John Westfall Biography


	This biography appears on page 1851 in "History of South 
	Dakota" by Doane Robinson, Vol. II (1904) and was scanned, 
	OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

	This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit 
	organizations for their private use. 

	Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval 
	system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other 
	means requires the written approval of the file's author.


	JOHN WESTFALL, one of the enterprising farmers and stock raisers 
of Custer county, was born in the southern part of Louisiana. He 
remained in his native state until a youth of fifteen and then left 
home, going to Illinois, where he was engaged in different kinds of 
manual labor during the ensuing four years, spending the latter part of 
that period in the city of Rock Island, from which place he went to 
Omaha, Nebraska. When nineteen years of age he left the latter state 
for South Dakota, making the trip to the Black Hills via Sidney and 
arriving at Harney when that flourishing city was little more than a 
mining camp. He remained one year prospecting in the vicinity and then 
went to Deadwood, where he followed mining about the same length of 
time, meeting with fair success in his operations. Returning to Harney, 
he sold several claims which he had previously located and after living 
in that town and vicinity until the spring of 1882 took up his present 
ranch three miles from Hermosa, on Battle creek, where he has since 
been engaged in agriculture and the livestock business, devoting 
especial attention to cattle raising.

	In addition to his home place Mr. Westfall has acquired 
considerable real estate in the neighborhood, much of which has been 
reduced to cultivation and otherwise improved and he is now in 
comfortable circumstances, with flattering prospects of a long and 
prosperous business career before him.