Norman Arnold Fox at age 11 months.
Norman was born on May 26, 1911 in
Sault Ste. Marie Michigan
to Alfred Charles
and Florence Pearl Fox.
By 1916 the family had grown to include a brother and sister, Elmer and Zelda.
Alfred was a bridge carpenter by trade, building structures needed in the construction of bridges. He
was interested in farming and looked toward Montana after his sister and brother-in-law,
Belle and Harry Langman, moved to a homestead near Sweetgrass. In 1917 the family joined the decade long
land rush
that had been going on in Montana.
Alfred and the family moved to a homestead near
Geraldine, Montana. Unfortunately, the homestead
boom ended that year. A drought ensured crop failure and by 1918 the family was no longer in the farming
business. Alfred moved the family to west to
Great Falls.
The farm may not have prospered, but Alfred and Florence did. Five more boys were added to the
family between 1917 and 1931. Norman, Elmer and Zelda were joined by Melvin, David, Joseph, Robert and
Richard. This brought the number of children up to eight,
one girl and seven boys.
(*)
Alfred resumed his profession as a bridge carpenter. He was part of the construction crew for the
10th street bridge
that was built across the Missouri river in Great Falls between 1918 and 1920.
After that, Alfred was hired on as part of a carpentry gang at the Anaconda Smelter in Great Falls.
Every day he crossed the bridge he helped build as he walked from the family's home to his
work on Smelter Hill.
