Miles City to the Missions (No. 104)

First Aired Wednesday, May 01, 1996

Since 1991, the Backroads crew has traveled across Montana visiting its unique people and places. The series airs regularly on MontanaPBS.

We begin with an exciting visit to a quarter horse roundup near Ronan and the Mission Mountains. Then we meet a custom bootmaker in Lockwood, a suburb of Billings; go aloft in the Miles City Balloon Roundup; and sample world-famous Jersey Lilly Beans in Ingomar. We take side trips to Pompey's Pillar on the Yellowstone River, and to the Pictograph Caves State Park, both near Billings.

ProgramUpdates
The Miles City Chamber of Commerce ended the balloon roundup years ago. Bill Seward, the owner of the Jersey Lilly has passed on, but the restaurant is still open. They have so many tourists now that they've added some vegetarian items to the menu. And they still have those beans. The "King of the Bootmakers," Mike Ives, died in 2006. He left an unfinished pair of boots on his bench.