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James W. Loewen (1942-2021)

We mourn the loss of our friend and colleague and remain committed to the work he began.

Miles City

Montana

Basic Information

Type of Place
Independent City or Town
Metro Area
Politics c. 1860?
Unions, Organized Labor?

Sundown Town Status

Sundown Town in the Past?
Surely
Was there an ordinance?
Don't Know
Sign?
Don’t Know
Year of Greatest Interest
Still Sundown?
Probably Not, Although Still Very Few Black People

Census Information

The available census data from 1860 to the present
Total White Black Asian Native Hispanic Other BHshld
1860
1870
1880
1890
1900
1910 4697 81
1920 7937 41
1930
1940 7313 41
1950 9243 24
1960 9665 4
1970
1980
1990
2000 8487 10
2010
2020

Method of Exclusion

  • Unknown

Main Ethnic Group(s)

  • Unknown

Group(s) Excluded

  • Black

Comments

“In Miles City, my great grandmother remembers the
‘black’ section of town… Grandma was born in 1908 in
Miles City. She remembers playing with a black girl as
a child and said that everyone in town got along very
well. The turning point seems to have been
somewhere around 1917 or 1918. She remembers
being in about fourth or fifth grade when the sheriff
was killed trying to arrest a black man in town… Most
of the black families in town seemed to have departed
shortly thereafter. There were still a few who
remained, as she also remembers a man her mother
hired to help care for her father in the 30’s. Most were
connected as help for some family in town, and stayed
to work for them.”

-posted to the web 2003