When the Beer Ran Dry

MontanaHistoricalSociety

Of all the changes that took place in the Treasure State in the years following World War I, the most painful for some was Prohibition. Montana’s statewide ban began at 12:01 a.m. on December 31, 1918, well ahead of the national injunction. Steve Lozar shares the story of Prohibition’s impact on the Treasure State’s breweries and saloons. Lozar is an MHS trustee; member of the Salish, Kootenai, and Assiniboine tribes; great-grandson of an East Helena Prohibition-era “home brewer”; and proprietor of the Montana Beer Museum in Polson.