The Valentine country became known in the early times to cattle and horsemen for the fine grass of those valleys and pine covered hills; also the winters were often quite mild. There was ample water. Blood Creek ran water in those days until mid-summer and the deep holes held water until snowfall. For this reason Ben and Mary Bean established a sheep ranch at what was known as "Blood Creek Crossing" on the old '79 trail. The Bean ranch became a stopping place for travelers and riders. Mrs. Bean realized the need for a post office to serve this area. She selected the name "Valentine" because of the Valentine Springs which were in the hills not far to the northeast. These springs were located by some travelers on the '79 trail on February 14, in a year unknown. The post office was officially established in 1906. Mail was brought from Grass Range twice a week. Wm. Everett Lane was the first carrier until 1910 when "Coyote Jimmy" Turner took over until 1916. Roy had a railroad so the settlers decided to have the mail come from Roy. The mail left Valentine in the morning and went to Roy by way of the smaller post offices, arriving at Roy at noon and back to Valentine in the evening, 3 times weekly. The mail still does this.
  In 1915 Ben Bean donated land for the town of Valentine which grew to become a small village as homesteaders came into the area. There was a hotel that consisted of six or seven small log rooms joined end to end and for years accommodated weary traveler and eager homesteader. The post office was in one corner. There was a livery stable. McCain and Johnson lumber yard, and Dr. T.W. Nickel. The blacksmith was Ole Lunn who later sold to Forrest Tindall. There were two stores: Valentine Mercantile Co. run by the Riggs

Brothers and Valentine Cash store run by Welter Bunnell. In September of 1917 the Riggs brothers bought out the Valentine Cash store and combined both stores in the Bunnell building. The post office then moved into the Riggs brother's old building. In December of 1918. Mrs. A. Kalal bought out the store. G.F. Budweiser ran the newspaper and became U.S. Commissioner. Mr. Bean had been the commissioner earlier. Mr. Budweiser closed the land office and his newspaper in 1922. There was no saloon in Valentine.
  In 1917 a Sunday school was organized. There were various preachers and priests that held services in Valentine but there was never a church building.
  Every fall there was a fair or corn show at Valentine. The event drew people from all over. Besides the corn show, there were rodeos, dances, basketball games, baseball games and plays.
  There was a need for a community meeting place, so in 1928 W.R. Daniels and Clyde Stephens were hired to boss the job and with a lot of volunteer help Valentine Hall was built. The money was raised by having political rallies, home talent plays, pie socials, and box suppers.
  "There was one boy that used to bake bread there too. We used to call him 'Kill-a-man-off. I don't know what his name was. I don't know what kind of bakery you'd call it, but it was a dug-out that he baked bread in. It was good bread too, even if it didn't look good" reported Bernard Lewis.
  Valentine Dam was started in 1934. It ran into funding problems and work halted until a year later. It was to be an irrigation project to help the remaining people, but the ditches were never completed. Valentine was the first dam built in Montana using state and federal money and was sponsored by State Senator L.M.A. Wass. The men working on the dam slept in the Valentine Hall. The hall had been built onto the school building and the school building was turned into a kitchen to serve meals. Milo Messenger was the foreman on the job and Arnold Drake, who ran the Valentine Mercantile store was the timekeeper. When completed in 1936, it was said it would cover 300 acres when full. It served as a wildlife habitat for geese and ducks and was a fishing haven for bass, crappies and bullheads until 1962 when it washed out and was never restored. It was a popular area for picnics, swimming and water skiers.
  The store closed in 1936 and the post office closed in 1942. The old community hall remains as a landmark, home to mice and birds.

#90 VALENTINE SCHOOL

 Valentine district was created in 1920 from #169. The Trustees were Wm. Trimble, Milo Messenger and Neil Harris. The district 169 was divided because it covered too large an area to be managed well. However there was a lot of discussion on how to divide the debts of the district. The Stephens school was in the Valentine district also but only ran a short time. In 1925 when Petroleum county was formed #90 Valentine was declared a joint district. The first teachers were Virginia Tucker, Mary Hughes and Regina Stephens. Other teachers were Mae Jackson, Laurie Hinkley, Margaret Stephens, and Grace Trimble. The last teacher was Zell Conolly in 1940-41. The district was abandoned in 1946 with part going to Petroleum county and part to #140 Valley View.
  In 1959 there was a need for a school in east end of #140. Valentine school was moved and started up. The teacher was Alma Grund and the students were Bob Busenbark, Vern and Gail Conolly and Bruce and Gail Flesh. Other teachers were Donna Lund, Josephine Farrelly and Betty Blair McDaniels. The last year the school ran was in 1965.

#122 SAGE CREEK SCHOOL

  Sage Creek district was created in 1913. The first teacher was Mabelle Galloway and one of the trustees was Clyde Stephens. It ran until 1925 when it was dissolved as part of it became Petroleum county. The part in Fergus county was annexed to #172 Kachia. Some of the teachers were Grace Dobson, E. R. Rothrock, Josephine Wright, Viola Lias, G. Galloway, Zell Conolly, Elsie  Lambert, Isabelle Fritzner, Goldie Kilpatrick, Jennie McEaney and Maude Clark.

#168 LONG SCHOOL

  Long school district was created in 1916. The school was built on land donated by Charley Long. The school house was finished just in time for the St. Patricks Day dance in 1914. The school was built before there was an official district. The first teacher was Flora Sandstrom. Other teachers were Millie Fritzner, Josephine Wright, Mary Hughes and Reba Lewis. The district was in the part of the county that became Petroleum county in 1925.

GEORGE ALLEN

  George Allen died in 1916. He committed suicide. George married Lillian Sollinger. They had troubles and she went home to her folks on Sage Creek. He came after her, two or three times, and finally told her she had to come with him. She said she wasn't. He had some strychnine or something and he was going to take it, but they got it away from him and threw it in the stove. But he was prepared for them, he had another one and he took it as he was going out the door. He went to the well and got a drink of water and dropped right there by the well. His wife was only 14 years old when they married. Her father had a band of sheep and he sent the girl and George Allen to Grass Range with the team and a load of wool. They tied the team up there in Grass Range and went to Lewistown and got married. Lee Allen, the contractor in Lewistown, is their son. She remarried to Ted Brooks.

