The College of Montana was a private

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

that existed in

Deer Lodge Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,938 at the 2020 census. Description The city is perhaps best known as the home of the Montana State Prison, a major local employer. ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Founded in 1878 as the "Montana Collegiate Institute", the school was the first institution of higher learning in Montana. The College of Montana name was adopted in 1883. For much of its existence, the college was affiliated with the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

. Strapped for funding and suffering from a limited enrollment, the school had an erratic existence and finally closed for good in 1916. Seven years later, the organization of the College of Montana merged with that of Montana Wesleyan College to form Intermountain Union College, located in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

. Intermountain Union, in turn, later merged with the Billings Polytechnic Institute to form

Rocky Mountain College Rocky Mountain College (Rocky or RMC) is a private college in Billings, Montana. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. In fall 2013, the college had 1069 enrolled students. It is affiliated with the ...

. Probably the best-known person once associated with the College of Montana was the literary critic

Irving Babbitt Irving Babbitt (August 2, 1865 – July 15, 1933) was an American academic and literary critic, noted for his founding role in a movement that became known as the New Humanism, a significant influence on literary discussion and conservative tho ...

, who taught at the school for a time. Theodore M. Brantley, later Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, taught at the college for several years. Augustus M. Ryon founded the college's School of Mines in 1888, and was named the first president of

Montana State University Montana State University (MSU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Bozeman, Montana. It is the state's largest university. MSU offers baccalaureate degrees in 60 fields, master's degrees in 6 ...

in 1893.''Lists of the Alumni of the Schools of Science of Columbia University, 1899.'' New York: Columbia University, 1899., p. 79.
Accessed 2013-08-19. James R. Reid, who served as the college's president from 1891 to 1893, became the second president of

.Schontzler, Gail. "Presidential Debate: Who Were MSU’s Most Important Presidents?" ''Bozeman Daily Chronicle.'' July 17, 2011.
Accessed 2013-08-14. Buildings from the former College of Montana campus still survive in Deer Lodge, including Trask Hall, which is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

References

Defunct private universities and colleges in Montana University and college buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Montana Educational institutions established in 1878 Rocky Mountain College 1878 establishments in Montana Territory National Register of Historic Places in Powell County, Montana Presbyterian universities and colleges in the United States {{Montana-NRHP-stub