Editing Deer Lodge, Montana (section)

==History==
Extant mentions of the Deer Lodge Valley prior to 1860 are found as occasional remarks in records written for other purposes.{{sfn|Ferris|1940|loc=Chapter XIX}}{{sfn|Mullan|1855|loc =  Papers Annexed to Report: # 24, p. 342-345}}{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 14}} Consistent record-keeping begins with the writings of [[Granville Stuart]] and others in the early 1860s.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Stuart, James & Granville|year=1866|title=Joint Diary: 1861-1866|location=Beinecke Library, Yale|publisher=Western Americana Collection 449}}</ref><ref name = "Contributions to the Historical Society, I">{{Cite book|author=Officers and Members|year=1876|title=Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana|volume=I|location=Helena, Montana|publisher=Rocky Mountain Publishing Company|ref = CITEREFContributions_to_the_Historical_Society,_I1876}}, pp 46-56</ref><ref>{{Cite news | title = Letters From (various) | newspaper = The Montana Post | location = Virginia City, Montana }}articles and advertisements - 1864-1869</ref>{{efn|Here I assume absence of evidence (for continuous writings before 1861) to be evidence of absence.}} 1860 marks the beginning of permanent occupation of both the valley and the future site of the city of Deer Lodge by [[European-Americans]].<ref name = "Where It All Began">{{Cite book | url = http://pcmaf.org/ |author=Powell County Museum and Arts Foundation: Historic Action Committee|year=1989|title=Powell County: Where It All Began|publisher=Powell County Museum & Arts Foundation|ref = CITEREFWhere_It_All_Began1989}}, p. 118</ref><ref name = "A Son of the Fur Trade">{{Cite book|author=Grant, John Francis |editor=Gerhard J. Ens|year=2008|title=A Son of the Fur Trade:The Memoirs of Johnny Grant|publisher=The University of Alberta Press|isbn=978-0-88864-491-6|ref=CITEREFA_Son_of_the_Fur_Trade2008|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sonoffurtrademem00gran}}, Chapter 26</ref>

===Fur trade era===
Before 1860,  the Deer Lodge Valley was not the territory of any [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] group.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 13}} Gatherings were held there, including horse races.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 102}} American Indian groups from the west, [[Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Nation|Flatheads]], [[Pend d'Oreille]]s et al. passed through the valley as an alternative route to and from the buffalo hunting grounds to the east.<ref name = "Ferris">{{Cite book|author=Ferris, Warren Angus |editor=Paul C. Phillips|year=1940|title=Life in the Rocky Mountains; etc.|location=Denver, Col.|publisher=F. A. Rosenstock, Old West Pub. Co.|ref = CITEREFFerris1940}}, Chapter XIX</ref>{{sfn|Ferris|1940|loc= Curious Indian Letter}}

The first documented visit to this area by European-American explorers occurred in 1805–1806, when [[Lewis and Clark]]'s [[Corps of Discovery]] expedition passed by the Deer Lodge Valley without entering it.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/files/8419/8419-h/8419-h.htm | title =THE JOURNALS OF LEWIS AND CLARK | last1 =Lewis | first1 =Meriwether | first2 =William | last2 =Clark | date =January 26, 2013 | website =www.gutenberg.org | publisher =Project Gutenberg | access-date =July 2, 2016 }}</ref> Evidence of earlier incursion, probably by Spaniards, was noted by miner James B. Beattle on Sugar Loaf mountain in the Race Track mining district<ref>{{Cite news | title = none | newspaper = The Philipsburg Mail | location = Philipsburg, Montana | date = June 16, 1887}}, p. 4, col. 3</ref> on the west side of the Deer Lodge Valley.<ref name = "Great North Trail">{{Cite book|author=Cushman, Dan|year=1966|title=The Great North Trail|publisher=McGraw-Hill Book Company}}, p. 67</ref>

Early European trapper/traders passing through the valley referred to it as "the Deer House Plains". The Clark Fork river was called the Arrow Stone River in the 1830s.<ref name = "Ferris"/> By the 1850s it was called the Deer Lodge Creek/Hellgate River.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mullan |first=John|display-authors=et al|year=1855|title=Reports on Explorations and Surveys etc., Vol. I|location=Washington, DC|publisher=Beverley Tucker, Printer}}, Papers Annexed to Report: # 24, p. 342-345</ref> Catholic Father [[Pierre-Jean De Smet]] brought the first wagons known to have passed through the valley, in 1841.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 14}}

