Written by Carrie Lerum

William and Mary Halverson came from McIntosh, Minnesota to Montana in 1910 and homesteaded 15 miles north of Galata.  With them was their 10 year old son, Henry Halverson.

William Halverson was the first Mail Carrier on the Grandview mail route and held that position for eight years.  He was also a Mail Carrier to Beatrice, a post office then located at the old Turner Ranch south of Galata, MT.

In the mid-1930’s Hank took over the operation of the farm and in 1938 the ranch brand was established (Bar over Lazy H W).  The “H” stood for Henry and the “W” stood for William.   On February 11, 1939, Hank married Sylvia Larsen.  Hank and Sylvia adopted a little girl named Sharon “Sally” Halverson.

Hank and Sylvia farmed and ranched on the homestead for close to 30 years.  Their daughter, Sharon married Monte Lerum from Chester, MT on March 19th, 1966.  That same year, Hank decided to retire from farming after suffering from Parkinson’s disease for close to twenty years.

Monte and Sharon had two sons, Dean and David Lerum.  Together they formed a partnership called Rocky Ridge Angus.  Currently they raise spring wheat, barley, run a cow/calf operation and manage a bull development center.  This spring, Rocky Ridge Angus is hosting its 5th Annual Common Sense Cattleman’s bull sale on March 08, 2012.  Rocky Ridge Angus is also a distributor for Mix 30 Feed Supplement and Vita Ferm Mineral.

As the 4th generation of farmers on this ranch, Dean and his wife Carrie have two children, Cate and Lane Lerum.  David and his wife Glenda have a son, Nate Lerum.  Their families are working hard everyday to keep the family farm/ranch thriving and successful by keeping the ideals of their Great-Grandparents but using technology and diversifying the operation to weather the ups and downs that may arise in the agriculture industry.

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