FRANK MINIER, Our Yesterdays, Jefferson Co., MT USGENWEB NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. Files may be printed or copied for personal use only. "List transcribed and organized by Ellen Rae Thiel, thieljl@aol.com All rights reserved." Copyright, 1998 by Ellen Rae Thiel. This file may be freely copied for non-profit purposes. All other rights reserved. FRANK MINIER Frank Minier, who was of French descent, came here in the mid 1890's. His brother, Daniel E. Minier, was here a few years before Frank. Both men filed on homesteads. Dan stayed a few years after "proving up" and then sold and moved probably back to Pennsylvania from where they both had come. Frank was not married when he came, but there was a girl in Pennsylvania he had known and liked who had just got her teacher's certificate so Frank wrote her to apply for a local school. Maude Ayer sent her application to the school board and was accepted. That fall she arrived to teach. She was pretty girl with lovely blue eyes and quite a talented person (a proficient artist and musician). As usual, the local bachelors were interested in the new teacher. Ed Flaherty would have liked to have had her, but she had eyes only for Frank who was trying to take good care of her - as indeed he must have, for on June 1, 1905, Maude Ayer and Frank Minier were married. They settle down on Frank's homestead to make their home. Frank was a proud and happy man. He once said to Jack Dawson, "Damn it all, Jack, I got the pick of Pennsylvania!" Maude and Frank worked hard, as did all people on their land. They made their living and asked for no favors. They were friendly and neighborly, but sometimes Frank would get a sharp edge to his words. He and Tom Dawson had some words over a ditch one time, and Tom poked Frank in the nose and broke it. It seemed to some that Frank got enjoyment out of pitting one person against another, so that he could sit back and enjoy the quarrel. Perhaps it was just his way and he meant to harm. They had no children of their own, so after a few years they adopted a baby boy. There was a land boom during the first World War and it seemed to be the Miniers they would go ahead to sell the homestead and invest their money in a dry land farm and raise grain. Wheat was a good price at the time. But by the time they got a place to farm and machinery to work with, the seasons turned dry and the price of wheat dropped. So this venture didn't turn out very well. They manage to salvage enough to get the homestead back, although by now it was run down and needed many things done. Maude went back to teaching for a few years to help out. So with hard work and good management they improved their place and got a nice little herd of cattle together. They now knew the Valley was the best place for them. The years went on and Frank and Maude were getting on in years so they sold the place to Pete Capp and moved to California. One day while crossing the street, Maude was hit by a car and killed. Frank was so saddened and lonely that he soon came back to Montana to be near his adopted son, Oscar, and his old friends. So there he ended his days -- another old time gone. The original homestead has passed through many hands in the years following. The present owners are the Walter Duttons who come from the Big Timber area. SUBMITTED BY MR. AND MRS. GEORGE DAWSON