SperlingViews - Malta, Montana

Hello, My name is Marcie and I was shocked when I read Joann & Bryce's comments about Malta. I visited there from CA (I have friends there who live on a ranch) and I found the people to be very friendly and helpful. We had dinner at the GN ,I visited the coffee/gift shop,Albertsons etc... My experiences were all good. It is a small town and entertainment is limited however it is that way in most small towns. Bozeman,MT would be a better choice for an art student. As far as law enforcement...I never saw any while I was there. I enjoy the quiet country life and I plan to visit Malta again this summer. Marcie [read more...]

Hey Bryce from Fresno, I am still here in this miserable little town. You have really gotten it correct about the Sherrif and the district judge. I am almost 70 years old, and not from here but from the World. This place is definitely not for the independent thinker. And if you have no mental illness, you don't belong. Resently a young lad of 17 who was most interested in art and theater, was harassed for years, for his interests. Why should this be? He is a pleasant kid, hard working, good in school. The school system did nothing to help this young man. He was crying for help as I was, and each of us cried in the wrong manner. He is expelled from everything in Malta. For that matter so am I. We definitely need to flush the Judge, and county attorney, if we can get their over sized heads into the toilets. It wouldn't hurt to get rid of the JP, and the Sherrif. Even the Priest has shunned me. I might have felt insulted, but I am not Catholic, my husband is, however. Nice Christian man I'd say, to shun a woman who asked the simplest thing of him. A 70 year old woman they assumed was a great victum in Malta. They got it rather wrong. The crank of the village (refer to Patrick McGooin's "Village")is on the school board, and active in other civil affairs. His name is Prellwitz. He is a mean, sadistic, inhumane, hatful SOB, and the wife and kids take after him with even more zelous enforcement of their interpretations of the law, and what is considered moral in his pea brain. He is a sick man. But if the people reading this want to see a bunch of hick snobs, come and visit on Memorial Day. There are so few there for the Veterans who have gone before the rest of us, for their ceremony at the local grave yard. It's sad. Sunday morning is interesting to walk the main street. There are people out, true enough, but in the bars. GN by the way, has the largest turn over of help I have witnessed. Thanks for the reply Bryce.[read more...]

Joann from Malta hit the nail on the head! I am a 27 year old guy from California when I had the misfortune of breaking down in Malta in August 2006. I took a job at the Great Northern Hotel to make some money to fix my truck. I stayed one week before I couldn't take it any more and had to leave. I was harassed within an inch of my life by the "law enforcement" in this town and was so disgusted by the unprofessional behavior of the district judge at the courthouse I seriously considered notifying the Montana state bar association. It was hot,dry and the wind was maddening. There were a few cordial people but the minute they found out I was from California I instantly became some sort of social pariah. Needless to say I didn't make any friends in this town. PLEASE visit this town and stay a couple days before you sign on the dotted line to move here.You might like a town where everyone is related and knows your business, but then again you might not...[read more...]

If you are coming from out of state, the people here are literally all related, either by marriage or birth. The town started in early 1900, with 32 families. There was no way to get here from there, except by Rt. 2 going east to west. We have lived here for 2 years, we still have no friends, the police love to harass us for no apparent reason, the Judge came from an old Malta family and must be the head of some secret organization that promotes persecution of new families, as do the police chief, the Justice of the Peace, the county attorney, and all the money comes from, the "old families" thus the bosses are also "natives". There are appro 100 growing days for a garden. Snow in not very much, just cold and windy, all the time. All purchased goods are priced at 20% more than another town. We shop in one of the other towns, when we get the chance, and multitask, or on line. If you are highly educated, this not a place to come. There are the following entertainments in this town, drinking and gambling (they go together), church, one movie house, open 2 evenings a week. Wages match the cost of living, conversely. Most people have two incomes either two jobs, or both parties must find jobs. As Clint Eastwood so aptly put it in "High Plains Drifter" 'Welcome to Hell'. Come and look before you sign on the line, and make your contract for moving out is in a year, that's all it takes to be fed up. Hunting, is very good here, large game, fowl, fishing, all excellent. That part is good. Ah, but for only a short period of time.[read more...]