Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w. d i s t i n c t ly m o n ta n a . c o m 91 INtroDuCtIoN From the east, US 2 begins on the east coast of Maine and ends at Everett, Washington, on the west coast, a distance of about 3,000 miles. Once through the states of Wisconsin, Minnesota, and most of North Dakota, the highway meets and parallels the Missouri River and the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad near Williston, North Dakota, 24 miles east of the Montana border. Into Montana at Nashua begins the Milk River, a tributary of the Missouri River. From this point westward to the Continental Divide at Marias Pass, the vast plains region of northern Montana is called the Hi-Line (High Line). The name originates from the old Great Northern Railway's track westward from Havre being a gradually elevating roadbed. The heart of this country is Havre, the county seat of Hill County and headquarters for the Montana division of the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railroad. The landscape varies from brown rolling hills and bar- ren badlands to low buttes and shallow tree-lined valleys. In this country some of the finest milling and baking wheat in the world is grown. In fact Hill County is now the greatest wheat-producing area in Montana. Because this land is remote, its early history has been passed over by historians of the American West. Ap- proaching Havre from the east on US 2, one will see on the right side of the road, a state historical sign post that in part says: "Havre came into existence as a division point when the Great Northern Railroad was built and provided pastime to cowboys, doughboys (soldiers) and coal miners on the side. It is hard to believe now, but as a frontier town she was wild and hard to curry." VICE kINg C.W. "Shorty" Young Jr. was destined to become north- ern Montana's and Havre's vice king. His notoriety spread throughout the West. Very few salesmen or drummers would miss an opportunity to stay at Shorty's Montana Hotel. Shorty was "Shorty" because he was only about 5 feet 2 inches. But he was well proportioned and wiry, almost as if he were a wrestler or an acrobat. The blue-eyed, brown- haired Young always had a big cigar in his mouth. He generally wore suits and loved striped shirts. He came to Havre in 1895 and first worked as roulette wheel operator at Decker's Palace Hotel on First Street. Shorty's first call was at Reuben Hauser's barbershop. Without funds he received a haircut and shave on the cuff. He then registered at the Windsor Hotel, changed clothes, and headed for the gambling houses. After a few hours at the tables, he made enough to reimburse Hauser, pay the hotel, and keep pocket money too. DEPartMENt HErItagE HErItagE HErItagE Honky-Tonk Town: Havre by gary a. WILSoN Editor's note: From its beginnings as a railroad town in 1887, havre was a tough town with plenty of saloons, gambling halls, opium dens, and brothels. With the passage of Prohibition, it was a natural hub for smuggling illegal alcohol across the nearby Canadian border. One of its most successful "entrepreneurs" was Shorty young.

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