In 1846, the Deer Lodge Valley became part of the United States and [[Oregon Territory]] with the signing of the [[Oregon Treaty]] by the U. S. and [[Great Britain]]. From 1853 to 1863 it was in [[Washington Territory]], then briefly part of [[Idaho Territory]] until the creation of [[Montana Territory]] in 1864.<ref name = "Malone">{{Cite book |last1=Malone|first1=Michael P.|first2=Richard B.|last2=Roeder|first3=William L.|last3=Lang|year=1976|title=Montana: A History of Two Centuries|location=Seattle and London|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=0-295-97129-0|ref = CITEREFMalone1976}}, p. 94</ref>{{Efn|Eastern and western Montana were first joined as part of Idaho Territory<ref name = "Malone"/>}}

European-American settlement of the valley gained momentum during the 1850s and 60's, with the primary site being at present-day Deer Lodge. During the 1850s, trapper/traders from [[Fort Hall]] began wintering herds of horses and cattle in the valley.{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|loc= Introduction xii}} Also during that decade placer gold finds were made near present-day [[Gold Creek (Montana)|Gold Creek]], first in 1852 by [[Gold Creek (Montana)|Francois (Bennetsee) Findley]], followed in 1856 by Hereford, Saunders, Madison et al.,<ref name = "History of Montana:1739-1885">{{Cite book|author=Leeson, Michael A.|year=1885|title=History of Montana:1739-1885|location=Chicago|publisher=Warner, Beers and Company|ref = CITEREFHistory_of_Montana:1739-18851885}}, p. 209</ref> and in 1858–61 by James and Granville Stuart, Reese Anderson et al.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 15}} In 1860–62, [[John Mullan (road builder)|Lt. John Mullan]] oversaw construction of the [[Mullan Road]], which connected [[Walla Walla, Washington]] Territory with [[Fort Benton, Montana|Fort Benton]], then in [[Dakota Territory]].<ref name = "McDermott">{{Cite book|last1=McDermott|first1=Paul D.|first2=Ronald E.|last2=Grim|first3=Philip|last3=Mobley|year=2015|title=The Mullan Road, etc.|publisher=Montana Press Publishing Company|location = [[Missoula, Montana]]|isbn=978-0-87842-632-4|ref = CITEREFMcDermott2015}}</ref> The Mullan Road passed through the north end of the Deer Lodge Valley.

===European-American settlement, Montana gold rush===
[[File:John_Francis_Grant_circa_1860's_-_courtesy_of_Montana_Historical_Society_-_B_and_W_photo_,_942-461.jpg|thumb|upright|Johnny Grant in his prime]]
[[Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site#Founding the ranch|John Francis (Johnny) Grant]] built the first permanent structures in the valley in 1859–60, at Grantsville near present-day [[Garrison, Montana|Garrison]].<ref name = "A Son of the Fur Trade" /> Grant had begun grazing cattle and horse herds in the north valley several years previously and "wintered over" there in 1857–58.{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|p = 66}} In 1860, feeling as he said "lonely", he returned to Fort Hall for summer trading and induced several fellow trader/trappers and their families to return to the valley with him at the end of the season.{{Efn|Johnny Grant noted that Louis Deschenault, Leon Quesnelle, Louis Demers, David Contois, Fred Burr, the Stuart boys (James & Granville), the Cosgrove boys, Jackson, Jack Meek and two sons of Michaud Leclerc came back with him. They mostly settled at Spanish Fork/Cottonwood.{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|p = 94}}}} Instead of locating at Grantsville, his friends chose to build at the site of present-day Deer Lodge, where several Mexican trapper/traders and their [[Métis people (United States)|Metis]]  families had already established the seasonal settlement of Spanish Fork.{{Efn|Included were Thomas Lavatta, Joe Hill, Alejo Barasta, Joe Pizanthia{{Efn|Pizanthia, also called "the greaser", was executed at [[Virginia City, Montana|Virginia City]] in 1864 by vigilantes for killing George Copely and wounding Smith Ball.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Langford, Nathaniel Pitt|year=1893|title=Vigilante Days and Ways: The Pioneers of the Rockies|location=New York and St. Paul|volume = 2|publisher=D. D. Merrill Company}}, Chapter XI: Death of Pizanthia</ref>}} et al and their families.{{sfn|History of Montana:1739-1885|1885|pp = 551-552}}}} While Johnny Grant had been at Fort Hall, several people had come from [[Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site|Fort Union]] down the Mullan Road route and begun building homes at Grantsville.{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|loc= Chapter 26 and 27}}{{efn|These included Joe Prudhomme and "quite a number of families" associated with the American Fur Company{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|p = 94}}}}

