Welcome back to Thebeerchaser. If you are seeing this post through an e-mail, please visit the blog by clicking on the title above to see all of the photos and the video at the end of the post and so the narrative isn’t clipped or shortened. (External photo attribution at the end of the post # 1)
In this, my fourth and final post on this series on dive bars, I finish with my Gold Medal. My favorite dive in the US is the “former” Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak, Montana – about seventy-five miles from the Canadian border.
The fact that I’ve devoted four different posts on this blog to the Shame, which I visited on a road trip in 2019, attests to this.
I say “former” because the prior owner, John Runkle, sold it at the end of 2022 and it is not the same iconic watering hole that originally opened its doors in 1951. For example, if you check out their current website, it states only:
“We’re currently open for drinks only Friday & Saturday 4:30 pm – Close”
Their “unofficial” Facebook page hasn’t posted since last August.
And this is unfortunate because if one reads author, Joan Melcher’s two books on Montana Watering Holes, you will learn that there are at least three and possibly four incredible stories strictly on how the Shame was originally named:
One involves fighter, Joe Lewis and a second relates the saga of seven dead cows – shot by a guy named Jimmy who left them on the road in front of the bar. Don’t forget the other about a mother-in-law of one of the original owners who would sit in the corner of the bar and admonish him “What a ‘dirty shame’ it was that you bought this bar.” (#2)
This watering hole reeks history
Context…
Having reviewed almost 400 bars and breweries before the pandemic struck, I can honestly say that only a handful have not been enjoyable and positive. (The worst was the Yard House in Portland https://thebeerchaser.com/2016/04/14/the-yard-house-does-it-measure-up/))
I’ve found that the character of some notable bars cannot be differentiated from the personality of their owners – the bar embodies the persona of the proprietor.
Such is the case with former Army Paratrooper, Runkle. (Graduated from the French Commando School, earned his Spanish Jump Wings. The big guy made a total of 53 jumps and ended up as an instructor at Ft. Benning) (#3 – #5)
The following other four bars I’ve reviewed also fit this characterization:
The Goose Hollow Inn – Portland, Oregon – the late Bud Clark
Pinkie Master’s – Savannah, Georgia – the late Pinkie Master *
Smitty’s Green Light – Pueblo Colorado – Greg “Smitty” Smith
Buffalo Bill’s Saloon – Beavercreek, Oregon – Patrick Whitmore
* I never met Pinkie, but there is ample evidence of my assertion
Clockwise – Bud Clark, Smitty, Pinkie Master’s, John Runkle and Patrick Whitmore.
Patrick Whitmore and partner, Barb
Transition to Texas
John and his wife, Dallas, now live in Texas with their three wonderful young children. Dallas, got her undergrad degree at Arizona State University and earned her Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Development from Grand Canyon University.
John met Dallas when she bartended for him in 2013 and they married in 2016. They jointly worked to again integrate the Dirty Shame into the community of 250 people.
Dallas taught elementary school for a year in Bonner’s Ferry, Idaho and then transferred to an elementary school in western Washington. (#6)
She now teaches in Texas where John says, “I’m just a full-time house frau…” And make no mistake, John, who is now 62, loves his kids, stating “I’m the oldest and proudest dad in the world with three kids under seven!” (His son is 2 and daughters are 4 and 6.)
His competitive and over-achieving tendencies were evident, however, when he added:
“Pacino and Robert Deniro make me look bad, they are around 80 and just had a child last year. Makes the bar pretty high for me.”
John sold the Dirty Shame nine years after purchasing it in 2013. Given the hours he worked as owner of both the Dirty Shame and the Yaak River Lodge – about two miles down the road from the bar. Add that the rugged Montana winters and John has certainly earned a respite and as he told me when I was in Yaak:
“At 57, I’m no spring chicken and I don’t have much of a bucket list left. I’m usually at the bar until 2:30 AM on Friday nights and then Saturday morning, I’m up cooking breakfast at 5:30. On Monday morning, it’s tough to get going.”
Is he happy with their decision to relocate? As he stated in a recent Facebook post:
“It’s 91 degrees here today in South Texas…Gotta love this February weather in Texas – I have the air conditioner on!” (#7 – #9)
I became aware of the Dirty Shame while having a beer at the Moose Saloon in Couer d’Alene, Idaho in 2016, when Tara, the bartender asked me if I’d ever been to the bar. She had bartended there and after I researched it, I was fascinated with the story.
Tara at the Moose Saloon
A phone call to John Runkle resulted in an invitation to come to Yaak, stay at the Yaak River Lodge and raise a mug at the Dirty Shame.
John had a very successful career in real estate in Orange County. He also had successful stints in mining equipment and banking including time in Queensland, Australia for several years after he bought Yaak River Lodge in 2004 and before ownership of the Dirty Shame.
