Deer Lodge County, Montana: History
Deer Lodge was one of the original 9 Montana counties, as constituted with the establishment of the Montana Territory in 1864. The original county included what are now Silver Bow County (separated in 1881), Deer Lodge County, Granite County (separated in 1893) and Powell County (separated in 1901). In 1976, the voters chose a consolidated city-county form of government in the general election, and the charter became effective January 1, 1977.