EDWARD ARNEY AND EMERY ARNEY

Edward: T 18N R 25E Sec. 26, 27, 35 -- Emery: T 18N R 25E Sec. 31

  Edward was a bachelor who lived on Sage Creek about six miles southwest of Valentine. In the fall of the year he ran a threshing rig and threshed for neighbors.
  Emery Arney was an early homesteader; he was a brother to Edward. His wife, Ellen, was a native of Toronto, Canada. Their homestead was near the Corths.
  They made their home in Roy in 1921 and owned the northeast one-third of block 10. Their home and Arney's Garage, where he did mechanic work on the early day cars, threshing machines and on any other gas motors, was east of the Reeble Hotel on Second Avenue East. The big old apple tree which still lives and bears fruit (across the street from the present Legion Bar) was theirs and they were noted for raising a good garden at this location.
  On April 26, 1924, Ellen M. Arney died, at age 53. She was buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery.
  Mr. Arney continued to operate the Garage where he was the mechanic and Lee Halbert joined him as the Chevrolet auto dealer. The first of April of 1929 Halbert bought the business, due to Arney's health.
 Arney left sometime in the early 30's and went to Washington.

  Harry A. Barnett was born in 1880 at Greene, Iowa. Grace E. Gallagher was born in 1895 at Leavenworth, Kansas. Harry and Grace were married in 1916 in Lewistown and came to the Valentine area where they took up a homestead.
  They had three sons: Edwin, Austin, and LeRoy. The boys went to Long School and graduated from high school in Winnett.
  Grace died in 1936, and Harry died in 1949. They were buried in the Winnett Cemetery.
 The three boys formed a partnership to run the ranch. Ed married Lola Mae Appel in 1950. They had no children. Ed and Roy bought out Austin in 1963. Later Ed sold to Roy also.
  Ed and Mae are buried at the Sunset Gardens in Lewistown.
  Austin was a medic in WWII. He married Carol Tull and they have 4 children. They now live at Kalispell.
  LeRoy was in the Korean War. He married Nickie Brading and they have four children. Roy and Nickie have leased the ranch and retired to Winnett.

BENNING M. AND MARY E. BEAN

  Ben and Mary were married and came to Montana, probably before 1900. Ben was from Vermont and was a skilled carpenter by trade. Mary was from Boston, Massachusetts.
  Ben was a sheep man and later a U.S. Commissioner. Beans settled near the Blood Creek Crossing on the old freight road from the Musselshell steamboat landing which took goods bound for Bozeman, White Sulpher Springs and Judith Basin country, off the steamboats. This was a main freight road about the 1860's.
  Their range was on Blood Creek and Sage Creek. During a heavy rain and hail storm, prior to the homesteaders, they lost a considerable part of their band of sheep in a flash flood on the head of Blood Creek.
  Bean's ranch house was made of huge logs, whitewashed and with red trimmed windows and doors. There was a large bunk house for the men and a blacksmith shop. There was one building just to store groceries and it was well stocked. Ben built a large windmill of wood and had rigged it to saw large logs

into firewood.
 In the dining room, Mrs. Bean had a pigeonhole case for the few mail patrons. The dining room table was always set with at least 15 places, as the Bean ranch ran many sheep at that time and had a big crew of men working there. Mrs. Bean's hired helper was Ella Murphy, who later married Harry McLaughlin and lived west of Valentine on the North Valentine road.
  Mrs. Bean worked hard to establish the Valentine Post Office. She would ride over to Edgewater, some 15 miles or so south and bring back all the mail for the neighbors. She did this a couple times a week for several years before she was granted a post office. In 1906 the post office was granted and a contract was let to bring mail from Grass Range by stage two times a week.
  In 1915, Ben Bean donated land for the town of Valentine. He had it surveyed and divided into lots, streets, avenues and alleys. It was said that Mrs. Bean was strict temperance so she would not allow the building of a saloon in the town site. It must have been the only town without a saloon.
  Mr. Bean died in the early 1930's at Rochester, Minnesota and Mrs. Bean returned to her old home town of Boston where she spent the remainder of her days.

  Harlan Bevis married Adeline Summers in Washington. Harlan was from Indiana and Adeline was from Wyoming.
  In 1913 Harlan came to Valentine to visit friends. He liked what he saw and filed on a homestead 4 1/2 miles northwest of Valentine. Lester Bevis tells the story, "The next year we all moved to the homestead, my parents and five kids. We came by train to Roy and then by team and wagon to Valentine. We brought our baggage; no furniture; no machinery; no livestock. Later the folks ordered some of the things they needed and we would go to Roy to haul them home.
  I can still remember that 12 x 16 foot cabin sitting in grass about three feet tall. It was a tar paper shack with a box car roof. By tar paper I mean the cabin was constructed of boards, covered on the outside by tar paper that was kept on by lathes. The best that could be said was that the tar paper did hold out the wind, but the cold came right on through. Later we added another room built the same way.
  Many a time, I woke up in the morning and the bed clothes would be frozen to the wall. Your breath would condense and freeze against the boards. Of course there were enough of us kids that I usually slept with my brothers, and on the outside of the bed.
  We used to burn wood for heat and those cold winter days sure took a lot of wood to keep any warmth in the house.
 There were six of us kids. James born in 1903; Lester born in 1907; Charles born in 1909; Oscar born in 1913; John born in 1915; and Mona born in 1918.

  Walter (brother to Harlan) and his wife, Stella, and family came to the Valentine area about 1915 from Washington. They had six children; Paul born in 1900, Esther born in 1902, Francis born in 1904, Fern born in 1905, Della born in 1906, and Gladys born in 1916. When they left Valentine they returned to Washington. They homesteaded T 18N R 26E Sec. 19, 20.

