Hilger is located 15 miles north of Lewistown. The town was originally known as Kendall, after a mining camp a few miles to the west. You can see the remains of the Kendall mine several miles west of town on a dirt road. In 1911, the Milwaukee Railroad created Hilger about six miles east of Kendall. Large-scale mining at Kendall ended the next year, although some local mines continued to operate until 1923.