This popped up on Facebook.
𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗠𝗧, 𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟭. The town of 1,000 had 41 saloons. Miles City was started just four years earlier to serve 800+ troops at Fort Keogh, which was built in response to Custer’s 1876 defeat. The F.J. Haynes photos showed Park (now 5th) Street looking south from Main Street. A Black man held a broom at the corner of Lodging House, which had signs for Billiards and [John] Bechtel’s Theatre. Next in view were a Book Store (sign under overhang), J. Basinski’s mercantile, Palace Theatre, and Brewery Saloon. Coal had been delivered in front of some buildings.
- Additional Background -
Park (now 5th) Street ran north from the N.P. Depot. The businesses faced Riverside Park, which was then part of the Fort Keogh military reservation. The small park was the only Fort land east of the Tongue River, and allowed temporary refuge for those avoiding local law enforcement who had no jurisdiction on federal land.
During the summer of 1880, many Sioux bands surrendered to Col. Nelson A. Miles, the Fort commander who later became Commanding General of the Army. In June 1881, five steamboats transferred thousands of Sioux to Standing Rock Reservation in Dakota Territory. Capt. Grant Marsh, the legendary steamboat pilot of the Upper Missouri and Yellowstone Rivers, commanded the flagship. In 1876, Marsh had commanded the steamer Far West, which supported Gen. Alfred Terry’s Dakota troops, including Lt. Col. George Custer’s 7th Cavalry.
There was a slight breeze that blurred the lettering on Basinski’s awning and the hinged sign for a barbershop operated by [Chris] Hehli and [Tommy] Dechert. Haircutting and shampooing were 50 cents each. Baths in artesian well water were 55 cents. I am confident that this is the first time that the lettering on that sign has been publicly stated.
Prices in this frontier town were multiples higher than in eastern population centers, but would begin falling with regular service from the Northern Pacific Railway. Freight costs by steamer and bull train for whiskey and goods from Bismarck had been astronomical. Until the N.P. completed a steel bridge across the Missouri River in 1883, transportation costs from eastern suppliers to Bismarck had also been high.
The studio of famed Old West photographer L.A. Huffman, who had worked for F.J. Haynes before moving to Montana, had been one block south on Park Street, between Bridge and Fort Streets. In July 1881, Huffman would build a new studio on Main Street, about 708 Main by the current numbering system. That block was home to at least one photographic studio until 1957, when Coffrin Studio relocated to 1600 Main.
I used Photoshop to clean and clarify the view a bit, but the original scan file was excellent. This and other Frank Jay Haynes images are held by the underfunded Montana Historical Society. The MHS’s site has valuable visual history … and the most cumbersome search function I have ever encountered. -Gary Coffrin
"I got PRI from Randomguy"
