Miles City is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2020 census.

History

After the

Battle of the Little Bighorn The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota people, Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Si ...

in 1876, the U.S. Army created forts in eastern Montana, including one where the north-flowing Tongue River flowed into the east-flowing

Yellowstone River The Yellowstone River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, in the Western United States. Considered the principal tributary of the upper Missouri, via its own tributaries it drains an area with headwaters across the mountain ...

. The first fort was known as the Tongue River Cantonment or the Tongue River Barracks and was founded on August 27, 1876. A second, permanent fort was constructed on higher ground two miles to the west of the mouth of the Tongue and this became Fort Keogh.

Fort Keogh Fort Keogh is a former United States Army post located at the western edge of modern Miles City, Montana, Miles City, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is situated on the south bank of the Yellowstone River, at the mouth of the Tongue River (Mont ...

(named after Captain Myles Keogh, one of the battle dead, whose horse, Comanche, was the lone survivor of Custer's command) started as a few rough winter cabins, but grew into a moderate sized western fort, from which its commander, General Nelson A. Miles, effectively brought the remaining "uncontrolled" Native Americans into subjugation during the last decade of the 1800s. Nelson Miles said that "whiskey caused him more trouble than the Indians" and, after tiring of drunken soldiers causing problems during the winter campaign, evicted the

sutler A sutler or victualer is a civilian merchant who sells provisions to an army in the field, in camp, or in quarters. Sutlers sold wares from the back of a wagon or a temporary tent, traveling with an army or to remote military outposts. Sutler wa ...

s who provided "liquid stock" in the spring of 1877. Moving two miles due east of the Tongue River Cantonment, these early merchants founded the first Miles City. Although fondly referred to as "Milestown," the first post office and first official plat both called the town "Miles City." When the old cantonment moved two miles west, the town literally picked up and followed, moving to the current site. The last occupants of Old Miles City stayed on until 1900 but the new community was the one that grew. Before the town itself was founded, George Miles, the nephew of General Miles, who had accompanied his uncle on the western expedition and served in the quartermasters office, bought a herd of sheep, the first of many commercial enterprises in his involvement with the core founders of the town. Livestock speculation brought thousands of cattle to the open ranges in the late 1880s, the railroad was extended through the area, and Texans drove numerous cattle to Miles City to fatten them on free grass and move them to where they could be loaded on trains bound for the slaughterhouses in Chicago ( Milwaukee Railroad). The burgeoning settlement of Miles City was incorporated as a town in 1887 and the first mayor to serve was Eugene Henry "Skew" Johnson (born July 27, 1846, in

Clarksville, Arkansas Clarksville is a city in Johnson County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2010 census the population was 9,178, up from 7,719 in 2000. As of 2018, the estimated population was 9,743. The city is the county seat of Johnson County. It is nestled ...

, died July 31, 1919, in Miles City, Montana) who served for one term. Miles City established a municipal electric power utility company around that time of 1887 and it was a source of civic pride (as any city would have towards its own utilities) until during the 1920s, a traveling employee of Minnesota Northern Power (predecessor of current MDU Resources Group, Inc.) told the city council "the emperor has no clothes;" i.e., the system was far less efficient and in worse shape than they thought. The city council eventually put the question to the voters who instructed the city to sell the utility. By this time, the people with the competing Montana Power Company (now NorthWestern Energy's Montana division) became aware of this and were soon locked in an epic battle with Minnesota Northern over the franchise. A franchise election was held to determine who would serve Miles City on June 28, 1927. Minnesota Northern won by a scant 16 votes. Miles City experienced rapid growth until the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

(1914/1917–1918), era and following 1920s and 1930s, but became overshadowed by the upstart upriver town of Billings, which was at the cross roads of various land transportation routes. Billings became a center for banking and finance, oil refining, and medical services, and is now the largest city in the state of Montana. The publicly owned Miles City Municipal Airport is located less than from town. Notably, it was during the beginning of the modern aviation era as the site of an early tragic

scheduled airline A schedule (, ) or a timetable, as a basic time-management tool, consists of a list of times at which possible tasks, events, or actions are intended to take place, or of a sequence of events in the chronological order in which such things ...

passenger plane crash, involving

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines (often abbreviated as NWA) was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1926 until it Delta Air Lines–Northwest Airlines merger, merged with Delta Air Lines in 2010. The merger made Delta the largest airline ...