In 1861, the Stuart brothers and Reese Anderson established American Fork near present-day Gold Creek.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 15}} Also in that year Johnny Grant moved his large family to his newly built house at Deer Lodge, at the present-day site of [[Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site]].<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.nps.gov/grko/learn/historyculture/johnnygrant.htm | title =Grant-Kohrs Ranch:John Francis Grant| website = www.nps.gov | publisher =U.S. National Park Service | access-date =July 5, 2016}}</ref>{{Efn|This is still the main house at Grant-Kohrs.}} During the next two years, placer gold discoveries at Grasshopper Creek, Alder Gulch and other locations to the south caused a population decline in the valley, including the abandonment of Grantsville and American Fork.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 54}} Beginning in 1864 with gold strikes to the north, Deer Lodge City grew rapidly as a base for supplies to mines in the surrounding mountains.<ref name = "Where It All Began" />

===Montana Territory===
By 1861–1862, Spanish Fork was more often referred to as Cottonwood.{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|p = 99}}{{sfn|History of Montana:1739-1885|1885|p = 560}} In 1862, a Deer Lodge Town Committee was established to lay out the town site, to be called LaBarge City - after [[Missouri River]] steamboat Captain Joseph LaBarge whose firm, LaBarge, Harkness & Company,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/l/labarge/ | title = Joseph LaBarge (1815-1899) | website = shsmo.org | publisher = The State Historical Society of Missouri | access-date =July 7, 2016 }}</ref> had proposed to start a business in Cottonwood.{{Efn|Capt. LaBarge's partner, James Harkness, embarked from [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]] to Fort Benton to Cottonwood/Deer Lodge City in 1862 to explore business possibilities. After spending a week in the valley, he dropped the idea and returned to St. Louis.{{sfn|Contributions to the Historical Society, II|1896|pp = 343-361}}}}{{Efn|[[La Barge, Wyoming]] is named for Capt. LaBarge's father.}}   Creation of Idaho Territory in 1863 induced a name change to Idaho City.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 117}} With the 1864 designation of Montana Territory, Deer Lodge City became the choice. Montana's first territorial legislature defined most of the boundaries of [[Deer Lodge County]], establishing the county seat at the placer mining camp of Silver Bow City, near Butte. In September 1865, county voters transferred the seat to Deer Lodge City.{{sfn|History of Montana:1739-1885|1885|p = 560}}<ref name = "Contributions to the Historical Society, II">{{Cite book|author=Officers and Members|year=1896|title=Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana|volume=II|location=Helena, Montana|publisher=State Publishing Company|ref = CITEREFContributions_to_the_Historical_Society,_II1896}}, p. 65</ref>

During the first half of the 1860s, Granville Stuart described valley social life as including many gay dances and parties,{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|pp = 186-187}} which was the way of the Metis.{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|loc= Chapter 47}} By 1866, Johnny Grant and many of his fellow Metis had become disenchanted with their increasingly numerous neighbors from "the States".{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|loc= Chapter 41}} In that year, Grant sold most of his Deer Lodge Valley holdings to [[Conrad Kohrs]] and in 1867 led a mass exodus of Metis families to the [[Red River of the North|Red River country]] of [[Manitoba, Canada]].{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|loc= Chapter 41 & 50}}{{efn|Grant reported that his party had 62 wagons, 12 carts and about 500 horses. There were 106 men plus their families. People were bound variously for Manitoba or for "the states"{{sfn|A Son of the Fur Trade|2008|p = 170}}}}{{efn|A large and well-armed force was considered necessary as they were passing through territory controlled by [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfeet]] and [[Sioux]].}}

In 1869, the [[Montana State Prison#Territorial prison|Territorial Prison]] was located at Deer Lodge.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 148, 232}} Also that year, the town site plat for Deer Lodge City was recorded.<ref name = "Where It All Began" /> In 1878, [[College of Montana|Montana Collegiate Institute]] was established at Deer Lodge City. It opened for classes in 1883 and closed in 1914.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|pp = 137-141}}

Attorney [[William H. Clagett|Horace Clagett]], of the Deer Lodge firm Clagett and Dixon, was elected [[United States congressional delegations from Montana#Delegates from Montana Territory|U.S. Representative from Montana Territory]] for the 1871–73 term. He was defeated for reelection by [[Martin Maginnis]]. Clagett was noted for introducing the legislation establishing [[Yellowstone National Park]]. Clagett's partner, [[William W. Dixon]], later moved to Butte and upset [[Thomas H. Carter]] in 1891 to serve a single term as [[United States congressional delegations from Montana#Members of the United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative from the State of Montana]].

