Miles City

Miles City

Miles City folks don’t refer to their town as “The Cowboy Capitol of Montana” just to wag their tongues. This IS the ultimate cow town. Situated approximately 42 miles northeast of Forsyth along I-94, this is one of those Western towns whose pride kinda rubs off on you. It even has bragging rights to a park with a real old-fashioned, honest-to-goodness swimming hole.

Named in honor of Gen. Nelson A Miles, commanding officer of nearby Fort Keogh, the town was birthed by the Indian wars and teethed on Montana’s railroad and free-range cattle boom. By 1884, when the Montana Stockgrowers’ Association was formed here, the railroad had transformed the raw new town into an important cattle and sheep market. Miles City’s rollicking cowboy history is an integral part of the city’s outlook today.

Remnants of Fort Keogh still stand on the western edge of town. The Range Riders Museum, a fascinating re- pository of cattle country memorabilia, occupies the original site of Fort Keogh cantonment #1, built to secure the area following the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The museum owes its existence to the Range Riders Organization, a group of cowboy/stockmen who felt that area history should be preserved. The complex’s nine buildings house artifacts representing every facet of life on the range, from the early days to the present. Exhibits include Plains Indian artifacts, a typical frontier town with 11 representative shops, the Bert Clark Gun Collection featuring over 400 firearms, pioneer era conveyances, and a gallery of photos honoring area stockmen. That’s just for starters.

You absolutely must visit the Range Riders Museum. Small admission fee. Open April 1-Oct. 31, 8-8, or by appointment. % 406-232-4483. Take Exit 136 off I-94 and follow US 12 toward town. The museum is on your left. You can’t miss it.

The Fairgrounds, across the street from the museum, is often the site of the brand of country auction that you may have thought went out with the good old days. Farm machinery, household goods or livestock – one could be in progress the weekend you are there. Every third weekend in May, folks for miles around turn out for the Miles City Jaycee Bucking Horse Sale. Not just a sale, the event is also a thrill-a-minute rodeo and downhome wing-ding. Rhinestone cowboys need not apply. It’s a slice of real life, Western-style. Yeehaw! See Festivals & Special Events (page 125) for listings of other Miles City events.

Don’t think Miles City eschews art. The Custer County Art Center, on Waterplant Road off US 12, a half-mile west of downtown, displays an eclectic assortment of permanent, special and traveling exhibits. This is truly “underground art.” No, nothing contraband. The gallery is housed in the former Miles City Water Works’ underground concrete tanks. When I visited, one entered through a huge corrugated steel pipe. There was talk of constructing a more conventional entrance. Too bad. Entrance fee. Open year-round, Tues.-Sun., 1-5. % 406-232-0635.

Though Miles City has the type of fast food and motel strip common to all larger American towns, it still has a Main Street with a dime store lunch counter, an early-days saloon and no parking meters.

Last updated November 16, 2010

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Custer Country, Montana, United States

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