View source for Recollections of Old Milestown (Main Street)

PART I: STORY OF MAIN STREET

WHOEVER attempts the story of early days in Milestown, must spin his yarn around Main street, where ninety per cent of the incidents dear to the memory of oldtimers occurred. Unquestionably Main street should have been given a more appreciative title, but the founders of the town appear to have been without any conception of what they were building and so perfunctorily followed the usage and christened the main road to the outside world, plain Main Street. How much better would we feel today had it been called "Broadway." But they called it Main Street after the manner of matter-of-fact people who have no use for streets except as avenues of traffic and marts of trade and so it must remain, for "Main Street" is written so largely in the early history of Milestown that its memories cannot be trifled with by whims as found exploitation in Billings a few years ago when one of its old-time streets was rechristened "Broadway." But Billings never had anything in the way of a picturesque youth and so few if any traditions were buried with the change.

Very much different here, as I will attempt to show to the many thousands now resident here who have only the vaguest conceptions -- if any at all -- of the Milestown of early days. In this I shall not aim to be statistical or chronologically sequent, or more than fairly accurate as to dates as the incidents and conditions treated of are only "recollections" and in the main do not need to be hitched to a date post to serve the purpose in view, which is two-fold; to warm the hearts of the few still here who were part and parcel of those strenuous days, and to inform our present citizenship of the early and feverish growth of the plant that has rounded out so vigorously. In these recollections the aim will be to paint the picture truthfully and not permit the lapse of years to influence a touching up of the "high lights" to make the picture more striking. The life we lived was conducted strictly on first principles; each to his trade, calling or pursuit and no interference with others and it is astonishing how fairly the game was played.

It will no doubt be a surprising bit of information to the majority of the present residents of Miles City to learn that the Main street of the early days began more than two blocks west of the Olive hotel corner, but that is an uncontrovertible fact. Fourth street and Third street were busy thoroughfares then, and there was a fractional block beyond Third street to the west, before Tongue river was encountered. The Main street frontage from Third to Fourth was occupied by the "Diamond R" corral, more than half of which and all to the west of it, has since been gradually eaten into by the hungry Tongue river. Since the "cut-off " was made under the Farr administration, throwing the Tongue river into a new channel, all this lost territory has been restored by the alluvial deposits of the spring floods, though at a lower grade than the area that was taken.

Another surprise will be, that before this end of Main street was thus cut into, the government maintained a [[Tongue River bridges|bridge]] across Tongue river at the foot of Main street. It was an odd-looking structure of home construction, having been built by soldier labor under the direction of Major T. H. Logan of the 5th Infty., who fashioned it after the style of bridges built in India by the British army. It was a success as long as it lasted but was carried away by an ice gorge along about '86.

Next beyond the Diamond R corral looking east, in those very early days, came Major Borchardt's store which was also for a time -- the postoffice. This was at the corner, now the site of the Hyde flats. Major Borchardt was postmaster for a long time and during the greater part of his incumbency, J. B. Collins was his deputy and practically acting postmaster. The Borchardt store was a two-story frame building, but the rest of the buildings up to the Jordan brick, were one-story frame shacks, occupied so variously by the changing population of that day that it will suffice to say that those that were not saloons were vaudeville theaters, and there was one tailor shop. One identity worth mentioning among the occupants of. this section, is [[John Chinnick]], whose saloon -- and also his ranch home, located in the neighborhood of the baseball park -- were acknowledged "hangouts" for all the desperadoes who happened this way. John himself was never misjudged by his fellow citizens. They knew him for just what he was, but in his daily contact with the world he was in many respects a decent sort and always ready and willing to join in public movements. And in those days inquiry into one's antecedents or private business was discouraged.