  Lester Bevis, son of Harlan and Adeline Bevis, and Dorothy Messenger, daughter of Frank and Delia Messenger, were married in 1925. They lived on the Johnson Place near Ray Marr when they were first married; later they moved back to the homestead at Valentine. When their children began to reach school age they moved to a place 3/4 Of a mile from Valentine and the children walked to school most of the time.
  It was while they were living on the Johnson Place that the community built the Valentine Hall. Les hauled building supplies for the job. One day, when he got back with a load from Winnett, he found out that he had been hailed out. No one else was hurt by the storm, but Les lost a beautiful crop of rye, all his grass and the roof of his house was torn up. The rest of his neighbors, who were working on the hall, all quit and went home to take care of their harvest. They hired Les to work in their place, since he had nothing left to harvest, he spent the rest of the summer and fall working on the hall.
  Bevis did a lot of hauling for his neighbors in those early days; first with team and wagon, later with a Model T truck. He later worked up to bigger "Ford" trucks. He liked cars and trucks and enjoyed mechanic work, something he still does a lot of. Bevis says he could "tell you lots of stories about the trials and troubles with cars and trucks" as he's "lived through a lot of them!"
  Once was when he and Dorothy decided to go to a dance at Little Crooked. They started out in the dark and as they started down into Antelope Creek something loosened up on the tie rod and turned over, which reversed the direction of the steering wheel so that Les was steering left and going right. They ended

up stuck. A fellow on a horse came along and tied a rope onto the car and pulled it out. They went on to the dance, slowly. About day-break, the next morning they started for home. Out on the flat, where they were traveling, stood an old pitch post, all by itself, nothing else around. The tie rod came loose again and right into the post the car ran. Dorothy was so mad she threatened to get out and walk home. Les fixed the problem, with a piece of pipe that he fastened so that it wouldn't slip again and they made it home.
  Another time they went to a dance at Dovetail, in the mud. The car didn't have lights so they hung a lantern on the front, and took off. They would get stuck and would have to push. By the time they got to the dance they were mud from head to toe, but that didn't dampen the fun they had at the dance. However on the way home the lantern fell off the car and they ran over it.
  They moved to Cat Creek in 1941. They ran the Cat Creek-Winnett mail route for over 30 years. Les also set up a welding and repair shop.
  Les was County Commissioner in Petroleum County from 1966 to 1978. He spearheaded the Flatwillow Bridge project. Now people can travel up river and not have to wonder if they can make it across Flatwillow Creek. "They might have to worry about the mud, but they now can cross the creek -- if they can get to it!" The Bevis's are the parents of six children: Marion, now of Las Vegas; Joe, now of Bowman, South Dakota; Earl of Lewistown, Montana; Burt of Winnett; Harry who died of cancer, and Helen who now lives at Kalispell.
  The Bevis's retired and moved into Winnett about 1982 where they are enjoying life.

  John and Clara Blaine lived in Smithport, Pennsylvania and Zion City, Illinois before coming to Montana in 1915. The family homesteaded north of Valentine. They left in 1917. There were seven children: Lee, Ruth, Jessie, Muriel, Grace, Virginia, and William.
  Lee went to Lewistown where he worked in various places. He married Ruth Marshall on October 15, 1921. He established the B & H Grocery in 1932 with Frank Holmburg. He purchased the B & B Motel in 1956. He was active in both businesses at the time of his death on March 5, 1966 at St. Joseph's Hospital in Lewistown. He lived a week longer than his wife who died on February 27, at their home.
  They had two daughters, June and Dorothy. Clara Blaine was still living, in Redondo Beach in California, at the time of Lee and Ruth's deaths.

  William J. Busby and his wife, Mary, moved from Valdez, Alaska to Auburn, Washington and from there moved to the Valentine area to homestead in 1912. They had seven children: Elizabeth, born in 1902; William born in 1904, Amelia born in 1906, Arthur born in 1908, Cecil born in 1910, Raymond born in 1912 and Wayne born in 1920. In 1926 they moved to the Eager Ranch on Box Elder Creek, which they had leased.
  Amelia (Amy) married Robert Covert in 1927. Elizabeth (Bessie) married Frank Sheldon. They lived in Winnett and at Cat Creek before moving to Spokane. William married Katherine Doneklnor in Washington.

  Merlin was born in 1911 at Collinston, Utah, to Albert and Mary Busenbark. Ruthelma Adams was born in 1921 at Sun City, Kansas. Merlin and Ruth were married in 1939.
  They moved to Pinedale, Wyoming to the Bohemian Corners in 1947. Ruth tells, "We had all of our belongings in a pickup and were pulling a trailer with two ponies in it.
  Merlin had been up earlier and bought the Anton Koliha place. This was a new adventure for us as we were from cattle country and had never done any farming.
  Our neighbors were wonderful and helped us out. The Maruskas, Horynas, Kalinas, and Sirokys loaned us machinery and gave Merlin advice and it was greatly appreciated.
  At this time we had two little boys, Merl was six and Sammy was just over a year and a half. We bought cattle and two teams, with the place, and spent a lot of time going to sales and buying machinery.
  One day I looked out and saw our little Sammy with his arms wrapped around one of the legs of the work horses. The horse was grazing and dragging him along. I still don't know how he kept from getting kicked.
  We had a hen that layed her eggs in a bucket in the dry creek and she was setting on eggs. One morning we got up and the creek was running bank full. Late that afternoon here came this wet hen. She had rode the bucket down the creek quite a ways before it dumped her out. She then made her way home.
  Merl started school that fall; Mae Jackson was his teacher. Frankie Siroky, Shirley Jackson and Stella

Martinec were in his grade. Merl helped his dad hay that year. He tramped the hay and moved it out to the edge of the stack; quite an undertaking for a little six year old.
  We sold the place in the fall of 1948 and moved up to Jim Martinec's to feed out our hay."
  They bought the Trimble place at Valentine in 1949 and have lived there for many years. Merlin and Ruth have five children: Merle Lee born in 1941, Samuel Alfred born in 1945, Robert Richard born in 1949, Julia Rae born in 1962, and Linda born in 1964.
  Sam served in Germany, Korea and Viet Nam. He married Judy Habutzel and they live in Billings with their two children, Joshua and Bree. Robert served in the army in Viet Nam. He married Pat Shatzer and they have one child, Sara Ann. He is the sheriff of Petroleum County. Julia Rae married Larry VanDyke and lives in Bozeman. They have one child, Charisse. Linda married Justin Brennan and they live in Circle.
  For the last few years Merlin and Ruth have spent the winters in Arizona and enjoy living on the ranch the rest of the year.

