Lewis W. Boyd, born in Goshen, Indiana, on January 9, 1871, was a hard-working and highly successful rancher who built a prosperous life across multiple states before settling in California. He was reared in Kansas until the age of fourteen and completed his education in Missouri, where he began his independent career in agriculture by renting a farm at age twenty-two. He later moved to North Dakota in 1898, where he homesteaded and purchased a total of 240 acres to cultivate wheat and flax. Proving his pioneer spirit, he broke the first furrow and built the first house in his North Dakota township, which was initially named after him.

Seeking a better climate for his wife health, Lewis relocated to Colorado in 1907 for general ranching before permanently moving west to Fresno County, California, in 1909. He transformed a raw plot of land into a thriving forty-acre property in the Dakota Colony, dedicating his time to raising alfalfa, peaches, Thompson seedless grapes, and managing a well-equipped dairy. His industrious efforts extended into successful bee-culture with fifty colonies, earning him a strong business reputation and membership in several prominent agricultural associations. He remained an active, public-spirited citizen who valued local civic contribution, serving as an early school board treasurer during his time in North Dakota.