Main and Fifth with the park -- as now -- at the southwest corner, the northeast corner, now the site of the Olive hotel, was known as the "Charley Brown" corner, where -- in a single-story log building extending nearly, if not quite, back, to the alley, Charley Brown, a character inseparable from the history of early Miles City, held forth, and where in winter time the old-fashioned cannonball stove was surmounted day and night with an immense tin boiler containing a savory "Mulligan," which was free to all who hungered. It was in the rear end of this place that the polls were held in the general election of '82, when many soldiers from Keogh. were temporarily equipped in citizens' togs and voted. If memory serves, there were about 1,700 votes cast by a population of a possible 1,200 men, women and children. It took the election officials five days to canvas the vote, which procedure was in progress, off and on, for all of that period, at a faro table in the rear of the saloon, frequent adjournments being taken to indulge in the other attractions close at hand. It was currently reported, at the time, that the delay in announcing the result, was in deference to instructions from Helena to hold off until it could be ascertained bow much of a Democratic majority would be required from spacious Custer, to cinch the deal. This was the election that had for one of its features the "Wooley's Ranch" vote, a precinct that returned a hundred and odd votes, all of a kind, that has never yet been located on the map of Custer county.

On the remaining corner of Main and Fifth, where the Leighton block now stands, was located another very popular resort, the Cottage saloon, John Smith proprietor, and "Jimmy" Coleman managing director. It was housed in a very ornate two story building something on the style of a Siwash chalet, and was the chief resort of the "swaddies" on pay day. On these occasions the patronage was so large and so urgent that there was no time wasted on drawing beer. It was emptied into a couple of wash-tubs behind the bar, and dipped up in the beer glasses in a continuous service; one shift filling the tubs and another, emptying them. Such a thing as "a quiet drink" was impossible in the Cottage saloon while pay day lasted. The Leighton block that now adorns this historic corner, is also an old-timer, having been erected in '84 or '85. Thus, with the prestige of these three corners of Main and Park streets -- now Fifth -- it is easy to see how Park street came in for a reflected glory. In these days it was built up solidly from Main to Bridge, fronting the park, with a range of frame, shacks of one story, with the exception of the Park hotel, kept by Sam O'Connell and the brick building on the corner of Bridge, built for a vaudeville house and whose first impressario was "Red" Ward. One of the incidents of its opening season was the cutting of a man's throat as he leaned half drunk over the gallery rail, by some one whose identity was never revealed. It is also pertinent to identify the Park hotel as the locale of the forming of the Eastern Montana Stockgrowers Association, which was the parent of the existing association. This was along in the early '80's, about '83 or '84. Another feature of this block of Park street was Prof. Bach's place. The "professor" was a connoisseur in things good to eat, drink and smoke, and together with fine liquors and cigars lie carried a stock of imported lunch goods that settled the question of where to go for the last bite, with many. The professor also played the guitar with fine effect and thus added to the attractions of his otherwise dingy and not over-clean den. Park street's only other bid for fame -- if Kitty Hardiman's dance hall, afterwards famous as the "Grey Mule," is excepted -- was the Macqueen House, the many excellences of which caused much of the travel on Park street. It was the fond contention of Miles City in those days that no beter hostelry existed anywhere. It was a great loss to the town when it went up in smoke twenty years ago.

Returning again to Main street, having crossed Fifth going eastward, the present appearance of the block between Fifth and Sixth on each side of the way, fairly represents the early days. On the south side there is no change from the days of '84, except the alterations that have been made in the buildings, though prior to that, a row of one and two-story frames occupied the entire block, with one notable exception, and were swept out of existence by a spectacular fire. The exception is the First National Bank building, now occupied by Al. Furstnow, and the fire was the one that closely followed the lynching of Rigney in July, '83. 'Where the Commercial Bank block now stands, there was a theater, run but not owned by John Chinnick. The fire started in that building about daylight on Sunday morning, presumably on arrival of the news in town that Rigney had been hanged to a railroad trestle some distance from town. Immediately following that fire the entire block was rebuilt and as it now stands, the First National Bank building alone resisting the fire. The north side of this block was likewise originally frame, all of which, with the exception of the Savage corner -- now occupied by the First National Bank building -- was wiped out by fire in '82. This included substantial buildings in which the Orschels and Miles & Strevell were doing business. These firms, combining with their neighbors on the right and left, built the brick range that now fills the space between the Olive hotel and the bank building. Savage's store did not go up in this blaze as he had taken heed of the danger and constructed a heavy brick fire-wall on the west side of his building which proved effective in that fire but later the building went the way of the others. This corner was also one of the high points in life in those days.

