He’s Daft About Taft Owner Of Site Of Ex-Boomtown Collects Its Stories, Mementos

It’s a freeway exit in the middle of nowhere, just east of the Idaho-Montana state line.

Ninety years ago, it was a railroad boomtown. It was so rowdy, said Dean Turner, that you could get shot for just looking crosswise at somebody. Then presidential candidate William Howard Taft came through on a train.

“Taft was a big fellow, I mean a 300-pounder, and he was not above talking the language of the people,” said Turner, who with his sons owns 110 acres at the mountain site.

“What he said, principally, was ‘Knock this off and don’t be killing so many folks.’ They were so impressed, the next day they named the town after him.”

Turner repeats the regional lore with gusto. A collector of stories and antiques, he’s seeking tales or memorabilia about the long-gone town of Taft. He’s been placing newspaper ads, soliciting both.

He envisions using the souvenirs to decorate a restaurant or motel to be built on the Taft property, “maybe next year.” The Turners already own the Pinecrest Lodge down the highway at De Borgia. Sons Mike and John are Missoula car dealers.

Dean Turner’s inquiries have led to fun conversations with western Montana old-timers.

“Some people who called me had torn down the Taft Hotel, which was the last building there. That was in the early ‘60s, when they were getting ready for the interstate,” Turner said.

“These Mineral County people don’t throw anything away. They had two big beveled doors, a screen door with copper on it, an old telephone booth with an accordion door, a buffet, and a nondescript table with the inscription ‘shift to Taft, Montana.’

“There was also a four-by-eight painting from above the bar.”

Another caller steered Turner toward a 1956 book called “Doctors, Dynamite and Dog,” written by the wife of a doctor who had worked at Taft’s two-story hospital.

From Taft, the Northern Pacific tracks headed due east over Lolo Pass. The Milwaukee Railroad headed southeast toward Avery, requiring tunnel after tunnel. The Milwaukee route, dubbed the “Hiawatha Trail,” will open to bicyclists next summer - bringing travelers through Taft once more.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo Map of area

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: HAVE A STORY? Dean Turner can be reached at 406-678-4360; or P.O. Box 300187, DeBorgia, MT 58930.