Books
Dusting Off the Old Ones was published in 1961 by W. B. Clarke, Miles City, Montana.
Bender's Grove
When the present inhabitants of Miles City hear of Bender's Park they naturally think of that tract of land on the east side of North Montana Avenue which lies northerly of the old Tongue River Slough and which is now used as a playground for the young folks of that immediate vicinity. But, some of the older inhabitants of the town, when they hear Bender's Grove mentioned, they think of an altogether different location. Bender's Grove was really the first picnic ground that the public in Miles City used extensively, and it was situated just east of Montana Avenue and on the south side of the old Tongue River Slough.
Henry Bender filed a declaration of occupancy on that tract of land on April 10, 1878. He built a house on it, which has now been dismantled and replaced by more modern structures, but it was also on the south side of the slough. When the land was surveyed by the government, it was found to be one of the odd numbered sections which was granted by Congress to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company by the original land grant, and patent was issued to it by the government in July, 1897.
However, Bender did not "give up the ship." He put up a fight through the land office, with the result that in June, 1906, the Northern Pacific Railway Company deeded the land, now comprising Bender's Addition {of which Bender's Grove was a part) back to the government, and the government, in turn, issued a patent on December 5, 1907, to Mr. Bender.
There was a grove of large cottonwood trees on this side of the slough and on nearly every holiday and on most Sundays in the summertime, folks would be down there, with their families, having a real picnic.
Mr. Bender also ran a truck garden of sorts and is credited with having brought the first dandelions to Miles City, which he grew for the purpose of selling them for greens. We are not stating this to be a fact.
The clock which stood in Mr. Bender's house for many years, and which was a source of wonder to quite a few youngsters, is now on display at the Range Riders Museum, just west of town.
Henry Bender filed a declaration of occupancy on that tract of land on April 10, 1878. He built a house on it, which has now been dismantled and replaced by more modern structures, but it was also on the south side of the slough. When the land was surveyed by the government, it was found to be one of the odd numbered sections which was granted by Congress to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company by the original land grant, and patent was issued to it by the government in July, 1897.
However, Bender did not "give up the ship." He put up a fight through the land office, with the result that in June, 1906, the Northern Pacific Railway Company deeded the land, now comprising Bender's Addition {of which Bender's Grove was a part) back to the government, and the government, in turn, issued a patent on December 5, 1907, to Mr. Bender.
There was a grove of large cottonwood trees on this side of the slough and on nearly every holiday and on most Sundays in the summertime, folks would be down there, with their families, having a real picnic.
Mr. Bender also ran a truck garden of sorts and is credited with having brought the first dandelions to Miles City, which he grew for the purpose of selling them for greens. We are not stating this to be a fact.
The clock which stood in Mr. Bender's house for many years, and which was a source of wonder to quite a few youngsters, is now on display at the Range Riders Museum, just west of town.