Edward B. Skeels was born August 7, 1887, in Wisconsin. In 1908, at the age of 21, he was working for the engineering firm of Sibley, Bonner & Toole of Missoula. The firm secured a contract to survey homestead lands east of the Rockies and the boundaries of Glacier National Park. The next year, 1909, Skeels was working for the Gilmore & Pittsburgh railroad during their construction of the railroad over the continental divide and along the Lemhi, Salmon, Snake, and Columbia Rivers. He continued to work in Missoula, Montana, as a civil engineer until 1910. After leaving Montana, he worked as a civil engineer in both Ohio and California.
Skeels was married to Kate L. and they had three sons, John H., Edward B. and Robert H. He died in Auburn, California, in November of 1969.
From the description of Edward B. Skeels reminiscence, 1969. (Montana Historical Society Library). WorldCat record id: 276171976
