Where is the Taft cemetery?

“Bullet, belt buckle, button,” the metal detector’s screen reads various items buried some seven feet beneath the earth. Forest Service Archeologist Erika Karuzas continues to wave the detector over an area that most believe is the location of an old cemetery. Located on a hillside covered with 100-year-old lodge pole pine overlooking Interstate 90.

The cemetery once belonged to a rough and tumble railroad town called Taft just seven miles east of Montana/Idaho border. The area is home to one of railroads biggest accomplishments, the 1.66-mile-long St. Paul Pass or Taft Tunnel. The area once swelled to over 4,000 Milwaukee railroad workers, saloon and shop keepers, hospital staff and prostitutes between 1906 and 1909.

Most inhabitants moved on once the railroad work on the tunnel was completed. However, during the height of the boom, the impetuous town took its toll on the population. Murder, disease and accidents claimed the lives of many men who worked in harsh mountain conditions. The men would come to Taft for rest and relaxation in over 25 saloons which housed nearly 500 prostitutes. This was at a time when Taft was in Missoula County and the closest sheriff was 80 miles away in Missoula, leaving the town lawless and fueled by alcohol and short tempers.

During the spring thaw of 1908, several bodies were discovered in a snow bank behind the saloons. The ground too frozen to bury the dead, they were simply stored in the cold until warmer weather. Most of the bodies were shipped back to the deceased homes or sent to Missoula. However, some ended up in the little cemetery located behind the town’s hospital.

Unfortunately, the wooden grave markers were swept away in the historic fire of 1910 which ravaged the northwest from Washington to Montana. Official records of the cemetery were either never kept or destroyed in the fire. The souls buried there seemed forever lost in time. Until Karuzas and her crew began the quest to search for the lost cemetery last year. This included Bruce Erickson and Steve Waylett with the forest service, and John Shontz. Shontz initially discovered the missing cemetery while researching the Taft Tunnel for an upcoming magazine article.

An article in the Aug. 22, 2019, issue of the Mineral Independent told the story of the search. During that initial investigation, the group had searched an area just west of the Taft Exit. In September, Karuzas along with others in the search party, went back up to the area and found the cemetery further east than originally thought. This time she was armed with a metal detector. With it she was able to scan below the surface and found items that were representative of graves. Including bullets, belt buckles, iron, and buttons located some seven to eight feet down. Thus confirming the actual cemetery site.

“I had a number of “hits,” it was thrilling — to say the least — to be up there again and this time be able to record each of those locations (over 40 total),” said Karuzas. She identified a “hit” as a location roughly six by three feet (about the size of a coffin) buried underground. From there she got the readings on how far down the items were located.

It is located north of I-90 and is on a sliver of Forest Service land in between private property and Montana State land. With the location identified, she has contacted the Montana State Historic Preservation office and will request a site record. Eventually the property will be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This will get it a Smithsonian number and will be protected under federal laws. Superior District Ranger Carole Johnson has also requested markers placed on the ground at the site to protect the cemetery with a Taft Cemetery sign.

Additionally, State Historian Jon Axline, with the Montana Department of Transportation, would like to put a historical kiosk about Taft at the Dena Mora rest area located west of the Taft Exit.

Karuzas is also working with Dr. Kelly Dixon, an anthropology professor at the University of Montana. Dixon is offering a fall 2019 class to graduate students to expand the information about the site. Her class is currently investigating potential individuals buried in the cemetery with the help of research done by Shontz. They have identified at least 35 men so far. They will also assist with writing a background history and mapping the area.

There have been discussions to actually exhume at least one grave to confirm the cemetery site. However, Karuzas is not in favor of exhuming a grave and is hoping to use Ground Penetrating Radar instead. She has also been in touch with Garden City Monument Company in Missoula about getting a stone marker for the site. Until the site can be secured, the exact location will not be released to the public.