The big open – Montana – ‘Everybody would love to stay’

Calvin Thomas, a rancher who came in to the Sand Springs Store for a 5-gallon jug of drinking water, is on his second cup of coffee as he tells how it used to be in Sand Springs.

"At one time Sand Springs was pretty big," he says. "It was runner-up for county seat."

That honor eventually went to Jordan, 20 miles east on Highway 200. Jordan is losing population, too, but with about 350 people it’s by far the largest town in Garfield County. Sand Springs reached a population peak of about 50, Calvin says, but now the only full-time resident is Daisy Dutton, who owns the store.

"They used to have a sign," Calvin says: "End of the world, 12 miles. Jordan, 14."

It might not be the end of the world, but it does feel like the middle of nowhere. Garfield County takes in 4,668 square miles, but with a population of only 1,279 at the time of the 2000 census, it had 0.27 people per square mile. That gave Garfield the lowest population density in Montana and very nearly the lowest in the continental United States.

By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&tts=1&display=rednews/2005/05/29/build/state/30-big-open.inc

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‘Everybody would love to stay’

By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff

JORDAN – John Fitzgerald doesn’t want to be the last pharmacist in Jordan, but he’s afraid he might be.

He was born on a ranch north of town and graduated from the University of Montana in 1969 with a pharmacy degree. Shortly after that he bought the Jordan Drug Co. on Main Street from his father-in-law, George "Watson" Foster, who had been in Jordan since 1967. Foster’s father was a druggist in early day Miles City.

Fitzgerald started dating Watson Foster’s daughter, Karen, in the seventh grade, and they’ve been married now for 44 years. They have two sons and a daughter. One son is the chief pharmacist at St. Peter’s Hospital in Helena; his wife works for the Veterans Administration Hospital there.

Fitzgerald says he can’t imagine them giving up their good jobs in Helena and moving to Jordan.

"You don’t make a lot of money here, but you make enough to live," he said.

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/05/29/build/state/32-love-to-stay.inc