Clagett and Dixon platted the first addition to Deer Lodge City in 1872.<ref>{{Cite news | title = TWO LOTS EACH...FRONTING ON Second Street...Clagett and Dixon's addition | newspaper = New North West | location = Deer Lodge, Montana | date = July 20, 1872}}</ref> Perhaps its most prominent building was the former St. Joseph's Hospital.{{efn|W. B. Dance's addition was also platted in 1872.}}

===State of Montana, Powell County===
Deer Lodge City was incorporated in 1888,<ref name = "Deer Lodge City Council Minutes">{{Cite book|title=Deer Lodge City Council Minutes|publisher=Records vault at Deer Lodge, Montana City Hall|ref = CITEREFDeer_Lodge_City_Council_Minutes}}, Book 1</ref> with a mayor and aldermen as officers. Montana achieved statehood in 1889 and a battle ensued between Helena and Anaconda over the location of the capitol in which Helena finally triumphed in 1894.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|p = 167}}<ref name = "Kohrs">{{Cite book|author=Kohrs, Conrad|year=1998|title=Conrad Kohrs: Autobiography of a Pioneer Cattleman|publisher=Wildcat Press|isbn=978-1-88913-500-7|ref = CITEREFKohrs1998}}, p. 95</ref> In 1896, Anaconda took the Deer Lodge County seat away from Deer Lodge. This began a battle which culminated in the creation of [[Powell County, Montana|Powell County]] in 1901, with its county seat at Deer Lodge.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|pp = 164-166}}{{efn|In 1894, the name 'Deer Lodge City' was changed to 'Deer Lodge'.{{sfn|Where It All Began|1989|pp = 378}}}}{{efn|On March 8, 1901, an act of the state legislature changed the names of Deer Lodge County to Daly County and Powell County to Deer Lodge County.<ref>{{Cite book|author=Montana Legislature|year=1901|title=Laws and Resolutions of the State of Montana Passed at the Seventh Regular Session of the Legislative Assembly|publisher=State Publishing Company|location=Helena}}, Senate Bill No. 84</ref> On April 8, 1901, this action was nullified by the Montana Supreme Court, reverting the two counties to their previous names<ref>{{Cite book|editor=Crane, Oliver T. |year=1902|title=Reports of Cases Argued and Determined by the Supreme Court of the State of Montana From January 7, 1901, to August 1, 1901|publisher=Bancroft-Whitney Company|location=San Francisco}}</ref>}}

===Frank Conley===
[[File:Frank Conley 3.jpg|thumb|upright|Mayoral portrait of Frank Conley, mayor of Deer Lodge, Montana (with breaks) from 1892 until 1928]]
After statehood, the State of Montana let a contract to run [[Montana State Prison]], which was awarded to [[Montana State Prison#Warden Frank Conley|Frank Conley]]<!--arguably, Conley could be the topic of his own WP article, based on  http://www.distinctlymontana.com/article/16/03/2016/frank-conley-warden-edge  and other soursed--> and Thomas McTague.<ref name = "Edgerton">{{Cite book|last=Edgerton|first=Keith|year=2004|title=Montana Justice|publisher=University of Washington Press|isbn=978-0-29580-003-5}}, p. 70</ref> They held the contract until 1908. In that year, the State took over running Montana State Prison, appointing Frank Conley as warden.<ref>{{Cite news | title = STATE WILL RUN PENETENTIARY, FRANK CONLEY WILL BE WARDEN | newspaper = Anaconda Standard | location = Anaconda, Montana | date = June 9, 1908}}</ref> Conley remained in that capacity until 1921, when Governor [[Joseph M. Dixon]] replaced Conley with [[Montana State Prison#Degeneration of the facility|M. W. Potter]].<ref>{{Cite news | title = A Blow to Montana| newspaper = Helena Independent | location = Helena, Montana | date = April 15, 1921}}</ref> The Governor then commissioned an investigation of Conley's administration. This resulted in the [[MacDonald Report]], which would be used as the basis for a civil lawsuit by the State of Montana against Conley.<ref>{{Cite news | title = MacDonald Report| newspaper = Great Falls Tribune | location = Great Falls, Montana | date = February 22, 1922}}</ref> The year following, [[Montana Attorney General]] [[Wellington D. Rankin|Wellington Rankin]]<ref name = "Steele">{{Cite book|last=Steele | first=Volney | year=2002 | title=Wellington Rankin: His Family, Life and Times | publisher=Champions Publishing | isbn=978-1-88855-010-8}}</ref> sued Conley for misuse of state funds and materials, in the case ''[[State of Montana vs Frank Conley]]''. The case took three months to try and resulted in the State of Montana being ordered to reimburse Conley.<ref>{{Cite news | title = Gov. Joseph M. Dixon's Dirty Deal Discredited | newspaper = Powell County Post | location = Deer Lodge, Montana | page = 1 | date = December 1, 1922}}</ref><ref name = "Karlin 2">{{Cite book|last=Karlin | first=Jules | year=1974 | title=Joseph M. Dixon of Montana Part 2: Governor versus The Anaconda 1917-1934 | publisher=University of Montana | location=Missoula | isbn=978-0-68634-463-6|ref = CITEREFKarlin_21974}}, Chapter 8: THE CONLEY CASE</ref> Deer Lodge City celebrated with a victory party.<ref>{{Cite news | title = Conley Cheered at Celebration | newspaper = The Helena Independent | location = Helena, Montana | date = December 5, 1922}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news | title = Friends Gather to Shake Hand of Former Warden | newspaper = The Producers News | location = Plentywood, Montana | date = December 29, 1922}}</ref>

