The socialist in the upper highwood mountains

My mom was raised outside Highwood, Montana, on upper Highwood creek (or crick, as we call it in Montana).  It was the 1940s.  There were few farming families that lived up that crick.  Come election time, the families went to the Upper Highwood School and voted.  There were six married couples that voted.  Then there was this bearded wild man that came over Baldy Mountain to vote.   One of the farm wives ran the polling booth.  She always tallied the votes.  There would always be 12 votes for Republicans and one vote for a socialist.  Everyone in that community knew who voted Socialist and the tongues would wag.