The Lodge sits on a beautiful site of 7.5 acres on the Yaak River with llamas and horses about two miles from the Shame. I stayed two nights in the Moose Room ($115 nightly) in 2019 and had John’s home-cooked blue-berry pancakes for breakfast.
That’s when I learned first-hand about Runkle’s work ethic and the hours it took to manage both enterprises.
Acquiring the Dirty Shame – “A Matter of Self-Preservation”
Author, Melcher describes it perfectly in her first book when she talks about her return to the bar:
“….the same wood-planked front porch, the same deer rack used as a door handle, the battered pool table, the loose bathroom door, the grotesque graffiti inside, the loggers, ranchers receptionists, Forest Service people using the bar like a third leg….
The Dirty Shame is the fresh, sharp smell of pine, and the dank odor of dirt-laden, beer-splashed floors, wild nights of revelry and mornings of shared pain.” (Page 88)
In her second book, she lamented the “deterioration” of this historic and iconic bar after a female – a former Wall Street stockbroker and her husband – moved from Maryland and bought the bar in 2006.
They tried to eliminate the “dirty” and “clean it up.”
“What I learn is the that the Dirty Shame died a typically raucous death and has been reborn as a law-abiding establishment, that is really more coffeehouse then bar. Sacrilege!…
Besides a piano and set-up for musicians….she also has book readings and draws many people who aren’t close enough to Yaak to be miffed about what happened to its legendary bar.
The Dirty Shame is dead. Long live the Dirty Shame.” (Pages 54-7,9)
Well, their plans to “civilize” the Shame came to a quick end in 2011 when the former broker’s 82-year-old husband was taken out of the bar in handcuffs and extradited to Maryland after he pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of two female minors according to a story in the Montana newspaper The Ravelli Republic.
The bar went into foreclosure ultimately forcing Runkle to act in 2013:
“It was a matter of self-preservation. I started getting cancellations (at the Lodge) because hunters and bikers wanted to hit the Dirty Shame when they stayed in Yaak.
I was the only one who showed up at the foreclosure sale. I paid cash and was now the owner of another business that I didn’t know anything about how to operate.”
A Community Fixture
John’s creativity and marketing prowess took over and the bar sponsored or participated in the following:
The Sasquatch Festival, the Adult Easter Egg Hunt, the Yaak Attack, Miss Sasquatch Pageant, the Sasquatch Screeching Contest, the Big Foot Run and, of course, the Crawfish Festival each September.
It started with a ceremonial leg shaving and had events including male strippers, female cream wrestlers and mechanical bull riding.
Across the road from the Shame is a nice family-owned bar – the Yaak River Tavern. But it’s ambiance is miles away from its neighbor. John described the difference to me:
“The Yaak River Tavern has an annual Ugly Sweater event. We have a Wet T-shirt Competition!”
The Stories Will Live On….
In my two days in Yaak talking to John and from reading Melcher’s book, I was amazed at the stories and why it gained the moniker, “The World Famous Dirty Shame Saloon.”
It took me four blog posts (see links below) to relate all the stories – most of them from my conversations with John over the two days I was there. You should check them out.
These ranged from John’s efforts after he first bought the bar to plaster up the bullet holes in the walls, to visits from “celebrities” such as the aforementioned Joe Lewis, Howie Long and OJ Simpson detective, Mark Furman among others.
The Kehoe Gang was a notorious gang who committed crimes across the US in the mid-to-late 90’s. Chevie Kehoe was the leader and he and his brother Cheyne, after fleeing across the country, settled in Utah where they were arrested for murder in 1997.
After a trial in which his mother and Cheyne (who had turned himself in) served as star witnesses for the prosecution, he was convicted of murder and several other felonies.
Chevie is now serving three life sentences in Florence Prison in Colorado – known as the “Alcatraz of the Rockies”. Also described as the “clean version of hell”. (#14 – #16)
My second afternoon at the Dirty Shame, I noticed two men who were talking to Darilyn, the bartender. One of them stated in a soft-spoken voice:
“Dar, I think I owe you for the meal I had last week and didn’t want to let that slide by before I forget.”
She checked and said that another regular had already paid it.
John introduced me and they were both nice, personable guys. He stated that they do periodic maintenance and electrical work for him at the bar. After they left, John told me that the older guy was Chevie Kehoe’s, brother Noah and the other was Axel his son – the one who wanted to make sure his bill was paid. Noah lives in Yaak and Axel in Spokane.
The Automatic Rifle attack on John and the Bar (#17)
Right before I left on the road trip to Yaak, I got the following e-mail from John:
“Don, you will see an article where a guy went nuts in the Dirty Shame with an AR-15 and you will also see the video of me bear spraying him and his brother trying to fight their way back into the bar and another video embedded in that article showing him running around the parking lot trying to shoot me through the window and then almost shooting his brother in the head.
