Miles City, Montana History The Origins of Miles City Miles City Montana got its start when Colonel (later General) Nelson A. Miles was ordered to build a cantonment where the Tongue River flowed into the Yellowstone. The Colonel and his men were sent in response to the Battle of the Little Big Horn, to protect settlers and freight wagons as they passed through the fertile Yellowstone valley. The cantonment was constructed in the fall of 1876 and by spring, a town had sprung up two miles away to provide rest and recreation for the soldiers. The founding father of Miles City was a "sutler," a storekeeper who specialized in doing business with the soldiers. According to the diaries kept by George Miles, the nephew of the Colonel who traveled with his uncle, a man named Mat Carrol set up some barrels under a tarp and started selling whiskey. When Colonel Miles got tired of having his guard house filled to overflowing whiskey causing him, Miles said, more trouble than the Indians -- he ordered Carrol and the other purveyors of liquor to leave the military reservation. An employee of Carrol's, one John Carter, rode east on his big bay horse until he was the required two miles away, beyond the edge of the reservation. He found a flat spot along the Yellowstone, built a crude log hut out of driftwood and started selling whiskey. The soldiers soon found the place, other merchants followed, and Miles City was born. Within the year, cantonment moved to higher ground, becoming Fort Keogh, and the town followed, picking up lock, stock and whiskey barrel and moving to the present location. Less than a year after its founding, there were more than 200 citizens and a post office was established officially naming the town after Colonel Miles. It didn't help. The Colonel was a temperance man and he never really approved of the town named after him. In its early years, Miles City was described by those who knew it as a "hoorah" town full of soldiers and cowboys, gamblers and barkeepers and the 'soiled doves' who provided much of town's economic backbone. From the outlaws like Butch Cassidy to the power brokers like Teddy Roosevelt, from Calamity Jane to Morgan Earp, from school marms to cattle rustlers, Miles City was home to them all. Located at the confluence of the Tongue and Yellowstone Rivers, Miles City has been the commercial and cultural hub of southeastern Montana for over 100 years.Prior to the establishment of the town, Captain William Clark camped in the vicinity on the Yellowstone River below the Tongue River in 1806. In 1876, General Nelson Miles was posted as commander of the newly created Fort Keogh, named after one of General Custer?s officers.Ft. Keogh was moved to a location that was considered more suitable for a permanent facility in 1877, and in 1878 the Miles City Townsite Company was formed to relocate Miles Town to its present location.The town of Miles City became incorporated as Miles City in 1887. As a railroad hub, Miles City prospered and grew with such colorful characters as Clamity Jane, Liver Eating Johnson, and Big Nosed George either stopping by or residing for a while. Photographers L. A. Huffman and Lady Cameron chronicled the area on film. PRESENT Miles City currently has a Commission-Executive form of government, commonly referred to as a Council- Mayor form of government.There are eight elected members of the council, representing the four wards of the city.Each ward has two representatives. City Hall is located in downtown Miles City at 19 S. 8th Street and houses the City Finance Offices, City Water Department, Engineering and Operations, Building Inspector, Public Utilities Department, and City Court. Today Miles City is one of the most important centers of commerce in eastern Montana.Though the railroad is still a presence, ranching and agriculture are the mainstays of the economy, along with government services, both state and federal.The citizens of Miles City embrace their past while looking to the future and continue to live the frontier spirit.
Above text taken from the Miles City's Chamber of Commerce Website with permission. Credit for writing most of it should go to Amorette Allison of Miles City.