Books

Dusting Off the Old Ones

The Successful Siamese Twins Operation in Miles City.

This week's story will tell of a successful operation on a pair of Siamese twins here in Miles City. Most present day residents are not aware that there was such a local pair -- well, there was -- but they were not human twins--they were twin houses, and right in the heart of town. In the middle eighties Henry Tusler, a pioneer stockman, who operated the ranch now owned by Elmer Brink at the lower end of the valley, about nine miles from town on Highway 10, and also who branded the famous two Lazy Jays brand, owned the property on the northwest corner of 12th and Pleasant Streets on which were situated twin houses, forming a "U" shaped unit facing south on Pleasant Street. The Tusler family occupied one of these units during their residence here, but it is not recollected who occupied the other. It is recollected, however, that during the occupancy of the Tusler family, one of the youngsters owned a tame deer which proudly wore a pink ribbon around its neck most of the time. This pet had a sad ending however. It strayed away early one morning toward the north end of 10th street, where an early riser, not noticing the ribbon but only seeing the deer, grabbed his trusty rifle, and that was the end of that pet. But, to get back to the story of the operation -- Tusler was evidently not satisfied with the houses as they were built, joined together, so he purchased the property directly across Pleasant Street from them. He then hired a contractor to perform the operation of separating them and moving them across the street. They are now the properties numbered 1116 and 1118 Pleasant Street, respectively, and they seem to have survived the effects of the operation during all the years.