Welcome to Deer Lodge, Montana

Deer Lodge, a county seat, is located in the valley that was once called the "Lodge of the White-Tailed Deer" by Indians. The French trappers called it La Loge Chevreuils. There was a natural salt lick in the valley to which the deer came in droves. (from Cheney's Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company) Deer Lodge contains isolated mineral deposits, and here a sedimentary cone built up almost 40 feet high and a thermal spring existed and gave off large amounts of vapor. From a distance the cone and vapor resembled an Indian lodge with smoke coming out and deer often came here, so the words "deer" and "lodge" were combined to create the town's name.

Deer Lodge Valley is a meadowland surrounded on the east and the west by mountain ranges. In the 1850s Deer Lodge was a trading and trapping center, and mountain men and Indians frequented this land. Also in the 1850s, Johnny Grant settled in the Deer Lodge Valley and established what was to become one of the largest ranching operations in the country. When the first strikes on Gold Creek started the excitement during the 1860s this camp was known as Cottonwood, LaBarge, and Spanish Forks. Investors began building mills to extract the silver and gold from the quartz. One such builder was named William Andrews Clark, who became one of the three richest men in Montana. During the 1880s the mines became one of the world's greatest copper producers. Remnants of old mining camps can still be visited a few miles from town. The Northern Pacific Railroad arrived in 1883 and Deer Lodge was the end of the line for immigrants heading west.

Discover the majesty of this magnificent country on a Trail of the Great Bear self drive itinerary or escorted group tour. At the Trail of the Great Bear we strive to provide you with the type of information and service that is sure to enhance your travels in this breathtaking country. The Trail of the Great Bear is your path to the Wild Rockies of Yellowstone, Glacier, Waterton and the Canadian Rockies.

More museums and historical collections can be found here than in any other town in the Northwest. The Old Montana Prison opened its doors in 1871 and was in use until 1979. Guided and self-guided tours lead visitors beyond the gray stone wall and towers through the now unused prison with its four-tiered cell block, gothic facade and huge prison yard. Montana Auto Museum is a unique museum with interpretive exhibits and over 120 antique cars on display. Frontier Montana Museum contains the best display of cowboy collectibles between Cody and Calgary. See the guns, spurs, chaps, reatas and all the rest. Then tour Desert John's Saloon, a unique whiskey memorabilia collection. Powell County Museum, a local history museum, features an extensive gun collection as well as slot machines and jukeboxes. The Montana Law Enforcement Museum details of Montana lawmen and crimes are here in the Old Montana Prison.

Deer Lodge's 1,500-acre Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site illustrates the development of the Northern Plains cattle industry from the 1850s to recent times. This was the headquarters area of one of the largest and best known 19th-century range ranches in the country. Today the ranch house, bunkhouse and outbuildings are much as they were during ranch operations from the 1860s through the 1960s. Guided tours of the house, self-guiding walks and exhibits are available.

Not far from Deer Lodge, Garnet, a historic mining ghost town located in west central Montana, sits at an elevation of about 6,000 feet at the head of First Chance Creek. It was named after the brown garnet rock, which was used as an abrasive and a semi-precious stone found in the area. The town dates back to 1895. Garnet endures along with the spirits of the rugged gold miners and their families who carved a community in the heart of the Garnet Mountain Range at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1898, some 1,000 people knew Garnet as home. Garnet offers a wonderful ghost town experience without commercialization. The town never had a bonanza strike but still serves as one of Montana's most impressive ghost towns.