Alexander Metzel History of Montana,by Joaquin Miller, 1894 May be copied for non-profit purposes. USGENWEB Montana Archives Alexander Metzel, a pioneer of 1863 to Montana, and now owning one of the finest stock ranches in the state at Puller Springs, Madison County, is a native of York Pennsylvania; born on the 14th of January, 1835 of German ancestry on his father's side and of English on his mother's. His father, Thomas A. Metzel also a native of Pennsylvania married Miss Hannah Mathews and they continued to reside in York until their death. They owned andconducted the Metzel House there for many years. He died in 1858, in the sixty-second year of his age and shelived to be eighty ears old, department this life in 1893. Mr. Metzel was married twice; by his first wife hehad six children and by the second, eight. Only five of the family now survive.Alexander, a member of the second family, was reared in York until 1857, attending the common school and afterward learning the butchers trade. In 1857 the year before his father died, he went to Iowa City Iowa and was employedthere at $15 per month until 1860; and then crossed the plains to Pike's Peak. He carried on the butchers business at Denver for several months, returned to Iowa City and proceeded on to Rock Island, where he obtained work astrimmer in a packing house. Returning to Iowa City again, he purchased teams and took the family of his employer, who was then at Denver, across the plains to that city in the spring of 1861 and was employed there until thefollowing winter.Then he returned to Iowa and at Indianola married Miss Anna Spicer, a native of Pennsylvania. Soon afterward he started with his bride across the plains to Denver, where he was re-employed by the same man he had been workingfor during the preceding season.In 1863 he came to Montana and engaged in the butchering business at Nevada City near Alder Gulch. July 15, 1864 having seen much of the good work done by the "vigilantes" and having participated with them to some extent, he returned to Denver for his wife, whom he had left there and on arriving there he concluded to remain awhile. He had a stock of 200 head of cows, which, by the cold of the preceding winter, had been reduced to four head. As a reminiscence of his work in Montana there he states that he bought and dressed the first hog that was killed there, which cost 75 cents a pound when dressed and it weighed 300 pounds. He sold it at a dollar a pound. He made considerable proportion of it into sausage which was mixed with beef and sold at $1 a pound.Next Mr. Metzel returned to Nevada City and engaged in his trade there until 1872 and then moved to his present location at Puller Springs, fifteen miles southeast of Virginia City, where he now has 6,000 acres of land, withlarge and capacious buildings and everything necessary for conducting a first-class stock farm. On this property he raises large quantities of oats and cuts from 600 to 800 tons of hay annually. He has six children: Frank S, born in Colorado and now in the sawmill business and a member of the stock companywhich his father organized by giving each of his sons a thousand head of calves, each head being considered a share of the stock. The next son, Charles Montana, was one of the first white boys born in the Territory; he is now at Livingston engaged in the butchering business. Thomas A. is a stock broker having offices in Chicago and New York. The younger sons William O and Lewis Albert are at home with their father in the stock business and one daughter Clara May, died January 26, 1880.Mrs. Metzel, the beloved wife and kind and indulgent mother, died on the 9th of May 1878 and her husband speaks of her as the noblest of women. Since her death Mr. Metzel has remained single. USGenWeb Project NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may not be reproduced in any format forprofit, nor for commercial presentation by any other organization. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than as stated above, must obtain express writtenpermission from the author, or the submitter and from the listed USGenWeb Project archivist.