page_title: Montana State Prison
section_title: End of the riot
hierarchical_section_title: Montana State Prison / 1959 Riot / End of the riot
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the damage two bazooka blasts to the southwest tower of Cellblock 1 of the Old Montana Prison as a result of the 1959 riot
context_page_description: The Montana State Prison is a men's correctional facility of the Montana Department of Corrections in unincorporated Powell County, Montana, about 3.5 miles west of Deer Lodge. The current facility was constructed between 1974 and 1979 in response to the continued degeneration of the original facility located in downtown Deer Lodge.
  The "Old Prison" served as the Montana Territorial Prison from its creation in 1871 until Montana achieved statehood in 1889, then continued as the primary penal institution for the State of Montana until 1979. Throughout the prison's history, the institution was plagued with constant overcrowding, insufficient funds, and antiquated facilities. The administration of Warden Frank Conley from 1890 to 1921 proved the exception to this rule, as Warden Conley instituted extensive inmate labor projects that kept many inmates at work constructing the prison buildings and walls as well as providing various state and community services like road building, logging, and ranching.
context_section_description: Thirty-six hours after Myles, Smart, and Alton pitched gasoline at a guard to start the riot, the Montana National Guard ended the riot.  At about 4:45 a.m. on 18 April 1959, Bill Rose of the National Guard fired a World War II bazooka at the southwest tower of Cellblock 1 while Highway Patrolman Bob Zaharko fired a Thompson submachine gun through a window which had been identified as where Myles and Smart were hiding on the northeast tower of Cellblock 1.  The media had been placed under watch to ensure they did not leak news of the attack to the inmates, who were listening to the radio inside the prison.
  While Rose and Zaharko rained ordnance on Cellblock 1, a contingent of seven teams of National Guard waited outside the door to the women's prison on the western wall of the prison.  As soon as the first bazooka round hit Cellblock 1, they burst through the door and split up, some rushing the main entrance to Cellblock 1, others going to Cellblock 2, and more circling around to storm Inside Administration.
  The team that invaded Cellblock 1 had to burst through two barricaded doors before gaining access to the tiers of cells.  Most of the inmates were already in their cells and did not give the Guardsmen any problems.  The soldiers filed up to where the hostages were kept and freed them, escorting them through the door into the minimum security facility in the northeast corner of the wall.  All the hostages emerged unharmed.
  Back in Cellblock 1, a team of Guardsmen entered the tower where Myles and Smart were hiding.  The soldiers had to push past a pile of rubble which had been removed from the unsuccessful tunneling attempt as they made their way up the stairs.  During their ascent, Jerry Myles managed to shoot Lieutenant Francis "Russ" Pulliam in the arm, who was removed and remanded to the hospital at Fort Harrison in Helena.  Just after Pulliam was shot, a third bazooka round exploded against the tower, followed by tear gas canisters fired from the walls.  Moments after the gas began to take effect, Myles and Smart fully ended the riot with a murder-suicide.
caption: Bazooka damage to Cellblock 1
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