Peter Pauly immigrated to the United States in 1889 from France and settled in Deer Lodge Valley, Montana. He found work with C.H. Williams on a sheep ranch.
Pauly and Williams formed a partnership that grew from a homestead into the largest livestock operation in Powell County, Montana and the largest producer of purebred American Rambouillet sheep in the United States.
In the early 1930s, Pauly acquired an 80,000-acre ranch in New Mexico where he raised herds of Herefords.
Pauly was a leader in the Montana Stockgrowers Association and the Montana Woolgrowers Association. He was president of the McPherson Mercantile Company and founded the Deer Lodge Bank and Trust Company.
In 1935, he was elected as director of the Montana Power Company and served until his death in 1953.
