Remarkable video! I grew up on a wheat farm just south of Joplin, MT, with many hours on tractors and combines. I left in 1956 to college, then military academy, 21 years as Army officer, 24 years as CPA, I’m now 85. The farm is still active as my brother has been on that farm since he graduated from college, with some 60 years of surviving northern MT winters. He and his wife are 82, tough people, 60 some years of marriage, raised a family and sent them off to college and med school. I have not been back since my mother’s funeral and the untimely death and funeral of my brother’s only son, a US Naval officer. I was saddened to see that the towns are as dead as they appear to be. The video certainly raises some memories, I attended grade school in Joplin and Inverness and two years of High School in Hingham and graduated from Shelby High in 1956. My father was a school superintendent, hired to assist local school boards in their struggles to save their schools in those three hi-line towns, Joplin, Inverness, Hingham; he was obviously also a wheat farmer on the farm where I grew up, holding two very time consuming and demanding jobs with the help of his family. A word about the farms in that area: as I said, my brother’s farm is active as are other farms in that area but it is a struggle. Costs and expenses are without limit, fertilizer, fuel, machinery, etc. The price of wheat has fluctuated with the geopolitical crises abroad and the political games being played here in the US. The farmer seems to be the last person the politicians think about in their games. Thanks for the video, Chris, and the memories! I hope this has not been too long but I wanted to give a touch of flavor for the towns on the hi-line from someone who grew up there. I welcome comments or questions.

It is striking to see the contrast of these old, largely abandoned towns under the shadow of a passing train full of Amazon Connex boxes. How the world has changed. In many ways we have forgotten middle America and small businesses, and instead supported massive corporations like Amazon due to convenience. The abandoned homes also stood out to me. What stories could those walls tell, what memories were made there? It is sad in some ways. What a fascinating look at this part of the country, thank you for sharing! I have long had a deep appreciation for Ghost Towns and rural American towns.

I was born in Circle Montana in the early 80s, this video really captures the essence of these forgotten prairie towns. Thank you.

Thank you. I grew up in Dodson and Zortman. I loved the “big” dance floor in Jerry Johnson’s bar in Zortman. I attended 3 different one room school houses: Ruby Gulch, Zortman and Brookside. Thank you, again. 😢

It's very sad that we've done this to our country. We've sold out our manufacturing and allowed the rich and the powerful to destroy our country. I hope someday these are we populated towns with families of loving, hardworking people

Northern Montana is truly a treasure. Sad to see some of this. Nothing like the big sky great plains. Nothing compares

The charm and history of these small towns on the prairies just are so cool to see. Thanks for sharing!

America is fascinating country that I love so much I'm from Brazil but my soul tells me I did belong there I can't explain how much I love this country God bless the USA ❤❤❤ from Rio Brazil

When you are unable to travel these videos are the next best thing. Thank you for sharing😃

I am 90 USAF- was stationed at 778 AC&W SQ Havre Montana - Most of the towns at this time were Open and Busy Sad - Such Is Life

I am 68 and I have lived in Alabama every since I was 8 , but I was born in Billings Montana than my family moved to Great Falls Montana . My dad used to take me and my brother and sister( who are 7 and 9 nine years older than me) to Ghost Towns on the weekends . Even though I was very young I remember one in particular which had boarded sidewalks and it looked as though the people just got up and left , we went into a old saloon and there empty whiskey bottles still on the bar , and poker chips on the table ; it was like something out of the movies . Don't ask me where I have No idea , I was like 4 or 5 .

Really appreciate you showing the small older towns we used to service them in the 60s we serviced all of Montana as far as oil furnaces

I have lived in Montana for most of my life and love it. My grandparents lived in a gost town called St Marie by Glasgow, it was an old military air base you should check it out.

The landscape is desolate and the wind and weather is brutal.

Good old Montana!!! Proud to be born there, can’t say I miss the winters!

My mom taught school for a year in Saco in 1938-39 as new minted college grad (MSU). Really cool to see it and think of my 24 yo Mom living there. They had terrible floods from ice floes that year!

I grew up in Montana. Most of my family is in Helena now. My my mom is in Missoula. I love seeing your videos, it brings me back.

I'm a former Montanan. My college girlfriend at UM was educated in a one-room schoolhouse, and her mother, whose family pioneered on the high line, didn't see a tree until she was ten. The Great Plains have always fascinated me (I lived in Missoula, however).

I have to say that it is absolutely amazing to see you go through this area of Montana because that is where I am from. Especially later in the video when you are going through places like Harlem, Saco, Dodson, and Zortman because those are all places that I have spent a large part of my life around and I love being able to recognize them in the video. I have a connection to each of those places in some way and I am glad that you were able to an area of Montana that I love and enjoy it in your own way.

I take Amtrak between Portland and Chicago fairly often and fell in love with Northern Montana. Sometimes I fly to Great Falls, rent a car to explore and always spend some time up on the hi-line area, Hwy 2. The first time I looked at my car rental agreement I couldn’t believe it said the car could not be driven on gravel roads haha…you simply can’t drive in Montana without being on at least a few unpaved roads. I always cross that part off and take full coverage. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I love that you did a video on the high line. Sad to see it so far gone from even 20+ years ago. I grew up in Geraldine, MT population 280. But you are right when you say the people are friendly and they love to tell stories!

