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'''HISTORY AND EDUCATION'''

By Audrey Shields Herigstad, Custer Co. Supt. of Schools

[[Fanning the Embers]], 1971, Range Rider Reps, Miles City, Montana

The magnitude of the loss suffered by Gen. George A. Custer and his men awoke the whole nation to the fact that a great and fertile portion of North America was under another sovereignty. The allied tribes had won their greatest victory. It was also their greatest defeat. The army was ordered to occupy the great Yellowstone Valley. Ft. Keogh was established at the confluence of the Tongue and Yellowstone rivers. By early fall 1876 the army headquarters was in full operation at the fort.

The first settlers arrived the following spring. They rushed in from all points of the world and established business operations to supply the United States army troops.

Miles City grew rapidly at the very edge of the reservation. It was named in honor of the first commanding officer at the fort, Nelson A. Miles. School Dist. No. I and the town came into existence simultaneously in 1877. The first school was held in the summer of 1878 in the Ellinghen house. It was a two-room, frame building that stood in the tall sagebrush on the corner of Fifth and Pleasant streets.

Mrs. Harris was the first teacher. The 7 pupils were May Maxwell, Flora, Emma, and Laura Brown, Kittie Burke, Essie Bishop, and George Mercer who was a Negro boy. Nettie Rogan was the next teacher, and school was held in the same building. She had 17 pupils who were delighted when her sweetheart, a lieutenant from the fort, came to call during school hours. She dismissed them for the remainder of the day.

Charles W. Savage had a dual position. He was the first county treasurer and superintendent of schools. The two positions were separated after the general election in 1882. W. W. Carland was appointed to the dual position when Savage resigned in 1882. The next superintendent was A. C. Logan who took office in January 1883. Since then the following had been county superintendents of schools in Custer County: Louisa Cooley, Mrs. J. E. Light, Laura Brown Zook, Catherine Wilson Smith, Ida E. M. Wiley (later Fearnall), Mary Lee Wilson (sister of Mrs. Smith), Emma Fritz, Olive H. Lovett, Marie Shuck Stratton, Jessie Scott McCoy, Helen Griffin, Mary Fulton St. John, Ferne Hackett Kimball, and Audrey Shields Herigstad.

Big Horn County was one of the original counties when Montana became a territory in 1864 when Abraham Lincoln was president of our great country. It included all of the territory east of where Billings now stands. The name was changed to Custer after the battle on the Little Big Horn. It has rightly been called the ,'mother county" as many counties have been created from land that was originally within its boundaries. Some of those counties are Dawson (1869). Yellowstone (1883), Rosebud (1901), Fallon (1913), Prairie (1915), Powder River (1919).

There have been over a hundred different school districts in Custer County. There are only 15 now. There have been hundreds of rural schools. At present there are 19 such schools, and 25 rural teachers. Dist. No. 1 operates 6 elementary schools. Custer County High School has become a district high school. The county also has a fine community college.

The first Ursuline convent in the Rocky mountain region was opened in Miles City in 1884. The Rev. Father Eli Lindesmith, chaplain of the U.S. army post at Ft. Keogh, was the priest who got the nuns to come here from Toledo, Ohio and make the foundation. Old timers hold dear the memory of that gallant soldier priest. At present the Sacred Heart Elementary and High School are operated as parochial schools in lovely, new buildings on North Montana and Center Avenues.

One historian claims that Cabezo de Vaca, a Spaniard, was the first white man to explore this area. His expedition was guided by the treacherous Stephen the Moor. They traveled overland from Mexico almost to Canada. They crossed both the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers.

Two years later, John of Padilla, a Franciscan Friar, guided by the same moor explored the area. After that it was over 200 years before the Frenchman, M. De la Verandrye, explored the area.

Years passed and still the native Indians ran free! Then came the explorers, Lewis and Clark. They were followed by trappers, fur traders, and missionaries. Then came the miners. ranchers, "nesters," "honyockers," "homesteaders," railroads, highways, airways. Another last frontier was settled. No one ran free!

The hunting and slaughtering of the buffalo for hides and meat was one main source of trade during early times in Custer county. Over 180.000 hides were shipped out of Miles City in 1882. The people of the county did their full share to help exterminate those noble animals.

The snow was three feet deep on the level near the Crow Indian Reservation. It was early fall in 1881. A bull train that belonged to the famous Diamond R was snowbound in the area. The sagebrush and greaseweed were buried under the snow. The bull team animals were almost too weak to stand. They were abandoned by the whackers and turned loose to rustle or die. The next spring the owners were greatly surprised to find almost all of the animals living and in the very pink of condition. The story spread rapidly that Montana was peculiarly adapted for range purposes. Cowboys from the southwest replaced the buffalo hunters. Great wealth in range cattle was dumped into the country. The superiority of Montana cattle, horses, and sheep became widely recognized. The winter of 1886-1887 arrived viciously in early fall and lasted until late the next May. Ranching operations came to almost a stand-still for several years after the terrible losses of that never-to-be-forgotten winter.

Contrary to common belief the sheep industry preceded the cattle industry in Custer county by several years. Mr. Burgess brought the first sheep here from California. They were driven overland. It took two years. They arrived in 1878. The first farmer in the Miles City area was Henry Bender. Mrs. Charles Brown brought the first chickens to the city. She sold eggs to the fort for 25 cents each. She and her husband operated the first dairy farm. M. Kircher and his son, Al. established the next such farm on a creek that was given their name.

This area is a land of sunshine and pure air. It is a land of extremes in temperatures. The climate is invigorating and healthful. It is the home of friendly people who want to live in a friendly place, and let the rest of the world go by. It is almost the last frontier.