Under the style of A. R. Nininger & Co., Mr. C. W. Savage as resident partner was conducting a general outfitting business in competition with Leighton & Jordan, the 'Diamond R,' Orschel's and other smaller concerns, the principal rivalry being between the "Diamond R" and the Savage outfit, which developed into a race to see who could sell the most goods on the most liberal terms and the people being willing to buy on the very liberal terms offered, financial disaster fell upon both of the competitors. Later the Hotel Leighton -- now the Olive -- covered the space left vacant by Charley Brown's place, and its easterly neighbors, and the massive structure of the First National Bank covered the Savage site within the memory of quite recent arrivals.

Keeping on toward the east, the block between Sixth and Seventh shows only a few changes from the early-day conditions. On the south side the first hundred and fifty feet of frontage all belongs to ancient history. Schmalsle's building on the corner, Nigros' -- built by Colonel Butler of the Nth Infantry, stationed at Fort Keogh, and the Milligan frontage, built by John J. Graham and Konrad Schmid, both early residents, remain about the same except for the addition to the Milligan House in the rear. The shacks that occupied the Kenney and Jones sites were not notably historic and the present improvements are of comparatively recent date. Then comes next the Sipes barber shop, pretty ancient but not of the first crop. Somewhere along here Louis Payette's brother-in-law, Murphy, used to have a blacksmith shop. Next and on the corner is a real old-timer bedizened out in new logs. When Pat Gallagher conducted a barrel house in it, it was a two-story log and frame, but more recent owners put a veneer of brick around it and now it stands for something new, which it isn't.

On the north side, Bullard's building is comparatively recent. Where it stands there was in the early days a one-story frame that had the distinction of being the home of our first telephone system. It was purely a local affair and it didn't last long but while it did last the wise ones had lots of fun with the innocents. There was a hay-scale out in front with the box that held the scale-beam close to the curb, as usual. This box was covered on top with zinc and had a secret connection with the battery inside, and the ground surrounding it was kept properly damp, so that when a "fall guy" was steered up against this arrangement and allowed his bare hands to touch the zinc, the signal would be given to the conspirators inside and the guy was due to pipe up a few notes of surprise because of the (I shock" he had received, and then to "buy" at the nearest commissary, and when that game got too well known, a couple of inviting-looking chairs were placed in the shade, one of which was "loaded 'I in the same way and produced like effects and results.

From Bullard's down to Jackson's old place the block is fairly old-time, the bricks dating from about the middle '80's and were built to replace frames that had been destroyed Jackson's frame, except its brick front, is a tolerably early construction but subsequent to the fires. Next comes a row of shacks that almost defy the efforts of the oldest inhabitant to properly classify. On this property, in very early days, stood "the court house." It was a log building, well built and fairly commodious and it stood back from the street about fifteen feet, so it cannot be identified in this present range of shacks, but it may be, nevertheless. Behind the court house there was a "stockade" or a place of confinement made of poles stuck upright in the ground, in which an Indian prisoner hung himself one night with his "gee string " because of the dishonor put upon him by such treatment.

At the corner stood one of the earliest constructions of the town. In it Ernest Goettlich had a saddlery and harness shop. Later [[Andrew H. Burleigh]] had a law office there for a while and lie was succeeded by Sam Pepper, who operated a saloon for several years and then the property passed into the ownership of Charley Kelly who moved the building off when he erected the handsome brick now occupied by the Miles City National bank.