  Merl Lee Busenbark was born in 1941 at Garland, Utah, son of Merlin and Ruthelma Busenbark. Merl attended the Bohemian School for one year, then finished the grades at the Long School. He graduated from Fergus County High School at Lewistown.
  Merl joined the army and served in Germany during the Korean War. In 1962, he married Gladys Carrell, born in 1945. She is the daughter of Ambrose and Annette Carrell.
  After working on several different places, the young couple returned to the home ranch in 1970 to help Merl's parents. Merl now manages the place for them.
  Merl and Gladys have one son, Ben Merl. Ben attended school at Winnett,  graduating from high school in 1986. He went on to Vo-Tech at Helena, and now has his own Agricultural Equipment Repair business, based at the home ranch.

  Archie Casteel came to the Valentine area from Wyoming. His homestead was in T 18N R 25E Sections 25, 26 and 35. He was a staunch supporter of county division (Fergus-Petroleum) and was also one of the sections most successful farmers. He had three sons: George, Roy, and Harry, and a daughter, Amelia.
  Harry homesteaded in T 18N, R 25E, Sections 25 and 26. He married a Tindall, they had four children: Clare, Dorothy, Mary Jane, and Annabelle.
  Roy and George married sisters, Milly and Isabelle Fritzner, daughters of N. D. Fritzner from the Little Crooked area.
  Roy and Milly had four children: Earl, Isabelle, Flora, and Eileen. The children attended Little Crooked School at one time. Roy ran the Bill Lane Filling Station in Roy for awhile and then moved to the Brownlee place. Later they moved to Washington.
  George was born in May of 1896 in Nebraska. He and Isabelle had nine children: George born in 1920 in Valentine (died in 1972, Vancouver, Washington); Dorothy (Hager) born in 1922 and Anabel born in 1924, both in Shoshone, Washington; Edwin, 1926, Vancouver, Washington; Alvin, 1929 and Joyce (Francis) 1932 both in Grass Range (Joyce died 1980 in Camas, Wash.); Leslie 1933 in Winnett; Janice (Balsom) 1936 and Charles, 1940, both in Battle Ground, Montana.
  The family moved to Washington in 1926 and then moved back to Montana the following spring. Roy and George both worked on the railroad.
  Amelia homesteaded T 21N, R 25E, Sections 19 and 20. She lived near the Fritzners. She was not in the area for very long.

  Herbert Caulkins came to Valentine and rented the Ed Lambert place. On March 17, 1928 he married Thelma Clark, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Clark of Valentine. They moved to Palmer, Alaska in 1936, where Caulkins was a fisherman by profession. The Caulkins spent a couple of winters, during the off season of fishing, in Roy.
 They had four boys: Richard, now deceased; Donald, deceased; Carl who now lives in Wallselea, Alaska and Jim. Jim graduated from high school in Roy with the class of 1952. He became a minister and now lives in Wenatchee, Washington.
  Herbert passed away in the fall of 1975. Thelma lives in Palmer in the summer and often spends her winters in Arizona.

  Clifford was born August 6, 1881 in Goodland, Indiana. He married Maude E. Perkins on March 16, 1904. Maude was born September 5, 1883 in Goodland.
  Their oldest son, born in Indiana, lived only a few days. A daughter, Thelma, was born April 4, 1906, and Clairmont was born in 1908.
  They moved to Upper Sage Creek, 22 miles east of Roy, on the old South Valentine road in 1913. (Their place is now owned by Dick Delaney). Maude taught school at Sage Creek for several years. Clifford was a Petroleum County Commissioner in the 1930's. They lived there until the spring of 1950 when they moved to the Moyer place 2 miles south of Roy where they lived until 1962 when Cliffs failing health caused their move to Missoula to be near Clairmont's family. Thelma married Herbert Caulkins.
  Clairmont married Alzora Prewitt of Lewistown. She was teaching school at Dovetail. Alzora tells about Clairmont. "He always said he was just a green and gawky country boy when he met me, but that wasn't true. I think he'd gone with every available girl in the area! "
  They started their married life on the Sanford place at Dovetail and lived there several years before going back to the Valentine area. Except for a period of time when they lived on the west coast during World War II, Clairmont and Alzora lived in the Central Montana area for many years. Alzora taught many children in country schools and Clairmont worked as a rancher, salesman, and grocer. They operated the Roy Grocery for several years, moving to Missoula in 1953 where they purchased a store. They now spend their summers in Missoula and their winters in Apache Junction, Arizona.
  They had two boys. Robert Wayne was born January 6, 1937 in Helena, Montana. Gerald Roy was born June
12, 1945 in Vancouver, Washington. Robert now lives in Missoula and Gerald in Miles City.
  Clifford passed away on September 11, 1968 and Maude on February 19, 1977. Both are buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery.
  Clairmont writes about some neighbors in the Valentine area. Tom and Hattie Hogan lived at the head of Dovetail Creek across from Ray Marr. Tom loved to talk, while Hattie was very quiet. They had no children of their own, but raised a nephew, Earl Steele, who now lives on the west coast. Tom died in September 1942.
  Peter Hagen was never married. He was a very nice quiet, elderly gentleman, who used to help Cliff, on occasion.

