and Elizabeth at Christmas time in 1954.
• The Spiroff family (Photo) was taken in July of 1967 on the 50th anniversary of the elder Spiroffs. In the back row from left to right are: Nick Jr., Katherine, Ray and Joe. Front row: Mary, Nick Sr. and Anna, and Margaret.
• Ed and Mickey Styer
• Alta Mae and Jack Styer
• John Tuma, 1935. A good friend and neighbor.