Back To Deer Lodge

We're going back to Deer Lodge tonight (Tuesday) up at the Marias Heritage Center during our Tuesday evening Montana History. We're almost half way through Montana Historical Society Interpretive Historian's Ellen Baumler's collaborative documentary "Dark Spaces" & while it may not yet be a "Million Seller"...it's a "Million CELLER" for sure! I'm fascinated by this book! Ellen tells the physical & human tale of the troubled institution whose idyllic setting contrasts so violently with the history it holds. J.M. Cooper's detailed photographs of the prison's interiors & exteriors combine with historic images to illustrate the stories of the people who lived-and sometimes died-within its walls. The buildings at the old Deer Lodge bear the marks of a violent history; bazooka scars mar the tower where prisoners holed up during the infamous riot of 1959 & an inmate's delicate stenciling oddly adorns the room where the 2 riot architects died. Check this book out from the University of NEW MEXICO Press at: unmpress.com (800 249 7737). Hopefully my reading this book during Montana History at the Heritage will encourage the Heritage Center residents to stay on the straight & narrow. Crime does not pay. See you tonight at 6 o'clock SHARP for more Montana History up at the Heritage.