It was a crazy night. The Dirty Shame is truly still the Wild Wild West.”
“Troy Man Charged Following Saturday Night Incident at Yaak’s Dirty Shame Saloon.
Visit by the Yaak River Road Murderers
In 2017, two strangers walked into the Dirty Shame:
“Both the woman and the man seemed pretty nervous and were not friendly. They just shrugged when a regular asked them what they were doing in Yaak.”
On television, the next day was a story about a murder committed at Milepost 48 of the Yaak River Road (The Dirty Shame is at Milepost 29).
A woman and her boy friend allegedly shot and killed the woman’s husband and after dumping his body by the Yaak River, escaped in his car. They were considered fugitives and law enforcement throughout the state was looking for them.
John and his staff thought the description matched the couple and alerted law enforcement. He later told a news reporter:
“They acted really unfriendly. I still remembered what they ordered. She ordered a double shot of Jack Daniels. He ordered a double shot of Sailor Jerry’s and they toasted each other, which I didn’t think was weird until two days later,”
This article about the pair entitled, “Guilty Verdict in Yaak Murder Trial” from the Western News tells the story including the result of the trial and the sordid details.
The Crack Pillow and Hatchet Lady
A disheveled woman – apparently high on something and wearing camo-gear, walked in with the pillow seen in the photo above a hatchet stating, “You never know when you’re going to need firewood.”
Check the link to see her behavior at the bar and in leaving. The “crack pillow,” which she gave John as barter for a Mike’s Hard Lemonade, became a permanent fixture in the bar.
The Theft of the Bar’s Life-size Cardboard Trump (#18 – #19)
Numerous Other Tales Including the Search for the Missing Person (#20)
The links to the aforementioned posts are below:
https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/10/01/the-dirty-shame-saloon-continued-stories/
https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/09/11/the-dirty-shame-saloon-in-yaak-part-ii/
https://thebeerchaser.com/2019/10/16/thebeerchasers-final-thoughts-on-the-dirty-shame-saloon/
In Conclusion…
My visit to the Dirty Shame in Yaak left me feeling better about the possibility of civility in times of polarization.
John and I have distinctly different political beliefs and yet one of the conversations I enjoyed the most was at a table drinking beer with John and his good friend, Todd Berget, who unfortunately passed away of a stroke about a month after my visit at the young age of 54.
Todd was a dedicated teacher and coach for many years, but also a gifted artist and craftsman who formed his own company to produce metal sculptures (Custom Iron Eagles.)
He gifted the Dirty Shame with his collection of metal motorcycles that he started collecting when he was a kid. They are intricate and reflect an artistic talent for capturing detail which is intriguing and the displays add to the spirit of the saloon.
John Runkle is a staunch conservative and Trump supporter. And John told me, “Todd is a liberal whose ideology would be left of Stalin’s!” Yet the three of us had a wonderful and far-ranging conversation, much of it about the rich friendship they had for many years.
Regardless of their political persuasion, John loved his patrons and staff and they reciprocated.
Unfortunately, I did not get to return to the Dirty Shame before its sale. But before I left, I presented John with two bottles of Benedictine Beer from the Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon.
A gift from the Benedictine monks
John Runkle is still a relatively young man although when I e-mailed him to verify his age, he replied, “I remember when I was young, I thought somebody 62 would be in a nursing home with a walker!”
When his three kids are old enough to be in school full time, who knows what endeavors he will pursue in Texas. It might be in hospitality, politics, non-profits or some other business, but you better believe he will not be spending his days sitting on his couch and watching Fox News. (That would – pardon the expression – be “a dirty shame.”)
And perhaps he’ll open a dive bar in Texas. After all, he has a gold medal to defend…….
And the stories and the legacy of the World Famous Dirty Shame Saloon will live on even though the bar will never be the same. (#21 – 24)
Cheers
External Photo Attribution
#1. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (2012_Olympic_Gold_Medal.jpg (1536×2048) (wikimedia.org)) This file is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. Author: Carlinmack – 16 September 2012.
#2. (https://yaakrealestate.com/29253-yaak-river-road-yaak-mt.html) Sharin Lamp, Realtor.
#3 – #6. Courtesy of John Runkle.
#7 – #9. John Runkle Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/john.runkle.).
#10 – #13. Courtesy of John Runkle.
#14. Southern Poverty Law Center (Two Members of Notorious Kehoe Family Arrested Again | Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org).
#15. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:Florence ADMAX.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) This image is a work of a United States Department of Justice employee, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain (17 U.S.C. § 101 and 105). Federal Bureau of Prisons – 2010.
#16. (Chevie Kehoe – Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia).
#17. Public Domain – Wikimedia Commons (File:DPMS AR-15 less frame.jpg – Wikimedia Commons) I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. 18 May 2009.
#18 – #24. Courtesy of John Runkle.
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