  Eugene F. Covert and his wife, Mary Elizabeth Ward Covert, left their former home in Kansas to homestead about a mile from Valentine in 1913. They traveled to Montana by train, bringing their livestock, farm machinery, and household furnishings in an "immigrant car".
  Eugene Covert was born May 17, 1848, in Ohio. Mary Elizabeth Ward Covert was born February 19, 1858, in Illinois. They were married at Vincennes, Iowa, May

 31, 1874.
  Several of their children were already grown, some of them living in Montana, when the Coverts moved to Valentine. During their first few months in Montana, Mrs. Covert and her two teenage daughters, Ruth and Nan, stayed with Mrs. Covert's older daughter, Eugenia Ward, in Moore, while the girls' father and an older brother, Bob, went to the homestead to build a log cabin for their home.
  The men must have become tired of eating their own cooking, because they had only the walls of the house up, and no roof on it, when they went to Moore to get Mrs. Covert and the girls. The trip from Moore to Valentine, in the spring of the year, was made by team and wagon, with the family camping out under the stars at night.
  The first night in their roofless home, it poured rain and the family got soaking wet in their beds. Several weeks of wet weather followed. Mrs. Covert cooked on their kitchen range out in the yard, since it had not yet been set up in the house. Ruth and Nan took turns holding a large umbrella over their mother while she cooked, and over the family while they ate.
  In later years, Ruth and Nan often told of how they and other young people in the area used to go to dances held in people's homes. Most of the time, several young couples shared a ride in a horse-drawn wagon.
 Extremely cold weather did not deter them. Ruth often told of one particular time when it was 40 degrees below zero when a group of young people drove ten miles to a dance. Bob and his cousin sat on the spring seat in order to drive the four-head team, but the others huddled under quilts in the back of the wagon.
  The dances usually lasted until dawn, with a supper served at midnight. Bob, Ruth and Nan were ready to sleep when they got home at breakfast time, but their father insisted that they do their regular ranch work without even a short nap.
  Bob Covert later homesteaded near his parents' place. In 1927, he married Amy Lou Busby. Four children were born to them -- William, Scott, Jerry and Janice.
  An older daughter of the Coverts and her husband, Helen and Frank Messenger, homesteaded about ten miles west of Valentine, between there and Roy. They had two daughters, Dorothy (Mrs. Les Bevis), and Irene (Mrs. David Potter). Dorothy and Lee now live in Winnett. Irene is deceased.
  Following Frank Messenger's death, Helen married a neighbor, Joe Peoples. They are both deceased.
  Ruth Covert married Ike Messier February 1, 1917, in Lewistown, where they made their home all of their lives. Both are now deceased. Their children included Robert Aron, who died as a small boy; Roberta Donovan, who lives in Lewistown; and Mary Daley, of Missoula.
  Nan Covert married Bill Formanack in December, 1916. They are both deceased. Their only child was Bob Formanack, who, with his wife, Mary Ann, lives in Red Lodge, Montana.
  After the Covert children had left home, Mrs. Covert went to live with her daughter, Ruth Messier, and Eugene Covert lived with their daughter, Helen Messenger, and later in Lewistown until his death in 1939. Mary Elizabeth Ward Covert died in Lewistown in December, 1950.

  Vern and Edna Doughty and Sam and Zell Conolly and Donald came here from Jackson Hole, Wyoming and homesteaded in the Dovetail country in 1916. Donald was six months old. Doughtys were Zell's parents.
  They came and pitched a tent. A strong wind come up and blew the tent down and blew some of their things away, so they dug a cave in one of the banks and lived in that until the men got the log cabin built.
  The Doughtys and Zell were formerly from Minnesota, where Zell had received her schooling as a teacher. She took a school near Pierre, South Dakota where she met Sam. He was from South Dakota and they were married in S. D. A baby boy, Franklin, was born to them there, but he died at the age of three months.
  She took a school in Idaho. They lived there for awhile, then went to Wyoming where she taught school.
  Donald was born while they were in Wyoming. He weighed less than two pounds, in that time before incubators. Zell stayed in bed for several weeks to keep him warm. They didn't think he would live, but he made it.
  Zell taught school in the Dovetail school and surrounding schools.. She taught for twenty five years before retiring.
  It was a chore getting to school, as often the only means was on skis or horseback. Mrs. Doughty took care of Zell's children before they started to school. Then she took them with her.
  Sam had a truck and did much trucking for a living, besides they had the mail route for over thirty years.
  To this marriage three more children were born: Theron, Wayne and Edna Margaret. Edna died shortly after birth. Zell's mother delivered the babies.
  Donald, Theron, and Wayne went to country school with their mother teaching them. Donald graduated from Lewistown High School. Theron was a 1936 graduate of Roy High. Wayne started to high school in Winnett and died of spinal meningitis his freshman year.
  Donald served in the Army during World War II. Other than that he spent his life on the ranch with his folks, until the time of his death from a car accident in December of 1961. Donald was married to June Marinoff. They had three children; Vern, Gail, and Arlee.
  Theron joined the Navy after graduating from high school and made it his career. He died in the early sixties after a heart attack.
  The Conolly's outlived all of their children.
  They sold the homestead at Dovetail and moved to Valentine where Sam bought up most of the land he had for taxes. Zell ran the post office for several years and retired from teaching in 1942.
  After Donald's death, they moved to Roy for a short while and from there to Winnett where they lived until they entered Valley Vista in 1965. They passed  away in 1966, a week apart; Sam from Parkinson's disease and Zell from cancer.

