Back in Augusta, Wisconsin in 1916 the Will Artis family and their friends, the Bill Arndt family, decided to move west to Montana to homestead for more land. Will's family consisted of his wife Jenny, his sons Roy, Ed and Ullie and his daughters Inez, Laura and Lila. His son Jay and his family did not accompany them. Roy was married to Bertha Arndt and already had a family of two daughters, Helen and Rachel. They settled in the Hedges and Harlowtown area, but three years later drought forced them to think of moving again. The Arndts chose to stay in Montana, but Will and his sons went into Canada looking for a place to settle. They found nothing to their liking and drifted to North Dakota. By the time they hit Valley City, they were looking for odd jobs and built a barn on the Moe farm and worked on the new high school. A man named O. P. Enerson was looking for someone to live on his farm, so they decided to remain here and send for the family.
While they were in Montana, Roy had added another daughter, Ruth, to his family. Unfortunately, Rachel died at about 5 years of age. Margaret and James were born in Valley City. In 1926 Roy and Ed started the Artis Dairy, usually milking around 30 cows and serving as high as 400 customers. Roy died unexpectedly in 1929, shortly before his son Roy was born. Bertha tried to keep the dairy going for several more years, but sold out to Will and Ed. They were unable to make a go of it either and the Artis Dairy lasted a total of about six years. Working for the dairy at that time was Harvey Kennedy, Arnold Bjornson and Nathan Crandall. Inez Artis had gotten a teacher's certificate in Montana and taught in Oriska and Litchville before marrying Clarence Rickey and moving to Waukegan, Illinois. Laura also taught school in North Dakota, before marrying Homer Kuhlemeyer and moving to Freeport, Illinois. Lila died young, and Ullie moved to the West Coast in 1938. Ed remains in Valley City. After Will's death, Jenny remained in Valley City for a few years before moving to Freeport to live with Laura until her death at the age of 94.
As for Roy's family, Helen married the hired man, Harvey Kennedy. Ruth is Mrs. Harvey Arndt of Woodland, California. Margaret is Mrs. Max Sine of Roundup, Montana, James lives south of Sanborn and Roy lives in Washington.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 19