Miles City in Custer County, Montana, serves as the business, retail and medical center for the wide ranch country of southeastern Montana. Settlement began in the mid-1870s after Fort Keogh was established at the mouth of the Tongue River on the Yellowstone, a strategic crossing and trading point that quickly became a major stop on the long cattle drives up from Texas. As ranchers moved into the Territory's open range, cattle, sheep and horse operations shaped the region's economy, and Miles City grew from a small settlement of 200 in 1877 to a bustling town of 2,000 by 1883. With the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1881, the community emerged as one of eastern Montana's principal livestock shipping centers. - AsNotedIn