|
Life
in my job (as a corporate slave for a mega-corporation) can be very
tough. One day you're whistling a happy tune, working on mindless tasks
- and the next thing you know you're whisked onto a plane and dropped
off in the middle of a wilderness where gun racks come standard with
every vehicle and rush hour traffic means 3 cars pass by every hour.
Such was my fate when I was summoned to work in Helena, Montana in October,
2001. However, making the morbid of a bad situation is what I do best...
and so I decided to make a trip to nearby Deer Lodge, Montana (population
3,421) to visit the Old Montana Prison.
What
Montana may lack in culture, it makes up for in natural beauty. The
drive to Deer Lodge was breathtakingly
beautiful and I found it incredibly amusing that on these "highways"
you could pretty much stop your car in the middle of the road, get out,
slowly wander across the road, take a few pictures, admire the view
for a few minutes, order takeout from Domino's pizza in Seattle, eat
the pizza, and take a nap, without having to worry about obstructing
any traffic. Yep, it's a real sloooooow pace they got goin' there...
I imagine that isolation is what attracts people like Ted Kaczynski
(aka The Unabomber) to this place. But I digress...
Eventually
I crossed over hill and dale (whatever that means), and arrived in Deer
Lodge. You can't possibly get lost there because I think they only have
two roads, and fortunately the one that I took brought me to the Old
Prison Museums - which includes a car museum and a toy museum, in
addition to the Main Attraction (in my Morbid Book) - the Old Montana
Prison! This prison was constructed in 1871 and was an active prison
until 1979, when they opened a new facility four miles west of town.
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!! You know how I LOVE creepy old prisons!!! So,
please allow me to present to you the former home away from home for
the scoundrels of Montana:
The outside of the prison had that marvelous "castle-like"
quality that illustrates the influence that Eastern
State Penitentiary has had on prison design. Well, at least
19th Century prison design. I'd rather not think about
the ugly modern prisons... |
There are numerous historic photographs of the former flatmates
spread throughout the prison. Captivating, as always... |
Here's a poignant reminder of wasted days and wasted nights spent
in the prison yard. |
A great, ominous looking door. I'm reminded of the Clash - everybody
sing along!
"Clang
clang go those jail guitar doors!!"
You
don't know the Clash? Tsk, tsk... ;-)
|
This painted message on the concrete outside made me chuckle because
it's so grade school-like. It would make a kind of cool book cover
or title, wouldn't it? |
This is the primitive intercom system used in the prison towers. |
Here's the entrance to the Administration Building, built in 1931. |
Here's a view of one of the prison towers. |
This is my favorite picture of the prison. Yes, that is The Comtesse
taking the picture, and an Accomplice In Morbidity standing beside
her. Turned out rather well-composed, don't you think? |
Here's one of the handsome gents who used to inhabit this fine
abode. |
But it's really good to see that the spirit of America thrives
here in this isolated backwoods as well. And I'm certainly happy
that the prisoners of Montana are driving safely - aren't you? |
This room wasn't open to the public, but I peeked through a window
and saw some fascinating looking equipment. Why is it the most
interesting places are always the ones you can't get to? (Update
6/05: A snobby individual named Ron who "used to work there"
told me, "the area that was closed off served as an infirmary
where prisoners were given medical and dental exams".) |
Here's a view into the Deputy Warden's Office. A portrait of the
first warden, Frank Conley, hangs on the far wall. During a riot
in 1959, Deputy Warden Ted Rothe was shot and killed in this office
by rioting inmates. |
A lovely shot of the outside of the prison. . |
Incarcerated Concrete! |
Here's a picture of an execution that occurred in the prison grounds
in 1908 after a failed escape attempt left the deputy warden dead
and Warden Frank Conley with 103 stitches on his back and neck.
Conley took particular pleasure in watching this execution, as
you might imagine... |
This is the area where the execution shown to the left was held.
|
Now, this is more like it: inside the cell block! (6/05 Update:
Snobby Ron who used to work here says, "what you call a cellblock
in one photo is in fact a detention area where prisoners were
sent for violating prison rules, no prisoner ever spent more that
30 days there". I dunno... still sounds like a cell block
to me!) |
At least they had a really pretty view of the tippy tops of the
mountains from the prison grounds... Imagine the desolation of
this scene in the dead of winter! |
Ummm... Is this what I think it is? Whatever the case may be,
it adds a certain ambiance to the outdoors... |
Here's the entrance to the main cell house - built, quite obviously,
in 1912. This cell house contained 200 cells and it was designed
so that the prisoners would have solitary confinement at night,
hard work during the day, and silence at all times. Of course,
like all good ideas, this was done away with in the 1950's. Pity... |
A close-up of the cell block doorway... |
Wouldn't you just love to have that cell in the corner? It would
be like getting the upper bunk bed or something! Then again, maybe
the other inmates would mercilessly tease whomever was located
there... |
Did they really give prisoners tobacco and matches? You've got
to be joking! Yet the evidence seems to suggest that they did...
