When 16 years old he had six months in the Territorial University in Seattle, during which time he took a course in surveying. At the age of 23 he entered the employ of the Northern Pacific Railroad and was actively engaged as an engineer in locating the road across the Cascade Mountains in the summer seasons and studying assaying during the winters. When 26 he made his home in the then unsettled Okanogan country and for a number of years engaged in mining engineering and general business. He laid out the towns of Conconully, Ruby, Oraville and the city of Chelan. In the latter Congress passed a special act deeding to him in trust the land on which the city is situated, he being at that time probate judge of the county. He was still making mining and mining engineering his business in 1916, having operated in Alaska, Nevada, Arizona, Washington and British Columbia.8