1926-1930 Frank Zimmer was born in Chicago in 1892. He was one of ten children born to German Catholic immigrants. At the age of 18, Frank headed west to work at his brother's farm at Eagle Butte in Chouteau County. In 1913, he made a Homestead entry land in section 34, township 25N, Range 112 East. During WW1, Frank served as a Private with Company B, 160th Infantry. In 1918, Frank was listed as Missing In Action in France. After several weeks on the missing list, his name was moved to the hospital sick list. Upon returning to Fort Benton, the community held a Welcome Home Party, and the local paper wrote of his return. "His health is good, except for his lungs, which were affected by a dose of the 'Hun gas.' Frank was reported to say his doctors said all would be good once he returned to the Montana air. In the 1920 Federal Census, Zimmer was employed at the Benton State Bank as a bank Clerk. Zimmer was listed in the Fort Benton Paper as a deputy sheriff with a monthly salary of $137.50. Frank was a busy man: he played baseball all over the area and was extremely good at the sport. He also was very active with the American Legion organization in Fort Benton. In the years after, he became the baseball coach for the American Legion team.
As Sheriff, Zimmer served several years, during which time he had a great deal to keep him and his staff occupied. In 1927, he had two drownings in three months, and hours were spent attempting to recover the bodies: tractor rollover deaths, a murder by use of a knife, and a few robberies. In August 1927, two stores in Big Sandy were burglarized. First, the Paris Hat Shop was found to be broken into, and a few weeks later, the McNamara and Marlow Shop. The stock in both cases was not insured. His brother died in Chinook, and though Frank was planning on attending, new cases kept him away from the service. In 1928 in Geraldine, there was a murder/suicide of an ex-wife at the hands of her ex-husband, and three more burglarized businesses, one of which was the Pratt & English Garage in Big Sandy. The garage's safe was blown up, and $1200 in checks and cash were taken.
By 1929, Sheriff Zimmer took time off to secretly marry Miss Helen Ruth Campbell, the music teacher at Chouteau County High School. The Sheriff's annual salary was $2250.00 in 1929. Following the end of his term as Sheriff in 1930, Frank was difficult to follow. From his obituary came the information Governor Ayer's administration appointed Zimmer from 1937 to 1941 as the Chief Enforcement Officer for the State Liquor Control Board. Frank appears on the 1940 Federal Census as a border in a house in Fort Benton, where he is marked as divorced and employed as a bartender in his beer parlor. He lived in the same house since 1935. The 1950 Federal census shows Mr. Zimmer, aged 58, employed as a bartender at Chester Hotel. He died in 1964 at the Veterans Hospital in Fort Harrison of Lung Complications at the age of 72.
1930-1942. Oscar Marty was born in Minnesota in 1883. Oscar's family moved to North Dakota when he was young. He
met and married his wife of 58 years, Hilda Louise Hagen, in 1903. Oscar and his young family homesteaded in North Dakota, but within a few years, the prospect of better land drew Frank and his brother to land 22 miles north of Medicine Hat. Hilda was unhappy while in Canada and took the train with her children to visit her sister in Big Sandy. By 1924, the family moved to Big Sandy, where Oscar worked for the Pratt and Englund Automobile Garage, and Hilda ran the student dormitory. Oscar took on the duties of City Police Officer/ Constable in 1926 and, at the same time, would serve as a special Deputy Sheriff. In July 1930, the paper reported him as the Town Marshal.
Oscar won the election to Chouteau County Sheriff and took over the Sheriff's duties at the end of 1930. His family moved to Fort Benton, and Oscar became a well-liked and respected Sheriff. Hilda was welcomed into life in Fort Benton, and her name was frequently mentioned in the local paper for the 12 years that Oscar served. Oscar was busy with the usual crimes of the county, which included fraud, hijacking, grand larceny, burglary, assault, murder, and suicide. In January 1931 came the local news article where the County Treasurer, with the County Commissioners' approval, appointed Oscar as the Deputy Treasurer (without pay). Marty's duty was to collect all overdue personal taxes and, if not collected, hold a sale of all personal property. With the financial difficulties being faced around the country, it certainly must have been one of the most difficult laws any Sheriff was required to execute. As the decade of the depression continued, there were more frequent crimes dealing with stealing anything that could be consumed. Frequently, men would show up at the County Jail hoping for a meal and a bed for the night. Other crimes in the county's history were the theft of horses and pickpocketing. All the while, Marty was conserving money for the county. In 1932, he reduced the workforce to two remaining deputy sheriffs. In 1937, Sheriff Marty traveled to Washburn, North Dakota, where he had lived before his move to Canada and then Chouteau County. Upon arrival at Washburn, he was arrested by the Sheriff of McClean County, North Dakota, and promptly handcuffed.
The Warrant of Arrest reported that complaints had been made by the citizens of Washburn accusing "Oscar Marty of having committed various and diverse heinous crimes and offenses too numerous to mention ."The Warrant of Arrest was a formal notification signed by the Mayor of Washburn and the President of the Lion's Club. Times were difficult for many, and the people were in need of comic relief, and Sheriff Marty provided it. The Fort Benton paper continued to report the trouble that continued for Sheriff Marty's legal difficulties in North Dakota, with almost an entire news page full of writing about Sheriff Marty's crimes. The articles were printed in the River Press (Fort Benton, MT) on Wednesday, June 16, 1937. Once Oscar's term as Sheriff was completed, he and his family returned to Big Sandy. Oscar was later voted in as Mayor of Big Sandy and served for two years in the Helena Legislature. Hilda Marty died in 1961, and Oscar followed her one year later. They are both buried in the Big Sandy Cemetery.