Many interesting memories cluster around this resort under the Pepper regime, as it was where the "remittance boys" used to congregate when "down town," their other "hang-out" being the Macqueen House. These were the younger sons of English well-to-do and often titled families, for whom there was no place at home and who were started in the range-stock business over here on a gamble that they might make a success of it and if they did not, anyhow, it was the regular and accepted thing to do, to banish " the cubs " during the period of their adolescence. "Syd" Paget will stand out clear in the recollection of all residents of that day as a type of the genus. A thorough sportsman in every thing that pertained to the open, he was always "game" for a horse-race and as he had a few ponies that he thought pretty well of, it was always easy to make a match with him, but at the very best any of his ponies could do was known, whenever a horse that could do better came along "Syd" was given a tip that brought him to town with his ponies and he was "trimmed" as regularly as he went up against the game, but he enjoyed the sport and was willing to pay for it. Whatever his allowance was, he was always ahead of it, but his credit was excellent, for whenever his debts became a matter of anxiety to his creditors, the money would be forthcoming from England to pay him out. There was a blonde pony he called "Flossie" that cost him a heap of money. Along in the early '90's when we had the race-track down toward the poor farm, the "Englishers" introduced us to steeple-chases and with movable hurdles on the track and a "narquee" in the paddock, with English ladies "serving tea" in broad daylight and riders prancing around in red coats and caps, and those wonderful riding breeches that many of us saw then for the first time, we were scoring a high mark for a small town. At all events it was a phase of our existence that we can look backward to with much pleasure. They were a very decent lot, those "remittance boys" and nobody is the poorer for having known them.

The next block, going east on Main street, is not all new construction. The Foster building dates from the days of '83 or '84, with the exception of the small extension on Seventh street. It was put up by a man named Maxwell, who had the mail contract from Deadwood and who had some interesting scraps with Indians while carrying the mail. Levine's store, next eastward, is another old-timer. It was originally built in '81 by Herman Clarke & Co., who were supply contractors on the extension of the Northern Pacific, as a bid for the local trade and a very popular young fellow named Bertrand was in charge but the oldtimers were clannish and wouldn't patronize the new place and so it moved on, but left the building, which was soon after occupied by another new venture -- A. T. Campbell & Co. -- and when this firm sought larger quarters, Ed Arnold's tailoring establishment went in, which only a few years ago vacated in favor of Levine. Next to this, easterly, was the properly famous "steamboat building," constructed, in major part, of the "remainders" of the steamboat "Yellowstone" that was wrecked on Buffalo Rapids in '79 or '80. The machinery and other valuable stuff was taken out of her, but the hulk and cabin were left. Then in '91 one "Jimmy" Dance, a resident of "Old Town," hauled the big oak timbers of the hull up to town and proceeded to work them into a building, using the four-inch oak planks for the walls and later he brought up the cabin and rebuilt it as a second story, following the steamboat style of the long cabin and the staterooms on each side, and for a time the ghost of the steamer Yellowstone resumed business as a sort of a lodging house. Later, the cabin part was removed, or demolished by some calamity either wind or fire -- and the first floor or store part, was occupied by [[C. J. Smith]] as a feed and produce store and he was followed by [[Tom Gibb]] in the same lines, to which he added a [[coal]] agency and who remained in the occupancy until the march of improvement caused him to vacate. When Geo. Miles used the site of this historic building for the extension of the [[Shore-Newcom store]], he removed those venerable oak plank to a lot on Main street east of the Presbyterian church and used them in the construction of another building. The steamer Yellowstone must have been thirty or forty years old when she was wrecked, and that was close onto forty years ago, so those precious oak planks were water-soaked for forty years and have now been drying out for a like period and ought to be pretty good timber.

