People used to say "Taft, Montana was the toughest town in the west until Grand Forks, Idaho developed."
Located across the valley at the mouth of Cliff Creek, a Forest Service employee described it as,
"?a wild mushroom construction town. The main section of town had no streets. It was built in the form of a hollow rectangle around a sort of court. Both sides and ends of this court were almost solid with rough lumber and log buildings.
Toward the evening the town would begin to show signs of life and as night came on oil lamps began to glow, player pianos began their tinny din, an orchestra here and there began to tune up.
Women dabbed with rouge came from the cribs upstairs and sat at lunch counters or mingled with the gamblers and rough laborers from the camps. As the hours wore on, the little town became a roaring, seething, riotous brawl of drinking, dancing, gambling and fighting humanity."
Grand Forks burned to the ground three times during its short life, 1907 to 1911. In 1911, the Forest Service succeeded in closing down the last of the illicit operations and sending the owners packing.
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