Flight 1, which caught fire and crashed shortly after takeoff in January 1939.

Geography

Miles City sits within the High Plains of the Great Plains, and is nestled between the Tongue and Yellowstone rivers. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

passes through the community, with access from Exits 135, 138, and 141. Montana Highway 59 runs north–south. The Tongue River flows into Yellowstone River at the town. Pirogue Island State Park is just outside of town.

Climate

The city holds the record for the highest mean sea level pressure in the contiguous United States with a reading of 31.42 inHg (1064 mb) on December 24, 1983. According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Miles City has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Giant snowflake

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

'' reports that the largest natural snowflake ever measured, in diameter, was recorded at Fort Keogh on January 28, 1887. However, there is no corroborating evidence to support this claim.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 8,410 people, 3,677 households, and 2,082 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 4,000 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 95.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.3%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.7% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.6% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population. There were 3,677 households, of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.0% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.4% were non-families. 37.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age in the city was 40.6 years. 22.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.7% were from 25 to 44; 27.6% were from 45 to 64; and 17.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 8,487 people, 3,528 households, and 2,194 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 3,890 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.72%

, 0.12%

, 1.39% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.05%

, 0.44% from other races, and 1.00% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.59% of the population. There were 3,528 households, out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.7% were married couples living together, 10.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 22.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,847, and the median income for a family was $41,190. Males had a median income of $30,123 versus $18,750 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,449. About 9.4% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Miles City uses a council/mayor form of government. There are four wards with two representatives from each ward. In March 2024, elected mayor John Hollowell stepped down. The council appointed Dwayne Andrews to fill the seat until the 2025 general elections.

Media

The Miles City Star is the town's newspaper.

Radio stations

* KATL (AM 770) –

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

* KMTA (AM 1050) –

Oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

* KIKC (AM 1250) –

* KYPR (FM 90.7) – NPR station * KYUS-FM (92.3 FM) – Adult Hits * KIKC-FM (101.3 FM) –

Country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

Events

1944 ice jam

In March 1944, an ice jam on the

caused flooding which reached into Miles City. After unsuccessful attempts to clear the jam using local resources, help was requested from the Army Air Corps by the Montana governor. A B-17 bomber was dispatched from nearby Rapid City,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

and cleared the ice jam using 250-pound bombs.

Annual bucking horse sale

The largest event of the year is the Miles City Bucking Horse Sale held in May. Miles City is also home to the Eastern Montana Fair and is the commercial hub of southeastern Montana. The sale is generally held regardless of weather.

Education

Miles Community College was founded in 1939. The current average student to faculty ratio is 11:1; class sizes range from 8 to 50 students; and over 85% of the students qualify for financial aid. Miles Community College also features free tutoring at the Center for Academic Success. The Judson H. Flower, Jr. Library is located within the main building of Miles Community College, and is equipped with computer lab and INFOTRAC. Custer County District High School is the only secondary school in the entire county; some students unfortunately have to drive as many as to attend High school. It was founded in the late 1880s as the "Miles City High School" and graduated its first class in 1893. A decade later, it was renamed to reflect it's wider population as the Custer County High School in 1903 and graduated its first expanded class in 1904. Much of the current student body population's livelihood involves agriculture or ranching – entirely or in part; therefore, the local young farmers group of the National FFA Organization (Future Farmers of America) organization is very active and about 20% of the student population belong to it. The high school is famous for its musical Chorale, which travels extensively including a trip to the famous

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

in New York City in 2005 and a trip to the national federal capital city of Washington D.C. in 2007. The Custer County high school claims that its seniors have an average ACT score of 23 and that 57% of the graduating seniors go on to complete their higher education at a 4-year university. Miles City also has additional public schools with 4 elementary schools: Lincoln (grades 3–6), Highland Park (grades K to 2), Jefferson (K to 2), Garfield (grades 1–6). There is also a middle school at the Washington School (grades 7 and 8). Washington Middle School has many extra curricular activities, including sports, builder's club and student council. There is also one local parochial school in the county and town of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, at Sacred Heart Parish School (pre K to grade 8). The Miles City Public Library serves the area with a library building plus through its internet website for online access with connections to various other academic institutions and statewide public libraries.