The frontage now occupied by the Shore-Newcom store was originally the location of a row of one-story frames with various occupants, the most readily remembered of which are Miss Miner, Cully the plumber, and Wm. Courtenay. The next two brick frontages, now known as the Arnold Block, were built separately, the corner building by L. A. Huffman, in the middle '80's, and the inside one by a Lieutenant Gilman a few years later. Lieutenant Gilman was stationed at Fort Keogh and had quite an idea of the future of Miles City. He was one of the incorporators of the first electric light service we had here, and the first central station was in the basement of this building, and the outfit consisted of a 400-light dynamo and a 40 h.p. Westenhouse engine. The elevation of these buildings above the "grade" is an indication of the fear, in those days, of a flood. The extreme measure of caution taken is not so apparent now as it was before Main street was paved, as the paving grade was adjusted to the conditions. On the south side of Main, from Seventh to Eighth, nothing remains of the old days. The Wibaux building, and the two adjoining one-story bricks, cover the area that was originally Ringer & Johnson's livery barn and corral. This was a historic establishment and for a while it was the end of the town on that side of the street. Later Steve Manchester put up a frame dwelling and next adjoining was the little log shack where old John. Anderson lived with his daughter, "Janie." The frames that now are there are recent innovations in that locality, having been "moved in." One of them is ancient enough though, being that old Kelly saloon, long occupied by Sam Pepper and later by Charley Kelly, when located on the Kelly corner. The bricks, from here on to the corner, are new and were preceded by a small frame, elevated two or three steps from the walk -- because of fear of high water -- in which Milligan & Miller run a saloon, and on the corner the "Kentucky Saloon," a building with extra large floor space which became very popular as a rendezvous for laboring men and workmen generally; a sort of an informal and social trades-union.

Crossing Eighth on the north side of Main, the block to Ninth is now adorned with modern buildings -- with one exception -- but it will doubtless surprise a good many fairly old-time residents to he told that the corner now occupied by the Schiesser saloon and the adjoining frontage where the Miles Theater is located, was once occupied by a two-story-and-basement brick, fifty feet front and a hundred and fifty deep, reaching back to the alley, but such is the fact. The building was put up by J. H. Conrad, one of three brothers who were operating largely in Montana in the early days, and was intended for the business of J. H. Conrad & Co., who in '85 had opened a wholesale and retail outfitting establishment in what was then the Stebbins block, now the Commercial Bank block, renting the two stores next the alley, but there was not room enough and the next year the big store at the corner of Eighth was built and the business moved into it, where for a while it flourished, but the hard winter of '86-7 put such a crimp into all business ventures here that J. H. Conrad & Co. closed out and the building remained vacant, but used occasionally for church fairs, dances and other semi-public functions. But it was wiped off the face of the earth completely a few years later in the big fire that started in the Rink which stood on the corner of Pleasant and Eighth and covered the area on Eighth now occupied. by the Y. M. C. A., the Auditorium, Cole's building and Schlichting's Studio, with a spacious balloon frame, making a blaze so intense that not even brick walls could hold out against it, and nothing but the basement was left to mark the site of the most pretentious edifice the city could then boast of.

Next to the Conrad building easterly, was a two-story frame belonging to John J. Graham, in the upper story of which [[Episcopal church]] services were first held, a two-story frame put up by Col. Gould, then Receiver of the U. S. land office here, a one-story dwelling, the Yellowstone Journal office -- a two-story frame -- and then the Leighton residence, with seventy-five feet frontage, extending to the corner of Ninth. The rink fire destroyed all but the Leighton residence, that being saved by the open space existing between it and the newspaper office. The Leighton residence was one of the first as well as the most ornate of residences of early Milestown. It was built by Capt. John Smith, who was the proprietor of the Cottage saloon, for himself, but later became the property of Jos. Leighton of the firm of Leighton & Jordan, and was his home during the first years of his married life, and its four walls echoed the first baby utterances of "Joe" and Alvin. The exception noted as not being modern in this block is the building occupied by Abbotts, and here is the story.