  Arnold C. Drake, a WWI veteran was born in Plankton, South Dakota in 1893. He came to the Valentine area in 1926 where he was associated with Art Dunn in business. They had the Dunn & Drake Grocery Store and also sold gas.
  In 1928 he and Isadeen Sinclair were married. They continued in business until 1937 when they moved to Grantsdale, Montana.
  Arnold and Isadeen had 5 children: Lola (Bailes) born in June 1928 and Donald born October of 1929, both in Lewistown; Delmar born in June of 1931 and Melvin born in May of 1933, both in Valentine, and Marine (Linendoll) born in January of 1935 in Lewistown.
  Arnold passed away on August 24, 1953 and is buried in the Hamilton Cemetery. Isadeen married Bob Pewitt in June of 1974; he passed away in 1978. She retired in 1969 and now lives at Corvallis, near her daughter, Mrs. Les Linendoll.
  Arthur Dunn had a daughter, Phyllis, who homesteaded (T 18N R 26E Sec. 17, 20).

  Edward Fegert lived two miles north of Valentine on the old Horse Shoe Bar Ranch. He married Mrs. Alice Helms who was running a cafe in Roy. They lived in Roy after the marriage. Alice was a sister to Mrs. Frank (Eva) Spoon.
  Edward died on November 3, 1949. His obituary reads in part:
  Edward Fegert, about 80, long time resident of Roy, died suddenly this morning at Roy as he was loading his car with coal. Death came almost instantaneously, men working beside him reported, and resulted from a heart attack.
  Only 24 hours before at 9 o'clock Wednesday, Mr. And Mrs. Fegert's trailer home had been completely destroyed by flames. They lost all their clothing, furnishings and money that was in the home. They had only moved in a short time before. The Roy fire department was called but the flames spread so fast that only the walls remained standing. Defective wiring was blamed for the fire.
  Mr. Fegert had not been feeling well yesterday and could not help fight the fire. Probably the excitement had brought on the fatal attack.
  He had been a carpenter in the Roy area for over 30 years and prior to that time had ranched in that area.
  Alice continued to live in Roy until her death on June 30, 1955.

  Charles W. Foresman and Emma Alexander met and married after they had homesteaded in the Valentine area.
  Emma Alexander was born in Centerville, Iowa, 13 November 1861, one of six children born to Mr. and Mrs. Reuben Alexander.
  After the death of her parents, Miss Alexander went to Kansas City, Missouri where she taught in the city public schools and studied art during this time.
 Following an accident in which she lost a leg, she retired from the teaching profession and opened a dress making shop, an enterprise in which she was highly successful. In 1897, she moved her shop to Los Angeles, California and was again successful at this location.
  In 1912, Emma Alexander came to Fort Maginnis, Montana to visit her niece, Mrs. Clyde Stephens. She was so impressed with the country that she decided to homestead. In 1913 she took up land near Valentine commuting between Los Angeles and Montana until it came time to "prove up" on her homestead.
  While on her homestead, she met Charles W. Foresman who held a claim nearby.
  Mrs. Foresman, a lover of nature, had traveled widely. She possessed a high artistic ability, a talent well illustrated by the fine pictures, in both oil and water color, which adorned her home.
  She moved to Lewistown after Mr. Foresman's death in Roy. Margaret Stephens, her grand niece cared for her.
  Mr. Charles W. Foresman was 92 years at the time of his death. He was the last member of his family of five sisters and one brother. He was born in Yellow Spring, Ohio, 5 November 1850. He moved West while a young man and settled in Iowa for a number of years.
  Charles Foresman came to Montana and homesteaded in the early teens in the Valentine area.
  The Foresmans moved to Roy after their marriage in 1917 where Mr. Foresman was active in the Presbyterian Church. He took great interest in his church, of which he was a life-long member. He officiated at many funerals and preached services at the church as well as projecting Sunday school for the children. Mr. Foresman passed away at his home on April 14, 1943.

  My father, Ole Fuglestad, purchased the Snowball Hughes homestead with $17,000 borrowed from the Production Credit Association in 1943. Ole had led a colorful life since he immigrated from Norway in 1923. He had worked for an uncle in Minnesota to repay the passage expenses but soon went west to work as a lumberjack, in the railroad camps, and finally as a sheepherder in Montana. He eventually rose to become foreman of the Harvey Cort spread with operations in Hardin, Crow Agency, and Big Timber.
  In the spring of 1943, Ole, Ethel, his wife, and her daughters Mary and Jeanne Powers, moved to the Snowball place on Blood Creek. I was born December 11th of that year.
  Ole got a good start on the place raising sheep because he knew the business and because of high wool prices stemming from the war effort. By the early fifties, however, prices had dropped to the point where he switched to cattle. We ran cattle and did some grain farming until the place was purchased by Lyle Flesch in 1958. We lived in Lewistown until I graduated from Fergus High.
  For several years my parents lived in semi-retirement, wintering in Arizona and coming north in the summers. Ole died in 1979, in Mesa, Arizona. Unfortunately my two sisters have also died, Jeanne in 1982, Mary in 1987. My mother, Ethel, lives in Twin Falls, Idaho where she has a sister.

  Roy homesteaded on Crooked Creek near the town of Roy. He was killed July 1, 1917 by a horse belonging to Mr. A.J. Hughes, who had permitted the young man to ride the animal after having apprised him of its wildness. Roy was found by Tom Hogan. Roy and Tom were both working for Mr. Hughes at the time.
  No one witnessed the tragedy but the facts, which were investigated by Coroner Creel and Assistant County Attorney Groene, made it apparent that the death of the young man was caused by the horse. Cigarette papers scattered on the ground near the body furnished reasonable ground for the theory that Golliner stopped to make a cigarette, first having wound the bridle reins tightly around one of his wrists. The horse evidently started to run and the young man was thrown and trampled and kicked by the horse, inflicting wounds which were at once fatal.
  The body was shipped to Mineral Point, Wisconsin, the former home of the young man, for burial.

