Welcome to St. Marie – Home of the Adventurous
If there’s one thing you might notice about my adventures over the years, it’s this – I love ghost towns. There’s something almost ethereal about walking through a place that was once alive and vibrant but now stands silent, a shadow of its former self.
Let’s roll back the clock to 1954. The concept of an airbase and its surrounding amenities first took shape on paper. At the height of the Cold War, after the launch of Sputnik, the US Air Force sought a rapid-response bomber base. Enter Glasgow Air Force Base. Originally designed for 1,300 people, it quickly grew into a full-blown community. By 1957, construction was complete, and the base could accommodate up to 10,000 residents.
As a central hub against the Soviets, the base boasted top-notch amenities: a movie theatre, bowling alley, hospital (later converted into a detox center), grocery store, and schools.
However, as the threat of Soviet conflict began to fade, so did the Valley’s economic prospects. The base was decommissioned in 1968, then briefly reopened from 1971 to 1976. During that time, it was repurposed for howitzer parts manufacturing and became a training ground for trade students building homes on-site to hone their craft.
Then came the mass exodus. Practically overnight, the community and its neighboring town were abandoned. By 1980, 16,000 people had left the Valley. Only a few hundred remained, holding on among the ruins well into the early 1980s. Around this time, a retired veteran named Patrick Kelly began buying properties, hoping to transform the area into a retirement community. His intentions were good, but years later, the town drew the attention of a darker, more malicious force. And that’s when things got weird. Enter the Sovereign Citizens.
Spanning 7,000 acres, Pat Kelly saw the potential of the rundown community and set out to bring it back to life. At the time, it was still known as Glasgow Air Force Base. After purchasing 1,200 empty units, Kelly began revitalizing the town under a new identity—naming it after his daughter: St. Marie.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as planned. By 1996, Kelly was out of money, and the project went bankrupt. Still, a few hundred residents remained, quietly enjoying the slower pace of life.
Sixteen years later, things got strange. REALLY strange. Around 2012–2013, unsettling signs with ominous messages started appearing. A group of “Sovereign Citizens” (radicals who believe most laws—particularly federal laws—don’t apply to them) arrived under the name DTM Enterprises. They paid off the back taxes on 400 units, sparking a decade-long legal battle over ownership. Conflicts erupted between the group, Pat Kelly, and the original homeowners—ranging from radical ownership claims to failed attempts at forming homeowner associations.
Their reputation didn’t help matters. Many locals claim they hold strong antisemitic views, file frivolous court claims, and in 2011, the FBI even labeled them a “domestic terrorist group.”
Through the grapevine, I’ve heard stories of explorers being kicked out at gunpoint. Personally, I believe most of these stories are exaggerated. During the three days my wife and I spent there, we encountered nothing but polite smiles and cautious concern—not hostility or hate.
When the temperature goes south; the local population goes with it. Every winter a handful of the snowbirds in town make the migration to warmer shores. It’s an odd feeling exploring so much abandonment with people living amongst it – in a very intimate setting. When the legal battles ensued between the sovereign citizens and Patrick Kelly; there’s always collateral damage. The retirees whom wanted a quiet peaceful life – were now at centre stage. It’s sad after so much time devoted to their careers – they had to be subjected to insanity.
The remains of the airbase are currently co-owned between the Montana Goverment and Boeing. When the transition of ownership took place – rumours ran rampant; what were they hiding? Nuclear weapons, top secret aircraft, … aliens? In reality it’s a facility used by Boeing for privately testing their aircraft and upcoming technology.
Its current fate is as you see: a once bustling state of the art air base, with a vibrant community – rotting away in the middle of nowhere. Most of the abandoned homes are far beyond repair and I would surmise will eventually be knocked down or succumb to the elements.
As for the few remaining towns people? The few we ran into were humble, kind, and genuinely curious why people find abandonment so fascinating. Like the buildings around them – they sit quietly and undisturbed.
The photo shown below – was my last drone shot of the day. One of the locals popped by to investigate the truck he’d seen around town. Friendly, and quiet – he walked away with his dog close behind.
