Deer Lodge, a county seat, is located in the valley that was once called the “Lodge of the White-Tailed Deer” by Indians. Deer Lodge contains isolated mineral deposits, and here a sedimentary cone built up almost 40 feet high and a thermal spring existed and gave off large amounts of vapor. From a distance the cone and vapor resembled an Indian lodge with smoke coming out and deer often came here, so the words “deer” and “lodge” were combined to create the town’s name. Deer Lodge Valley is a meadowland surrounded on the east and the west by mountain ranges. In the 1850s Deer Lodge was a trading and trapping center, and mountain men and Indians frequented this land. More museums and historical collections can be found here than in any other town in the Northwest.