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Then early in the Great Depression, the ranch was acquired by Kohrs’ grandson Warren, who successfully ran a smaller livestock operation there until 1972, when he sold the ranch to the National Park Service. The Grant- Kohrs National Historic site on the northern outskirts of Deer Lodge, including the original Grant-Kohrs ranch house, is open to the public. No doubt at least as important to Deer Lodge’s survival of hard times and remaining a significant town in the region was its designation in 1869 as the site of the territorial penitentiary, becoming the state facility upon Mon- tana’s admission into the Union in 1889. Skimpily funded from the beginning, it consisted of a poorly built structure surrounded by a board fence. Even add-ons that raised it to three stories did not keep pace with overcrowded conditions. By 1892, its 140-inmate capacity held 198 inmates. In 1893, construction began on a new, larger brick building with imposing guard tow- ers, but after time similar problems resurfaced. “By the 1950s, the prison was a disgrace to the state,” writes Don Spitzer in his book on Montana history. In 1959, there was a major riot and escape attempt during which a deputy war- den was killed and the warden held hostage. He escaped execution only after the inmate sent to do the deed had second thoughts, allowing him to leave. National Guard troops were called in and laid siege, during which a bazooka damaged a guard tower in an attempt to flush out the ringleaders. When troops and police stormed the prison both of the ring- leaders committed suicide. During the 1970s con- struction began on Montana’s new state prison. By 1979 the old facili- ty was emptied and converted into the Landmark Museum, open to the public. Stout Iron bars slammed shut and locked for the first time on July 2,1871. On that day, Montana’s Territorial Prison in Deer Lodge incarcerated its first occupant. Guards no longer occupy the turrents set in each corner of The Wall. The thud of heavy footsteps marching along the topmost barbed-wire-enclosed walkway is no longer heard. Emptied of prisoners in the late 1970s, the buildings now stand as silent sentinels to justice, a museum complex dedicated to law enforcement. Now open to the public year round, this museum presents a chilling, bleak glimpse at life behind bars. “Montana State Prison, Deer Lodge” Built in 1871 Wikimedia 109