Distinctly Montana Magazine

67 w w w. d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m cost $465,367 to build, and when it was completed the Snowden bridge was the longest vertical lift bridge in the world. It has four steel truss spans in its 1,159-foot length, and the lift span on the southern end is 296 feet long. Two 100-foot-high towers carry concrete counterweights that are so precisely balanced the bridge required only a three-horsepower engine—smaller than the motor of an average lawnmower—to lift the 571-ton steel span. It took about 30 minutes to raise it 43 feet. A 500-man crew, assembled by Union Bridge and Construc- tion of Kansas City, Missouri, built a small shanty town on the Snowden side of the river, and many of the workers also found housing in nearby Mondak, about two miles downstream from the bridge site. Mondak was situated on the river hard against the North Dakota border (MONtana-DAKota, get it?), and was a popular stop for traders and ferries, including The City of Mon- dak, Montana's largest steam ferry. It was also one of the most dangerous towns in northeast Montana, as its isolation and proximity to a dry state made it a magnet for trouble. Thirsty North Dakotans would stroll across the border into a Montana saloon (one of which straddled the border which was painted on the floor), where booze was legal. Not so legal were the bor- dellos that sprouted all over the lawless town, identified by the red lights burning in the dark. Established in 1903, the town fea- tured three breweries, more than a dozen bars, and exactly one church. Murders were not uncommon, and more than 40 lynch- ings were committed in the area during Mondak's brief heyday. One such lynching was particularly heinous, and involved one of the bridge workers, many of whom were Black men from Mis- EDNOR THERRIAULT T h at I t ' s D a n g e r o u s S a f e S o S o T h at I t ' s S a f e D a n g e r o u s

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