By Dan Boyce

HELENA, Montana (Reuters) - A West Virginia man who was traveling across the United States gathering material for a book about kindness in America was shot and wounded while eating lunch in Montana, police said on Monday.

Ray Doland, 32, was hospitalized with a gunshot wound to the arm following the incident near Glasgow, Montana on Saturday, Valley County Sheriff Glen Meier said.

Doland was still in hospital on Monday but was expected to recover, Meier said.

He said that Doland, who was hitchhiking across the country and writing a memoir about kindness in America, had been eating lunch at a spot of historical interest and was looking for a ride.

When Doland approached a vehicle that pulled up near him the driver opened fire, hitting him in the arm, before speeding away, Meier said.

A suspect, identified as 52-year-old Charles Lloyd Danielson III, was later taken into custody in Culbertson, Montana, Meier said.

"Montana is certainly full of a bunch of nice people and wonderful people and it's a shame this kind of thing happens but it just happens," Meier said.

(Reporting by Dan Boyce; Writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by David Brunnstrom)