With the exception of a few piles of mouldering brick lying out-doors in the neighborhood of the poor house, this building occupied by Abbotts, is the sole reminder of the days when Milestown lived in the expectation of rivalling Chicago as a slaughtering and packing center. The De Mores experiment in that line, at Medora, N. D., had not exploded at that time, and an Iowa outfit with a fair amount of capital -- but not enough -- was so convinced that range beef, slaughtered and dressed close to the range, while in prime condition, and shipped as dead weight to the eastern markets, would be a winner. It was as plain as daylight that the shrinkage on live weight in transit and the freight on offal, would be saved, and a better quality of meat put out. So they built a plant, down the river a few miles, brought a skilled crew from the cast and opened up. The outfit made one run of about six hundred head of Oregon steers and closed down, never to open again. But the fortunes of the slaughter house are pertinent to this story only so far as they connect with the Abbott building. When the slaughtering business became a fact, a merchant here, "lkey" Silverman by name, thought he saw a business chance in a store to supply the employes close to home, and Colonel Bryan put up a building for him at the plant. When the plant shut down "lkey" moved his stock back to town and later Colonel Bryan moved the building up and planted it on the Main street site, and although it has been camouflaged and added to, it cannot deny its origin and early history.

The south side of this stretch of Main street, from Eighth to Ninth, now so handsomely improved, was in the early days the despair of all enterprising citizens, it being given over principally to corral purposes. It was always dirty and foul-smelling and being on the way to the court house, it caused our people -- particularly the members of the local bar -- much chagrin when court sat; for in those territorial days "court" was quite a function. The judge -- a presidential appointee -- was resident generally at Helena and when he came here he was accompanied by quite a train of lawyers of state-wide repute, who either had clients here with cases in court, or else came along in the expectation of picking up enough business to make it worth while, and then it was a sort of an outing trip for these high-flyers, who were always entertained most hospitably by the members of the local bar. So it happened that this disreputable corral was a thing to be ashamed of before visitors. The first "improvement" in this block was a one-story brick at the corner of Main and Ninth, built by Dr. Burleigh and occupied first by [[Brill & Osgood]] as a butcher shop; later it became the office of a livery stable in conjunction with the old corral. Shortly afterward "Pete" Sorenson put up the two-story brick on the corner of Eighth, for a blacksmith shop, with living rooms upstairs. Pete was a blacksmith then and a good one, though you would never guess it now. The building is still there, somewhat disguised by the Ionic columns in front but still a monument to the builder's faith in Milestown. With the exception of a Chinese laundry or two, this block never improved any more until it came under the control of W. C. Jackson and Ed. Arnold.

From Ninth to Tenth on Main, some interesting relies of the early days remain. On the north side, where the Iris theater stands, there was a log shack, owner not remembered, and it was along about here that "the first house built in Miles City" stood. The legend is attached to one of Huffman's old pictures and "Huff" must stand sponsor for it. The frontage now occupied by the Masonic Temple had a row of frame shacks built for rental by a Dr. Woods, then resident here. The two frame dwellings next east of the Masonic Temple are veritable old-timers. They were there "from the beginning." The one next to the Temple was originally the home of "Jimmy" Coleman, and the other, now partially obscured by the concrete block building on the corner, originally occupied that location and was used by Dr. Burleigh as an office and sleeping quarters. The doctor was practicing law, not medicine. The concrete-block building that now stands at the corner is in disguise. It is a frame building with a concrete overcoat, and its story belongs with the other side of the street. To take that up we go back to the corner now conspicuous as the home of the Midland Lumber Co. It always was a lumber yard. Charley Larsen and Ben Smith were early proprietors and later Geo. M. Miles was interested under the title of The Miles City Lumber Co. Then followed the Midland which largely extended the plant and made many improvements, but there was one of the old buildings that was permitted to remain, perhaps because it bad a history. This is the building now occupied by Deschner.

