Deer Lodge

Town and administrative headquarters of Powell County, west-central Montana; population (2000) 3,400. It is located on the Clark Fork River, 48 km/30 mi north-northwest of Butte. Lying to the east of the Flint Creek Range, it has silver and lead mining, a lumber mill, and railway repair shops. It also markets agricultural products.

Called La Barge when founded in 1862, Deer Lodge was a gold-mining centre and an important stop on the Mullan Wagon Road, an immigrant route. The Montana Territorial Prison (1871), the first such institution in the West, is now a law enforcement museum. The Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site, established in 1853 and a large and early ranching operation, is 5 km/3 mi to the north.