Within the old prison itself, the Montana Law Enforcement Museum is also a memorial to law enforcement personnel who have been killed while on duty. The museum has two walls of honor depicting the officers and personnel being honored within. As well, there are many displays of related artefacts and memorabilia, many originating right here in the prison. Also covered by the museum's displays is its checkered history, including the bloody and murderous riots which occurred here.
Admission to the prison museum includes admission to this museum, as it is encompassed by the former. The admission fee of $10 for adults is well worth the price, as the prison museum is the type of attraction one will not often have the opportunity to experience.
A Glimpse into the Old Prison Museum
Guided and self-guided tours lead you through the intimidating Cell House and into the chilling slide bar cells and black box of Maximum Security. See what it was like to live amongst the turreted stone towers and iron gates at the “Prison Life” photo exhibit, then view the galloping gallows, currently located in the Clark Theater.
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 turrets set in each corner of the 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 stand now as silent sentinels to justice, a museum complex dedicated to law enforcement. Now open to the public for most of the year, this museum presents a chilling, bleak glimpse at life behind bars. A pamphlet distributed by the museum interprets each building and how it was used. Guideposts state the facts in a few brief sentences.
Guns and shackles and restraints can be viewed behind mesh partitions, along with artwork prepared by former inmates, and lethal weapons fashioned from kitchen forks and simple tools. Daily log sheets, in glass cases, describe in detail how guards and prisoners alike spent their days. Permission had to be granted by state authorities to grow mustaches, and there were written guidelines as to permissible length and care.
One display shows sturdy work shoes with concrete soles instead of leather ones. These shoes, weighing 20 pounds each, were ordered to be worn by convicts thought to be potential escapees.
Convict labor built large portions of the prison compound. Over time, inmates fashioned 1.2 million bricks by hand for use in erecting the original 1896 cell house and other buildings. Stone was quarried nearby and hauled to the site. Convicts cut the timbers and dug the lime for use in cement.
Inside the cell blocks are corridors painted a drab industrial gray, a broad yellow stripe along the floor defining the prisoner’s walkway.
The basement shower room is cold and damp, a dripping spigot the only sound. Heavy metal doors in the solitary confinement cells block out all light and sound. These doors insulate the guards on duty inside steel mesh cages from the rage of the isolated men.
From the Old Montana Prison