Holland brothers, L to R - James Arthur, Charles, Benny, Jr., William, & Frank, circa 1882.
The story of the first homesteaders and the first working ranch in the upper Swan Valley begins in the 1880s with the arrival of Benjamin B. Holland and his son, Charles.
According to family accounts, Ben Holland, his wife, and children crossed the Great Plains in a covered wagon. They lived a nomadic life, moving from one place to another, traveling from Missouri to Iowa to Utah to Idaho before settling in Montana.
Ben Holland, the patriarch of the family, was born in Missouri in 1841. He married 16-year-old Agnes L. Brewster in 1869. They were the parents of five sons: Frank, Charles, Willia...
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