In the early 1900's Charlie Thomas and his family made their way west to the Dayton valley.  After spending some time about 4 miles south of Lake Mary Ronan, medical problems and doctor's orders to "rough it" forced the family to make a 4 mile trek up to the lake in the late spring and then back down to the valley in early fall.

It was during his summers at the lake that the first signs of a thriving business sprouted.  Charlie had built a boat out of wood to do his fishing so he could feed his family.  One-by-one his friends would find out about the fishin' and ask to borrow his boat for the day.  It wasn't long before Charlie was building more boats and renting them out for $1/day.

His successes didn't stop there.  He had also built a lean-to which served as shelter for his family.  In those days, it wasn't easy to make that trip from the valley to the lake, so his friends got the idea of staying at the lake overnight. Charlie built another lean-to which was, in his words, "spiffier" than the last and before he knew it he had built his first cabin.  He also rented these out for $1/night.

During his time at Camp Tuffit, Charlie and his wife were able to raise a family while continuing to build a thriving business.  Upon his passing away, Camp Tuffit was handed down to his son Jerome, and then to is grandsons, Mark and Gary. 

Today, Camp Tuffit is in it's third generation and as strong as ever.  Along with the ownership, there are three or four generations of customers that have passed on the secret of this rustic resort to their children who make the choice to spend their vacation here year after year to experience the majestic beauty of Northwest Montana.

 

The first camp store;
located in the same place it is today!

 

The archway, showing the way to Camp Tuffit from Highway 93.

 

Camp Tuffit
July, 1924

 

The piano hut, on the right, where many musical shows were born.

An old combustion engine gets a run-through in the late summer.

An old wooden boat is used as decoration by some of the guests.