In 1923, not long after oil had started gushing from northern Montana fields, real-estate sales in nearby Shelby were declining, dimming the little town's prospects of becoming the 'Tulsa of the West.' Then the mayor's son dreamed up a marketing ploy: offer to host heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey's next fight. What began as a publicity stunt soon spiraled into a civic drama unlike any Montana had ever seen-or ever would again. Shelby's Folly tells this story in full for the first time. Against