  Grant and Maude Cox Gore homesteaded in the Valentine area and lived there until 1918. Their homestead is now owned by Ed Styer.
  In the fall of 1913, Grant Gore, along with several of his neighbors in Seward and York County, Nebraska, were smitten by the railroad ads of cheap transportation and free land in Montana.
  They landed in Lewistown where they were met by a land locator.
  My dad was shown a hundred and sixty acre tract of land near the Blood Creek drainage which he filed on. It lay next to some land that was not open to homesteading, as it had not been surveyed and approved for filing. Later he filed on an additional one hundred and sixty acres, making three hundred and twenty acres total, which was the maximum that could be homesteaded.
  Dad returned to Nebraska in the fall of '13 to get ready to move to Montana. He had to have an auction of his livestock and machinery and find a renter for the farm in Nebraska.
  In March of '14 he was ready to go. He loaded an immigrant railroad car and headed for Hilger, Montana. Mother and us kids stayed in Nebraska until school was out and then we too, headed for Montana. We were met in Billings by our dad. I remember we stayed in the Northern Hotel. Another homesteaders wife, Mrs. Miller and her two children, Clarence and Lydia, were on the train with us from Nebraska.
  The next day we went as far as Lewistown. I remember the plank sidewalks more than anything else about Lewistown, on my first trip there. The next day we went to Hilger by train. Dad had left a team and buggy there so we started out for the homestead. It was a long trip with horses, but was exciting for us kids. There were six of us kids, ages eleven to one and a half.
  Our uncle, Jim Cox, met us at the homestead site. All the house we had was a small tar-paper cabin and a circus tent that we had brought from Nebraska. Three boys, my uncle, four horses, and a couple of cows, shared the tent. No one seemed to mind as the weather was warm and there were lots of things to do. We had to haul water from a well about three miles away. (the people's name was Beatty).
  Dad and Uncle Jim dug a well, but the water was so bad the stock wouldn't drink it, so we had to take them to Blood Creek for water. There were no fences, so it was a full-time job that first summer to keep the range cattle away from the garden and our milk cows. The Horseshoe Bar Cattle Co. was running cattle all over the country at the time. The Horseshoe Bar headquarters was where the Lester Sluggett ranch is now. Snowball Hughes was the ranch manager.
  I remember one incident when a big Hereford bull came charging at our milk cows that were tethered close by the house. In the fracas our Jersey cow got her eye put out. My mother grabbed a shotgun and shot the bull square in the face. It didn't kill the bull, but it was blinded and the cowboys had to take it to the ranch and kill it. 
  I remember that we ate Cattle Co. beef when we couldn't keep them out of our crops. Think it was well accepted by the Cattle Co. and I'm sure that other settlers were doing the same thing.
  In the fall of 1914 we cut and hauled logs from the river breaks to build a log house and a barn.
  The Wm. Galloways were our closest neighbors (where the Ed Styers live now). Somehow between the Galloways, our folks and some of the other neighbors, they got permission to start a school in a building that had been used as a saloon close to the Horseshoe Bar headquarters. Mable Galloway was the teacher most of the time that we were on the homestead.
  During our first winter on the homestead our Grandfather passed away and we didn't find out about his death until after the funeral, as we only got the mail every two weeks or so.
  In the spring of 1915 Dad started breaking sod in earnest -- three horses and a walking sod buster. One of us boys had to walk along behind and throw the sagebrush out of the furrow and the other one piled it up to burn. Actually we raised some good crops on the virgin soil. We raised a wagon load of watermelons, enough for all the neighbors. But this land was never

meant for farming, at least not with what we had to farm with at that time.
  For Thanksgiving of 1915 we had no meat, so Uncle Jim went over in the breaks and killed some sage hens and a couple of jack rabbits. Well, they looked kind of tough, so we cut the meat off the bones, ground it and our mom made a big meatloaf. We had some vegetables that we had raised and we ended up with a pretty good dinner. Our uncle had invited three bachelors for dinner, so our mother had to try and fix something special. Their names were Raymond Dockery, Wm. Higley and Charley Swaddy. Dockery and Higley were attorneys. Higley went back to St. Louis to practice law and Dockery practiced law in Lewistown the rest of his life.
  By 1915 there were 10 kids in school; two Livingstons, three Martins and five Gores.
  About that time a Mr. Slive (I think that was his name) decided to relinquish his claim and our folks bought the house and with the help of the neighbors, moved it on our land and gave it to the school district. In 1916 there were 13 kids in school; five Gores, four Martins, two Livingstons and two Gregorys. We averaged less than seven months per year of school while we were on the homestead, but when we graduated from the eighth grade and took our exams at the county supt. office in Lewistown we got straight A's, although in those days grades were given by numbers.
  The last time I saw the homestead was August of 1918. Dad and I went there to harvest the grain that he had planted in the spring and to take the rest of our machinery and horses to the place on Cottonwood, where we had moved in April. Well, we didn't have to harvest, as drought had dried up all the grain until there was nothing to harvest.
  Our family grew while we were on the homestead and on Cottonwood. In all there were fourteen children eleven of us are still alive and scattered all over the western United States, with only three left in Central Montana, Lloyd and Millie (St. John) of Lewistown and Glen of Hobson.

