Red Lodge, Montana

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Main Street, Red Lodge, Montana, July 2000

Red Lodge is a city in Carbon County, Montana, United States. It is part of the Billings, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,177 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County^GR6.

1 Geography
2 History
- 2.1 Historical Figures
3 Smith Mine Disaster
4 Demographics
5 External links

[edit] Geography

Red Lodge is located at 45°11′15″N, 109°14′55″W (45.187515, -109.248475)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.7 km² (2.6 mi²), all land.

[edit] History

Red Lodge first achieved importance with the discovery of coal in the middle of the 19th century. This was especially important because the Northern Pacific Railroad needed coal to fuel their steam engines. In the late 1800's, many new settlers came to Red Lodge. Some of the records show that these include people from Scotland, Wales, England, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Yugoslavia. By the mid 1880s, migrants were still outnumbered by large numbers of Native Americans. By 1892 the population reached 1,180.

In 1896, Red Lodge had twenty saloons and, as the library records show, riotous and violent living was characteristic of the town. By 1906 the population had grown to 4,000 and by 1911 this had increased to 5,000.

Red Lodge suffered in the Great Depression, which forced many mines to close. To offset this downturn, the manufacture of illegal bootleg liquor, labeled syrup, became an economic mainstay and was sold as far afield as Chicago and San Francisco.

In 1931 work began on the Beartooth Highway linking Red Lodge to Yellowstone National Park, and it was officially opened in 1936.

[edit] Historical Figures

The first lawman in Red Lodge was John "Liver-Eating" Johnston.
Harry Longabaugh (a.k.a. the Sundance Kid) and George Curry (a.k.a. Kid Curry) were captured in Red Lodge on September 18th, 1897 after attempting a bank robbery, but escaped with help from the rest of the Wild Bunch gang
The guest register at the Pollard Hotel shows that Martha Jane Cannary-Burke (a.k.a. Calamity Jane) stayed there.

Site of the Smith Mine disaster

[edit] Smith Mine Disaster

In 1943 tragedy hit Smith Mine #3 near Bearcreek, the area's largest remaining mine. An explosion trapped and killed 74 men - only three of the workers that were in the mine that day escaped. This was the worst coal mine disaster in Montana's history. The mines were shut down forever shortly thereafter. The Red Lodge cemetery contains a memorial.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 2,177 people, 1,020 households, and 528 families residing in the city. The population density was 327.1/km² (846.0/mi²). There were 1,415 housing units at an average density of 212.6/km² (549.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.14% White, 0.41% African American, 1.10% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.46% from other races, and 1.42% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.98% of the population.

There were 1,020 households out of which 22.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.3% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.2% were non-families. 39.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.04 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the city the population was spread out with 20.2% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 28.6% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 19.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,750, and the median income for a family was $40,260. Males had a median income of $30,250 versus $20,208 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,090. About 6.9% of families and 9.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.4% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.