Frank Conley was elected the fifth (1892–93), seventh (1895–1903) and tenth (1907–1928) mayor of Deer Lodge City.<ref>Picture and plaque at City Hall, Deer Lodge, Montana</ref> When he resigned for the last time, an article in the ''[[Billings Gazette]]'' called him 'the longest serving mayor in American history'. Mayor Conley was instrumental in bringing the division headquarters and shops of the [[Milwaukee Road]] to Deer Lodge City in 1910.<ref>{{Cite news | title = Milwaukee Shops at Deer Lodge | newspaper = The River Press | location = Fort Benton, Montana | date = November 20, 1907}}</ref> Over the next decade, he presided over [[Wiktionary:upbuilding|upbuilding]] the town's infrastructure to accommodate the rapidly expanding population. He was also responsible for the building of the City Hall.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}

===Montana State Prison===
Opened in 1871, the [[Montana State Prison]] has been an economic cornerstone for the community since it's founding.  In 1908, inmates W. A. Hayes and George Rock killed guard John Robinson and seriously wounded Warden Conley in [[Montana State Prison#Escape attempts|an attempted prison breakout]].<ref>{{Cite news | title = Murder at Penitentiary | newspaper = The Silver State | location = Deer Lodge, Montana | date = March 18, 1908 | page = 2}}</ref> In 1959, a prolonged riot occurred at the prison, led by [[Montana State Prison#Jerry Miles|Jerry Miles]] and [[Montana State Prison#Lee Smart and George Alton|Lee Smart]], which resulted in the slaying of Deputy Warden [[Montana State Prison#Death of Deputy Warden Rothe|Ted Rothe]] and the eventual suicides of Miles and Smart.<ref name = "Jerrys Riot">{{Cite book|author=Giles, Kevin S.|year=2005|title=Jerry's Riot|publisher=Sky Blue Waters Press|ref = CITEREFJerrys_Riot2005}}</ref> All inmates were moved in 1977–79 to a [[Montana State Prison|new state prison]]<!--saving link if needed for proper citation https://cor.mt.gov/Adult/MSP--> facility outside of Deer Lodge. The town of Deer Lodge employs the Powell County Museum & Arts Foundation<!--which should have a stand-alone section on it here in this article, citing http://pcmaf.org/ --> to manage the [[Montana State Prison#Old Prison Museum|old facility]] as a museum.

