Legacy INDUCTEE
JOHN STUKER (1880 – 1958)
DISTRICT 4 - YEAR 2025
One does not have to look far to see the uniqueness of the Montana Cowboy. From the kindness within their heart, the gentle gestures, the enormous inner strength, the tremendous faith lived by and the unbreakable family bond, to mention a few.
John Stuker was born in Schwarzenegg, Bern., Switzerland on January 27, 1880, to Johann Stucker and Elizabeth Ruegsegger Stucker. He grew up on the family’s farm working with livestock. In his early twenties, looking for a job, he relocated to Germany. John had been working in Germany for about three years, when his family back home was notified that he had drowned. Hence, his parent’s made the move without him to the United States.
What a shock and pure delight for his parents when John arrived for a visit in Idaho before moving there himself, in 1905. He acquired 160 acres for a homestead and fought crop droughts throughout his proof period, receiving his patent in 1913. He married Sophie Caroline Will-Rauch in St. Anthony, Idaho, on October 10, 1912. Their first child was born in Idaho. John provided the financial support for his younger brother, Christian, and his family’s move from Idaho to Harlem, Montana. During the 1924 depression, John sold his homestead and was sponsored by the LDS Church to raise sugar beets in Blaine County. John and his family came to Montana on an emigrant train with livestock and machinery, settling in the Paradise Valley area, west of Harlem. He and his brother purchased land together and shared a home, divided down the middle. With the birth of more children, the couples realized it would be better to have separate dwellings. John purchased land a short distance down the road, later moving to the Zurich area. The couple and their five children, Joe, John, Jake, Ruth, and Berta attended church by wagon, a ten-mile outing. Upon arrival, Sophie would immediately wet her white handkerchief with her tongue to wipe away the travel dust from the youngster’s faces.
John raised 30 to 40 cattle, mostly dairy, as well as horses, pigs, chickens, and turkeys. His dream was to own a dairy and name the operation “Morning Glory.” Sophie was diagnosed with cancer and passed in June of 1935. John corresponded with a German newspaper, The Lonely-Hearts Club, placing an ad for a mail-order bride. The woman arrived by train, and John, being an honorable man, met the train. The two went straight to the Justice of the Peace, Jack Williams, in Harlem and were married. The new bride stayed about six months before moving in with the neighbor for a short time, prior to deciding to leave the area.
The children at an early age learned how to help at home, with several milking the cows and cooking. The boys rode horses to school while the girls rode in a cart pulled by a horse, a three-mile journey. After Sophie’s passing, John began hauling water daily for drinking and cooking to the city of Harlem with his team of horses and wagon, a twenty-mile round trip. The Utah-Idaho Sugar Factory east of Chinook had polluted the water in the Milk River, and John had excellent water in one of his two wells. With his horses, he could haul seven fifty-gallon barrels of water, which he sold for two cents a gallon.
Ruth, five years old, and Berta, three years old, were sent to live with a church couple, Mr. and Mrs. Bert Murphy, as their father could not care for them. It was gut wrenching for John not to have his family together. After a year, he began hiring women housekeepers to reside with them, some bringing their own children, and brought his young ladies home.
John took great pride in his horses. One fond memory is the day he purchased hay and was hauling feed home with his team. A blizzard overtook them, and the conditions were such that the loaded hayrack overturned. John, not quite sure of his location, unhooked the horses and followed them, trusting they would find their way home. His daughter, Ruth, remembered her dad’s face had frozen during the jaunt, turning black, later blistering, and peeling.
In his later years, John smoked a pipe. One day while moving hay around in his barn, he emptied his pipe. When tired, he entered the house and took a nap in a chair by an open window, waking to the sound of loud crackling and popping. At first, he thought this noise was from the newspaper, but soon realized that his barn was burning down. In struggling to get a bull out of the building, he lost other livestock.
During John’s final years, he made his home with his son John W., John’s wife and seven children, on a ranch north of Chinook. He slept in the basement with the three boys and was entertained with their mischievous deeds that happened when their father’s eyes were not upon them. There would not have been a sixty-plus year family secret, had Grandpa been present in the corral the day the littlest guy was placed in a small red wagon that belonged to him and his sister, tied to a cow, and the corral gate swung open. On the cow’s second jump, rider and wagon parted ways. When the dust settled that wagon was broken beyond repair. Afraid of their dad’s reaction, the red wagon pieces were buried deep in the cow pasture by the boys, never to resurface. His granddaughter, Ruth, who had asthma and was generally homebound, loved sitting on her grandpa’s knee, cuddling and giggling as often as possible. Fay, his daughter-in-law, frequently said, “It makes my heart happy to hear my family laughing together.” John assisted with the livestock, especially the horses, sharing his experience and knowledge with the grandchildren.
John passed on June 6, 1958, in Havre, Montana, and is buried in the family plot at the Harlem Cemetery, alongside his dear wife, Sophie. This 5’4” man’s physical strength did not come from his size, but from his indomitable will to keep going when facing insurmountable obstacles. He immersed himself in the Western way of life, having farmed only with horses and was dedicated to a code of the West: “We stand for what matters, even if we stand alone. We finish what we start. Being a Cowboy isn't in our clothes, it's in our character.” He was dedicated to working the land and livestock, and to provide for his family. John Stuker contributed greatly to the Montana cowboy’s Western heritage and had an impact in shaping Blaine County.
Resources:
Ancestory.com
National Archives and Records Administration, Washington D. C.; Land Entry File
No. 357193
U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management
Naturalization document, number 276967, dated February 24, 1913
WWI and WW2 Registration Cards
United States Federal Censuses
Thunderstorms and Tumbleweeds 1989; The Centennial Book Committee, page 486
Post-Register (Rexburg, Idaho) June 24,1934, Page 12
Great Falls Tribune (Great Falls, MT) April 11, 1936, Page 5
Great Falls Tribune (Great Falls, MT) March 23, 1951, Page 23
Stuker Family records