Andrew Voigt (1867-1939),
pioneer North Dakota rancher, has been elected to the Hall of Fame of Great
Westerners of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center.
Voigt was one of 12 men honored
at the annual meeting of the memorial to the Old West,
January 22, in Oklahoma City.
He is North Dakota's sixth honoree.
He was born in Saxony, Germany,
and came to the United States when he was 12.
His parents lived at Kulm, Minnesota.
As a young man Voigt moved to
Elbowoods, North Dakota, where he spent the rest of his life in
the ranching business, raising
good cattle and horses. Andrew Voigt's ranching operations
were looked upon as a model
of self-sustaining private enterprise.
He was a religious man, and was
ever-ready to help thosein need. His ranching operations were in
the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, and he was true friend of the Indians.
Indians in large numbers attended his funeral.
"It is indeed fitting that Andrew
Voigt be enshrined in the Hall," said Glenn W. Faris, executive vice chairman
of the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. "He led an exemplary life, and
contributed greatly to the development of his area of the West."
The National Cowboy Hall of Fame
and Western Heritage Center is a joint and equal venture of the 17 Western
states. It is currently under construction near Oklahoma City.
North Dakota Trustees of the
organization are Governor William L. Guy, Brooks Keogh, Keene; and Ray
Schnell, Dickinson.
