Gardiner in Park County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

Gardiner Jail

Photographed by McGhiever, June 24, 2023

1. Gardiner Jail Marker

Inscription. When the Northern Pacific Railroad announced plans to build a branch line to Yellowstone National Park in the early 1880s, the small town of Gardiner quickly emerged as a "wild west" town. Early accounts labeled it "a veritable Shantyville . . . an ideal squatter town, with the rudest houses." Though the branch line didn't arrive until 1902, coal mines to the north, gold mines to the south, poachers in the park, and troops at nearby Fort Yellowstone brought a steady stream of men to drink, gamble, and visit prostitutes. General lawlessness ruled until Park County was created in 1887 and county officials hired a constable and built the first Gardiner jail. The jail burned down in 1898 and again Gardiner was without a place to lock up unruly drunks and criminals. The first trains of tourists arrived in Gardiner in summer 1902 to lewd displays. The local newspaper proclaimed, "Monday night there was almost continuous yelling and shooting from midnight to daylight. Women of ill-fame live in the central part of town and exhibit themselves daily on the streets in bedroom wrappers and make a show of themselves in doors and windows

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on arrival of the train." Much to some residents' relief, Gardiner's sturdy sandstone jail was ready for its first inmates by mid-September 1903. Unchanged today, the interior still holds its original three-cell block and the walls, floor, and ceiling - inscribed with five decades of graffiti - offer the only record of its many short-term occupants.

Listed in the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of Interior
•
In cooperation with the Montana Historical Society
www.montanahistoricalsociety.org

Erected by the Montana Historical Society.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Law Enforcement • Parks & Recreational Areas • Railroads & Streetcars • Women. In addition, it is included in the Montana National Register Sign Program series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1887.

Location. 45° 1.906′ N, 110° 42.35′ W. Marker is in Gardiner, Montana, in Park County. It is on Spring Street, on the left when traveling east. Marker and jail are just east of the Iron Horse Bar & Grill, near the foot of the bridge over the Yellowstone River.

Gardiner Jail and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by McGhiever, June 24, 2023

2. Gardiner Jail and Marker

Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 212 Spring Street, Gardiner MT 59030, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Yellowstone Country

and in Greater Bozeman.

It is also in the American Mountain West

and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Rocky Mountains,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land

and also the Louisiana Purchase.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Serving Visitors Since the Beginning (about 700 feet away, measured in a direct line); Roosevelt Arch (approx. 0.2 miles away); A Wildlife Paradise (approx. 0.9 miles away); Yellowstone's Northern Range (approx. 0.9 miles away); Wildlife of the Northern Range (approx. 1.1 miles away); Wildlife Migrations (approx. 1.1 miles away); Boiling River Trail (approx. 2.8 miles away); Mt. Everts Mudslides (approx. 3.7 miles away in Wyoming). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Gardiner.

Another marker is no longer

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nearby. Roosevelt Arch (was approx. 0.2 miles away but has been permanently removed).

Additional keywords. prostitution

Credits. This page was last revised on July 7, 2023. It was originally submitted on July 4, 2023, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. This page has been viewed 361 times since then and 44 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on July 4, 2023, by McGhiever of Minneapolis, Minnesota. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.