Old Missoula

Life In The Camps Is Strenuous

An Idaho Officer Tells About The Current Of Events At Taft.

Big Deputy Sheriff Dennis, who looks after the law and order of the Milwaukee construction work on the Idaho side of the line from the tunnel at St. Paul pass to the St. Joe, has been in Wallace on an official visit and he has been telling the people there about life in the construction camps and along the grade. The Idaho Press man at Wallace picked up the portly officer’s talk and made a good story. Dennis told his story in the Press about this way:

“Stories of conditions at Taft and in the St. Joe country have not been exaggerated much. Some time ago there was a cutting scrape and I heard something of it when I went over there December 14, but I could not find the guilty persons for a long time. Finally I did locate the Italian who did the cutting. He was called Nick Paldoria, and was foreman of a grading camp, and it seems that he offered to pay the victim’s hospital ticket for a year and to pay for the time he lost by being cut up, providing no arrests were made. When I went to arrest him he was working on the grade, and he got mad in a minute. ‘You can’ta arresta me; I gotta de clear papah; see de reseet; looka at dat,’ producing a hospital ticket paid up for a year in advance for the man he carved. ‘You can’ta arresta me wen I gotta de papah; letta me go.’

Dago Had Diphtheria.

“I arrested him and told him he had to go with me to Wallace, so he finally consented to come with me. We started out early the next morning, but when we got to the west portal of the tunnel he got sick and laid down on me. I put him in a wagon and took him to Taft. He was sick and no mistake, and I went to the coop they have for a jail there and saw at once that it was no place for a sick man, so I went up to the hospital, and the doctors examined him and took his temperature. It was 104. The doctor said that he had pneumonia and was developing symptoms of diphtheria, so he placed him in a room and quarantined him, and I came over here to Wallace to get instructions from Sheriff Bailey.

McMillan Shot by Dago.

“I heard they took a bullet out of Jack McMillan’s neck at Providence hospital here yesterday. They told me when I went up there that a dago went into McMillan & McVety’s saloon, where the former was running a black jack game. The dago bet a dollar and lost. He placed a $10 bill on the table to pay, and instead of McMillan giving him back $9, he placed the bill in his pocket and gave him no change. The dago got mad and the two men had some words, and McMillan started to kick the dago out. He fired a Winchester at him as he was going through the door and followed up the road and kept shooting at the dago, but I guess he did not hit him. The dago hid behind a tree and two of the bullets from McMillan’s gun lodged in it. As the dago was leaving the saloon, it seems that he picked up a shotgun, broke it as he was leaving the door and shoved in two shells, and threatened to shoot McMillan if he did not leave him alone. He finally did shoot McMillan and laid him out. The dago and his pal skipped out and have not been heard of since.

Taft Jail a Coop.

“Well, sir, the jail they’ve go at Taft is nothing but a coop. It is made of 2x4s or 2x6s nailed together flat-ways and is about 16×16 feet square. There is a little stove in it and a few blankets, and the inmates have to sleep on the floor, as there are no bunks. Pat Callahan, the deputy sheriff of Taft, keeps the place pretty well filled, though. He is a good officer and gives everybody a square deal, but when he sees someone doing wrong he goes after him right.

“Everything is wide open in Taft and there is plenty of money in circulation. All of Winston’s checks are payable in cash and nearly all of the saloons and stores in Taft will cash them. Some charge 1 per cent for cashing them, though. There are all kinds of gambling and nearly every saloon has a place where one can take a chance. There is chuck luck, stud poker, draw poker, black jack, dice and crap games.

“I was told yesterday that there was 62 lewd women in Taft, and the usual percentage of secretaries living off their earnings. There are 11 or 12 saloons, and it is said the drug store also sells booze. There are three shifts there all the while, one shift going, another one coming and one shift working on the grade. The population of Taft changes so rapidly that it is hard to get a definite count of those who stay there.

“I make my headquarters at Carlson’s camp No. 1, where I usually spend two days. Then I go down the road and stop at every saloon along the line and stay there a while. There are five saloons now and two more going up. My beat is about 17 miles long and I go over it once in every four or five days.

Snow Six Feet Deep.

“The snow ranges from two and a half feet to six and a half feet in depth, and, of course, hinders the work somewhat. The wagon road from Taft to Johnson’s camp No. 1, at the St. Joe river, is about 23 miles long, and there are 100 teams hauling in supplies all the time. That keeps the road well broken. There are no ‘blind pigs’ in the St. Joe country now. I looked for them every place, but could not find one.

Taft No. 2.

“There is going to be a Taft No. 2 at the loop, at Carlson’s camp No. 1. There are two saloons going up there, a livery stable, blacksmith shop, a hotel, and a store or so will be opened up by spring. There is no peace officer from the end of my beat on the west to St. Joe, and there are many men working there now, but in the spring there will be many more.

“From the west portal of the tunnel to the St. Joe river, which I patrol, there 2,000 men in 14 camps, and considering the class of men there now, there is not a great deal of disturbance. Conditions there are better now than they were when I went over. They all know now there is a deputy sheriff around, and that has a quieting effect upon them.

$2,000 for Christmas Whisky.

“One saloonkeeper told me he sold over $2,000 worth of whisky for the Christmas celebration. The men working on the grade did not work the day before Christmas or on Christmas day, or the day after, but it was a good, long, jolly drunk, and everyone was happy and good-natured, and there was no trouble to speak of. The men who are working on the stations, having small contracts, extended their celebrations until after New Year’s, but things have settled down again to a normal state. There are no women west of the tunnel, except two, who are wives of engineers on the work.

The Christmas Feast.

“The contractors treated the men to a big feed for Christmas. There were turkeys in abundance, oysters, cranberry sauce and all the good things that go to make a Christmas feast enjoyable. The men furnished the drink, and it was a jolly crowd that passed Christmas in the St. Joe country this year, so far from civilization.

Work Progresses

“The work on the grading is getting along well, considering the weather and snow, but the contractors are pleased with the progress being made. More men will be put to work in the spring and then things will begin to hum in earnest.”

The above article appeared in The Daily Missoulian on January 8, 1908.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349203971