Museum protects future by preserving past

Last year, 11 million visitors came to Montana.  While the reasons they chose Big Sky Country as their vacation destination are as varied as our landscape, it’s safe to say some of them were drawn by the gold rush history of Bannack and Virginia City, and the lore of Montana’s vigilantes who sprang from a boom-town frontier environment that lacked a justice system.

The role of law enforcement in shaping Montana’s destiny since our territorial days is an important one, and with your help, this history can be preserved and protected with the procurement of a permanent home for the Montana Law Enforcement Museum.  

Twenty-seven years ago, the museum opened in the Old Prison at Deer Lodge thanks to the hard work of law enforcement professionals from across the state. The motto the museum’s board of directors chose for the facility was simple: “Protecting our future by preserving our past.” Established as a 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit entity, the museum displayed artifacts from early Montana through modern times. In fact, the museum obtained so many artifacts that its board decided to look for a larger space so more items could be properly displayed.

In 2006, the museum was relocated to Holiday Village Mall in Great Falls, where volunteers from the Great Falls Retired and Senior Volunteer Program gave of their time to staff the facility. This venue was good for the museum in that it was a busy location and easily accessible to the public.    

Unfortunately, in 2011, the museum was forced to close due to financial concerns. Since that time, the museum’s artifacts, including a 1954 Ford once used by the Montana Highway Patrol, have been in storage.

The museum’s board of directors began in earnest last year to reorganize and begin the search for a new and permanent site for the museum. The board now has 13 active members representing law enforcement organizations from across Montana. Due to very limited funding, the museum board needs your help in the search for a new location.

Ideally, the board would like to house the museum in a rent-free site; all relocation options and locations will be considered. The board also requests financial help in the form of donations to adequately display items and properly preserve the history of law enforcement in Montana.

The museum needs approximately 5,000 square feet of accessible space to properly display the thousands of items it has secured over the years, including the vintage patrol car. Additional storage space is needed at the same site. The museum board would prefer that the location be open year around. Additionally, the museum should be located in a community that has ample volunteers and an adequate number of tourists each year.  

There will be much for visitors to see, as the resources available to law enforcement officers have changed and evolved rapidly throughout the years.  High-tech equipment like video cameras, automatic license plate readers and tasers would have been unimaginable to officers a century ago. Among the most notable memorabilia in the collection are:  old mugshots developed on glass photography plates, antique hand cuffs and leg shackles dating back to the 1800’s, and vintage communications equipment.

If you can help make the dream of a permanent Montana Law Enforcement Museum become a reality, contact Jerry Williams, secretary and treasurer of the Montana Law Enforcement Museum at (406) 490-1947.

The legacy of Montana’s law enforcement is one of dedication and service. It’s important that we preserve the stories and artifacts of the men and women who devoted their lives to helping shape a lawless territory into a state we are all proud to have served and continue to call home.

— Tim Fox is Montana’s attorney general. Steve Bullock is governor of Montana. Marc Racicot is a former governor of Montana. Mike Greely previously served as Montana’s attorney general, as did Patty Mazurek’s late husband, Joe Mazurek.