Saint Marie, in a remote part of northeastern Montana, is the site of an Air Force base that was shut down in 1968. Now 500 people live in a town that was designed to house 12,000. Nine out of ten houses are boarded up and choked with weeds. But in this setting - winter temperatures drop to minus 40, the nearest store is 20 miles away, and one resident admits it looks like a war zone - there is a thriving community of hardy souls intent on being left alone.
(Broadcast: "Mountain West Voices," 11/24/14. Listen weekly on the radio on Mondays, 3:00 p.m., or via podcast.)