Books
Dusting Off the Old Ones was published in 1961 by W. B. Clarke, Miles City, Montana.
When Yellowstone County Was Cut Off From Custer
Many of our readers may not be sware of the fact that Billings was at one time within the boundaries of Custer County and that the original plat of the town site of Billings was filed for record in the office of the county clerk and recorder here at Miles City.
An interesting story is told about the formation of Yellowstone County, which was cut off from Custer County on February 26, 1883. In the early 80's Custer County was attached to Gallatin County for judicial purposes, and when the settlement sprang up around Coulson and Billings, with Miles City as the county seat, the trip was long and tedious and made court proceedings very expensive. These facts made the formation of a new county a positive necessity according to the people in the west end of the then Custer County. The people of Miles City and the eastern part of the county did not seem disposed to oppose the formation of a new county. This was rather strange inasmuch as the division of a county is usually fought bitterly. The story is that the matter was discussed fully at both the democratic and republican conventions which were held in Miles City in 1882. An agreement was reached concerning the division of the county by which the west end should have the naming of the candidates for the legislature on both tickets, while the east end would supply the candidates for all the county offices so that, when the new county was formed, it would not be necessary for Custer County to fill the vacancies that would be caused by the division. The legislative candidates were named by each convention for the legislature, and the result was that one democrat and one republican were elected. There was no opposition in the legislature to the division of the county, but there was considerable controversy about the naming of the new county. There were many who favored the name of "Billings", and there were others who favored the name "Yellowstone." However, the friends of "Yellowstone" won out and that was the name in the bill when the act was passed and became a law.
An interesting story is told about the formation of Yellowstone County, which was cut off from Custer County on February 26, 1883. In the early 80's Custer County was attached to Gallatin County for judicial purposes, and when the settlement sprang up around Coulson and Billings, with Miles City as the county seat, the trip was long and tedious and made court proceedings very expensive. These facts made the formation of a new county a positive necessity according to the people in the west end of the then Custer County. The people of Miles City and the eastern part of the county did not seem disposed to oppose the formation of a new county. This was rather strange inasmuch as the division of a county is usually fought bitterly. The story is that the matter was discussed fully at both the democratic and republican conventions which were held in Miles City in 1882. An agreement was reached concerning the division of the county by which the west end should have the naming of the candidates for the legislature on both tickets, while the east end would supply the candidates for all the county offices so that, when the new county was formed, it would not be necessary for Custer County to fill the vacancies that would be caused by the division. The legislative candidates were named by each convention for the legislature, and the result was that one democrat and one republican were elected. There was no opposition in the legislature to the division of the county, but there was considerable controversy about the naming of the new county. There were many who favored the name of "Billings", and there were others who favored the name "Yellowstone." However, the friends of "Yellowstone" won out and that was the name in the bill when the act was passed and became a law.