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he acted unilaterally, mak-
ing promises that he could
not deliver on. Fed up, most
of the board members split
off from Kelly and pursued
their own ventures, buying
up some of the properties for
themselves. In 2018 Kelly was
found liable for fraud in Valley
County District Court and was
ordered to pay Mitchell more than $13 million.
Today, the twisted legal and financial trails of St. Marie are
hopelessly tangled, like colored lines on a crumpled road map in the
glove box of an old farm truck. During its periods of confusion and
conflict, houses were sold with little regard to property lines, mak-
ing title insurance impossible to secure. Who ultimately owns what,
and will St. Marie live to see its winding streets buzzing with life
again are questions that may as well be directed at a Magic Eight
Ball—"reply hazy, try again".
The current ownership is a
jumble of renters, Airbnb's,
condo and homeowners whose
population hovers around 200
hardcore residents comfort-
able living about as far from
the hustle and bustle of urban
American life as you can get.
The notoriously brutal east-
ern Montana winters punish these aging structures, which are then
pummeled by the sand-blasting winds and suffocating heat of sum-
mer. And yet the physical shell of St. Marie still stands, like a herd
of bison bracing themselves against a prairie snowstorm. But unlike
the bison, St. Marie sees no rebirth in the spring. The pastel-colored
houses lose a bit more color and a few more roof shingles blow off
every year as this lonely and ill-fated town, once home to thousands
of people, slowly fades away.
TODAY, THE TWISTED LEGAL
AND FINANCIAL TRAILS
OF ST. MARIE ARE HOPELESSLY TANGLED.
