Dear Carol,
Here is a short biography of your Grandpa Leistiko that you may be able to use for your term paper in college. Of course it will have to be rewritten and the grammar corrected.
Biography, Grandpa Fred Leistiko, Sr. to the best of my knowledge, starting at his age of about age 20.
Grandpa landed at a Canadian Port in 1891 from Germany. His first job was working in the woods in Canada. Later he arrived in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where he met friends and countrymen. He was employed there as a car repairman for the Great Northern Railway Company.
[Note: Fred and members of his family arrived on the ship Rhaetia in Ellis Island, NY, in February, 1892. So, it seems the statement "arrived in Canada" may be inaccurate. djn]
In 1893 he was married to Augusta Bleich, who is still living in Long Beach, California at the age of 9l!
Grandpa had already became quite popular as a violinist in Grand Forks, playing for dances and other social affairs. Wages were very low in those days, and he quite often earned extra money playing for dances, which helped the family and which he enjoyed. Two children were born within the next two years which increased the family responsibility.
They made many friends in Grand Forks, but at the same time a feeling to change location entered their mind as they heard more about Montana and especially Great Falls. In 1896, the family moved to Great Falls. It was a thriving city at that time. Of course, life in Great Falls at that early date was quite different from today. Most of the transportation was by saddle horse, horse and buggy and bicycle. Many of the men went to their jobs on a bicycle.
Grandpa worked in the old silver smelter for some time. Later he again went to work for the Great Northern Railway, and was employed as a car inspector. Again, he supplemented his earnings by playing for dances and parties.
He became personally acquainted with a lot of the old timers and pioneers in Great Falls at that time. I don't know if he was personally acquainted with Charles Russell, the famous painter, but he saw him many times. He admired his work very much. Grandpa was also quite talented in drawing, especially animals. I am sorry there are no samples of his work available.
While working in Great Falls he had an urge to locate a ranch someplace in Montana, so he and another fellow took time off to make a trip with a team and buckboard. The trip took them to Augusta, Chouteau, Dupuer, and Shelby, where they spent the night in the old Sullivan Hotel. The hotel burned down a number of years ago. The hotel also had a bar, and during the evening an Indian evidently on a drinking spree, made a pest of himself at the bar, however nothing of importance happened. The following morning they started for the Sweet Grass Hills. From the Sweet Grass Hills they returned to Great Falls. The trip took quite a long time and was quite uneventful. They observed a lot of wild game on the way. After returning to Great Falls, Grandpa, catching up on the news, noticed an article in the paper describing an incident that occurred in the Sullivan Hotel after they left. The Indian, without funds and needing a drink of booze, pulled a gun on the bartender and demanded a drink of whiskey. While reaching under the bar pretending to fix the drink, he came up with a six shooter killing the Indian on the spot.
In about 1900, he bought a ranch on the Missouri river 25 miles South of Glasgow, Montana and south of the present site of the Fort Peck Dam. The range was open and free, and he raised cattle and horses. Stock was very cheap at that time, and there was very little expense to raise them. Three of the six children were born on the ranch.
He was the only musician in the territory at that time, and it was not unusual for him to travel 25 to 50 miles on a saddle horse or team and buggy to play for a dance. The dances always lasted all-night. The creeks had no bridges at that time, and sometimes it was necessary to swim his saddle horse across to make a trip.
The settlers started coming to Montana in 1909 and they needed lumber for their shacks and horses to do their farm work. Grandpa started a sawmill on the Missouri River, where he sawed cottonwood lumber and sold it to the settlers. The lumber was used for better homes and stock shelters. Also he sold horses to the farmers.
In 1909 he filed on a homestead about 12 miles south of Glasgow, later adding more land to the original homestead, which is still in existence and owned by one of the sons [Ted]. Cowpunchers stopped at the ranch, some of questionable character. They were, however, well behaved where women and children were present. Some were quite famous in the rodeo field at that time. Charley Schufeldt drowned in the Missouri river while swimming his favorite saddle horse across to attend a rodeo in Miles City. He held a world roping record at that time.
There were fights, shootings and jailbreaks, but the news was slow in getting around to the ranches. Grandpa could speak 3 languages quite well, and was called in to interpret on several occasions in jury trials and Justice Court. He served on a jury many times while living in Valley County. In 1902 the Kid Curry Gang held up and robbed the Great Northern westbound passenger train near Wagner, Montana. One or two of the robbers were apprehended and jailed in the Valley County jail. Grandpa was a juror on that trial. I am not able to furnish names of the robbers nor do I recall the outcome of the trial. Mr. Tommy Jones was the engineer, on the train and has been deceased for many years now.
While the settlers were moving in there was a demand for plowing the land and thrashing the grain. Grandpa bought a 35 horsepower steam-driven tractor with plows and other equipment, including a grain separator. He did much of the first plowing and thrashing in that locality. Still a lot of the work was done with horses. Modern conveniences were not available but the farmers and ranchers seemed quite happy.
Grandpa organized the first band in Glasgow, Montana, playing the cornet himself. Due to his ranch duties his participation in the organization slowed down, but the band continued on becoming bigger and better. His demise several years ago was a real loss to his family and friends. He was a happy and talented man and a good entertainer. A complete and and accurate story of his more than 50 years in Montana would be quite lengthy. Most of his old-time friends with facts and stories of separate incidents have long passed on. We must now rely on talented writers of Montana history 50 to 70 years ago.