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The following is information from the July 4th 1987 edition of the Harlem (Montana) News.
Alfred A Cecil may have been the first white settler in Harlem, having filed a homestead
claim on 80 acres which included much of the present townsite.
He came to Montana in 1885 as a foreman with the Stev Cattle outfit of Texas. He was
engaged in the saloon business at Wayne, a settlement between Harlem and Wagner, Montana.
He also bought and sold horses and buffalo bones and traded with the Indians.
In Harlem, he first engaged in the saloon business and later operated a notel and
restaurant. For a time, he lived on the reservation and he and his wife operated a sort
of half way station for travelers. One day a man asked Mrs. Cecil to keep a package for
him and asked her to guard it. It later was discovered that the package contained stolen
bills from the Wagner train holdup-the man had been "Kid Curry." Al Cecil was
married to Margaret Peranteau and their child, Viola was born in 1890, the first white
child to be born in Harlem. Cecil died October 12,1904 at his home near Fort Belknap
Agency, Harlem, Montana. Local residents descended from Al Cecil area;
Carole Conner, Vivian, Kenny, Johnny, Bobby, Gary Yeoman, Delbert Foster and Richard and
Billy Foote.