I'm way down in NM and I'm on the old side so I probably won't ever get back to Montana. I used to backpack in Montana and Canada a lot. Love the area. Thanks for sharing. I just love these old towns and buildings.

I wrote below age- 90, 1956 Havre Air Force- NEVER Expected So Many Replies to Your Video! All You Folks - We are in a special Club - God Bless Us All!

Think I haven't seen some of these towns, since I was a kid, in the 70s. Used to fish up there. Sad to see them abandoned. Good memories! 🌿💙

Having traveled through Montana in the winter many times these places can be COLD and depressing places in the winter.

Thank you for sharing this with us. My dad was in the Air Force, and we were stationed at Malstrom Air Force Base in the 60's. We left when i was 6 in 1970. Both my parents and I loved Montana. My dad was an avid outdoorsman and hunted and fished all over Montana. He loved it there. We lost him 3 years ago 😢. Thank you again for sharing this and bringing such joyful, loving memories of my dad for me.

Thanks very much Chris. I really enjoyed this video. Seeing them makes one imagine what the people and their kids are doing these days. If the kids (even when older) ever go back and dream about the "good old days." Out in rural Montana, rural America.

Montana and Vermont are just breathtaking.

Abandoned buildings, endless plain and yellow grass, sun and blue sky, a very impressive scene. I would love to see it all live. In America, even abandoned places can look attractive.

Drank beer in the Cowboy bar. And the Old Brand Saloon in Saco was a great watering hole. Loved driving the Highline( hwy2).

Thanks for posting this. It brought back a lot of memories. I used to play little league games in Rudyard and Joplin as a kid. Born in Havre, grew up in Big Sandy. It's bittersweet to see these towns today.

Many thanks Chris for bringing us another fantastic trip through Montana, I really enjoyed this journey through your camera... The whole place would be a great photo shoot though the night' with all those old trucks, cars, grain elevators and retro garages, fuel pumps....WOW.....WOW....WOW....Best 73s tyou and your family Chris.... From the uk.... Take care out and about.... 😊❤

I Love that frame starting at 15:45 with the shot of that old derelict service station and then Bam!! your snapped back into reality when that Amazon Prime cars go wizzing by, clash between to worlds and a sign of the times. Thanks for sharing!

Good old Montana! Simply an amazing video! Thank you 👌

Galata is a Genoese tower in Constantinople (Modern-day Istanbul), and Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. I visited both in 1997 and 2017.

So kind to vintage photographers.

That was so awesome! I love vintage stuff and old buildings. Thank you for sharing this.

Rudyard, MT used to have signs on various highways pointing towards the town with a big arrow. Underneath it said: Rudyard, MT 296 nice people and one old sore head.

Big sky country. Love to all the lovely folk in Montana.

i really like how normally he speaks while he explains the places and buildings, very enjoyable video

i live in north Dakota, looks like every town we have here ,i assumed every town or city has a grain elevator. its usually population 150 or so ,1 gas staion ,grain elevators ,a post office and 3 bars .

Thank you for touring us to Montana. Those are such a beautiful towns. If only those abandoned structures could talk and tell stories.

Really cool video of Northern Montana ghost towns. 🙌🙌👏👏Thanks for sharing your travels Chris.😊😊

Found memories of these towns in the '50s and '60s.

Used to love traveling the Hi-line when visiting family in Alberta. We've had lunch at the Inverness Bar & Supper Club (very nice owners!), and I got a tour of the old theater in Rudyard. It's been in the same family since it opened in the 1940s, and still has its original popcorn machine.

Geweldig Mooi, prachtige beelden vooral die kleine kerken in open veld, met de prachtige wolken hemel met een beetje zon...

I lived in Chester, MT in the late 80s and my boss lived in Joplin. Its amazing how much these towns have declined since then.

Thank you. Never been to Montana and, unfortunately, never will. Glad to look at this part of my country and a bit of history to remember.

Can you imagine how cold it is there during the winter months?

Excellent walking tour info., Sir. Your good narrative pace is very helpful for us as foreign listeners. I only passed through one part of MT on Amtrak ride in 1993 and I still don't know much about MT to present day. Now, I like to learn more about MT and this touring clip helps me visualize on what I could't get there in person via public transportation.

Amazing. You have soooo much SPACE. I'm envious.

3 yrs ago today I drove Rt2 and saw most of these towns. Incredible to see

My husband is from Livingston, Montana. We haven't been to the areas in your video. It would be a fun trip to see those towns.

Awesome video. Thank you for sharing this with us.

Another fascinating video. Had a Aunt and Uncle who lived in Havre, back in the 1930's!! Thanks Chris!

I lived in Inverness for 3 years. My husband taught 5 and 6 grade for 3 years. The school was the center of activity.

