Elmer Merrifield Keith was born in Hardin, Missouri in 1899. The family moved to Montana in 1906 and fell in love with the virgin wilderness.  They stayed two years but returned to Missouri, taking two more years to sell off their land, house, and holdings to move back to Montana permanently. It  was during this time back in Missouri that Elmer’s father determined the boy was old enough for his first gun and bought him a .22 Hopkins & Allen rifle. His father would furnish yo