Through a myriad of images taken by H. English and A.J. Elton and compiled by F.E. Albrecht, an employee at the Taft, Montana Office and Commissary of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, the album chronicles aspects of life in the rugged frontier town of Taft, Montana in the heart of the Bitterroot Mountains, dubbed by a Chicago Tribune Reporter as “the wickedest city in America."

The first images show Taft following its initial fire in August of 1908, with one captioned "Out of 29 buildings 24 are occupied by saloons. This portion of Taft was completely destroyed by fire," and another evocative shot depicting two women in undergarments walking the tracks annotated "Two homeless Taft women after fire."

The album captures expansions along the CMSP&PRR (commonly referred to as "The Milwaukee Road"), including construction views of the momentous St. Paul Pass Tunnel which linked Chicago to Seattle and passed from Taft to Grand Forks, Idaho. It is said that an estimated 1000 Montenegrin immigrants were recruited for the job, known for their hard-rock drilling skills. These men were led by their "king," Milosh Kolezich, who was gunned down by the Tunnel Foreman, Holmes "Reddy" Hayes, following a dispute in Fall of 1907. Hayes hastily skipped town following the incident, but returned in 1908 to resume his post, wrongly assuming the Montenegrins had left the work camp. Within moments of his return a gunfight was underway in which six men were killed, including Reddy Hayes. One particular photograph shows "Deputy Sherriff Callahan searching Montenegrins after murder of Foreman Hayes.

Other views show the work camps in the towns of Taft and Grand Forks; scenes of workmen atop rail cars, in the tunnels, and "waiting for dinner [the] bell"; group portraits of identified employees (Albrecht included), and others such as Dr. L. J. Coria who ran the local hospital; shots showing the many present Saloons; and other aspects of railroad construction including wrecks and rail-laying.

By the beginning of the 20th century, most frontier towns that had managed to survive the end of westward expansion were becoming gentrified, settling down with an influx of families and the less adventurous or desperate, but not Taft. Founded as an anonymous camp in 1907, Taft was home to railroad workers attempting to extend the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroads through the Bitterroot Mountains. John Shontz, a researcher with the Milwaukee Road Historical Association, said that Taft “truly was the last boom town in the American west. There were only three houses and no schools. There were bars and saloons and pool halls and prostitutes.” The second biggest profession in town was prostitute, and there were between 20 and 50 saloons for a population of less than 7,000. The town’s concentration of criminals was so high that the coming of spring and the thawing of the snow inevitably led to the discovery of dead bodies. In Taft’s final spring, records indicate as many as seventeen corpses were found.

Legend has it that the town’s name came about following a visit from then-Secretary of War and future President, who described the camp as a “sewer of sin” and “a sore on the otherwise beautiful national forest.” The town was named after Taft either in mocking jest or as a token of the workers’ umbrage, depending on which sources you consult.

Ultimately, like Sodom and Gomorrah, the town’s end was cataclysmic. There were two fires between 1907 and 1910, the latter of which devastated the town past the point of return. The last remaining buildings in Taft were flattened for the construction of the interstate in 1962, and today nothing remains of the wickedest city in America save for an exit off of I-90.