===Superfund site===
In the 1870s, [[Butte, Montana|Butte]] developed into a rich silver mining camp.{{sfn|Malone|1976|pp = 187-188}} [[Marcus Daly]]'s discovery of rich copper veins in his Anaconda mine launched the [[Copper Kings]] era at Butte. In 1883, Daly established his smelter facilities at newly platted [[Anaconda, Montana]].{{sfn|Malone|1976|pp = 202-205}} Anaconda immediately became Deer Lodge County's major population center and employer. Smelting activities at Butte and Anaconda left behind enormous amounts of toxic wastes. Flooding on [[Silver Bow Creek]] and [[Warm Springs Creek (Montana)|Warm Springs Creek]], particularly in the great valley flood of 1908,<ref>{{Cite news | title = Train Service Demoralized | newspaper = The River Press | location = Fort Benton, Montana | date = June 10, 1908 | page = 1}}</ref>{{efn|Significant flooding in the valley also occurred in 1887, 1892, 1894, 1899 and 1902.{{sfn|Geomorphology|1998| p = 5}}}} spread toxic wastes from Butte through Deer Lodge City, to the [[Milltown Dam]],{{efn|One reason the earlier floods had less obvious impact was that the Milltown Dam didn't exist until early 1908, when [[William A. Clark|W. A. Clark]] had it constructed to support his lumber mill at the site.}} just east of Missoula.<ref>{{Cite web| title = Bonner Milltown History:The Great Flood of 1908| access-date = July 7, 2016| url = http://tworivershistory.net/the-great-flood-of-1908.html| website = tworivershistory.net| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131112004827/http://www.tworivershistory.net/the-great-flood-of-1908.html| archive-date = November 12, 2013| url-status = dead}}</ref><ref name = "Geomorphology">{{Citation | last1 = Smith | first1 = J. Dungan | last2 = Lambing | first2 = John H. | last3 = Nimick | first3 = David A. | last4 = Parrett | first4 = Charles | last5 = Ramey | first5 = Michael | last6 = Schafer | first6 = William | title = Geomorphology, Flood-Plain Tailings, and Metal Transport in the Upper Clark Fork Valley, Montana | date = October 1998  | publisher = U.S. Geological Survey | location = Helena | ref = CITEREFGeomorphology1998}}</ref> As a result of legal actions begun in 1983 and culminating in 2008, the course of the Clark Fork River from Anaconda to the Milltown Dam was declared to be a [[List of Superfund sites in Montana|Superfund cleanup site]]. Cleanup costs are financed from the settlement with [[ARCO]] (now BP-ARCO).<ref>{{cite web | url =http://www.law360.com/articles/46465/arco-agrees-to-187m-superfund-cleanup-settlement | title =Arco Agrees To $187M Superfund Cleanup Settlement | last =Tracy | first = Marc | date =February 7, 2008 | website =www.law360.com/ | publisher = Law360 | access-date =July 6, 2016 }}</ref>{{efn|As of 2016, fish are reported to be in the Deer Lodge River and white-tailed deer are frequently seen in the valley. }}{{efn|The clean-up of the area of Butte and Silver Bow Creek down to Anaconda is a separate [[superfund]] site<!--cite to [https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id%3D0800416, not an inline link-->.}}

===Economic decline===
In 1961, the Milwaukee Road ended its [[Olympian Hiawatha#Post-war Olympian Hiawatha|Olympian Hiawatha]] passenger trains. Limited passenger service between Minneapolis and Deer Lodge continued until 1964, at which time all Milwaukee Road passenger service to Deer Lodge ended.{{efn|The previous major highway through the Deer Lodge Valley, US 10, ran down Main Street in Deer Lodge. Both US 10 and the Milwaukee Road contributed patrons for Deer Lodge businesses. Also, I90 made it easier for people in the Deer Lodge area to get to Butte and Missoula to do business.}}

In the 1970s, the [[Anaconda Copper Company]] suffered financial setbacks which ultimately caused its 1977 [[ARCO#Merger|merger with ARCO]]. By 1982, ARCO had closed down the [[Anaconda Smelter Stack|smelter at Anaconda]]<!--again, no inline links, use real wikilinks, and if needed cite to http://stateparks.mt.gov/anaconda-smoke-stack/ --> and stopped mining copper at Butte.<ref>{{cite web | url =https://www.britannica.com/topic/Anaconda-Company | title = Anaconda Company | last = Curley | first = Robert | date = October 12, 2012 | website = www.britannica.com | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica | access-date =July 6, 2016 }}</ref>{{efn|A number of smelter employees lived in Deer Lodge.}} In 1980, the Milwaukee Road shut down its [[Milwaukee Road#The Pacific Extension|western extension]]. All of its infrastructure from [[Seattle, Washington]] to [[Miles City, Montana]] was torn out, including the rails themselves.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.american-rails.com/milwaukee-road.html | title = The Milwaukee Road, Route of the Hiawathas | website = www.american-rails.com | publisher = American-Rails | access-date =July 6, 2016 }}</ref>{{efn|The Milwaukee Road was perhaps the biggest employer in Deer Lodge.}}