One ice jam that occurred at Miles City on March
20, 1944, was bombed by planes in an effort to break up the jam (Appendix B):
March 20, 1944. Note says "Backwater from ice; gage height, 21.7 feet, present site and datum, from flood
mark." As reported in the Miles City Star on Tuesday, June 17, 1997, "Severe ice jams in 1944 pushed the
Yellowstone past 19 feet before the river crested. Hundreds of residences had to be evacuated before planes
were called in to bomb the ice jams and even the flow. ... After the dike was built, [the Miles City Dike, built
in 1936] it suffered its first extensive damage during the March 1944 flood in Miles city. The cause of the
flood was by ice jams at the mouth of the Tongue River during the spring runoff and ice breakup, which
caused the water to back up and rise, according to Corps history. Due to runoff and ice-breakup period in
March the flow in the Yellowstone River subjected the levee to erosion and undercutting. Local interests are
reported to have fixed the damage and restore the levee to its original cross-section, orientation and profile.
Four locations were listed by the Corps for areas of damage during the 1944 flood. The first place was
upstream from Main Street bridge during that era. The second place was downstream from the Chicago,
Milwaukee. St. Paul and Pacific Railroad area. At this site, the Tongue River overflowed the levee, washing
out the dike for about 60 feet. The third place was at the intersection of the levee and Vinton Street, where the
Yellowstone River undercut the levee through erosion of the river bank and the levee slope-foundation for
approximately 125 feet. The final location of damage was between Lewis Street and Tatro Street, where the
levee was breached for about 220 feet, according to the Corps report, which added that repairs were
completed that same year by local interests as a cost unknown." --