Located south of town on Montana Highway 59, the Custer County Cemetery dates to the first years of settlement in the 1880s.

However its current look of rows of trees and well manicured grounds dates to the mid-twentieth century and a rather unique New Deal project. In the summer of 1940 the Works Projects Administration gave the county $4,302 to “beautify and improve” the county cemetery.

WPA crews added stone retaining walls, new driveways, and a three-arch stone gateway to the property as part of its “public improvements.”

The family of Roy Montgomery who died 9 months old in 1895 purchased a metal Victorian designed grave marker.

Another Victorian style marker built from granite was placed to memorialize the Milligan family. Miles Howard Milligan (b. 1897) died in 1918. The Miles City Star of October 6, 1918 reported that Milligan died from the Spanish flu at the army training school at Boulder, Colorado. His funeral was a major community event, “with full military honors.” Later generations, including his wife Mary and son Miles, are also buried in this family plot.

Veteran graves may be found throughout the cemetery. For example, Joseph Taliaferro Brown (1849-1908) served in the Confederate Calvary from Mississippi under the command of Gen. Nathan B. Forrest during the Civil War then served in as a captain in the U.S. Calvary after the war. He came to Custer County in 1886 and established a cattle ranch along the Tongue River near Birney. A tall white obelisk marks his resting place.

Two other Civil War veterans buried at the cemetery fought for the United States during the Civil War and then served in the Sioux campaign of 1876. Lyman Smith (1846-1930) served in the 5th Wisconsin Infantry. In the summer of 1876 he was a civilian employee at the Tongue River cantonment, the precursor to Fort Keogh. At the cantonment and fort, Smith was “a wagon master, a hay cutter, and [had] various other occupations,” according to the Miles City Star, October 29, 1930.

Tom McFadden (1845-1896) served in the 2nd Kansas Cavalry and then as an “Indian scout” for Gen. Nelson Miles in 1896. He died at his powderville ranch after taking his own life once he had been kicked by a horse and knew he had no chance of surviving the accident. This story appeared in the Livingston Enterprise of September 5, 1896.

Most veteran graves are arranged in rows in a separate section of the cemetery, which is graced by the American flag. This section is a precursor to the much later Eastern Montana State Veterans Cemetery which is south of the Custer County Cemetery.

The cemetery is a beautiful spot and there are many stories within its boundaries. Older grave markers predominate but several more recently erected grave markers tell stories of the late 20th and 21st centuries.

I’m grateful that the WPA spent the money and time on this cemetery in 1940. New Deal agencies typically appropriated funds for other projects but this “public improvement” project certainly brings meaning and value to Miles City today.