Its grim distinction is that it was for a time the dead-house, or morgue, of the young community. One of the most notable of its uninvited guests was Rigney, the man who was lynched. At a later date it received Red Bird, a Cheyenne Indian, who was shot in an attempt to escape from the court house jail, where he was a prisoner, held under some charge and awaiting a term of court. Although he was hit squarely in the forehead, he was not "a dead one," but expecting that he would die soon, he was taken to "the morgue" and through some one's whim, he was placed in a sitting posture on the floor in front of the window, and there he sat all of one summer afternoon, dying by inches, a splendid and never-to-be-forgotten demonstration of the storied stoicism of the Indian. With his brains oozing out of the hole in his forehead, he sat like a statue. There was a feeling at the time that the shooting was unnecessary and this probably bred the report that the prisoner was induced to attempt an escape as an excuse to "take a shot at him," but that was never proven. For one thing, Red Bird -- old coffee-cooler that he may have been -- had no "yellow" in him.

Where the Telephone building now stands, was the home of Luther J. Whitney, one of the early comers, who for a number of years cherished the idea that he had a claim to most all of Milestown. And now comes -- in its proper place -- the story of the building now occupied by the Creedmoor Armory and located on the corner opposite from the library. The court house during the first years of its occupany, was a long stretch from the center of the town's activities, and the routine of court proceedings had a tendency to induce a thirst, and when court adjourned for noon or evening, and the longish trip down town was undertaken, there was an almost universal craving among those attendant on court, for a bracer, not then obtainable until Sam Pep's was reached, that being the first oasis on the long and dusty trail. Of course in a resourceful community such as Milestown then was, such a lack of public service could not long be permitted to endure, and so the Court House saloon came into being; a onestory frame -- the identical building now sporting a concrete overcoat on the opposite corner -- and a "first relief" station for judges, lawyers and litigants, established therein. After some years of more or less adequate service, the demand fell off, whether because of a lessening appetite or because regular supply stations had advanced toward the court house as far as Ninth street, I cannot say, but the fact remains that the Court House saloon was abandoned and the building became a common paint shop and an eyesore until the idea of calling Mr. Carnegie's bluff of a $10,000 library was started, and the Court House saloon corner fixed upon as the most desirable site. The purchase of this site caused the removal of the saloon building to the westward a few lots, and when the Telephone people bought it, the saloon building had to move again; this time to its present location, and the fire ordinance required that it be encased in a fire-resisting material, hence its concrete overcoat.

From Tenth to Eleventh on Main, the north side has been somewhat changed from early day conditions but not much. The Catholic church property remains the same, except for some minor changes made to the church edifice about fifteen years ago. The remainder of the block eastward originally was owned and occupied by "Jim" Clifford, who subsequently had charge of the Cheyenne Agency. With his family he lived for years in the little house that was removed to make room for the Gregory building. The Mund residence was built by Mr. Clifford after he had left here, and the concrete block building adjoining was built by his widow. On the south side of the block the court house and grounds are practically unchanged since the early days. The court house was built in 1881-2 and has since been increased in size by enlargement of the wings and the addition of the jail building in the rear. The trees were set out in '83, under the direction of Colonel Bryan, then a county commissioner, and have satisfied all expectations.

From Eleventh street to Montana avenue the north side of Main street remains the same as it was in '81 except for the additions made to the two residences occupying the block and the improvements to the grounds. Both the Orschel and the Gordon residences are, originally, of the earliest construction, but as seen now, bear very little resemblance to their early appearance. On the south side primitive architecture still holds its place, :the Maples & Stuart carpenter shop, now a venerable ruin, holds memories of busy days and a large lumber yard adjacent. The Brasen residence, though new in appearance, is in part one of the real old-time landmarks. Here the Main street of Old Milestown ends and the Miles Addition begins, which accounts for the shift in the line of the street, the street in the addition running to the four points of the compass. And here the story of Main street is ended, but mention should be made of two landmarks that were for a long time the very outposts of civilization. These were Charley Strevell's house, where the garage now stands, and the Presbyterian church, not the majestic edifice that now occupies that site, but its frame predeccessor recently banished to a back street.