  Paul Hagen was born May 27, 1885 in Cherokee, Iowa. He died January 17, 1962 and was buried in Fairfield, Montana.
  Sadie Lind was born January 4, 1894 in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. She married Paul March 2, 1913. The children were: Twins, Paul Robert (Bob) and Margaret Hagen Black; Thomas Hagen and Jeane Hagen Heller.
  My parents, Paul and Sadie Hagen, came to Montana from Wisconsin in 1913 and settled on a homestead in Petroleum County, about three miles south of Valentine. The nearest neighbors were John Sinclairs', Harry Barnetts', Louie Phillips', Nick Hayfields', and Bill Trimbles'. All lived within two or three miles. The only means of transportation at that time was by horseback or team and wagon. Cars, trucks, and tractors began to appear in the 1920's. Neighbors worked together, helping each other with branding, putting up ice, threshing, rounding up cattle in the fall, etc. Neighbors also got together socially as often as possible. Hardly a Sunday went by without our having company for dinner or being invited out. There were no churches in the area. In the early days there were many house dances. There was an old fiddle player, Charlie Miller, who walked many miles to play for all of the house dances. Some of the local ranchers and cowboys would cooperate now and then by putting on a rodeo for entertainment. These were held out in the open since there were no rodeo corrals. The homesteaders were mainly farmers, but also raised some beef cattle, as well as a few dairy cattle. They depended on rain to water their crops and were fairly fortunate until the dry years of the 1930's came along.
  My personal memories date back to the 1920's. Our home was a one room log house to which my dad and grandfather, Charles Lind, built an addition as we kids grew a little older.
  My first grade teacher was Ruth Stephens. We first attended the Long School but that burned to the ground in 1929, so we went to the Valentine School for the next three years. Mrs. Zell Conolly was the teacher at that time and we all thought she was the greatest. We lived three miles from school and walked or rode horseback. At times, when we were small and there was lots of snow, my dad would walk with us, breaking trail, then when we got tired he would lie down in the snow and we'd sit on him to rest. Our main concern, in those days, were blizzards which came up suddenly.
  I started high school in Winnett in 1932 at the beginning of the depression years. Most of the country kids stayed at the dormitory. Board and room that year was

six dollars a month and my parents had a hard time coming up with that amount. My mother made butter and sold to the cook at the dorm to help out. However, somehow we made it because my brother and sister and I all graduated from Winnett High School. Our water supply at home was not the best. We had several wells but the water was slightly alkaline so we could not drink it, although it was safe enough for livestock. My father built a dam with quite a large reservoir, after having hauled water from the neighbor's well for several years. From then on the men put up ice in the winter and we used that for drinking water. It probably wasn't especially sanitary but no one ever seemed to need a doctor. It's a good thing because our nearest hospital was in Lewistown, some 75 miles away--quite a distance considering our means of transportation. We did have our tragedies, as my little brother, Tommy, was killed in a runaway team accident when he was four. Also, my grandfather, who lived with us, was killed by lightning in 1928.
  In the late 1920's the Valentine Community Hall and a rodeo corral nearby were built. After that there were rodeos, dances every month, home talent plays, special dinners, etc. Every fall there was a fair or corn show, as it was called, and everyone brought their best vegetables, grains, flowers and the like for competition and display. There was always a 4th of July celebration and also a big community dinner on New Year's Day.
  Except for the hard years during the 1930's with the drought, grasshopper hordes, army worms and depression, I have very good memories of my life in the Valentine community. I've never been sorry that I grew up there. It was a great country, for kids especially. We had our chores and responsibilities, but also lots of free time to ride our horses anywhere we chose, explore many interesting places, swim, ski, skate, and have fun just being together. We had a happy life in spite of a scarcity of material possessions and money. Equally important were the people in the community. There is no place where one can find a finer, more unselfish class of people than the homesteaders. My sister and brother and I all feel that we had experiences in that country that have proved invaluable to us.
  I had always wanted to become a teacher, so after graduating from high school, with some help from my parents, student loans, and a part-time job, I was able to complete two years of training at Western Montana College in Dillon, which was sufficient at that time to obtain a teaching certificate. I taught in rural schools for six years then took time out to stay home while my children were small. After my husband's death in 1957, I returned to the classroom and continued teaching until I retired in 1982, having spent my last 25 years in the Laurel school system in Montana. I also continued my education, receiving my Bachelor's Degree from Western College in 1963 and my Master's Degree from Montana State in 1971.
  My brother, Bob, served in the Air Force during World War II, then began farming in the Fairfield area. He is now semi-retired and rents out his land. My sister, Margaret, (Mrs. Jack Black) and family lived in Hamilton, Montana for many years. She worked in the Rocky Mountain Lab until she retired in 1986. She and her husband are with my mother on her farm in the Fairfield area.

  Elmer Hanson was born in 1899, the son of John and Rachel Hanson of Lake Benton, Minnesota. He served in WWI and returned to Minnesota after the war.
  Doris Ellen Wells was born in 1900 at Early, Iowa. Elmer and Doris were married in 1921 at Pipestone, Minnesota. In 1934 they came to the Dovetail area. In 1939 they moved to the Valentine area and bought a ranch where they farmed and raised cattle.
  In 1950 Doris died of severe burns in a fire at the ranch home. Elmer retired and left the ranch the following year. He moved to Billings to the Blue Creek area for awhile, but then returned to this area. Elmer died in 1977. He and Doris are both buried in the Lewistown City Cemetery.
  Doris and Elmer had six children: John "Jack", Charles "Bill", George "Harry", Keith "Tom", Richard "Dick", and Virginia.
  John E. was born in 1925. He bought the ranch when his father retired. He sold it in the 60's and moved to Winnett.
  Richard Irving was born in 1927 and worked on several ranches in the area. He is now the custodian at.............

• Valentine 4th of July 1920,  before the hall was built.
   

• Valentine was a busy place the day this photo was taken, sometime after 1928
   

• A group of neighbors in the Valentine area get together. In the back row are Everett Lane?, Rob Sinclair, Paul Hagen, Bernard Lewis, Mary Phillips, Jennie Lewis, Middle row: Bane Phillips, Louie Phillips, John Sinclair and Isodeen Sinclair.  Front row: Della Sinclair, Lola Sinclair and Ronald Lewis.
   

• The Valentine School 1930 to 1931. Back row L. to R.: Jeane Hagen, Margaret Hagen, Eva Trimble, Katherine Rice, Mona Bevis, Nan Weingardt and Zell Conolly the teacher. The row of bous in the middle: ?. bob Hagen, Theron Conolly. Wayne Conolly and George Trimble. Front row: The last firl in the row is Mary Jane Casteel. The first three from the left are unidentified.
   

• Valentine School October 1960. L. to R. Gail Flesch, Gail Conolly, Bruce Flesch and Vern Conolly.