The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-04-28

In keeping with the growth of the
city of Deer Lodge, Powell county is
now constructing a new courthouse
which will not only take the place of
the present building, which has been
in use since 1887, but will be a mon
ument to the towns prosperity and
to the public spirit of the citizens.
Judge yelling Napton has this to
say about the courthouses which have
served Powell county since its found
ing in 1865:
zone of the oldest counties in the
state of Montana, the original Deer
Lodge county was created in territor-
ial days by the first legislature of
the Montana territory on February 2,
1855. Prior to that date the district
was attached to and formed part of
Missoula county, which was one of
the original counties of Idaho terri
torytory. In 1868 congress by an
act took part of Washington, part of
Oregon and part of Dakota territor-
les and formed the territory of Idaho
and then from that part of Idaho ly-
ing east of the Bitter Root range of
mountains was formed Montana. The
first Montana Legislature met at Ban
mack in the year 1864, and one of
its first acts was to create Deer Lodge
county. Two hundred and twenty
five miles in length and n hundred
and ten miles in width as width as
the crow would fly, was the amount
of territory contained in the county
of Deer Lodge.
THE present counties of Silver
Bow, Granite and Powell formerly
constituted part of Deer Lodge coun-
and Clark county and a frac-
ton to Missoula county. Seven town
of the original county of Deer
T contained in the present
The first division to be
created by the legislature was Powell
county, which was separated in 1900.
John Powell, a Virginian, has the
honor of having this first division
called for him. Mount Powell was
likewise called for this distinguished
Virginian.
1.-The first county seat of Deer
county, as it existed in the ter
ritorial days, was located in Silver
Bow near the present town. The
courthouse, a small cabin or shack
adjoining the store of a man called
Dean. The records of that time are
mainly quartz location notices, water
lights, bills of sale and placer loca-
ions. In 1866 Granville, Jim and
Tom Stewart, John Powell, Rezan
Anderson and Walter B. Dance To-
in the town of Deer Lodge, !
and Dance taking up the
nraonfi1a L,cs,ncc onl nJ.,ot,, m
he largest grocery and forwarding
business on what was called the west
ide of the range. The town, in it's
infancy, was called Lebarge City and
vas later changed to Cottonwood and
inally to the present name of Deer
lodge. The township was laid out
nd planned by a surveyor, Walter
Lacy, by orders from Dance and
Making a County Seat
Jim Goodwin, a former resident
f Deer Lodge county, now a resident
f Missoula, related to me when and
-ow the county seat was changed
rom Silver Bow to Deer Lodge. This
) the substance of his story:
Gin the fall of 1865 l resided on
~ ranch near Warm Springs. One
ay | saw a wagon with a trail wagon
ttached to it drive to the front of
house. Dance, Alexander, May
and Rezan Anderson were in the
ragon. They stopped for dinner and
Inally 1 inquired, Where are you
headed for?" They replied,
Silver Bow" I asked no further
uestions, but the following day the
and the wagon were back at
DON and Dance said: "Jim, come out
nd see what we have. We made a
oyal SEIZURE" I went out and found
wagon had in it all the records
lat were formerly at Silver Bow.
he men had placed them in the wa
and were taking them to Deer