King, Joseph, 1860-

Joseph King III was born in Banken, Switzerland, in 1860. His father Joseph King II immigrated from Switzerland in 1869 and travelled to Montana Territory to try his hand at prospecting. He lived and worked in Helena and Marysville for several years before he was able to pay his families passage to Montana. In 1877 Joseph King III, his mother, and siblings immigrated to the United States, travelling by steamboat up the Missouri River and arriving in Fort Benton, Montana Territory the following year. The King family arrived in Helena in the winter of 1878. Joseph and his father worked sluices in Diamond City and the French Bar. They were not very successful as both sites were basically played out by this time. The senior King was able to save enough to purchase some land and start a small cattle ranch near Lewistown. Joseph King III and his father developed a ranch on Rock Creek, 12 miles west of Lewistown, which the younger King maintained until his death.

Joseph King was born in Switzerland on 22 Aug. 1860, the son of Joseph Christian King and Crecentia Judd King. The family moved to the U.S. in the late 1860s. Joseph spent most of his childhood in the community of Hogansville, in Lump Gulch near Clancy, Mont. The family later relocated to the Judith River country in Fergus County to homestead. Joseph King and his brother Anton formed a ranching partnership. They bred and raised horses, cattle, and eventually sheep. Joseph King married Elizabeth Trepp in Nov. 1895. Their son, Joseph Christian King, Jr., attended the University of Southern California, and lived in Los Angeles for several years before returning to Montana to assist with the ranch. Joseph King retired to Seattle where he was living in 1957.