First Week of June 2018
We took advantage of the time while Jeff's folks were here, to go off and do some stuff on our own. One day we drove over to Deer Lodge to go to the Old Montana Territorial Prison Museum. Gold was discovered near Deer Lodge in 1862. Vigilante groups hung or banished many of the worst criminals. The prison received nine convicts on the first day it opened in 1871 and was decommissioned late in the 1970's. The stone fortress was home to at least one member of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch. The old stage road ran from Deer Lodge to Gold Creek and was part of the future Yellowstone Trail. The trail was improved and maintained by prison work crews. They built many miles of roads around the area and most of the prison.
It is actually five separate museums all on the main street and all included in one ticket, $12.00 for Seniors and children under 10 free. This is The Yard, exercise and recreation area, where there was weight-lifting, horseshoes, boxing, volleyball, basketball, shuffleboard, softball and gardening. There was once a very nice theater on the grounds that was donated in 1919 by William Clark, Jr., son of the Butte Copper King and Senator. It was built in Renaissance style and decorated with paintings done by inmates. It hosted boxing matches, meetings, religious services, movies, plays and prison band performances. Traveling theater groups would perform for the inmates in the afternoon and the townspeople in the evening. Theater privileges were used as rewards for good behavior. It was gutted by a deliberately set fire in 1975, but no one was ever charged.
You can hire a tour guide for more in depth stories about the prison, but we opted to go on our own. They give you a self-guided pamphlet and there are signs about the grounds. They also offer occasional ghost tours that start at 9:30 PM and last until about 2:00 AM. The Galloping Gallows (one of the few original hanging gallows remaining in the U.S.) is on display in the remaining shell of the theater building. It was the official "hanging scaffold" of eastern Montana, designed to be dismantled, and the parts were all marked with carved Roman numerals for piecing it back together in a jigsaw manner. It was built for rapid movement and erection, so it could be loaded and "galloped" to a new site. During its 20 years of use, seven men were dropped to their death after climbing the 13 unlucky steps leading up to the trapdoor platform. Its final use was in 1939. In 1978 it was moved to Great Falls to prepare for use once again after nearly 50 years. Delays in the conviction of death prompted the return of the gallows to Deer Lodge where it is now officially retired, although hanging was still legal until 1997.
A rather odd piece of artwork in one of the solitary confinement cells, done by one of the prisoners. There are a few other pieces of inmate art on display throughout the prison, including a painting The Stone With Seven Eyes by John Bellanger. It refers to the seven guard towers around the main prison yard. Another inmate named Evans (convicted of voluntary manslaughter in 1971 and deliberate homicide in 1980) slipped into his own world, believing he was an earthly manifestation of Jesus Christ and claimed to speak with God. He made himself a set of robes, a crown and a pyramidal temple which are still on display. He was humored to the end of his life, a model inmate and a hard worker.
The Hole was reserved for the worst of the worst problem inmates after all other disciplinary measures proved inadequate. There was no light in the cell except for the peephole in the doors. The lights outside the doors were turned off except when inmates were checked and issued their bread and water twice daily. Every three days they were given a full hot meal. There was a ten day limit on time in the hole, after which they received an exam by a physician. If they were okay, they could be returned for another ten days. By the late 1960's this was considered excessive and The Hole was closed in 1969. Almost as many prisoners died in The Hole as were sent to the gallows.
Typical Cell. Another well-loved inmate called Turkey Pete went a little mad and started selling the flock of prison turkeys to the other inmates. They were allowed to print money on the prison press to humor him. He eventually bought the prison and would pay the guards salaries with the fake money. His was the only funeral ever held in the prison system when he died in 1967.
There were two cell blocks like this one.
At the end of the two cell blocks, between them, were these three shower heads. Twice a week inmates marched through assembly line style. They got wet in the first one, soaped up in the second one and rinsed off in the third one. There was an armed guard in a cage in the corner above. More shower stalls were added in 1959. From here we passed through the gift shop to the Auto Museum. Walking down the hallway, we passed a continuing Burma Shave sign. Remember them? "Past school houses--Take it slow--Let the Little--Shavers grow."
Early car in Helena, circa 1905. There are over 160 antique vehicles in the Auto Museum.
1912 Flanders Model 20 Runabout
The Yellowstone Trail was the first coast-to-coast auto route across the northern tier of states from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound. Before 1912 railroads dominated long distance transportation. Local roads were dust and mud. There was little help from government, so owners of the newly arrived autos rose to the challenge. Small town businessmen from South Dakota formed the Yellowstone Trail Association to "get out of the mud" and to pressure counties to build usable automobile roads. They named the road Yellowstone to draw tourists along it to the national park. Roads and autos were crude and travel was tough. With no maps tourists relied on guide books and yellow rocks to find their way. In 1915 the road was extended from Chicago to Seattle and, by 1917, to Boston. Yellow and black signs were posted across the country. The Association promoted the opening of Yellowstone National Park to private auto travel. Until 1930 hundreds of towns supported the famous Yellowstone Trail. They created free campgrounds, travel bureaus and publications to aid travelers. By 1930 route numbering (now an international system, but created by the State of Wisconsin in 1918) reduced the need for named roads. Then the Depression spelled the end for all trail associations.
