July 27, 1846, in Clarksville, Arkansas, died July 31, 1919, in Miles City, Montana) who served for one term. Miles City established a municipal electric utility around 1887 and it was a source of civic pride (as any city would have towards its own utilities) until a traveling employee of Minnesota Northern Power (predecessor of MDU Resources Group, Inc.) told the city council "the emperor has no clothes;" i.e., the system was far less efficient and in worse shape than they thought. The city council eventually put the question to the voters who instructed the city to sell the utility. By this time, the people with the Montana Power Company (now NorthWestern Energy's Montana division) became aware of this and were soon locked in an epic battle with Minnesota Northern over the franchise. A franchise election was held to determine who would serve Miles City on June 28, 1927. Minnesota Northern won by a scant 16 votes. Miles City experienced rapid growth until the 1920s and 1930s, but became overshadowed by the upstart upriver town of Billings, which was at the cross roads of transportation routes. Billings became a banking center, oil refining center, and medical service center and is now the largest city in the state. The publicly owned Miles City Municipal Airport is located less than from town. Notably, it was the site of an early scheduled airline crash, involving Northwest Airlines Flight 1, which caught fire and crashed shortly after takeoff in January 1939. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land. Interstate 94 passes through the community, with access from Exits 135, 138, and 141. Montana Highway 59 runs north–south. The Tongue River flows into Yellowstone River at the town. Pirogue Island State Park is just outside of town. Climate The city holds the record for the highest mean sea level pressure in the contiguous United States with a reading of 31.42 inHg (1064 mb) on December 24, 1983. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Miles City has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. Giant snowflake Guinness World Records reports that the largest natural snowflake ever measured, in diameter, was recorded at Fort Keogh on January 28, 1887. However, there is no corroborating evidence to support this claim. Demographics 2010 census As of the census of 2010, there were 8,410 people, 3,677