 Most of his time was given to the tribes within or adjacent to what later was to become the Flathead Reservation.Hoecken lived and worked among the native American nations for nineteen years (1842–1861), particularly the Flathead, Blackfoot and Miniconjou.There was a period of six years in which he recollected he "didn't see a single white man, except for one brother" (lay brother Daniel Lyon).