Must be another of the post-1950's "improvements"... |
This shot of a dingy old cell actually turned out pretty artistic,
in my humble opinion... |
This is the cell of Turkey Pete Eitner, an eccentric who was sentenced
to life in Prison for murder in 1918. As a model prisoner, he
was assigned to tend the prison turkeys. One day, he sold the
entire flock to a man for 25 cents each, and thus began a new
career as an "entrepreneur". The inmates humored Pete
by printing him checks in the prison print shop, and he "purchased"
the prison and proceeded to run it. He paid all the prison expenses
and wrote checks to the guards for their salaries. When he died
in 1967, at the age of 89, his cell was retired and converted
into a barbershop. His funeral was the only one ever held within
the walls of the prison. Yes, he was a VERY popular guy. |
Here's a lovely shot of the cellblock. The top cells were hot,
while the lower cells were cold. Inmates on the top galleys would
often throw objects at the windows in order to break them, allowing
cold air in. The inmates who lived on the first tier were allowed
to hang a drape over the lower part of the cell bars in order
to keep the drafts out. Comfy!! |
Here are the comfy shower facilities. These three shower heads
provided bathing facilities for up to 400 inmates. Showers were
required twice weekly. Inmates would line up and wet their bodies
in the first shower, soap up in the second, and rinse in the third.
How efficient, huh? |
And they even had Bible Class for Jehovah's Witnesses at this
prison. Definitely state of the art! |
We got a kick out of this notice: "Due to the increase in
the amount of horse-play in Ind #1. Anyone caught Horse-playing
will receive a 48-hour restriction." I should have known
that Horse-playing would be a big problem in Montana. I'm just
surprised they could fit the horses in those cells! |
A graffiti-riddled old school desk. Darned if I can figure out
what it says though... except maybe, "Good Old School Days"
on the seat. You know, it was always the little hoodlums that
wrote on the desks, wasn't it? |
On April 16, 1959 a group of inmates rioted at the prison - oh,
you know, that infamous riot that left the Deputy Warden dead?
Anyway, after 36 hours, the National Guard fired a bazooka at
the tower where the ringleaders were headquartered. If you look
carefully at this tower, you can still see some of the damage
- near the top of the tallest tower, and along the edge of the
big window. The two leaders of the riot were found dead of an
apparent murder-suicide at the top of this tower. |
Here's a view of the prison from the nice, big yard... |
This photo was taken just outside the Women's Prison Building,
which later became the Maximum Security Building. These initials
were made by the women, who were housed here until 1959. The number
of women incarcerated in Montana at any time was usually fewer
than ten. I had thought I'd taken pictures of the nondescript
women's prison - but I can't seem to locate them, so maybe I just
imagined it. Pity... |
Another shot of the quite picturesque prison. What a glorious
blue sky! |
I really liked this building. This is the old W.A. Clark
Theater that was built in 1919 by money donated by W.A. Clark,
Jr., son of the Butte copper king. Since the privilege of going
to the theater had to be earned, the theater became the center
of the work incentive and prison discipline system. It was used
for various events, like boxing, traveling theater troops, movies,
plays, concerts, meetings, prison band performances, and religious
services |
Unfortunately, the theater was gutted by an arson fire in 1975.
No suspects were ever charged. What a pity...
|
Here's another shot of the blackened interior of the theater...
|
So,
that's pretty much the Old Montana Prison. I found it quite enjoyable,
and it was such a beautiful day... but there was still an overwhelming
sense of loneliness there. There's also the Montana
Law Enforcement Museum on the site - but unfortunately it was closed
when we were there.
We decided
not to go to the Car or Toy Museums because it was getting late and
we still wanted to see Butte, Montana. So, we drove across more open
countryside to the fine city of Butte.
It was actually a lot bigger than I thought it would be and it had a
huge historic
section that we meandered through for awhile. But we didn't really
see that much of note, except this rather
odd old mansion that belonged to a Charles Walker Clark - whose
son, you may recall, built the theater at the prison. Oh, and this rather
odd street sign. We just had to go and visit the number one tourist
attraction of Butte. This being Montana, of course I'm talking about
The Berkeley Pit!!! Yes, a huge hole in the ground where the largest
pit copper mine in the world used to operate! Aren't you just dying
of anticipation??? I knew you were, so here are some pictures I took
at The Pit:
Fun
facts about the Berkeley Pit:
- The
Berkeley Pit opened in 1955 and soon became the largest truck-operated
open pit copper mine in the United States.
- The
pit is 7,000 feet long and 5,600 feet wide, extending to a depth of
more than 1800 feet.
- The
pit enabled Butte to claim the title 'Richest Hill on Earth,' as it
became the backbone of the local and regional economy.
- The
mine was shut down in 1982, after 1 1/2 billion tons of copper were
removed.
- The
Berkeley Pit is the nation's biggest superfund clean-up site.
Aren't
you glad I shared?
I took
one more shot of a truly beautiful sight - the
mountains in the distance - and we were heading back to home sweet
Helena. On the way, I tried to get a shot of the "Our
Lady Of The Rockies", a 90-foot statue of the Virgin Mary seated
up in the mountains, but because of the clouds, you can barely make
it out. Here's a website
that has a better picture of it, for those of you who care.
And
that's the end of my breathtaking trip to Deer Lodge and Butte, Montana.
Aren't you glad I shared?
|
