Fred was born in Mitchell County, Iowa in 1879, as the first son of James and Carrie (Loomis) Muffley.  His brother, Max, was born the following year.  He grew up in Osage, Iowa, where his family was in the grain brokering business.

As a young man, Fred worked in the railroad ticket office in Des Moines.  There, he worked with Ed Sawyer (married to Minnie Sawyer) and became close friends.  The Sawyer's had a daughter (Dorothy), who would later marry Fred's son (Roland). Fred had some musical gift as he could attend a concert, the return home and play the compositions on a piano.

Following purchase of a ranch property on the Camas Prairie of what is now Camas County in Idaho by his brother, Max, Fred established a home on the property.  He returned to Iowa, where he married Minnie Hopley of Lewis, Iowa in June of 1911 and together they made their home at Soldier, Idaho.  Soldier later gave way to Fairfield, which became established on the railroad, about two miles south of the Soldier site.  Fred marketed livestock - particularly hogs - to the growing centers of Los Angeles and Portland, with occasional shipments east.  He later opened a bank in this small farming community, and it did well until the 1930's when it failed.  Fred worked for the remainder of his life to insure all his customers had their funds returned to them and he was successful in his effort.  He purchased and operated a farm/ranch a couple of miles north-east of Fairfield.

Fred and Minnie had four sons, all born in Fairfield.

Roland  b. 5 March 1912
James  b. 6 November 1915
Harry  b. 4 October 1916  (died in 23 April 1920)
Wayland  b. 21 October 1918

Excerpts from the Camas Prairie Newspaper: 1909-1957