![photo DSCN2838_zps111769f1.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2838_zps111769f1.jpg)
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.
![photo DSCN2985_zpsdb43e0af.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2985_zpsdb43e0af.jpg)
![photo DSCN2745_zps5c4c611d.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2745_zps5c4c611d.jpg)
![photo DSCN2743_zps67b3202f.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2743_zps67b3202f.jpg)
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.
![photo DSCN2748_zps5be00ac5.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2748_zps5be00ac5.jpg)
![photo DSCN2749_zps83386ce3.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2749_zps83386ce3.jpg)
![photo DSCN2755_zpsdc4a33e7.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2755_zpsdc4a33e7.jpg)
![photo DSCN2757_zps4d1ec37c.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2757_zps4d1ec37c.jpg)
![photo DSCN2761_zps87c86046.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2761_zps87c86046.jpg)
![photo DSCN2766_zps7f46c43d.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2766_zps7f46c43d.jpg)
![photo DSCN2791_zps40153ec9.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2791_zps40153ec9.jpg)
![photo DSCN2769_zpsf612fb37.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2769_zpsf612fb37.jpg)
![photo DSCN2752_zps79309471.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2752_zps79309471.jpg)
Prisoners who crossed the Out of Bounds sign could be shot by the guards.
![photo DSCN2770_zpsc89c5d58.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2770_zpsc89c5d58.jpg)
![photo DSCN2771_zps12a479b3.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2771_zps12a479b3.jpg)
The warden’s office is shown above.
![photo DSCN2772_zps774f591f.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2772_zps774f591f.jpg)
![photo DSCN2773_zps1b0bd8ef.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2773_zps1b0bd8ef.jpg)
Shown above are shoes with concrete soles; each shoe weighed about 20 pounds.
![photo DSCN2775_zpsd8bcae76.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2775_zpsd8bcae76.jpg)
As shown in the display above, the inmates ran their own lock-picking school.
![photo DSCN2783_zps8d41ca73.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2783_zps8d41ca73.jpg)
![photo DSCN2784_zpsb871dde4.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2784_zpsb871dde4.jpg)
![photo DSCN2793_zps8b327824.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2793_zps8b327824.jpg)
![photo DSCN2817_zps9ee0521f.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2817_zps9ee0521f.jpg)
![photo DSCN2832_zps0b1196f3.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2832_zps0b1196f3.jpg)
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.
![photo DSCN2835_zps96f72336.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2835_zps96f72336.jpg)
![photo DSCN2836_zpsb9d074d4.jpg](http://i821.photobucket.com/albums/zz139/Ojibwa/Deer%20Lodge/Prison/DSCN2836_zpsb9d074d4.jpg)