Miles City

City and seat of Custer County, southeastern Montana; population (2000) 8,500. Miles City is sited at the junction of the Yellowstone and Tongue rivers, 217 km/135 mi northeast of Billings.

When the city was established just outside Fort Keogh in 1877, it was named after Nelson Miles, builder of the fort. It became a sheep, wool, cattle, and crop market after the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881, and remains a commercial centre trading in the products of local farms and ranches. The city also makes flour, dairy and meat products, saddles, and leather goods. There are oilfields located nearby. On its western edge, Fort Keogh has been rebuilt and now houses the Range Riders Museum and a federal livestock and range research station.