Daily inter mountain., 1900-12-21

J;
Light Brigade, and to the honor
of the white chief with the yell
low hair, whose gallant but tragic
charge shocked the nation in the midst
OF it's centennial reioicings has Custer
county been set aside as a perpetual
memorial. And surely no king could de-
sire more prncely domain than that
which Serves as a cemetery of the leader
and his devoted band. Originally con-
tanning 1928 square miles, and vieing
with many goods sized states in area
although Yellowstone and Dawson coun-
oties have been subtracted from it, it still
retains 26oSO square miles, and Montana
Still has the unique distinction of pos
sessing the biggest thing on earth in the
line of counties. How long it will pos
SeSs this distinction is, however rapidly
becoming more and more uncertain, for
as the county increases its number of
inhabitants the clamor from the differ
ent sections where the population begins
TO concentrate, grows louder and
stronger for a new division of the county,
and 1T is at best but question of a
few years when they shall be able to
Impress the equity of their case on the
Legislature. Twenty years ago there
Were but "a settlers between Miles City
and the mouth of the Yellowstone. In
1880 this number had increased to 530S'
and in 1900 it had reached 1891.
The first settlements. of course, We're
few trading posts and taverns, and moth
ing in the shape of a town appeared until
after the Custer massacre. Then the
necessity of establishing a strong mill
tary post in this vicinity. whence troops
could be readily dispatched to the scene
of any Warlke demonstrations by the
"'reds," became painfully apparent and
q military reservation ten miles square
was set aside at the confluence of the
Tongue and Yellowstone rivers This
was a point of great strategic import
ance, as it commanded the valleys OF
these rivers and their tributaries through
which the Indians We're wont to travel
In their incurSions, and also the only
speedy communication With eastern
points. Which was accomplished at that
time by the steamboats, Which piled the
Yellowstone In the fall of 1876 fourteen
companies of soldiers We're detailed to
garrison the spot now known as Fort
Heogh, and they erected log Shacks,
which the next spring gave place to
frame barracks. The opportunities and
protection afforded by the military We're
the cause of the springins into life Of
Miles City. which at that time was
located on the banks of the Yellowstone,
about two miles east of its present site.
But by a contraction of the reservation
to the east bank of the Tongue river il
became necessary to have an exodus to
the new line and it is here the new
town now stands. The original county
seat was Custer City, but in June of 1877
it was changed to Miles City, and the
board of commissioners in September,
1877, instructed the clerk to advertise for
hidS for the erection of c0uOty huiIdinoS
The buildings We're competed in 1883, at
q cost of $4,000.
The county lies wholly within the yell
loWstone valley, except small portion
in the extreme southeastern part which
is traversed by the Little Missouri river.
With this single exception, every river,
creek and stream in the county 11oWs
into the Yellowstone river. The prin-
cipal rivers are the Powder, Big Horn,
Tongue, Rosebud and Falon. All these
streams take their rise in the Big Horn
mountains except the last which flows
out of the highlands known as the Pow
der river divide, a broken ridge lying be-
tween the Powder and Little Missouri
rivers. These are the principal triba-
taries of the Yellowstone, and vary from
200 to - miles in length. They flow on
nearly parallel lines and in a northerly
direction across the county. The aver
age descent is about four feet to the
mile-river distance. The parallelsm of
the rivers is one of the peculiar features
of he topography of this county, and the
same may be said of all the table lands
and divides. From the rivers on either
side the land rises from gently undular-
ing surfaces into extensive rolling plains,
and finally become more broken and
elevated about midway between the
nnH- I, f,,1>,
west was prospect which the intending
traveller might we'll view with alarm
before the advent of the railroad, while
up and down the county was a phase
generally significant of good level roads.
All the river valleys in the county are
valleys of denudation, that is, they have
been cut out by the action of rapid cur
rents descending from the mountains IN
which they have their sources. Innumer-
able creeks and streams flow down the
divide, ranging from 10 to 20 mics In
length. In the southern part of the
county many of the creeks have their
sources in beautiful lakes situated on the
top of table lands. Thousands of living
springs abound both along the pase OF
the divides and in the low lands, and It
is largely owing to their presence that
the county presents such an excellent
range for cattle and sheep. But through
the operation of recent rulings of the
department of the interior in relation to
forest reserve and soldiers additional
scrip acts. these springs and water holes
are fast being aggrandized by a few
large owners, and at the present rate it
will soon be impossible for new investors
to secure any range where water is OBJ
tainable.
Pine and cedar timber Upon the divides