One fact in history is worth much more than pages of stuff that is a matter of hearsay.Alva J. Noyes was born in St. Anthony, Minnesota on December 2, 1855. His ancestors, Nicholas and Reverend James Noyes, sailed from England and landed with the Massachusetts Colony in 1634. Al Noyes was of the Nicholas Noyes branch of the family and his father was George R., born in Machias, Maine in 1880. George and his wife, Amy Stanchfield of that town, were married in 1854. In 1861, George traveled west to Idaho where he was a blacksmith and miner. He came to Montana in 1864 and settled in Bannack. In 1866 Al, his mother and younger sister Maud, came by wagon train -- pulled by oxen and cows -- to Bannack. The family lived in Bannack until 1868 when they moved to Silver Star. Al's mother became ill during the winter of 1866 and as she needed help, she sent for her mother, Mary A. Stanchfield. Mary and her son, Charles, came from Minnesota by steamboat up the Missouri River. In March 1869, Amy died. She was buried in Silver Star. Shortly, Grandmother Stanchfield took Al and sister Maud back to Minnesota where they went to school. In 1874, Al stopped his schooling at the University of Minnesota and took the train to Corinne, Utah where he joined his uncles Will and Charles Stanchfield. They were hauling supplies to Montana. The three, each driving a team with wagon load of supplies, started for Montana. They had rain and snow almost every day of the 40 days of their 'trip. When Al was in Minnesota, his father remarried. The woman, Mrs. George Hubbard,had a daughter Jennie and this marriage resulted in three more children, G.W., Laura, and Ernest.
Al worked at many jobs during the next ten years, mostly in the vicinity of Butte and Silver Star. He prospected, worked with stock, worked in a brickyard, made soda pop, milked cows, taught school, and helped start a Sunday School.
In 1878, C. M. Buck, contractor and builder, moved his family from Iowa to Butte. There were several children, including one girl, name of Hattie, age 13. In 1881, Al started keeping company with Hattie. This met with disfavor by her parents. The next spring her father talked of moving to California. The young people decided they should marry soon and with a Justice of Peace and a few friends to witness, they married April 6, 1882. That evening Mr. Buck persuaded Hattie to come home with him. In a few days, before a judge in Deer Lodge, when given a choice of going home or with her husband, Hattie chose her husband. In the month of June of that year, they moved to a log cabin, with dirt floor and roof, and started life together at Wisdom in Beaverhead County. Later in 1882, they took up land for a ranch and began the business of raising stock. They had three children born in Butte: Mary Edna on February 7, 1883, Charles Raymond on September 7, 1884, Royden A. on August 1, 1886, and Pauline Edith, born in Dillon on March 27, 1888. Al Noyes, a Republican, was elected County Assessor of Beaverhead County and assumed office January 1st, 1893. He served two terms. When the assessments were completed each year, he spent time developing the ranch he named "Ajax". He acquired more property, some with J.E. Morse as a partner. The property included the "Ajax" mine at the upper end of Swamp Creek and above the lake then called Lake Lena. The mine appeared to be promising but because of the short season at this altitude of nearly 10,000 feet and the rugged terrain from the mine to Divide, where the ore was shipped, it proved to be a losing business. A mill at the mine did not prove profitable and in the end cost the Noyes almost all of their property. In 1903, Al and friend went east as far as Boston to try to sell stock in the mine. They tried for more than a year to raise funds but had to return home without success. Al tried for two more years to make the mine pay and in May 1907, he sold the rest of their property. That was the end of 25 years in the Big Hole. The family moved to Dillon.
In 1909, Al worked for the Montana Department of Lands. While traveling the state, he became interested in homesteading and settled north of Harlem, Mt. near the Canadian line. In early 1910, he hired a team of horses and looked over this area. The Great Northern Railroad and James J. Hill were interesting people of the Middle Eastern States to settle in this region. Later that year, Al, Hattie, their son Raymond and daughter Edith, together with their wife and husband, homesteaded near Turner, Mt. They worked improving their homesteads and planting crops and there followed some good years and bad dry years. When 1918 arrived, son Raymond and family were the only ones of the group still trying to be successful dry land farmers. In 1917, Al Noyes was killed by a pet bull. Following his death, the others moved to the West Coast.
Al Noyes was the author of two books of Montana history; The Story of Ajax, which was the first autobiography published in the state, and In the Land of Chinook, or The Story of Blaine County.
-- CARL NOYES
Material taken from The History of Beaverhead County Montana Vol 1 1800-1920, Dillon, Montana, 1990.