D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A • S P R I N G 2 0 1 8
82
D E PA R T M E N T
B A C K I N T H E D AY
Paul B. Lehrkind at the Park Bottling Works, Livingston, 1904. The Lehrkind
name is well-known among brewery circles. The patriarch Julius Lehrkind
left Germany in 1860 to avoid the draft. With years of brewery experience,
he and his crew, some relatives, worked their way up to ownership of
bottling companies. The businesses were hit by Prohibition years but now
Montana is ranked third in the nation for its microbreweries with Billings
having the most. Photo: Museum of the Rockies Photo Archive
The Ozark Club brought sensational talent in
jazz, comedy, and burlesque to Great Falls. From
1933 when the failed Prohibition experiment
ended to 1962 when it mysteriously burned
down, it was successful and popular. Owner Leo
La Mar, son of an African-American mother and
Chinese father, came from Chicago via the Great
Northern Railroad. He was also known for his
boxing skill.
First Brewery. Homesteaders in Montana knew
how to manufactured crude home brew on
their own but the first professional brewery
not surprisingly opened in Virginia City in
1863. Whiskey was the intoxicant of choice,
also known as "tanglefoot" or "fortyrod." Be-
cause eastern whiskey was expensive, saloon
owners would cut it with turpentine or tobacco
juice to give it a kick. Montanans have always
consumed huge quantities of whiskey and now
beer. Photo: Ryan Newhouse