That little church reminds me of the same one in Warsaw Montana. It was a one room school house.

Really enjoyed the tour you put together of remote towns with few people and some with no one living there. As one Lady stated below each town has many stories of Families that lived there. Ghost Towns is a good description and one would get a feeling of loneliness and emptiness when you drive through. I live in Western Washington with several million people and crowded conditions everywhere. To drive through Northern Montana on roads that you would see 10 cars on a busy day would be a culture shock that would take some getting used to. One would have to drive for miles to Grocery Stores and small towns large enough to support nice Restaurants, Parks, Schools and maybe places of entertainment. No Industry or manufacturing to support any size population. When the Airforce Base closed down that would have been a huge loss for a large area of that remote part of Montana.

I really enjoyed your video! Thanks for posting

Wonderful video!! Thank you so much for sharing this… 😁

Interesting! I was born and raised in Montana and traveled all over the state, except the northern part east of Browning. I have lived in the Philippines for over 8 years and may come back to Libby for a visit next year. I have been thinking about making a road trip on highway 2 all the way east across the state if I do come back, through some of these towns. I loved your video, thank you.

Very interesting. I followed your journey on Google maps just to see where all these places were. I grew up in Manitoba and am very familiar with this type of scenery. Spent the pandemic exploring some of the abandoned towns in central Ontario, and really enjoy the peacefulness. Some of those Montana locations would be excellent for HDR photography. Hope to visit one day.

Awesome video! Can't wait to explore your site!

I'm always amazed at how clean these towns are, very little evidence of dumping unlike some of our big cities! Just watching these videos gives me a sense of melancholy! ♥️

That was very interesting to see some old buildings in the USA ..I'm from Australia..thank you so much for sharing have. A great day ..

15:45 seeing all those Amazon containers flying through these old Midwest towns gave me irony chills

So many cool places, sort of sad though, but still really cool places

Excellent video Chris. A great peep into backwater USA. Thanks a lot, Colin UK

Thanks Chris. I feel a road trip coming on :-)

I love old abandoned towns , i never been to Montana but it's a state that I would love see and live there ,the town of Zortman OMG I fell in love with that's my dream town . Thank you so much for posting this video I loved it!!!

Wow! I love videos like this! Glad this showed up on my feed.😁#subscribed

Wow. What beautiful towns. Thanks for making this video.

Haver Mt. Used to have brutal winters!

Good video...Havre 1958,... also birth place of Big Bud.

Great Beautiful, beautiful images especially those small churches in an open field, with the beautiful cloudy sky with a little sun ...

This is a great video. I drove through there in the mid 70's mom and me going to Seattle. Thanks for sharing.

I wish I could go back in time and visit all the old little towns across America, to see what they were like in their heyday! America has lost so much of itself (its soul) over the past 75 years.

Just south of Galata on the other side of the reservoir is the old Montana Safeguard Complex. It’s a big Cold War bunker from a radar facility, pretty neat though.

Drove Hwy 2 a couple of times in the past as a truck driver. It's a nice ride and views. Thank you for the video

Just found your channel and subscribed. Love seeing Ghost towns and this was great! Thx!

This is a fantastic video, really. It has a Stephen King feel/vibe. The narrative is also so cool and smooth. Good job ! Greetings from Greece :-)

Grew up in Harlem in the 50's & 60's. Used to be a cool little town till they put in the bypass. So many stories!

Thanks for the tour!😊

Eerily Beautiful places. Cool Video.

The book ‘’Bad Land: An American Romance’ by Jonathan Raban, tells the story of eastern Montana homesteaders trying to make a go of in the early twentieth century. Great read

Lived in Montana all my life but sure haven't heard of some of those ghost towns especially along the hi line.

My grandparents had a farm near Hingham...my grandmother went to high school in the school shown in this video...my father spent his summers growing up there...

LOVE A LOT THIS VIDEO everything still there , frozen in time , it's like going back in time , love the buildings the trucks and Cars , peace of the place 💙💙😃

I grew up just south of shelby and have not lived there in years but it is sad to see what time has done to montana. 😢😢😢

When I was a child my mom would drive from the west coast along highway 2 and then up into Saskatchewan through Bengough and up highway 334. Quite different now compared to then.

This is full of really beautiful shots. nice work, mate

Excellent.

I liked seeing these more modern (compared to 1850-1940) ghost towns. I liked the farming buildings. My winters in Northern California near Mt. Shasta are benign compared to Montana!

Love that Milk River Church ❤️

The American countryside is full of places like this. Little gems frozen in time...

Kevin is pronounced ... Keev-in... My dad lives there ..I was born in Shelby in 1980 ... The high line is not what it used to be ...

More drone shots would be great. That may be difficult in some places where locals loathe drones. Thanks for the videos.

that was tremendous. Thank you for sharing that. Would love to see as many locals as possible interviewed about their history and lifestyle.

Wow just what I needed for my road trip on highway 2 next summer. Thanks for the great video.

Great video, Chris; but why don't you show a road-map at the beginning, with the towns labeled, so we can see where we are going?