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Desert John's
Saloon
Museum is just one of eight museums on a 22 acre complex known as
the Powell County Museums in Deer Lodge,
Montana. These historic museums with their
thousands of artifacts, historic information, and exhibits are
are a
destination, in and of themselves. But, here, we’re talkin’ about
Desert John’s
Saloon Museum with a
bar that dates back to the 1800s, and hundreds of antique liquor bottles
dating back to the Civil War.
The front portion of the building features the
Frontier Museum with hundreds of items utilized by those long ago
frontiersmen, which include everything from pistols, to knives, chaps,
clothing and Native American artifacts.
In the back of the building are two large
rooms which represent the era of the
Old West
Saloon, featuring hundreds of old whiskey bottles, shot glasses,
jugs, kegs, flasks and more.
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Desert John's Saloon Museum, July, 2008, Kathy
Weiser.
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The walls are lined with colorful vintage
advertising prints, posters and mirrors hawking the wares of
distilleries and breweries, and beer and liquor brands, often with
scantily dressed women.
Behind the old 1800s long bar is an
automated
saloon keeper who tells the
story of how the gleaming wooden bar
was
shipped up the
Missouri
River to Montana from
St. Louis,
Missouri.
The saloon museum features the most complete collection of liquor
memorabilia in the United States.
The Frontier Museum is located on Main Street in Deer
Lodge off Interstate I-90 using exits 184 or 187. It is located in the
Powell County Museum Complex, which exhibits eight unique museums. The complex
also includes the Old
Montana
Prison,
Montana
Law Enforcement Museum, Powell County Museum, Frontier
Montana
Museum, Yesterday’s Playthings, old "Cottonwood City," and the New Vintage Car and
Transportation Museum.
Contact Information:
Frontier Montana Museum
1106 Main
Street
Deer Lodge,
Montana 59722
406-846-0026 or 406-846-3111
Desert John's Saloon Museum, July, 2008,
Kathy Weiser.
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