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Dusting Off the Old Ones

Election Precincts 1882

In 1882, Custer County was quite a fair sized territory--its western boundary was well west of Billings, while the eastern boundary was the Dakota line. The northern boundary of the county was some thirty miles north of Miles City, while the southern boundary was the Wyoming line. So it should be of interest to tell something concerning the precincts which were laid out for the 1882 election. There were 30 precincts in the entire county, compared with 27 in our present cutdown county, but while there are 13 precincts in and adjacent to Miles City now, in 1882 there was but one voting place. Then something else of interest--there was a voting precinct in Billings--just one--we don't know how many there are today. There were two precincts for Rosebud--one on the north side of the Yellowstone and one on the south side. Other precincts were at Prince's Ranch, which was the lower end of Sadie Bottom just west of Fort Keogh on the north side of the Yellowstone--one at Coulson, which was really the first settlement of Billings. Big Porcupine and Froze-to-Death each had a precinct, undoubtedly located on the creeks bearing these names. Then there was one down on the Little Missouri--and one at Deadwood Crossing, which probably was the present site of Powderville. Terry, Forsyth and Lame Deer each had a voting precinct, and there was one at Graveyard Bottom, which is in the Hathaway country. Another interesting one was the Tongue River Tie Camp--this was above Brandenburg on Tongue river and at a point where a large tie cutting camp was located. Practically all of the ties used in the laying of the Northern Pacific tracks in this vicinity were cut at this camp and then floated down the river. There were between 1000 and 1100 votes cast at this election, and much to the disgust of the editor of the Yellowstone Journal, it went Democratic.