Honky-Tonk Town: Havre, Montana's Lawless Era

by Gary A. Wilson

Overview

From its beginnings as a railroad siding in 1887, Havre, Montana was a tough, wide-open town with plenty of saloons, gambling halls, opium dens, brothels, and cheap cribs. With the passage of Prohibition, it was a natural hub for smuggling illegal alcohol across the nearby Canadian border. Honky-Tonk Town tells the story of this wild and woolly frontier town.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762740697
Publisher:	TwoDot
Publication date:	06/01/2006
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.44(d)

About the Author

Gary A. Wilson's previous books include "Long" George Francis: Gentleman Outlaw of Montana and Outlaw Tales of Montana. As a biographer, historian and publisher, Wilson has been researching the history of northern Montana since 1978. He is a founding board member of the Fort Assinniboine Preservation Association and is active in several local and regional tourist and historical organizations. He lives in Havre, Montana.

Read an Excerpt

The Chase Hardin tired of the wait and accelerated to about 60 miles per hour. Another three miles brought them to the Creedman Coulee bridge. Hardin eased off the gas pedal to about 20 m.p.h. to negotiate the narrow bridge. As they swung into the corner, they saw a car blocking the far side of the structure, and a voice commanded, "Stop that car or I'll kill you!" Hardin instead floor-boarded it, and drove off the road and around the blockagde. They kept low because the hijackers had opened fire with rifles and they were unarmed. Suddenly Hardin moaned and slumped over the wheel. A bullet had struck him in the back of the head and killed him instantly. His brains and blood were gruesomely spattered on the bullet-riddled windshield. Kilbourne, stunned with horror, momentarily recovered his senses and grabbed the steering wheel. The bandits' car came alongside and one of them daringly jumped on the Hudson's running board. "Stop the car or we'll fill you full of lead," he ordered.

Table of Contents

Introduction; The Last Frontier; Havre Reforms; The Homesteaders' Invasion; Havre Versus the State of Montana; The Border Saloon Raid; The Bootleggers Organize; The Murder of Jack Hardin; The Bank Robbers; The Deadly Game of Cat and Mouse; The Honky Tonk Burns; Booze is Legal; The Vice King is Dead; Epilogue; Appendix; Bibliography.