1933 Kozy Kamp Pop-Up Trailer $295.00.
"A Home Behind Your Car"
'Light, strong, compact, low-hung.
Open into comfy home in 90 seconds.
Roomy beds for four adults.
Beds open automatically with Kamp.
Carries all baggage and supplies.
Follows car smoothly at any speed.
Allows clear rear view of traffic.
Saves you dollars every night.'
Quite an ad. I wonder if it had AC and a microwave.
1930 Desoto Deluxe
1928 REO Speedwagon
1938 Ford Deluxe Station Wagon
1935 LaSalle 2 Door Coupe
1932 Franklin Airman
1950 Mercury Coupe Custom Street Rod
1957 Chevy Nomad
1957 Chevy Bel Air Convertible
1956 Ford Thunderbird
Yesterday's Playthings Museum across the street has a huge collection of all sorts of dolls.
They have tons of antique toys, including a collection of cap guns and six-shooters, dating from the 1890's to the 1960's.
They even have a small collection of Princess Diana dolls and gowns and a scale model of Kensington Palace. Princess Di's elaborate fairy tale wedding gown had 10,000 pearls and sequins hand sewn onto 45 feet of ivory silk and taffeta. The auction of 79 of her gowns at Christie's Auction House in 1997 raised $3.26 million for charity with the majority going to the AIDS Crisis Trust.
Next door is Cottonwood Pioneer Village and the Frontier Museum with the original wood flooring from the prison mule barn.
This dentist price sign hung inside one of the log cabins. Specialties Teethe Extractions Without Pain. First Tooth $1.50, Each Additional Tooth 50 cents, Each Tooth Filled 75 cents, Replacement Tooth $2.00.
Lots of interesting stuff in the Frontier Museum, including several antique gun collections, a spur collection, clothing, furniture, dishes, tools, and a whole case of stuff that belonged to General Custer and his family. The guns included Derringers, Suicide Specials and other oddities like glass guns that were made very cheaply and sold for $2.00. People who used them said they never knew when they were going to blow up. A quote on the wall said " God created man, but the Peacemaker and its rivals made them equal." The Colt Single-Action Army and Frontier Revolvers were manufactured from 1872 to 1940. Demand spurred Colt into new production again in the 1950's. Spurs were used more for decorative purposes rather than practical purposes. A good cowboy wood rarely spur a horse and always removes his hat when indoors! If he doesn't he's just one of those fake cowboys.
The Indians of the Little Bighorn. Plenty Horses (Cheyenne), Taboonawasha (Arapaho), Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Two Kettle, Red Shirt and High Bear (all Lakota or Oglala Sioux).
The male of this pair of Great Snowy Owls was found caught in a coyote trap in 1912. Because the Great Snowy Owl mates for life, it was believed that the female of this pair would withdraw, stop eating and eventually die. It was felt that the humane approach was to terminate her life, so here they remain together for eternity.
This Knabe Square Grand Piano built in Baltimore in the late 1860's was shipped up the Missouri River by steamboat to Fort Benton, Montana Territory. From there it was carted overland by wagon to the frontier town of Elliston near Deer Lodge where it provided entertainment at the Adirondack Saloon and was later enjoyed by five generations of a private family until they donated it in 2003.
On the other side of the pioneer village is the Powell County Museum covering mining, forestry and other local history. Above are my favorite shakers of the huge salt and pepper shaker collection. There is also an Art Gallery here with all sorts of very expensive artwork (paintings, scuptures, leather work, etc.) done by current prison inmates at the new prison, which is just a few miles down the road.
The 1909 Last Spike Monument for the last spike of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, better known as the Milwaukee Road, driven near Gold Creek 17 miles west of Deer Lodge, was moved here in 2003. The Anaconda and Pacific Railway in Butte, Montana converted from steam to electric locomotives in 1914. The Milwaukee Road, aware of their success, electrified its Rocky Mountain Division from Harlowtown through Deer Lodge to Avery, Idaho in 1917. Originally called Pelicans, Black Cows and Mules, but better known as Box Cabs, the original electric workhorses were more efficient than steam engines in the cold, northwest winters. The dangerous smoke and gas was also eliminated in the tunnels. The second phase of the Milwaukee Road from Othello to Tacoma, WA. was completed in 1920 and they had the longest stretches of electrified mainline railway in the world, 647 miles. G.E. built 20 electric locomotives for the USSR in 1946. With the Cold War going on, the USA prohibited their delivery. They were converted to American gauge and referred to as Little Joe Stalin's locomotives. They were geared low with a maximum speed of 68, perfect in mountainous territory. In 1950 they bought 12 of the Little Joes for passenger and freight service (one in above left picture) that were used until 1974 when the Milwaukee electric operation ended.
Today's Tidbit: Cabeese is the plural of Caboose.
Over and Out,
Tarra
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