In the 1860s, human greed and rumors of gold brought a lot of people to what would become the State of Montana. Some of these were not nice people and thus thievery, lawlessness, and murder prevailed. Vigilante groups responded by hanging, shooting, and banishing many presumed wrong-doers. Finally, the Territorial Legislature asked Congress to fund a territorial prison. Congress prompted agreed and provided inadequate funding. Deer Lodge was selected as the site for the new prison. Construction was started in 1870 and the first prisoner arrived in 1871.
In 1889, Montana became a state which meant that it assumed the responsibility for funding and operating the prison. Inadequate funding and overcrowded conditions continued at the prison. In 1979, the state constructed a new prison and the old facility, which resembled a European castle with its high rock walls and towers, was abandoned. Today the Old Montana Prison is preserved and operated as a museum by the Powell County Museum and Arts Foundation under a lease agreement with the State of Montana. The Old Montana Prison is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Photographs of the Old Prison follow.
The original wall around the prison had been made of wood and by 1890 it was rotten in places which facilitated escapes. There was, however, no money available for construction and operation of the prison had been privatized at 70 cents per capita per diem. The warden proposed that convict labor be used to construct the wall and the State Board of Prison Commissioners agreed. Construction began in 1893 and the wall was completed in 1894. The use of convict crews for construction was declared a success.
Prisoners who crossed the Out of Bounds sign could be shot by the guards.
The warden’s office is shown above.
Shown above are shoes with concrete soles; each shoe weighed about 20 pounds.
As shown in the display above, the inmates ran their own lock-picking school.
The Sally Port shown above was the only vehicular entrance to the prison. Access was controlled by a double door, double lock system. A vehicle would enter the first set of door and be locked inside the Sally Port while being searched. The second set of door would then be opened to let the vehicle in or out.