Places of interest

The highest point in the vicinity is Signal Butte ( above sea level), said to have been used by Native Americans for communication, but used for decades by radio and sometimes TV antennas. Signal Butte lies at the edge of an area of

badlands Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...

, a striking arid vista of eroded sedimentary soil, sporting multi-colored layers exposed by the erosion. The land contains sandstone formations in the midst of sagebrush and cedar trees growing in a soil that turns to gumbo when wet. Airport Hill is the elevated bluff of the north bank of the Yellowstone River, and Paragon Pit is a remote area of the north bank opposite of Fort Keogh frequented by teenagers over the years. 12 Mile Dam spans the Tongue River and attracts teens in the summer for water sport. Being shallow, the Tongue River is often used for tubing. The former Fort Keogh once boasted an Air Force radar station and still houses a state Extension Experiment Station. Near the highway is the site of a state fish hatchery, and nearby, a double humped butte is known locally as "Camelback". Miles City lies at the mouth of the north flowing Tongue River as it empties into the eastward flowing Yellowstone River. Both rivers are fished regularly, but yield mostly catfish, carp and a junk fish known locally as " shiners". Many local reservoirs are stocked with edible fish from the hatchery in Miles City.

Trinity Lutheran Church

There are 21 places of worship in Miles City. Trinity Lutheran Church was founded in 1906 as a preaching station with German services and served by missionaries following on the newly built

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

to hold services for German settlers in Miles City. During the anti-German hysteria of WWI, preaching in German was outlawed in Montana, including for worship at Trinity, Miles City. Now it is an English-speaking congregation in the Montana District of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). They also operate Trinity Lutheran Classical School, consisting of a Christian Preschool, and Kindergarten through 8th grade. As of March 2020, they have established a YouTube channel for posting weekly services.

Transportation

Intercity bus service to the city is provided by

Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...

Notable people

* Walter A. Burleigh, non-voting delegate to the United States House of Representatives from the Dakota Territory * Noelle E. Cockett, geneticist and president of

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

* Emily Danforth, author of '' The Miseducation of Cameron Post'' * Caleb Frare, professional baseball pitcher * Maurice Hilleman,

microbiologist A microbiologist (from Greek ) is a scientist who studies microscopic life forms and processes. This includes study of the growth, interactions and characteristics of microscopic organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and some types of par ...

* Elmer Holt, tenth governor of

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

* George Lynch, race car driver * Jeff Meyer, television director * Merle Greene Robertson, art historian and scholar of the pre-Columbian

Maya civilization The Maya civilization () was a Mesoamerican civilization that existed from antiquity to the early modern period. It is known by its ancient temples and glyphs (script). The Maya script is the most sophisticated and highly developed writin ...

. * Curt Schmidt,

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos () were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in the National League (baseball), National League ...

pitcher * James Arnold von der Heydt, judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Alaska The United States District Court for the District of Alaska (in case citations, D. Alaska) is a federal court that appeals to the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ap ...

* Larry R. Williams, commodity trader, author, and father of actress

Michelle Williams Michelle Williams or Michele Williams may refer to: * Michelle Ann Williams (born circa 1965), American public health scholar * Michelle Williams (singer) (born 1979), American singer, previously a member of Destiny's Child * Michelle Williams (actr ...

* George Winston, pianist

In popular culture

Miles City is the hometown of Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 film ''

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart from a screenplay by Roald Dahl, based on his 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''. It stars Gene Wilder as chocol ...

''. Much of the novel ''The Miseducation of Cameron Post'' is set in Miles City. Miles City features in the Larry McMurtry Pulitzer-winning classic novel Lonesome Dove.

References

External links

City website

Community website

''The Miles City Star''

''The Miles City Live HD Camera''

''1944 Bombing of Miles City''
{{Authority control Cities in Montana Cities in Custer County, Montana County seats in Montana