Arthur Jordan was born June 8, 1874 in Shenandoah, Iowa. He came to Montana in 1899 and worked as a range rider in eastern Montana before settling in Columbia Falls. Jordan held several jobs in the Columbia Falls area, including serving as a teacher at Bad Rock School. He made his fortune, however, in the timber industry. The A.L. Jordan Lumber Company was one of the largest lumber operations in Western Montana. In addition Jordan was the president of the Columbia Falls & Southern Railway Company, a proposed Great Northern subsidiary line that would have extended from Clearwater, up the east side of Flathead Lake, north through Columbia Falls and into the coal fields of British Columbia. The railway was never built.

In 1913 Jordan was elected to the Montana Legislature, serving in the House of Representatives. At this time Jordan became very interested in the Theodore Roosevelt International Highway. He served as secretary for the Montana Division of this group from 1922 to 1929.

On October 11, 1899, Arthur L. Jordan married Eva Huntsinger. The couple had eight children; Rachel, Mary, Elizabeth, Mrs. W.A. Warren, Mrs. B.F. Walker, Donald, John, and Robert. Arthur Jordan died October 28, 1937.